You should probably get a dozen emeralds. Even if the treatment works, they will come back. Get some from the keys... they destroy bubble algae like a boss and are better than ones from other areas of the gulf. They don't like to come out into the open, so they will eat the stuff that you cannot see first, but they will get to it all eventually.
Relentless bubble algae, anyone have luck with vibrant?
- Thread starter Piper27
- Start date
Piper27
I love bengals
Yea I used to use emeralds from they keys and always got the small females. They worked on for smaller tanks that were not heavily fed.
I broke down all my tanks but my 8' fragging tank upstairs. I cut up all the corals that were encroached or invaded by bubble algae and it's all packed in upstairs. I sold all my big fish and bought a small red Sea sailfin. I will probably get some emeralds soon just to have extra help. The small purple and yellow scopus tang are eating bubble algae. They were in the wife's smaller tank. It now all the fish are in the crate tank upstairs.
I did a shot of vibrant last week and will add my second tomorrow. There is not much algae anywhere but a few small spots of bryopsis I can keep an eye on to see when it starts working. I plumbed in a 100 gallon rubbermaid upstairs to house all of my live rock in the dark so I don't have to fight the bubbles on the rocks. I only have to clean the corals we have left. I should show a pic of the birds set that got infested. The algae almost killed the whole don't from the inside out....
I broke down all my tanks but my 8' fragging tank upstairs. I cut up all the corals that were encroached or invaded by bubble algae and it's all packed in upstairs. I sold all my big fish and bought a small red Sea sailfin. I will probably get some emeralds soon just to have extra help. The small purple and yellow scopus tang are eating bubble algae. They were in the wife's smaller tank. It now all the fish are in the crate tank upstairs.
I did a shot of vibrant last week and will add my second tomorrow. There is not much algae anywhere but a few small spots of bryopsis I can keep an eye on to see when it starts working. I plumbed in a 100 gallon rubbermaid upstairs to house all of my live rock in the dark so I don't have to fight the bubbles on the rocks. I only have to clean the corals we have left. I should show a pic of the birds set that got infested. The algae almost killed the whole don't from the inside out....
krzyphsygy
Active member
I purchased a Strawberry crab and he knocked out my infestion in just a few weeks. I jave a bubble here and their, but he went to town on it. Nocturnal crab so I really never see him, but he worked on it. I have not seen him in some time but I know he around.
Piper27
I love bengals
I used to use cheato and it was a good nutrient reducer on my tank years ago. I tried to put some in the first tank upstairs when I set it up but bacteria from carbon dosing liked to stick to it and it didn't do well. Never grew really. A friend suggested a cheato reactor too.
I have had zero nitrates and phosphates for a long time though. I have never really seen a difference in the level of bubble algae and nutrients, only fish or crabs made a difference before. I am hoping the vibrant will help get rid of the stuff I can't get to or I didn't see and clear the tank out of other stuff. Then hopefully the fish in the tank will keep up. I k ow the ones I have in there now do eat bubble algae since I have seen it.
Maybe I should put this guy in the frag tank? I bet he will eat the bubble algae
Haha, I saw it a few years ago when I moved rock from a tank into the dark liverock tank I use to keep sponges and such. Then it was maybe 1.5" and looked like a black emerald crab, definitely not. I guess it's a gorrilla or teddy bear crab. It's at least 3.5" across on its shell. I would have put him back in the rubbermaid tank I set up on the system to hold the rock but I left a filefish in there to keep the aptasia under control. Didn't realize this guy was already doing that until I got all the rock out and saw him. Then realized he was why my rocks were spotless! Creepy thing, I don't want to kill it...
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I have had zero nitrates and phosphates for a long time though. I have never really seen a difference in the level of bubble algae and nutrients, only fish or crabs made a difference before. I am hoping the vibrant will help get rid of the stuff I can't get to or I didn't see and clear the tank out of other stuff. Then hopefully the fish in the tank will keep up. I k ow the ones I have in there now do eat bubble algae since I have seen it.
Maybe I should put this guy in the frag tank? I bet he will eat the bubble algae
Haha, I saw it a few years ago when I moved rock from a tank into the dark liverock tank I use to keep sponges and such. Then it was maybe 1.5" and looked like a black emerald crab, definitely not. I guess it's a gorrilla or teddy bear crab. It's at least 3.5" across on its shell. I would have put him back in the rubbermaid tank I set up on the system to hold the rock but I left a filefish in there to keep the aptasia under control. Didn't realize this guy was already doing that until I got all the rock out and saw him. Then realized he was why my rocks were spotless! Creepy thing, I don't want to kill it...
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afernandez
Never Quit!!
Be very careful with vibrant.
I tried it and expericed color loss at their "recommended dosage" & cyano patches
I tried it and expericed color loss at their "recommended dosage" & cyano patches
Piper27
I love bengals
Thank you for the heads up! Do you have a guess at why you saw lightened coral colors?
My tanks been through a huge change so I am really keeping an eye on things. Nitrates went up to 3 last night from detritus coming off the rocks when I moved them out to wash and replace them.
My tanks been through a huge change so I am really keeping an eye on things. Nitrates went up to 3 last night from detritus coming off the rocks when I moved them out to wash and replace them.
Had it bad in my previous 240G tank. Rocks were covered. I added a blonde naso tang, sailfin tang and one spot fox face and a few emeral crabs. Manually removed all the bubble algae I could and let the tangs and fox face take care of the bubble algae. The emerald crabs took care of any of the small newer bubble algae that was forming on the rock. I watched each of the fish I added eat the bubble algae and that was very satisfying. At night I would watch the emeralds eat the smaller bubble algae, also equally satisfying.
Piper27
I love bengals
The foxface, red Sea sailfin and purple tang have always been my go to for bubble algae control. Once the foxface got to big and got a new home is when I realized how much work he did.
I am very happy with how clean the 8' holding tank has been since adding more light. Only problem will be detritus under the rest racks and resting on corals.
I am very happy with how clean the 8' holding tank has been since adding more light. Only problem will be detritus under the rest racks and resting on corals.
Piper27
I love bengals
I think it's been a least four weeks of vibrant use so far. I am using the recommended dosage weekly. I have seen no change in any of the bubble algae or bryopsis. Those are the only two algae I have in any visable proportions. My nitrates have been averaged at 4 since the tank switch and breakdowns. Po4 spiked some and was brought down with extra carbon source and nitrate dosing in a few days, that was because of the tank change too. I have seen no cyano. One coral rtned, doubtful it was anything in particular. The t5 side of the tank looks great and the halide section looks horrible for some reason. So bad I had to pack all the acros onto the t5 section. The pocci colonies on the halide side still look horrible. I think the bacteria is still balancing out in the tank. I had to lower my carbon source since I lost half my water volume and nutrient supply from all the fish I sold.
I was dosing 50ml of vodka and 50 ml of vinegar a day and need to measure what I am dosing now since it's on a constant drip I adjust when needed I haven't checked. I also took off the bubble king 300 and the 4' -12" wide euro reef. Now I am using an 8" wide 3' tall euro reef with a large bubble blaster pump...
I hope things turn around for the better. I am going to do another bubble algae removal on the whole tank and keep going with the vibrant until I see side affects, bubble algae being affected or until a month passes with no change.
It's odd I have not seen any change at all in anything. If anyone has tips or ideas or questions please chime in.
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I was dosing 50ml of vodka and 50 ml of vinegar a day and need to measure what I am dosing now since it's on a constant drip I adjust when needed I haven't checked. I also took off the bubble king 300 and the 4' -12" wide euro reef. Now I am using an 8" wide 3' tall euro reef with a large bubble blaster pump...
I hope things turn around for the better. I am going to do another bubble algae removal on the whole tank and keep going with the vibrant until I see side affects, bubble algae being affected or until a month passes with no change.
It's odd I have not seen any change at all in anything. If anyone has tips or ideas or questions please chime in.
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reefmutt
Active member
I must say, I've never really seen any relationship between nutrients and either of those types of algea. High or low, they grow...
And I also haven't seen much evidence that Vibrant does much for either of them, either..
Have you seen tanks where it worked on those algeas?
You are in the states, why not try algea fix? Unfortunately, it's not legal in Canada..
You should probably see the vibrant treatment through, I guess. How long will you go?
Maybe changing your carbon source? Maybe try nopox or something different?
Can you get your hands on fluconazole? Maybe beat one algea for sure and then concentrate on the other..
And I also haven't seen much evidence that Vibrant does much for either of them, either..
Have you seen tanks where it worked on those algeas?
You are in the states, why not try algea fix? Unfortunately, it's not legal in Canada..
You should probably see the vibrant treatment through, I guess. How long will you go?
Maybe changing your carbon source? Maybe try nopox or something different?
Can you get your hands on fluconazole? Maybe beat one algea for sure and then concentrate on the other..
GSMclowns
A Reef Enthusiast
I had some bubble algae in my tank, not a lot but they were there. After using Vibrant for about 2 months, they were gone. Its been about 6 months so far and I haven't seen them reappear. I also have a very tough red algae. it is about 1/4 inches long but very tough. Not many fishes like to eat them at all and turbo snails avoid them as well. After 2 months of Vibrant, they were gone but then I gave my bottle to a friend and stop using it. Now 6 months later, they are coming back again. Anyway, my point is that, Vibrant worked for me. One thing is that my tank was very clean in term of debris, low nitrate and phosphate to begin with. I also run quite a bit of carbon/gfo during this time
afernandez
Never Quit!!
Sorry for the late response ...kinda been out of the forums . Have a lot to catch up on
I'm not sure why , but my main suspicion It has to do with the fact that I run biopellets . I belive Vibrant loweres your nutrients via some kind of carbon sourse so bio pellets + another carbon sourse =disaster.
Piper27
I love bengals
Yea the nutrients are not causing the algae and I agree, either way normally doesn't affect them. Lots of people have threads about vibrant and bubble algae, they say bryopsis dies first then bubble algae slowly fades. I am not worried about the bryopsis, just using it as an indication tool since it starts fading first. I skipped last weeks vibrant dose because my big space Invaders colony turned dark green streaks all over it and had spots where skeleton was showing. I am not sure if the quick rise in phosphates played a role in it or not. They are testing 40 on the Hanna checker which I don't remember what number that translates too, I just always kept it at undectable.
Vodka and vinegar have always worked great for me and the dose is about dialed in now. Once phosphates are low again we will see if it holds. I am thinking the switch to pellet food could be the reason I am still seeing phosphates rise but it could be things balancing out too. I am trying to switch back to frozen since that's what has worked for me so well for so long.
Piper27
I love bengals
My corals are in a frag tank, I broke down all my displays. So I can focus on the bubble algae.
Yes I did start running gfo again in a reactor.
Did your nutrients rise during the vibrant dosage? I don't think there is any significant form of carbon source in vibrant. I normally can tell by looking at the tank if I up my dose any. Nothing has paled in color thankfully.
So at this point I am on the fence about continuing the doses. The space Invaders colony is looking better after skipping a week of vibrant but I also added gfo so it's hard to tell if it was one of those two changes or just something I have no ability to see or change. Bubbles need to be cleaned out of all the corals again badly. Birdsnest colony are completely gone with the whole coral infested to the tips. I will have a few things I just throw out like them. I am just not confident yet that I should continue the dose after such a huge tank overhaul. But I don't have anything specific to point to to back up my thoughts on stopping except for issues with one coral.
Any updates?
I've been fighting pretty nasty bubble algae in my 29g biocube for the last year or so. I starved my tank to the point where some of my SPS were RTNing (and still haven't recovered), and almost everything was light and/or brown from the low nutrients (heavy vodka dosing with heavy skimming). The bubble algae just kept growing and growing, despite everything else in the tank starving (I was cleaning the front glass once every week or two).
I added 4 emeralds and did a lot of manual cleanup (siphoned about 60% of the bubble algae out), but I still see it slowly growing back in again, and just like you mentioned, it almost entirely enveloped and killed off a huge birdsnest colony I had grown out.
The emeralds aren't keeping it back, and low nutrients didn't work, so I've resigned myself to manual siphoning with a hard plastic hose. I've actually started feeding more as well since not feeding hurt everything but the bubble algae. Within a day or two of feeding excessively (IMO) all of my corals colored up brighter than they have been in a year or more, and the bubble algae has since been growing just as fast as it did when I wasn't feeding at all.
I've been on the fence about Vibrant, but it seems so hit or miss, but I guess in the scheme of reef tanks, $30 for a product to have some moderate to low probability of erasing my bubble algae would be well worth it... Hopefully you have some positive updates, but I may have to go for this product anyway.
I hope your infestation died down or is gone!
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