Red Algae on Elegance Coral

[Patrick Cox]

arrgh I hate missing predictions lol

its on the way though, Ive never seen em recover from those lightened bubbles. was the bottle a new one> just wondering
sometimes peroxide that was cracked open a few mos ago goes a little flat like a dr pepper...thanks for the high res pics, sharp looking

whenever the stuff does die off this will be a heck of a documentation for it.

Actually this is probably an old bottle. I will keep an eye on it!

 

[tektite]

You may be in for a lot more trouble in the future. That macroalgae is a type of highly invasive botryocladia. Unfortunately the stuff inside the bubbles has lots of spores for the macro. Since the bubbles were left in the tank while degrading its just releasing all those spores into the aquarium as the macro dies off. It can be a hard macro to combat. Your best bet is to remove the elegance entirely, manually remove every bubble possible, and return it to the aquarium after thoroughly rinsing it. Once it turns bright orange like that it won't recover. H2O2 is a great way to spot combat macros like you did, and normally there isn't a problem with just letting the macro die off in the aquarium, but the shell of the bubbles will have protected the inside gel/spores and the H2O2 won't have killed all of that. Just keep an eye out in your aquarium for awhile for more bubbles showing up. Whatever macro you're going up against, manual removal of all you can as a first step is always the best way to begin.

 

[Patrick Cox]

You may be in for a lot more trouble in the future. That macroalgae is a type of highly invasive botryocladia. Unfortunately the stuff inside the bubbles has lots of spores for the macro. Since the bubbles were left in the tank while degrading its just releasing all those spores into the aquarium as the macro dies off. It can be a hard macro to combat. Your best bet is to remove the elegance entirely, manually remove every bubble possible, and return it to the aquarium after thoroughly rinsing it. Once it turns bright orange like that it won't recover. H2O2 is a great way to spot combat macros like you did, and normally there isn't a problem with just letting the macro die off in the aquarium, but the shell of the bubbles will have protected the inside gel/spores and the H2O2 won't have killed all of that. Just keep an eye out in your aquarium for awhile for more bubbles showing up. Whatever macro you're going up against, manual removal of all you can as a first step is always the best way to begin.

Thanks for the warning. How long do you think it would take for new growth to show up if it is going to show up? Also, I am not so concerned because I have several other problems in my tank (flatworms, aiptasia...) and I am in the process of a new build that will be started from scratch. So no rock or sand will end up in my new tank. However, my corals will so I do plan to QT and dip my corals before they are placed in my new tank.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Here is a picture from today. It looks like there may be a few small bubbles up near the polyp that were not treated. I will need to wait a bit for the others to disappear and then see if I need to re-treat.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Does this treatment work for hair algae? I have a course hair algae that is on several of my snails and I would like to remove it before moving to my new aquarium. thanks.

 

[Reefir]

yes it will work on hair algea and lots of other algeas too , like stated before if you can remove it from the tank always start with manual removal first and scrub off with toothbrush and peroxide let sit ,rinse etc. make sure not to get it on the coral .

 

[Patrick Cox]

yes it will work on hair algea and lots of other algeas too , like stated before if you can remove it from the tank always start with manual removal first and scrub off with toothbrush and peroxide let sit ,rinse etc. make sure not to get it on the coral .

How long can I have a coral out of my system? When I am physically removing algae, should I do so in a separate container of saltwater from my system? Thanks.

 

[tektite]

Yes, always in a separate container. LPS you need to be careful with, when they're puffed out they can easily tear their flesh on their skeleton when out of water. Your best bet would be to clean it off at night or early in the morning before the lights have come back on as the elegance will be retracted and won't be so prone to damaging itself. If you just put it in a container of water though, leave it submerged and just scrub the algae off with a stiff toothbrush. Won't need to take it out of the water at all. Then another application of H2O2 as you did before will help kill of whatever algae's left.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Yes, always in a separate container. LPS you need to be careful with, when they're puffed out they can easily tear their flesh on their skeleton when out of water. Your best bet would be to clean it off at night or early in the morning before the lights have come back on as the elegance will be retracted and won't be so prone to damaging itself. If you just put it in a container of water though, leave it submerged and just scrub the algae off with a stiff toothbrush. Won't need to take it out of the water at all. Then another application of H2O2 as you did before will help kill of whatever algae's left.

Thanks, yes, I did previously make sure the polyp was more retracted into it's skeleton. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Patrick Cox]

Well, it has been 2 weeks since my peroxide treatment and below is the result. I suspect that I either missed a few small areas or I didn't leave the peroxide on long enough. So, I will treat these last few areas and that should be the end of the Bubble Algae.

 

[Patrick Cox]

OK, it has taken me awhile - been busy - but here is my final picture of this coral after treatment. I had to do 3 applications of the peroxide. I think the reason was that I did not spend enough time treating areas with smaller bubbles. I believe the remaining red spots on the coral are flatworms, which I am also trying to treat. Thanks for all of the help!

Pat

 

[brandon429]

Thank you for taking the time to document all of that Patrick

One of the top before and after pictures we have

Can i have permission to repost two of your pics credited back here on other peroxide threads

 

[Patrick Cox]

Thank you for taking the time to document all of that Patrick

One of the top before and after pictures we have

Can i have permission to repost two of your pics credited back here on other peroxide threads

Sure, no problem. I hope this will help someone. Here is one more picture that was taken the day after my final treatment. You can see all of the small bubbles glowing from the treatment. You really have to pay attention to treating these small bubbles.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Well unfortunately, it seems like these bubbles are coming back. I see a number of very small bubbles popping up on the skeleton. Any ideas what I can do or how I can change my application of peroxide to permanently eliminate these bubbles? Maybe I didn't apply long enough? Did I rinse too soon? (I can provide a picture but I have a clean skeleton with a number of very small bubbles appearing.) Thanks!

 

[tektite]

scrub the skeleton with a toothbrush before re-applying the peroxide, that may help.

 

[Patrick Cox]

scrub the skeleton with a toothbrush before re-applying the peroxide, that may help.

OK, good suggestion. Do I need to be worried or mindful about how long the coral is out of the water? Would pouring some water over the polyp every so often be helpful? How long should I leave the peroxide on the coral while it is out of the water before I rinse with fresh salt water and place back in the tank?

Thanks!

 

[brandon429]

Yes sometimes it's a control method not a permanent kill. The benefit for you is the length of time in between kills where you coral and tank is not ravaged by the algae

You can find better preventatives in between each kill.... Ideally you would lift out the coral and set it on a dinner plate

Have a little spray bottle of clean tank water
Wet paper towel squares with peroxide and wall paper them around the skeleton, which keeps peroxide off the polyp, a clean application method....

Spray the polyp occasionally to keep it wet, sitting on the plate for four mins, kept moist, then put back in tank will be fine. Four mins of really wet paper towel, or paint brush application will be a much more aggressive kill.

Also don't forget the option to hold the polyp upside down in the tank where the skeleton area with the algae sticks up out the top of the water. You can peroxide burn it for 30 mins that way if you want, sometimes the most creative approaches are the simplest. Make a little styrofoam raft to float it for awhile, so many different ways

If the polyp is wet the whole time you can focus on treating the exposed part without concern.

Imagine how far gone the coral and others areas might be now if we never took the first action. What you have used to kill thousands of tanks because nothing could stop it. If your worst case outcome is you retreat every three months until a miracle cure is found that's ok!!

Toothbrush wet w peroxide is a fine approach.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Yes sometimes it's a control method not a permanent kill. The benefit for you is the length of time in between kills where you coral and tank is not ravaged by the algae

You can find better preventatives in between each kill.... Ideally you would lift out the coral and set it on a dinner plate

Have a little spray bottle of clean tank water
Wet paper towel squares with peroxide and wall paper them around the skeleton, which keeps peroxide off the polyp, a clean application method....

Spray the polyp occasionally to keep it wet, sitting on the plate for four mins, kept moist, then put back in tank will be fine. Four mins of really wet paper towel, or paint brush application will be a much more aggressive kill.

Also don't forget the option to hold the polyp upside down in the tank where the skeleton area with the algae sticks up out the top of the water. You can peroxide burn it for 30 mins that way if you want, sometimes the most creative approaches are the simplest. Make a little styrofoam raft to float it for awhile, so many different ways

If the polyp is wet the whole time you can focus on treating the exposed part without concern.

Imagine how far gone the coral and others areas might be now if we never took the first action. What you have used to kill thousands of tanks because nothing could stop it. If your worst case outcome is you retreat every three months until a miracle cure is found that's ok!!

Toothbrush wet w peroxide is a fine approach.

Thanks, I will give it another try for a longer application. The good news is that I am starting a new tank and none of my current corals will be placed in the new tank until I am certain they are pest free!

Pat

 

[brandon429]

this elegance would cost about $150 at my LFS id transfer this bad boy anyway lol

Sorry we don't have the perfect kill but I guarantee you if this would have been 2005 before we knew about peroxide we'd be dealing with a much, much worse issue now. Heck uv a bandaid this stuff is lol. I retreat mine every few months until we find the better cure

 

[Patrick Cox]

this elegance would cost about $150 at my LFS id transfer this bad boy anyway lol

Sorry we don't have the perfect kill but I guarantee you if this would have been 2005 before we knew about peroxide we'd be dealing with a much, much worse issue now. Heck uv a bandaid this stuff is lol. I retreat mine every few months until we find the better cure

Thanks. Yes, it is a nice specimen. It can expand to the size of a peewee football! This morning I broke out a toothbrush and brushed peroxide all over the skeleton. I will do the same again in a couple of days. I really want to permanently get rid of this algae! We will see.

Pat