Algae Control - Bubble????

[Rouselb]

Okay, cant seem to find the problem here. I have bubble algae growing all over. The tank has been running for 5 years. 180 gal mix reef, flows into a 75 gal fuge with macro and 3-4" DSB, flows into a 100gal sump with a BK SM 250 skimmer then back to the main tank. Parameters are:

Ca=480
Kh = 10 dkh
Phos = 0
PO3/PO4 = 0 & 2 (Nitrate)
Mg = 1300
Salinity = 1.025

Lighting: 3 DE HQI MH changed every yr, par meter still shows great numbers (300s), supplemented with 4 T5 actinics on a Icecap 660. Halides are on 8 hrs, T5s are on 10 hrs.

Flow: (1) Tunze 6100, (2) Tunze 6200, (1) Tunze 6201, (1) wavebox 6212

I also have 2 cups of carbon that i change out once a month, and 1.5 cups of RowaPhos that i change out once a month.

GEO Ca reactor and top off with Kalk (Mrs Wages). PH is roughly 8.2-8.3 depending on the time of day.

RO/DI water with 0-1 TDS

Feed: Dry Formula 1 & 2 3 times a day, auto feeder. Supplement with Rods 2-3 times a wk.

Bio load: Med SPS and LPS load. 15-20 fish, most of them small.

Test kits are not showing Phosphates. I was thinking of switching the sump (skimmer) and the fuge. There is a lot of debris in the macro when i trim. I can see all the brown particles floating around. Not sure what else i can do, no changes to the system in some time. I have always had bubble algae, but its growing more now. Coral growth is good.

 

[Boomer]

What do mean by Bubble algae, Valonia

You are not popping the bubbles are you ?

Some of the controls for BA

Emerald Green Crab (Mithrax sculptus) are the best by far

Red Sea/Indian Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma desjardini).

 

[Todd March]

Bubble algae, valonia, is truly a scurge as it can grow in low nutrient conditions where no other algae can. 0 ppm everything, and it still thrives...

Luckily it syphons out easier than other algaes, but still you might really consider the predators that Boomer mentioned, particularly Emerald crabs. They are hit and miss according to many (but have been effective for me), but a lot of the time they are one of the only things that helps to get valonia under control...

 

[saltygeek]

Anyone use urchins to eat it?

 

[rick s]

Emerald crabs do the job for me.

 

[David Grigor]

I have a gold rabbitfish that eats all of it can reach. For the others I scrap off and he/she eats it as it's floating. However, mine are the smaller sized bubbles that grow in bunches.

 

[surge19us]

For the hard to reach/remove bubbles a shot of kalk paste will kill them in 3-5 days. You don't need to smother them just some around their base.

 

[ScallopKing]

i got a orange-spot rabbitfish and also a sohal that i had been wanting for a long time. the sohal desimminated all of it it can get too. probably 98% is gone now, who knew they liked it so much. the rabbitfish nothing at all. highly recommend the sohal for bubble algae control - little on the expensive side though.