HELP: Red Bubbles

[ducmis]

I have red bubble algae growing all over my tank. It was only on the glass at first. Now, they are growing everywhere. How do you stop this? I was about to break down the whole entire tank and scrub them off and put each piece back in, but I don't really want to do that yet. Any ideas?

 

[mpoletti]

Is it bubbles that look like they are under cyano algae, or red slime?

 

[MrMikeB]

I would refrain from any drastic measures such as tearing the whole thing down to get them off. Oceans are not clean, so scrubbing rocks and what not could make your problems worse. Most tanks will go through various algae type blooms as they mature, this is 'normal.' The key is to determine what the issue is and slowly introduce change that will correct what is causing the symptoms. Rapid change typically always spells disaster.

 

[djscribz]

first step is to calm down, second step is to google and identify the algae in question, third step is to find a inhabitant that will eradicate the problem. bryan over at CRS is very good about letting you buy and return animals for full refund to take care of algae problems

 

[DarkDevil]

Just as Marko9 mentioned, the red bubble u mentioned is it solid red bubble macro algae like green bubble but in red color? or is it red bubble on a "stalk", like a grape? or is it appears to be red bubble under some red slime coating? you have to treat those differently.

pulling the rock out will be your last resort, but before that, you may try lowering the photo period, feed less, heavy skimming, 24/7 fuge with a lot of cheato in it. but if none helps, which like my old tank, then pretty much u just have to tear it apart to start over. my old tank was infested with green grape macro, no matter what I do, I can't get rid of it. but anyways, good luck.

 

[xia]

If you have cyano or red slime, I'd try chemiclean. I've tried the critters and haven't had much luck with them. Although it's better to try the natural way, the quick and easy way to do it is Chemiclean. I've used it without any ill effects at all on my mix reef.

 

[loup]

I'll second xia suggestion. I battle cyano for a good 4 months with weekly water changes and sucking them out. I resorted to chemiclean with no ill effect on my sps tank. Haven't seen a speck of cyano since. Just follow the box instruction and have lots of flow to keep oxygen up for that 24 hour period.

 

[Paliya]

Got any pics of it? The usual responses are going to be more skimming, a fuge, better flow, etc. I personally would use chemicals as a last resort, but that's just me. There's usually some critter who will eat it as a temporary solution, but getting rid of algae long term ususally entails more agressive nutrient export.

If it's Botryocladia, then I think any herbivore will eat it (tangs, rabbitfish, seahares, queen conch maybe...), if it's some kind of Valonia, then emerald crabs might take it out. If it's Cyano you might have to go the "improve flow, better skimmer, more water changes, etc." route. Phosphate removal media in a reactor of some sort might help also.

Edit: And if it's a relatively new tank, it might just go away on it's own if you keep your water paramaters in check.

Good luck,
-Pat

 

[ducmis]

I did some researc and it is call Botryocladia skottsbergii has been dubbed by some as 'Red Valonia'. I will do more water changes, and leave the skimmer on for the rest of the week. 24/7. any chemical that is safe. I don't have any sps, just lps and softies.. any help would be great. thanks for all the replies.. any more suggestions would be wonderful.. ... I just did a water change last night... I am pulling out a number of live rocks behind the tank to give more flow.. Should I still add chemiclean?

 

[xia]

If you have Botryocladia, Chemiclean won't do you much good. I would just take it out and scrub off what I could, since your tank is kinda of small. I had a turbo snail that ate that stuff up, you could try that.

Are you using a skimmer and RO water? Do a big water change, maybe you have too much nutrients in the water.

 

[ducmis]

Thanks. I'll do another water change when my RO System comes in.

 

[ducmis]

<img src="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/139330P1010306.JPG" />

 

[ducmis]

On the live rock is about 50 of them. I just scraped some of them off. You can see clearly three of them ..

 

[StunnaShadez]

i may be wrong, but if you pop them, their pores will spread causing more to grow like green bubble algae. but again, i may be wrong.