Bubble Algae (1 Viewer)

[texcoonazz]

I am starting to see more and more bubble algae pop up on my tank. I try to remove without popping which is not always possible. How do I stop and rid my tank of this crap. This is a reef only BioCube 29. All parameters are in great shape. Which is probably why this crap is growing like weeds.

Any suggestions.

 

[Captinshinyside]

Emarald crabs love the stuff from I have read! I have never had any in my tank, bubble algae that is. But I make sure to have a few emarald in my tank ;-). Maybe someone else will chime in also?

 

[r_jay]

you think emeralds eat the red bubble algae too? I think it's pretty but wondering long term.

 

[DustinB]

From what I read emerald crabs are kinda iffy. Some eat it some don't. A lot of people report that once they reach a certain size they start eating zoas.

I don't know how true it is, but supposedly if the bubbles are still clear the spores inside won't spread if you pop them.

 

[rxonco]

From what I read emerald crabs are kinda iffy. Some eat it some don't. A lot of people report that once they reach a certain size they start eating zoas.

I don't know how true it is, but supposedly if the bubbles are still clear the spores inside won't spread if you pop them.

Never heard of them eating zoas before. They are iffy though. Some will, some won't. If you're worried about bursting the bubbles, I wouldn't rely on Emeralds to get rid of them. Afterall, they don't eat the things whole. They break 'em up while eating.

 

[r_jay]

good points, I did remove some green bubble algae the other day with a siphon and seemed to work just fine. simple, effective just tedious.

 

[FragsandMore]

yes, removing them with a siphon is best. If you can tape an opened paper clip to the end of the siphon hose to be sure and remove the spores. Pop them with the end of the paper clip, and you are already siphoning, so pout they go, simple to do during water changes

the emerald crab factor is generally, as stated, hit or miss

I had a tank with quite a few large bubbles, so some I removed by hand, ...

I added some emeralds, and upgraded my skimmer, and started removing them by popping and siphoning them out, pretty soon they were all but gone, ... now again, I never saw and emeralds eating them, but I would say the combo of everything I did to that tank helped the issue

 

[DustinB]

Wow, that is a huge bubble!

 

[texcoonazz]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like this may not be to hard to handle.

 

[Timanator]

Emeralds will eat any algae pretty much when they are hungry. Even that really brittle tough green kind.

 

[flexrac]

I have a 110 and i had bubble algae, I did the whole siphon thing, took rocks out one by one and plucked them off, got emeralds and still they showed in other places. i got tired of them and re-did my tank. not suggesting you do that, just telling my story. emeralds will eat/pop the small ones but once it gets to big for them, they don't touch. you will need a few to combat this right, along with manual removal. then check your parameters, what's feeding them in the first place.