Valonia algae

[alkamar]

I noticed just a small cluster of green bubbles that look to match the Valonia description. I read they are easy to rupture during removal letting a massive amount of spores loose. Should I use suction to remove them or leave them alone?

 

[DrPeaches]

Some people have said that bursting the bubbles will release spores, but others disagree. In the past I've just popped the ones I couldn't remove whole, and their numbers have steadily decreased. I think if I were releasing massive numbers of spores I'd have a valonia tank instead of reef tank, and that hasn't been the case.

Bust away!

 

[Reefdiver77]

I have to remove some with tweezers in my 12 nano on occasion. Of course the rock in such a small tank if fairly easy to take out

 

[bshumake]

I recommend getting an emerald crab and let it get the ones you cant. For the others, I removed the rocks I could and picked them off with tweezers. I would recommend safety glasses for this part. Murphy's Law really worked me over on that one. It seemed like 7 out of 10 popped bubbles resulted in my getting squirted in the eye.