Hrm , bubble algae ( pics )

Versus · #1 11/27/2007, 11:53 PM

I wont get into it to much but , I left away . gf took care of the tank . skimmer crapped out , too many nutrients , bubble algae decided to be my new aqua scape destroying all of my corals and only leaving a couple items that were softies .

I have 10 emerald crabs and have had them in there for 2 months , they have not done squat.

My question is , I would hate to cook this amount of rock shooting 450 in rock down the drain because of some algae seems harsh . Scrubbing , well heh as you can see this is near impossible .

What are some alternatives ? could i remove the fish , remaining softies then totally black out the tank and deprive it of any nutrients ?

I need a fairly fast method as my gf who screwed up the tank wants it pretty by xmas .

even the male clown fish is asking for your help , look at his lil face in both those pictures. dont let him down or he will cry

CalDiver · #2 11/28/2007, 01:12 AM

Emerald Crabs worked for me. Didn't have as much as you seem to, but it did work.

kawicivic · #3 11/28/2007, 01:37 AM

from what i have heard emeralds rarely help with bubble algae... i usually see them eat empty bubbles but they say not to pop them... I would say your best best would be to scrub one rock a day and then freshwater dip and try to get everything off. Hopefully that will keep the ammonia spikes down. Or you could skip the freshwater dip and just mix up some fresh saltwater each day for it. If you were patient enough you could try pull up each bubble and trying not to break it.... but I dont think it would be worht the effort. Good luck

jjakes24 · #4 11/28/2007, 11:01 AM

Actually, pulling each bubble off is worth the effort. I had an infestation just as bad as you. I did each rock one by one but rinsed them in a separate salt water bucket before placing them back in the main tank. Anyway my bubble algae has not returned, instead I have been plagued with hair algae. Got rid of one, in came another. Go figure.

Versus · #5 11/28/2007, 01:48 PM

Oh boy hehehe , It was getting bad before and I had added ( which I now forget ) a small yellow gold powder substance . it came in a very tiny jar I think it was to totally get rid of nitrates or something . ( was not copper ) Unfortunately it killed every hermit crab .

I was hoping there was some advances in destroying the bubble algae
like terminator fish or something.

( funny you mention that jakes first time i scrubbed them all I have been noticing hair algae growing although its not the type you have its very similar )

JB23 · #6 12/02/2007, 10:57 PM

Folks;
RSM set-up for 4 weeks now with 40lbs of cured rock, ro/di water, & all is well, except 2 rocks definitely infected with bubble algae(ventricaria). Can I simply remove the 2 from the tank, & using tweesers, take off, & return the rocks to the tank? Should I rinse in ro/di salt water before I re-introduce? Any thoughts would really be appreciated-Thanks-Jerry

JB23 · #7 12/10/2007, 08:29 PM

Folks;
Once again, looking for some help W/bubble algae-note above post-Thanks-Jerry

Tu Ku · #8 12/11/2007, 10:34 AM

Get a pair of tweezers and pull the rock up out of the water. Hand pick each one of those little bubbles off until every single one that you can see is gone. Oh, and don't break any of them. If you do break one, quickly dip the rock in r.o. and continue picking the rest of them off.
Versus, for you this will be a daunting number of hours, but if you're not going to cook them away, this is your only solid option.
Think of it as zen. Be methodical. It's the price you pay for the girlfriend's beautiful Christmas.

C. Friesen · #9 12/11/2007, 11:16 AM

Hi, I have a few bubbles in my tank. I have found that old dental tools like the kind they scrape your teeth with work great for removing the bubbles. The tool can get between the bubble and the rock easily. Then you just pry it off. I got mine from a surplus tool place called Tool Town. They also work great for removing o-rings.

Good luck with riding yourself of this pest.

Chris

graveyardworm · #10 12/11/2007, 06:10 PM

I just ripped it all out by hand, and set up a refugium with cheato and caulerpa to compete for nutrients. Adding some emeralds may help to keep it down, but in this case you will need to be the primary herbivore ( just dont eat it ).

JB23 · #11 12/11/2007, 09:51 PM

Folks;
Thanks for the info-after 5 weeks, live rock, no substrate, lights on 5-6 hrs per day, zero ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, I'm doing a 30% water change tommorow. I'll remove the 2 infected rocks, use a tweeser to take-out the bubble algae, then rinse with the water removed from the tank. Hope it works!
Thanks-Jerry

graveyardworm · #12 12/11/2007, 10:47 PM

Part of the problem is when the bubbles get to growing in the tight little bunches they become detritus traps helping to create better conditions for more to grow.

lancer99 · #13 12/11/2007, 11:47 PM

I would agree with graveyardworm, IME, it's important to get rid of as much detritus as possible after removing any nuisance algae.

But I don't agree with whomever said that you have to be careful not to pop the bubbles...I think that's a reefkeeping urban myth.

As an illustration, I have two pieces of Florida LR in my seagrass tank touching each other. One got overrun by bubble algae when I was away, but after removing every bubble I could find (popping some/most) of them, it's mostly bubble-algae free....and the other piece never got any bubble algae.

-R

Tu Ku · #14 12/12/2007, 11:43 AM

There is a key word in your statement that contradicts all of the rest of it.
The key word is........mostly
Mostly, meaning not all. You still have bubble-algae, and therefore you havn't dispelled any "reefkeeping urban myth"
The bubbles themselves carry algal spores and guaranteed that popping them in the water column releases these spores to spread elsewhere.

graveyardworm · #15 12/12/2007, 05:11 PM

Once this algae is in your tank popping the bubbles is irrelevant, the spores already exist and are just waiting for the right conditions to sprout. If you use herbivores to help control it there is no getting around having bubbles pop in the tank. Part of the reason algae such as this reach plague proportions is inadequate herbivores, and/or other controls such as nutrient limitation and competition for available nutrients.

JB23 · #16 12/12/2007, 10:09 PM

Folks;
I thank all of you that have posted! RSM, 5 weeks, no substrate, all is well with water chemistry. 3 rocks infested with bubble algae. Tommorrw, doing a 30% water change. I'll remove the rocks, pluck with tweesers to remove, then rinse with the water retrived from the tank-then reinsert.
Any thoughts really appreciated.
Take Care All-Jerry

urbanthreatz · #17 12/15/2007, 08:30 AM

My rabbitfish eats all mine...

TammyLiz · #18 12/15/2007, 01:23 PM

I believe, though I'm not sure, that the spores are only mature in the largest ones. IMO it doesn't really matter, though. That picture at the top of this thread shows such a thick infestation its not going to hurt anything to pick them off whether they pop or not!

When I got my tank it had a lot of bubble algae; there two different kinds of it. As we dismantled the tank we picked off most of the bubble algae. I still have a little and just pick it off every once in a while but it is not nearly as bad as it was originally. I don't use tweezers. I would think that would be more likely to pop it. I just pull them off with my fingertips. The bubbles look so delicate but they are actually quite hard.

So I'd go with picking them off with your fingers. Even if you don't worry about dipping, etc, any that you remove will be gone and you'll have that much less of it. Even with some of them popping I did not end up with a crazy bloom of it after messing with it. I think the reason it persists in my tank is that I didn't worry about a few that were deep in crevices in the rock.

I can't imagine it being pretty by Christmas at this point unless you have a lot of time on your hands, or if your tank isn't very big, but with some work you can probably get it under control.

DivaMan · #19 12/15/2007, 07:01 PM

Heres an interesting little tidbit out of my bio book, and that is that each and EVERY bubble is a single algal cell, and the spores are mature in the smallest bubbles as well.

AIMFish · #20 12/15/2007, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by graveyardworm
.... and set up a refugium with cheato and caulerpa to compete for nutrients.

Quote:

Originally posted by graveyardworm
Part of the reason algae such as this reach plague proportions is inadequate herbivores, and/or other controls such as nutrient limitation and competition for available nutrients.

Listen to the worm

nutrient control or competition from other algaes is the best way to go.

JB23 · #21 12/15/2007, 10:47 PM

Folks;
Thanks to all that have responded! Well, did a 20% water change, & most importantly, removed the infectected 3 bubble live rock, then just using by hand removed ALL!
I'll update-Thanks Again-Jerry

Versus · #22 12/22/2007, 03:52 PM

Heading out to my holiday vacation but , I ended up getting rid of a fair amount of bubble algae. Still awaiting my replacement parts / wireless vortech controller , new pump for my skimmer etc. So all the soot etc is still fairly bad. I ended up putting everything in my sump and ( turning off the water supply of course ) turning the heat to 96 for 24 hours and 3 days without light . by that time most of the bubbles were alot softer and just "falling" off.. Unfortunately there was a down side. 1 is I have pulled a gallon and a half of bubbles from the bottom of my tank once the rock was back in .

and i still cant get them all , secondly some live rock had broken off and made its way to my return pump and its causing issues .

Tank is still overly dirty but I think after the equipment comes , a nice cleaning of the glass and a hearty water change I should be ok.

( mr. wiggles going for a swim )

glub glub

Indermark · #23 12/28/2007, 10:58 PM

I'm battling this bubble algae that is just as bad as the pictures in the first post. I just bought 8 emerald crabs for 8 dollars a piece. Now i'm kinda mad that some people are saying they are not that great. I'm beginning to think that I should take out the rocks and pop them all and then dip it in RO so that any spores on the rock will be somehow hurt by the fresh water. My other idea is to get some needles and some braided tubing or a gravel siphon and push the needs throught the tubing. Basically start the siphon and start poking everything and let it suck out the spores as you poke. I'm not sure How good of an idea this is I have some pretty big pieces of rock and are covered with corals so i'm afraid to do the dip method. More suggestions or comments on this horrible algae is appreciated.

Ryan

bigScott · #24 12/29/2007, 12:53 AM

bubble alge sucks..but i found a small foxface an hes goin to town on it..an my problem is almost as bad as yours..but the foxface eats it all day long..

scott

Versus · #25 12/29/2007, 03:27 AM

I really do not know where people came up with the emerald crab idea .. like you I had purchased a lot of them and nothing. I think the only thing they do is pick stuff off the top of the bubble and sometimes pop them.

The fox faces do work but its like a 1/10 chance the one you buy will actually start picking at them.