How Do I get rid of Bubble Algae?

[Bofa]

I can't use emerald green crabs because they eat my acans...also its spreading everywhere....Anyone know another way of getting rid of it?

Thanks

 

[NewJerseyreef]

i dont know if it will stop it from speading but i just picked them off as i saw thery are are hard so they wont pop unless you put some muscle into it but i would do that instead of having your corals eatin by the crab

 

[clownfreak]

I had bubble algae really bad but overcame it with time and nutrient control. Whenever I did a waterchange I'd suck out bubble too. The best best is to reduce nutrients and give it time. Now that I've been feeding heavily it is starting to come back though.

 

[seapug]

I had bubble algae really bad but overcame it with time and nutrient control. Whenever I did a waterchange I'd suck out bubble too. The best best is to reduce nutrients and give it time. Now that I've been feeding heavily it is starting to come back though.

+1. Bubble algae is often one of the final algae battles you'll have in a tank and you'll probably never completely get rid of it. Take steps to reduce nutrients (phosphate and nitrate) and rip it out where ever you find it and perform a water change afterwards. If you're diligent it'll usually subside after a few months.

 

[poolkeeper1]

Blond Naso Tangs are voracious eaters of Bubble Algae FYI But all methods mentioned along with this fish will help greatly. Breaking the bubbles while in the tank only spreads it worse, If you remove them without breaking them you will do better at getting rid of them.
Bill

 

[Myka]

I have battled Valonia on too many occasions. I have found copious amounts of GFO and many Emerald crabs to help as well as siphoning them out while doing water changes. I have Acans, and my Emeralds don't bother them.

 

[BFG]

I had my 4ft tank cleared of bubble algae by a single juvenile vlamingi tang. I did not bought it but was given to me by a colleague who was a newbie in the hobby that bought a packaged tank set from a lfs.

 

[Alysiak00]

i would like to hear more on where emeralds attack acans

 

[bur01014]

You can hear more about from me....I caught my emeralds at night eating up my acans as well.....quite strange, people say I needed to make more food available, but there is plenty of bubble algae.....my poor acans about bit the bucket, and it was hard catching that little bugger....into the sump he went!

 

[djmurray]

You can hear more about from me....I caught my emeralds at night eating up my acans as well.....quite strange, people say I needed to make more food available, but there is plenty of bubble algae.....my poor acans about bit the bucket, and it was hard catching that little bugger....into the sump he went!

HAvent heard much about Emaralds eating acans, but obviosuly possible.


As mentioned above, nutrient control, and with every water change try remove some (without poping them.

I got rid of mine with weekly water changes and hand pickin them off the rock.

 

[FISHUNT-72]

Everyone is concerned with breaking the bubbles,but the emerald crabs break it as they eat it.(at least I know my crabs pop it as the eat it)I also noticed some crabs really go after it while others pay it no attention.:hmm4:

 

[Bayliner]

but the emerald crabs break it as they eat it

very good point

 

[saltygeek]

Yeah I find that some like it more than others. I had one that had the tank clean of bubble algae. He died and I havent been able to get one that will eat as much of it as he did.

 

[Myka]

From what I understand and have seen myself, Emeralds tend to just eat the smaller bubbles, and only the bigger bubbles are sexually mature, so they don't spread when the Emeralds eat them.

There are many, many crab species (and genus!) out there including several different species of Emeralds. I wouldn't be surprised if some Emerald species are more reef-safe than others. Although I have witnessed large Emeralds catching small fish. Mine are always banned to the sump when they reach a certain size. I also had no success using just one or two Emeralds as I found not all Emeralds are interested in Valonia. It wasn't until I had 6 Emeralds in my 90 that I had success. I think it was just the point where there were enough of them that would actually eat it.

 

[Bofa]

What is GFO? Also I heard female emerald crabs are better than male ones? Anyone have any feedback on this?

 

[89Foxbody]

GFO = Granular Ferric Oxide. It's a filter media that absorbs phosphate, which contributes to algae problems.