Air Bubbles forming on rocks???

[chuckdallas]

I do not have air bubbles coming out of the skimmer and going into the return pump compartment.

I DO have very small air bubbles forming on the live rock that has the green algae coating on it. I know that algae offgasses oxygen, so I asusme that's why almost every day, about 3/4ths of the live rock covered in a VERY thin coating of green algae is covered in a randon tiny bubbles. (That reminds me of a song).

I was told by another RC memeber that I should use the turkey baster once a week to "blast" or "storm" the LR to clean up the rocks occasionally. Should I avoid blasting the air bubbles or strive to blow them off the rocks too?

I have about 40 snails (of which 4 are Mexican Turbos) and about 15 hermits in my 120 gallon DT and none in my 25 gallon Wet-Dry sump. I know I need more snails, but until I get some, should I blow the bubbles off the rocks?

I just started an Algae Turf Scrubber on Sat, to get the green algae out of the DT and into the sump, like those with 'fuges do.

 

[saltwater freak]

how old is your tank?

do the bubbles show up after the lights have been on for a while?
are you using ro/di water?
the green algae coating sounds like it might be green bubble algae
but it could be diatoms?
google both of those things to help identify
if its bubble algae DO NOT TAKE OFF WITH TURKEY BASTER they will multiply quickly manually remove them when doing water changes with hose making sure to not get any in to the tank
if its diatoms i assume your tank is fairly new and if so they will go as quick as they came as soon as their food source is used up, its just an ugly process if you blow it with a turkey baster the skimmer will pick it up

 

[cloak]

It's most likely just oxygen being produced through photosynthesis. As soon as you get a handle on the algae growth, the bubbles will go away. No worries.

 

[wbdevers]

Chuck it sounds to me that you have the exact same thing that have just about defeated--dinoflagellate mats. At first it was suggested that I had a cyano outbreak. While researching ways to defeat that I ran across a thread (I think here) with pics and they were EXACTLEY what I had. A nasty snotty green mat covering most everything full of bubbles. From what I gather, they are opportunistic photosynthesizers, so when need be they utilize light. The bubbles are therefore O2 being released. I've cut my nitrates to 0 and ran a three day dark period and my tank looks 100% better. HTH. Can you supply pics?

 

[Floowid]

I would be more inclined to believe cyano, given the ability to blast it off with a turkey baster. The cyano or algae is creating the bubbles through photosynthesis as the others have stated, and blasting off the cyano/algae should blow the bubbles off in the process. If your tank is 3 months set up or newer, a cyano or green algae bloom is perfectly normal. keep up the water changes, blow off any that the clean up crew doesn't get.

 

[wbdevers]

I would agree with you Floowid except he stated it was green. Only cyano I've heard of has always ben red. Is there a green variety? I could very well be wrong.

 

[Floowid]

Yes, green cyano is also very common, just not as prevalent as the red stuff.

 

[wbdevers]

Gotcha, thanks. I'm sure the same would apply though--reduction of nutrients, reduced photoperiod etc.

 

[wbdevers]

Sorry that the pic isn't as close up as need be, but this is what I was fighting. It actually killed the halimeda on my rock.

 

[HanoverFist]

First off ReefCleaners hasa good article on nuisance alage. Suggest you Read This.

That looks like Halimeda and Red Gracilara to me. Both macro algaes.

Does the green stuff turn white at night? Is it a bunch of small, flat leaves attached in strings? Definitely looks like the halimeda I have though. That'd be the second pic below.

Halimeda:
One variety

Another variety:

I'm not too sure if this is what you actually have...

Red Gracilera:

ReefCleaners, and a million other sites on the net, have info on caring for these macros and their various "problems."


EDIT: And yes, there is also cyano and the beginnings of green bubble algae in there too. At least it looks like the green slime is starting to form bubbles in that pic.

 

[chuckdallas]

Green Algae on Live Rock

Green Algae on Live Rock

Well, the super thin layer of green algae just sits on the live rock. I haven't tried to touch it to see if it's slimy. When I blast a rock with the turkey baster, I get some snow that's brownish colored. I saw the urchin dropping small brown balls the other day out the top of the urchin, so I assumed it was pooping. That's what flys up when I blast the rocks. I'll touch the green algae tonight. It doesn't have any shape, just a super thin coating on the rocks.

 

[wbdevers]

Hanover, I was just using an old pic of mine to help Chuck out. That is halimeda in my photo but my red macro doesn't branch off of the main stems. I was trying to see if what he has is the same crappy green looking stuff on the LR. That's the only pic I can access at the moment so it included the other two as well. The bubbles are O2. Totally different from GBA. The GBA actually looks like little almost black-green grapes and are farily small.

 

[adamd80]

Air Bubbles in Tank

Air Bubbles in Tank

Hello all. I have air bubbles in my tank. They are on the walls and coraline. I don't see any color to them. Here is a picture. Shoudl I be concerned? How do I get rid of it? Will it harm my fish or tank? I think I should also add, the airbubbles are ONLY on the coraline. Not on the sand or glass or on the live rock it self. They only sit ontop of the coraline. I recently purchased a Solar xtreme 48" 448 with 4 54 watt bulbs. The bubbles started showing up after I got the light. And the bubbles are much less in the morning and there are more at night. I have the blue lights turn on at 7:30am. The regular lights turn on at 9:00am and turn off at 7:00pm. Blue lights turn off at 9:00pm (4 blue led lighgts are on for moonlight)

 

[wbdevers]

Looks like cyano to me and the bubbles are O2 being released.