Green Bubble algae

[xCry0x]

I got bubble algae years ago from a lfs frag when I didn't know what bubble algae was. Definitely feels impossible to get rid of. I upgraded tanks and scrubbed it off all of my rocks with a toothbrush and within a year my new tank is completely infested.

Just started dosing vibrant, weekly doses 4th dose was yesterday. Some of the bubbles seems to be turning a grey/green so hoping chemical treatment will finally do the trick. Side note, vibrant has quickly eradicated my red turf algae and my glass barely has any buildup throughout the week.

Hearing bubble takes a solid two months to see an impact with vibrant, will see. Manual removal is a joke imo. I scrape it weekly barley makes a dent though.

 

[A. Henin]

Hello xCry0x, Another new chemical! I just ordered something called algaefix based on an advice I received here. Now, here is another one. I wonder how much did I miss? I just returned from Hell (my 3rd deployment). Lord welling, will be no more. It is nice to know that they came up with several solutions to these problems. Please let us know how it works. Thanks.

 

[xCry0x]

Yup will share results.. if I remember! Was glad to find some chemical options. Can say what you want about phosphate control,I feel like bubble algae could grow on dry land lol..

 

[JTL]

Just curious. Why do people let this nasty stuff get so out of control?

 

[A. Henin]

Well my friend, some of us are lazy, some are not very smart, some lak wisdom, some are not around enough, some are busy working for a living, and don't usually have the time or energy to deal with all these problems, some have bitten more than they could shew, some are all of the above, like I feel sometimes............
You are correct, We shouldn't, but we do. Sorry..

 

[billdogg]

For me, I use a pice of 5/8 tubing about 8’ long. Tie the sock securely to one end and plop it into the sump. Submerge a couple feet of the other end so that it fills with water. Place a finger over the end (keeping it submerged) but allow the rest to come to Vet the side. Take your first never off the end and a siphon will start.


For regular water changes I use a Python Siphon. It hooks to a faucet and creates a Venturi to start suction. Waste water goes down the drain. No buckets to schlep!!!!

 

[alton]

Vibrant is a choice just be careful. Once you notice the bubble algae subsiding stop the use of Vibrant, if not when your bubble algae is gone, it will attack other organisms/corals in the tank. There are multiple strains of bubble algae, one of which is the larger and you just have to pluck it out and its gone. The one that most have now including me cannot be starved out of Nitrates or Phosphates because your coralline algae will gone before the bubble is, it is that dominant.

 

[xCry0x]

Just curious. Why do people let this nasty stuff get so out of control?

It got into my tank early on before I really understood what I was doing. I wouldn't say I "let it get out of control" in the sense that I was passive or lazy about it.

When I migrated from my nano to my current RSM 250 I took all my rockwork out and scrubbed it with a tooth brush to remove all the bubble algae.

Within 2 weeks I noticed the algae in my new tank -- I quickly removed the bubbles I saw.

The issue is it grows deep in the rock work and from there gets all over the place. Need to remove all the rocks to fight it -- which isn't always a viable option in a rank with grown in corals. I have chalices and montis gluing rocks together that would break if I tried to remove everything.

 

[xCry0x]

Vibrant is a choice just be careful. Once you notice the bubble algae subsiding stop the use of Vibrant, if not when your bubble algae is gone, it will attack other organisms/corals in the tank. There are multiple strains of bubble algae, one of which is the larger and you just have to pluck it out and its gone. The one that most have now including me cannot be starved out of Nitrates or Phosphates because your coralline algae will gone before the bubble is, it is that dominant.

Were you unsuccessful using Vibrant to fight it?

I was originally going to try Fluconazole but then in the main r2r thread on that topic I read that people had success with Vibrant so figured I would start there.

 

[JTL]

Let me rephrase. To me "out of control" is when nothing is done to fight it or hair algae for that matter when it is a minor inconvenience. I have had bubble and HA in every tank I have owned but every week or even sometimes more we (my wife more so than me) pick it out. I once had a tank and neglected it for a while and it took a major effort to clean it up. I often wonder how people that win TOTM keep such a prestine environment. I suspect lots of hours of work.

 

[xCry0x]

Ah got it; I use an old dental scaler to scrape it off my rocks almost every time I do a water change.

Realistically hair algae and bubble are very different in my mind; hair algae is somewhat normal and relatively easy to fight.

Bubble algae is like any other pest and comes in through lack of knowledge and lack of QT.

I know what frag it came in on because I remember seeing it on the frag and scraping the bubbles off before plopping it in my tank.

With what I know now, I would never have bought the frag in the first place and would have made a point to remove frag from plug for any other frag I bought from the store.

It is among the many many lessons learned over time hah.

I would be interested to know how many of these tank of the month tanks actually had to deal with something like bubble algae or bryopsis. If I was starting over from scratch I feel like I could fairly easily avoid getting that junk in my tank in the first place. =)

 

[skimjim]

I use to have this problem until....

I bought a glass-encased tube that emits UV-C blue light.
Ever walk into a hospital or retail store and see a light-blue light up by the ceiling?
.....thats a UV-C light to keep the place as germ-free as possible

You can find up to 15watt SUBMERSIBLE ones people put in the top of their water heaters to purify their hot water used throughout the home. Just google "submersible UV-C"

I have a 15watt submersible UV-C tube emitting light in my corner OVERFLOW.

CAUTION: this light will kill corals and fish if the light shines into the tank.
So i have mine in my overflow and the light DOESNOT shine anywhere in the tank.

CAUTION: you also need to shade your eyes working with it.....
bc long exposure to UV-C rays can damage your vision.
UV-C is wicked, BUT IT WORKS for your tank if you use God-given common sense!

Here's one of the few places you can buy it.
You use to be able to buy them all over the place.
My guess is the EPA has stepped in..... I SWEAR by them though:
https://www.ebay.com/i/382140403083?chn=ps&var=651007367038&dispItem=1

.....and NO i'm not the seller, just a happy customer who's tank is in awesome shape bc of UV-C

Once I had the UV-C light going....I POPPED all those green algae bubbles releasing millions and millions of SPORES !BUT!
the UV-C killed all the spores before they could regenerate elsewhere in the watercolumn.

Using a UV-C has made my water clarity 100% crystal clear. I also dont have to worry about ICH bc it kills just about everything thats singlecell parasite or algae in the watercolumn.

I wouldn't go without this submersible UV-C light. Besides my skimmer, its the 2nd-most essential part of my tank's health.

 

[JTL]

At this point the BA is on 2 frags. My wife seems to think she can keep picking it off. I told her to remove the coral from the plug and see if that fixes the problem. My concern is this will spread to other corals and then we will have a mess. Right now the tank is only 2 months old and has about 50 frags, positioned into the aquascape, a year or two from now it will be a lot different.

 

[xCry0x]

Get it out before it spreads =)

It is a mess, can't even reach everywhere it is and crabs don't really seem to make a huge dent.

 

[JTL]

^ will do.

 

[skimjim]

OP.... did you read my UV-C advice?

 

[xCry0x]

Using a UV sterilizer for the spores definitely sounds like one of the few good reasons to use a sterilizer on a reef tank =)

I'm going to let the Vibrant dosing go for another month before exploring more options.

For the record, I run GFO in a reactor and my tank is fairly stripped -- Hanna ULR is usually a 3-4.

 

[JTL]

At this point we don't have spores since we take the frag out to pick off the BA so UV is not something I am going to mess with. I tried UV in 80's when it was all the hot thing for Ich, didn't do much.

 

[pfan151]

I do have about 100 emerald crabs, they are useless with those things..

Odd. I have one emerald crab in my 30g that was covered like in your pick and he eats it all day long. I have very few left in the tank at this point. My crab is an Atlantic emerald. Green with hairy legs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[alton]

Were you unsuccessful using Vibrant to fight it?

I was originally going to try Fluconazole but then in the main clay-boa thread on that topic I read that people had success with Vibrant so figured I would start there.

Yes it worked great on helping control it on my 180.