Bubble Algae

[STEVE]

OK......how do you get rid of bubble algae? What causes it to go?

[Chad]

Some mithrix crabs or rabbitfish will eat it.

 

Otherwise you are probably in for a slow manual battle (be careful not to pop the bubbles during removal).

 

 

[Ryan S]

OK......how do you get rid of bubble algae? What causes it to go?

 

if not too many, you can pull them out with tweezers...

[Almon]

I think various Tangs will eat it. It doesn't grow in my main tank but was out of control in smaller clown tanks. My main tank has a large Blue Hippo and a large Tennenti (Lieutenant) tang, some clowns, a large coris wrasse, a large hermit crab, and some snails. I think it's the tangs that graze on the bubble algae.

[Almon]

What causes it to go?

 

Light and nutrients

[STEVE]

Nutrients.....Nitrates are at 0, Phosp are at 0.04. Using 20k Radium MH's

[Origami]

Steve, your nutrients are low, in part, because the algae is helping with the uptake. That's fairly typical whether it's bubble, hair, or some other kind of algae - the tanks are almost always at zero nitrates and zero (or near zero) phosphates.

 

Bubble algae can be a pain. I'm clear of it in my display (I think because my tangs eat it) but I'll see it in my frag tank (it hitchhiked in on a frag plug, I think) where I'll manually remove it.

[onux20]

Ahhh my nemesis...I can't kill it but I can grow it like a champ! Check pg 4 of my build thread. My infestation was/is FAR WORSE than what you can see in those pics!

 

I have not found rabbitfish or emerald crabs to be effective. I lost count of the number of rabbits I have tried. The latest rabbit is by far the healthiest, thanks BRK, but shows ZERO interest in the BA.

 

Don't tell Rob but I finally removed some of the rocks and manually harvested a lot of my bubbles. It helped but I still have a ton AND they are slowly coming back.

 

I would start with manual removal outside of the tank if possible. If your rocks are small enough, fill a 5g bucket with old tank water when you are doing a water change. Take out a rock, pick off the bubbles then swish the rock in the water and replace in tank. If you can't remove the rocks, try not to pop to the bubbles when manually attacking.

 

Next check your RO/DI system to make sure your TDS are where they should be. Then I would recommend reducing your nutrients and light sked. I changed my resin and cut back on lights and feeding. Could be wishful thinking but I think I am turning a corner. Seems like there are more clear/withering bubbles than before and they are not returning as fast as before either.

 

Good luck!

[jaddc]

I found this helpful:

 

http://www.mrsaltwatertank.com/4-ways-to-remove-bubble-algae-from-your-tank/

 

Jeff

[trockafella]

Get rid of it as fast as you can. It can and will overrun your tank. I ended up replacing all my rock bc of it. I am actually a bit pissed bc I got a few frags with some hidden on it. Honestly people should check the frags they sell before handing them over. Whether its BA, bryopsis, or aiptasia or whatever, be courteous and keep your cooties to yourself. All it takes is a tiny bit to become an eternal nightmare. Again, remove it asap, just do it very carefully.

[jaddc]

To be fair, sometimes the spores are microscopic so even close inspection of frags won't reveal the algal hitchhikers.

J

[Jon Lazar]

To be fair, sometimes the spores are microscopic so even close inspection of frags won't reveal the algal hitchhikers.

J

 

You can often cut the frag off the plug, and throw the plug away.

 

I've found rabbitfish and emerald crabs to both be effective against bubble algae. My Desjardini tang loved it, and when I picked BA from the crannies he couldn't reach, he'd follow my hand around and snap up the pieces.

 

Using fish and crabs doesn't work for everyone though. It's really hard to train them to eat it without popping the bubbles!

[Almon]

It's really hard to train them to eat it without popping the bubbles!

 

How did you train yours? Reverse psychology? Positive reinforcement?

[OldReefer]

With those low nutrient levels I bet a big bunch of emerald crabs will be able to clean it up or at least keep up with it. I had the same problem with my 150. 10 emerald crabs took it out in about a month.

[roni]

You can often cut the frag off the plug, and throw the plug away.

 

I've found rabbitfish and emerald crabs to both be effective against bubble algae. My Desjardini tang loved it, and when I picked BA from the crannies he couldn't reach, he'd follow my hand around and snap up the pieces.

 

Using fish and crabs doesn't work for everyone though. It's really hard to train them to eat it without popping the bubbles!

 

 

he's become lazy in my tank! i think i feed too much and he doesn't like to forage. I'm hoping he'll change his mind and finish off the bubble algae

[Ryan S]

OK......how do you get rid of bubble algae? What causes it to go?

 

Steve, reefcleaners.org guarantees their emerald crabs will eat it or your money back. we currently have a group buy being started for them as well...

 

http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?orderby=product_name&DescOrderBy=ASC&Itemid=58&option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=4&manufacturer_id=0&keyword=&keyword1=&keyword2=&limit=30&limitstart=0

[kevin]

I used to have lots of bubble algae in my tank, so I got 3 emerald crabs for my 90G tank, and also took out the rocks that had lots of BA out, manually remove them and wash with RO water before I put the rocks back to the tank. I tried to remove the BA from the rocks in the tank (being lazy) and most of the time, I popped the BA, so remove the rocks if you can and then remove the BA, even if you pop the BA, you can wash the rock later with RO water.

My tank is now almost clean with BA (still have some but very few!)