I HATE Bubble Algae!!

[AT_Hiker]

I'm getting ready to tear down the 2nd tank that I ruined by turning a small bubble algae issue into a HUGE bubble algae issue by trying to remove it. Is there anyway to safely remove bubble algae without creating a bigger problem?


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[dabob79]

Pop them while doing a water change, hold the siphon over them as you pop them to suck everything out. Get a small army of emerald crabs to eat them as they pop up, that's what I did.


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[rustyjames]

Vibrant has been working pretty well on my ba problem. Might be worth a try before a total teardown.

 

[davocean]

emeralds from somewhere that has them eating valonia already has always worked well for me, reefcleaners dot org has been my go to

 

[top shelf]

I get bubble algae here and there, by the sounds of it not as bad as you, and I just knock em loose with a turkey baster and suck em out. I try not to pop them while doing it either. Successful? Idk it keeps popping back up but hasn't gotten outta control as of yet.

What have you been trying to do so far?

 

[AT_Hiker]

I try to gently remove them from the rock with a razor, while running a siphon beside it. I always thought i was successful, but within days they started popping up everywhere. The more I try to remove, the worse it gets.


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[ryeguyy84]

Get some 1/4 rigid airline from home Depot and cut it so one side is pointy. Then start a syphon and use the point to dislodge them and then they get sucked down the airline. Takes forever but most of the time you get them whole. For bigger ones get a larger diameter hose

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[billdogg]

Vibrant has been working pretty well on my ba problem. Might be worth a try before a total teardown.

^^^This^^^

I am generally the last person around to suggest something like this, but after months of manual removal/emerald crabs/nutrient control I was at the end of my rope.

I gave in and thought I'd give it a try. At that point I really had nothing to lose anyway. I dosed it at ~2x the suggested amount and noticed within a couple weeks that things were beginning to change for the better. I continued the treatment for about 2 months without making any other changes to the system so that I could accurately judge it's effectiveness. By the end of that time, the bubble algae (and a small spot of HA) had completely disappeared. It was, sadly, replaced by cyanobacteria, but I attribute that to the decay of the BA and the nutrients released because of it. One round of chemiclean and my tank is back to where it belongs.

Now, if I can keep on top of water changes (I tend to get a bit lazy about them) I should be back on track.

 

[MuShu]

Reefcleaners guarantees that their emeralds eat BA.

 

[steviej1972]

Vibrant works brilliant, I tried for months to get shot of it and in the end used vibrant all gone in 4 weeks


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[Jaffster]

Bubble algae is the devil's work.

For me, getting a foxface whilst also using chemicals to bring the phosphate levels to 0 saw my outbreak of bubble algae completely vanish in about 2 weeks.

 

[Tripod1404]

I just remove them, scrape them and sometimes just dislodge them and they end up in the sump or eventually pumps just pop them. I honestly don care if they pop or not. I do this maybe once a year and it takes a year for their numbers to get high enough to bother me aesthetically. BA is a natural part of reef environments in the wild (that is why nutrient management is hard to kill them as they are adapted to live in reef levels of N and P), so I am not irritated by few here and there.

When a emerald crab or foxface eats them, they pop the BA as well. The only difference is they constantly remove BA, while most people just gets bored of doing it. If you are getting massive growth of these, you have a big nutrient problem.

 

[mako61]

Bubble Algae isa pain

My foxface did a good job, except in places he could not get to. I used Vibrant and rigid airline method to get the ones in cracks etc.

Vibrant did work for me. It didnt work overnight, took a few weeks.

 

[BFG]

If you can get a juvenile vlamingi tang , it would clear it in a few days . Tried it twice myself in my 4ft 120g tank . Both times , the fish was caught and exchanged with another fish at my lfs . After both outbreak , the bubble algae did not return at all .

 

[JTL]

Vibrant has been working pretty well on my ba problem. Might be worth a try before a total teardown.

I never had an issue with cyano until I used Vibrant.

 

[shaginwagon13]

Vibrant has been working pretty well on my ba problem. Might be worth a try before a total teardown.

Worked for me as well.

Try this first.

 

[IowaReefer]

Prolific Bubble algae propagation usually coincides with high nutrient levels. Have you tried reducing feeding and/or increasing water changes?