Why does Valonia (bubble algae) get such a bad rap?

ACBlinky · #1 10/02/2007, 11:45 AM

Just curious, why does everyone hate Valonia (bubble algae) so much? IME it's easy to remove, doesn't grow very quickly, and hey - it's using up nutrients just like any macro would. I have a little patch of Valonia in my display, along with some Halimeda, and don't mind either. They're pretty, slow-growing, not really invasive, don't bother the corals... and I have to admit, visitors are always most intrigued by the shiny green 'coral'

So why is Valonia getting such a bad rap?

gregrex · #2 10/02/2007, 11:52 AM

My little valonia bubbles detach, travel to the sump and jam up my skimmer. I guess it's an easy enough problem to avoid, but that's my main valonia related beef.

landlord · #3 10/02/2007, 11:58 AM

Many algae species look rather attractive in small quantities. I think that the beef comes from those with large amounts that become rather uncontrolable.

FWIW --landlord

amike5 · #4 10/02/2007, 12:00 PM

They aren't always easy to remove, certain types do grow fast and take over large areas, they can grow quite large.

adw · #5 10/02/2007, 12:48 PM

I used to feel the same way when I had more space in my tank and the algae was limited to a certain area. Now that space is at a premium and the stuff has managed to spread it self all over the tank it's constant fight to keep up with it. Halimedia can be a real pain in the arse once it's got a foot hold.

seapug · #6 10/02/2007, 01:25 PM

I'd rather have bubble algae than bryopsis or derbesia, but it can be a big pain like any other.

All algae can be nice if they stay in small patches in one place. The problem is they usually don't.

advice1 · #7 10/02/2007, 01:31 PM

i just have one small bubble whats the best way to remove it?

SaltyDr · #8 10/02/2007, 03:20 PM

Pop it. Just kidding. Gently pry it loose and pluck it out. Popping it will release the spores and soon you'll have lots of baby bubbles.

MTB · #9 10/02/2007, 03:35 PM

Syphon it out. Easiest way IMO.

filmoholic · #10 10/02/2007, 03:52 PM

Good post becouse it really does have a bad rep.Dosent seem too have a lot of bad reasons for a bad rep tho.

Toddrtrex · #11 10/02/2007, 04:23 PM

I can't stand the stuff. In fact I am going to re-do my 58 because of it. IME, it does grow fast and it a huge PITA to get off of rocks. I have no issues with any other algae in my tank, but that stuff is out of control.

SDguy · #12 10/02/2007, 04:27 PM

Like any other algae, if it covers every inch of space in your tank, you will hate it.

That said, I remember mail ordering valonia for my tank back in the day

Cool green pearls!

Justin James · #13 10/02/2007, 04:29 PM

I've had a few bubbles of it along with 1 single aptasia that havn't spread yet since I setup the tank in earlie June 07. It's a joke to get rid of compared to Dinoflagelents... "TRUST ME"!!!

Toddrtrex · #14 10/02/2007, 04:38 PM

Tank looks nice from a far,

but...

I've stopped taking pictures of that tank because of that stuff.

jman77 · #15 10/02/2007, 04:59 PM

"Just curious, why does everyone hate Valonia (bubble algae) so much? "

you're kidding me right?

Anemone · #16 10/02/2007, 06:19 PM

Hey Todd,

Did you know you have bubble algae?

Kevin

xtm · #17 10/02/2007, 07:21 PM

I think there are two kinds of Valonia.. one that is tiny and grows in clusters and one that grows huge like marbles, but doesn't multiply fast.
I HATE the tiny clustered ones.. they look so gross and terribly hard to remove. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up

spleify · #18 10/02/2007, 07:40 PM

This crap took me 4 hours to get out of one of my refugiums. Finally I ended up tearing the whole thing down, taking it out back, and hosed out the refugium with the hose. Luckily (and I don't know how) none of it made it into the display. I bought a frag from my LFS, and it had 1 bubble on it, and I thought awww how cute, a piece of bubble algae. Within 8 days that's what I had on my hands.

Justin James · #19 10/02/2007, 07:42 PM

Green emerald crabs eat it. Just pop a couple of thouse bad boys in there and poof! It's gone!

gillies · #20 10/02/2007, 07:47 PM

I just restarted my entire system a few months back because of valonia hell. The stuff just kept spreading and spreading in a system that had been up about five years. Lost a lot of my best corals in an attempt to house them in a stock tank while new rock cycled. Now I'm rebuilding with frags. And to think, when I first saw it in my tank way back when... I thought it was pretty.

At first sign, I now pick it out with an exacto knife while holding siphon right next to it. Bye, Bye.

VALONIA HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

trmiv · #21 10/02/2007, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Justin James
Green emerald crabs eat it. Just pop a couple of thouse bad boys in there and poof! It's gone!

I'm apparently not paying my emerald crab enough, because he won't touch it.

DrBegalke · #22 10/02/2007, 07:58 PM

IME, only the larger emerald crabs eat it.

jman77 · #23 10/02/2007, 08:03 PM

I've tried small , large, female , & male emerald crabs , non have touched the stuff... i think it's a dam urban myth

Toddrtrex · #24 10/02/2007, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Anemone
Hey Todd,

Did you know you have bubble algae?

Kevin

Don't like you anymore.

It is the bain of my existence, I have 45 lbs of new rock curing rock now for when I replace all the old rock in that tank. Going to be a HUGE project, will have to clean out the sump and the overflow.

ACBlinky · #25 10/02/2007, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jman77
"Just curious, why does everyone hate Valonia (bubble algae) so much? "

you're kidding me right?

Not at all, this was a serious post! I do get frustrated with the Halimeda sometimes because I have to prune all the bits trying to grow in the rest of the tank (it's only allowed to stay in one area, but I don't think it knows that), but the bubble algae is easy to manage. I put my arm in the tank about once a month to scrape coralline off the back wall, and take the opportunity to spend a few minutes peeling off any bubbles that have popped up in 'off limits' areas.

One thing I didn't consider is real estate - our tank is very lightly populated with corals, because we lost so much when we moved house (and before that the tank wasn't exactly stuffed; we were still buying new corals to fill out the 90g after our upgrade). In a heavily stocked tank I imagine it would be much more of a pain to pull out the algae from between corals.

Thanks for all the replies guys, I really did wonder why everyone hated this stuff so much, now I have a better idea. I'd still rather have Valonia on my rockwork than Bryopsis, Caulerpa or hair algae, but I can understand now why you all get so frustrated