Mysterious Green 'Grape'

atomichead · 08/20/2012, 10:49 AM

I've got what looks like an olive green grape in my tank that's growing bigger every day. This is the second one I've watched grow. The first one got to the size of a large marble and just disappeared (ruptured?) one day. There is a third one I just noticed yesterday and it's about the size of a pencil eraser.

They start out dark green and get lighter and more transparent as they grow, almost as if the 'skin' is stretching. Even at its biggest, the skin is pretty tough as squeezing it doesn't do much.

It took about 7 weeks for the first one to disappear. It started out between the legs of a coral branch as it grew, it bubbled out from between the branches, almost like it was being squeezed.

I'm sure there's a simple explanation for what this is but right now I'm stumped. Any ideas?

BonJoey · 08/20/2012, 10:56 AM

Bubble algae? http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-0...ture/index.php

Mike247 · 08/20/2012, 11:00 AM

sounds like bubble algae, when they pop they spread seed or spores. pictures would help id them. if they are bubble algae try to siphon them out with a hose when you pop them.

Chris27 · 08/20/2012, 01:35 PM

Grab them with tweezers and yank them out....I found that if you pop them before they pop themselves, the population doesn't grow nearly as fast. Let them get white and pop on their own, and you'll surely be dealing with a lot more of them.

atomichead · 08/20/2012, 04:08 PM

Okay, bubble algae sounds like the culprit. I'll yank them out before they pop.

Thanks.....

mnchartier · 08/21/2012, 07:25 AM

I use a piece of rigid airline that is filed to a point attached to a siphon. I use the point to get underneath the bubble to get it off the rock and then the siphon sucks it up. Also if you happen to pop some the siphon will suck up most of the spores.

nynick · 08/21/2012, 08:44 AM

Don't worry about popping them, even if there are a few spores inside of it it is less likely that one of them will form a new bubble than the old bubble make clones on it's sides. Opinions also vary on if there actually are spores inside them or just water....I have no clue.

If you have a Tang you can pop them with a nail on a stick and your Tang will eat it after it can get it's teeth around it. If they persist you can get Emerald Crabs, they often control them while the bubbles are small. Some sites recommend very small crabs, I have had best luck with very big ones...

In the end this is the one nuisance algae I don't really mind. It is not a very fast grower and is fairly easy to remove manually. Quite pretty too!

RAY in PA. · 08/21/2012, 08:45 AM

If it becomes a problem emerald crabs eat bubble algae.

Mavrk · 08/21/2012, 10:07 AM

They are the devil. Chisel off or at least scape where they are rooted. If you let them go, they will take over your tank. If you just pick them off, more will grow where that one was. Try not to pop them but don't freak out if you do. If you can siphon while you pick them, it helps. I fought those for years. If they are on a rock you can remove, take it out and cut off where the bubble is. Win the fight now or regret it later.

cloak · 08/21/2012, 11:10 AM

I've always just pulled out as many as I could right before a water change. (weekly/bi-weekly) Whether I popped them or not was of no consequence. You can remove the bubbles much faster than they can reproduce, so if you stay on top of them you should be able to beat them.

Emerald crabs are hit & miss with valonia. The one I had payed no attention to it.

nynick · 08/21/2012, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cloak

Emerald crabs are hit & miss with valonia. The one I had payed no attention to it.

I agree with this, I had a really big one that was devouring it but also had others that couldn't care less. Maybe buy a few and hope you get lucky, they are fun to watch and good for other things than bubble algae too.

I know there are urchins that eat them but I find all urchins to be more of a hindrance than a help. They knock everything over, pierce your frags and drag them on their thorns, eat big grey highways through your coraline. Had one once and never again!

Sk8r · 08/21/2012, 04:13 PM

Poke the blue number under my avatar: somewhere in my blog is a discussion of this problem. Crabs can't eat enough to matter, even if they will, and they certainly pop it when they eat it. Basically it's just a phase, and this too shall pass. I had one grow the size of a tennis ball. I began cultivating it just to see how big it COULD get.

the droob · 08/22/2012, 07:27 AM

your are in for a battle ,I just ripped my tank to peices today,had enough of the dreaded bubble algea,follow the advise the others have left and keep you phosfates as low as you can,when you see them try to syphon them out and try to scrape the rock at the base to get them without bursting them,best of luck

nynick · 08/22/2012, 09:14 AM

I don't get why people are having so much trouble with these.

My tank was basically a swamp for 2 years after some stupidity on my part. Totally neglected and ignored and packed to the rim with hair algae, cyano and bubble algae. Took less than a month of water changes, new skimmer and increased water movement to get things sorted out. I still have a few bubbles but they seem to be bleaching out and letting go.

Stop chasing algae and fix the reason they are there, it is faster and easier by far. Before you are allowed to have a reef tank you should be made to repeat "Algae is not the problem, it is nature's solution" 200 times.

Mavrk · 08/22/2012, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nynick

I don't get why people are having so much trouble with these.

My tank was basically a swamp for 2 years after some stupidity on my part. Totally neglected and ignored and packed to the rim with hair algae, cyano and bubble algae. Took less than a month of water changes, new skimmer and increased water movement to get things sorted out. I still have a few bubbles but they seem to be bleaching out and letting go.

Stop chasing algae and fix the reason they are there, it is faster and easier by far. Before you are allowed to have a reef tank you should be made to repeat "Algae is not the problem, it is nature's solution" 200 times.

Not all algae is created equal. Bubble algae is known to survive where others do not. I would love to see before and after pictures and know what skimmer you have and what stock you have in your tank as well as the size of the tank. I am guessing no fish or very few.

nynick · 08/22/2012, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mavrk

Not all algae is created equal. Bubble algae is known to survive where others do not. I would love to see before and after pictures and know what skimmer you have and what stock you have in your tank as well as the size of the tank. I am guessing no fish or very few.

You are right on the survival part for sure, hair and cyano went very fast. Bubbles are slowly trickling away. And yes, my tank is under stocked when it comes to fish and it will stay that way.

Skimmer is the Deltec hob one, it absolutely rocks! (..and if anyone from Deltec is reading this...How can you be so good at making a skimmer and such a total moron when you design a collection cup?) Good for 120-180g and mine is only 90. I also got rid of my old power heads(2 of them totaling 3400ish gph) and replaced them with 1 that gives much better flow (3600gph). I saw the biggest and fastest improvement starting after I increased flow btw. No sump, algae scrubber etc but the algae just melted in a few weeks. I did have a hob filter though to collect all the dying stuff letting go of the rocks.

I don't have before or after pics but the before part was worse than any pic I have ever seen on any forum

It is now clean, clean, clean with a few pale bubbles scattered around and some regular green algae on the back glass since I do not clean it....hoping to get it covered in coraline.

08/20/2012, 10:49 AM	#1
atomichead Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Easley, SC Posts: 81	Mysterious Green 'Grape' I've got what looks like an olive green grape in my tank that's growing bigger every day. This is the second one I've watched grow. The first one got to the size of a large marble and just disappeared (ruptured?) one day. There is a third one I just noticed yesterday and it's about the size of a pencil eraser. They start out dark green and get lighter and more transparent as they grow, almost as if the 'skin' is stretching. Even at its biggest, the skin is pretty tough as squeezing it doesn't do much. It took about 7 weeks for the first one to disappear. It started out between the legs of a coral branch as it grew, it bubbled out from between the branches, almost like it was being squeezed. I'm sure there's a simple explanation for what this is but right now I'm stumped. Any ideas? __________________ “There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” Current Tank Info: 77 gal. Oceanic half cyl., 20 gal. sump/fuge, TruLumen LEDs, Vortech MP40ESw, Bubble Magus Curve 5, Sicce pumps, NextReef MR1, Apex Lite

08/20/2012, 01:35 PM	#4
Chris27 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 4,452	Grab them with tweezers and yank them out....I found that if you pop them before they pop themselves, the population doesn't grow nearly as fast. Let them get white and pop on their own, and you'll surely be dealing with a lot more of them. __________________ Fill your tank with $5 bills, add gasoline and light it on fire.....only then will you know the real cost of reefing. Current Tank Info: 180 Mixed Reef

08/20/2012, 04:08 PM	#5
atomichead Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Easley, SC Posts: 81	Okay, bubble algae sounds like the culprit. I'll yank them out before they pop. Thanks..... __________________ “There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” Current Tank Info: 77 gal. Oceanic half cyl., 20 gal. sump/fuge, TruLumen LEDs, Vortech MP40ESw, Bubble Magus Curve 5, Sicce pumps, NextReef MR1, Apex Lite

08/21/2012, 07:25 AM	#6
mnchartier Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oh look a river Posts: 458	I use a piece of rigid airline that is filed to a point attached to a siphon. I use the point to get underneath the bubble to get it off the rock and then the siphon sucks it up. Also if you happen to pop some the siphon will suck up most of the spores. __________________ "I accept your apology." - BrianD "That's only idiotic because I don't think you're joking." - Satori (CT4 Chronicles) Current Tank Info: DD150

08/21/2012, 11:10 AM	#10
cloak Moved On Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Stockton, CA Posts: 14,854	I've always just pulled out as many as I could right before a water change. (weekly/bi-weekly) Whether I popped them or not was of no consequence. You can remove the bubbles much faster than they can reproduce, so if you stay on top of them you should be able to beat them. Emerald crabs are hit & miss with valonia. The one I had payed no attention to it. Last edited by cloak; 08/21/2012 at 11:15 AM.

08/20/2012, 10:56 AM	#2
BonJoey Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Plantation, FL Posts: 77	Bubble algae? http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-0...ture/index.php

08/20/2012, 11:00 AM	#3
Mike247 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Largo FL Posts: 106	sounds like bubble algae, when they pop they spread seed or spores. pictures would help id them. if they are bubble algae try to siphon them out with a hose when you pop them.

08/21/2012, 08:44 AM	#7
nynick Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,029	Don't worry about popping them, even if there are a few spores inside of it it is less likely that one of them will form a new bubble than the old bubble make clones on it's sides. Opinions also vary on if there actually are spores inside them or just water....I have no clue. If you have a Tang you can pop them with a nail on a stick and your Tang will eat it after it can get it's teeth around it. If they persist you can get Emerald Crabs, they often control them while the bubbles are small. Some sites recommend very small crabs, I have had best luck with very big ones... In the end this is the one nuisance algae I don't really mind. It is not a very fast grower and is fairly easy to remove manually. Quite pretty too!

08/21/2012, 08:45 AM	#8
RAY in PA. Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 68	If it becomes a problem emerald crabs eat bubble algae.

08/21/2012, 10:07 AM	#9
Mavrk Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: California - South Bay Area Posts: 2,775	They are the devil. Chisel off or at least scape where they are rooted. If you let them go, they will take over your tank. If you just pick them off, more will grow where that one was. Try not to pop them but don't freak out if you do. If you can siphon while you pick them, it helps. I fought those for years. If they are on a rock you can remove, take it out and cut off where the bubble is. Win the fight now or regret it later.

08/21/2012, 04:13 PM	#12
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Poke the blue number under my avatar: somewhere in my blog is a discussion of this problem. Crabs can't eat enough to matter, even if they will, and they certainly pop it when they eat it. Basically it's just a phase, and this too shall pass. I had one grow the size of a tennis ball. I began cultivating it just to see how big it COULD get. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

08/22/2012, 07:27 AM	#13
the droob Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Perth/Australia Posts: 83	your are in for a battle ,I just ripped my tank to peices today,had enough of the dreaded bubble algea,follow the advise the others have left and keep you phosfates as low as you can,when you see them try to syphon them out and try to scrape the rock at the base to get them without bursting them,best of luck

08/22/2012, 09:14 AM	#14
nynick Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,029	I don't get why people are having so much trouble with these. My tank was basically a swamp for 2 years after some stupidity on my part. Totally neglected and ignored and packed to the rim with hair algae, cyano and bubble algae. Took less than a month of water changes, new skimmer and increased water movement to get things sorted out. I still have a few bubbles but they seem to be bleaching out and letting go. Stop chasing algae and fix the reason they are there, it is faster and easier by far. Before you are allowed to have a reef tank you should be made to repeat "Algae is not the problem, it is nature's solution" 200 times.