Bubble algae explosion!

K

kclauser

New member
Please help me, I have a tank I started on April 5th and Bubble algae has exploded in my tank in the past few days. I am having trouble finding ways of removing it other than "spyhon it off" "pick if off with tweezers" etc. This would be ok if it were just a few random pieces but its everywhere, growing very small but covering everything, kind of growing in groups.

I got desperate today and removed the largest rock with the most bubble algae on it and scrubbed it clean with a tooth brush, rinsed it thoroughly under tap water and then dipped it multiple times in RO/DI water. Ive heard this will kill beneficial stuff on the rock, but Id rather start a cycle over before I dealt with bubble algae. Its clean now but the algae has already spread to other pieces in the tank.

I have no bio load at all in the tank, I didnt even get many hitchhikers. Nothing more than a few minute pods. I havent fed the tank, just cycled it with a shrimp that I removed after the first few days. No filtration other than the stock sponge (Im running a biocube 29g) and filter floss. No chemical filtration either, LR, LS, and water is pretty much all I have in there. I have a Rio 6hf return pump and a hydor koralia 1 for flow. Along with 144w PC lighting running ~12 hours a day, although on very long days it stays on a little longer (roughly 2 times a week when I work from 6 am to 10pm) because I dont have timers yet.

My most recent parameters are:
Temp- 78.4
Am- 0
Ni- 0
Na- 10
Alk- 12.2
Ca- 350
Pho- 0.1

I need advice, links, anything that will help me clear this stuff up. Thanks in advance.
 
Bubble Algae is a pain that's for sure. What I can tell you about it is try not to pop the bubbles. This will only cause the algae to spread even more. You might want to invest in a few Emerald Crabs, a.k.a. Green Mithrax Crabs. I have been told that they eat this pesky algae.

Good Luck
 
picking the algea off will releace spores into the water so you might want to be careful. Removing the rock is not a bad idea but i would not use tap water to clean it with. If you use salt water to clean it many more hitch hikers will survive. Also you my think you have no bio load but the rocks you added and the sand are a bio load this is not affecting the growth of the algae but keep that in mind.

try to clean the rocks with water change water and dont break the bubbles in the tank or you will release more spores. Emrald crabs do get rid of some of the algae they like to eat it. But sometime they dont eat any of it. try to clean the problem rocks and suck out the rest with a syphone when you do your water changes good luck
 
Ok well thats pretty much what I did, I scrubbed the rocks OUT of the tank so that if any bubbles broke they wouldnt release spores into the display, and then I rinsed the rocks very well to help remove any remaining stuff/spores before I put them in, I believe I got fairly sterile LR (it was fully cured marshal island), I know people find critters after years of having a tank that they never knew they had, but I havent seen 1 critter in this tank other than a few tiny pods. And to be honest Id rather stock a few extra critters myself down the road and not have to worry about the bubble algae now. So unless something is very wrong about my technique I wont change it because it seems to be the only viable option in the short term.

I have read the same thing about emerald crabs being hit or miss with the algae and Im hesitant to add inverts with how much Im still adjusting my tank. My temps aren't totally stable yet and Im still moving stuff around a lot. I don't wanna sacrifice a clean up crew by being too hasty.
 
"What I can tell you about it is try not to pop the bubbles. This will only cause the algae to spread even more." There is no evidence to support this, a lot of people believe it to be true though. But it is completely a matter of opinion which I do not believe.

I got a free tank from a friend, it was loaded with bubble, hair algae, and Aptasia. This is what I did to get rid of it. I debated scrapping the rock and the sand and starting over, but money was tight so I worked with what I had.

All I did was take the rock out and scrub it one piece at a time and rinsed in RO water. Reduced my lights to 4 hours a day (no live stock, just a few snails and crabs). Bought a cleaner pack from etropicals.com with some extra emerald crabs. Did a 20% water change every other day and vacuumed the sand for about 2-3 weeks, now I do them bi-weekly.

I got some more bubble algae for about a week or two after I scrubbed the rocks, I just reached I with a tooth pick a popped them. I believe that emerald crabs eat the spores of the bubble algae, not the actual bubble. Since then, I haven’t seen any bubble algae in my tank. This worked for me anyway.
 
I just pop em as I see em. Never spreads around my tank. And the only bubble algae I have now after 2 years is what's on the backs of a few large astrea's. But I also run a well stocked refugium with macro algae, and I am lucky enough to finally find an emerald that'll eat the stuff as well. Took 6 tries to get a bubble eating crab though.
 
My large bubble algae I find and inject them with citric acid or Joes juice yes it kills there insides and there skin turns clear and the spores die. Then remove them with a giant pair of tweezers . The smaller ones I get a siphoned going and I pull them of the rocks siphoned them away I don't have any outbreaks either from bursting them open no spreading of spores well that's my ticket to getting rid of them . boy those things are so ugly
 
pinniger, Im glad what I am doing is already so close to what you did, hopefully im on the right track. I considered the very same alternative, scrapping the rock and starting over but money is too tight so Im stuck with this. I have hair algae as well, so hopefully what worked for you will work for me.
 
Lemon juice eh? Cool. I got an emerald crab. He's cleaning everything. Even the old skin off my brand new frogspawn.
 
Yes same here they do look like little green golf balls! I have a little cluster of them for the appearance. I just don't want them to run all over the tank. I get the ones that like to get away from the cluster and kill just those ones besides they are part of the reefs natural environment .
 
If you don't have one, I'd get a phosphate reactor. I found the "Two Little fishes Phosban" to be the best media. If my media gets old, I find bubble algae and diatoms coming back. Be sure to use RO/DI water or you'll run through the media fairly quickly.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9773692#post9773692 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by papagimp
I just pop em as I see em. Never spreads around my tank. And the only bubble algae I have now after 2 years is what's on the backs of a few large astrea's. But I also run a well stocked refugium with macro algae, and I am lucky enough to finally find an emerald that'll eat the stuff as well. Took 6 tries to get a bubble eating crab though.
Click to expand...

It's funny you mention that. I've read all about Emerald Crabs and their appetite for bubble algae. Yet I have never witnessed this going on in my tanks. I've had around 6 in my experience and none of them ate any visible bubble algae.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9793715#post9793715 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reeftanker04
It's funny you mention that. I've read all about Emerald Crabs and their appetite for bubble algae. Yet I have never witnessed this going on in my tanks. I've had around 6 in my experience and none of them ate any visible bubble algae.
Click to expand...



i am having problems with bubble algea, and i got a emerald crab to fight this disaster in my tank and seems he is eating everything but the bubble, i recomend against getting any. But thats just me. :) Lee
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9793715#post9793715 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reeftanker04
I've had around 6 in my experience and none of them ate any visible bubble algae.
Click to expand...

I've only seen mine eat hair algae. My Sally light food crabs seem to prefer detritus or at least, they seem to only eat from rock without any visible algae.
 
My 2 mythrax crabs ate my bubble algae in my 29 gallon and now it's all gone. In fact, the claws on the one crab are so big you could eat them!

I used to do the picking and not popping thing but it was a hassle, besides, I couldn't get the bubbles behind the rocks. The crabs fixed that. I'm "bubble-less" now!
 
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