How do I get rid of bubble algae??

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I noticed these little green clusters of green bubbles, well, I have just found out it's bubble algae and it's bad! How do I get rid of it? I only have it on one rock so far, however, it's my biggest and most cured live rock. Please help, I'm having a bad week and my fish have ich and I'm very sad.


Amanda

[steve68]

i got rid of my bubble algae with a green emerald crab & a yellow tang also i think i did more water changes to rid the water of high nutients but since ur fish have ich then i would sugest an emeral crab

[laddy00]

You can try to gently twist them off. Take care to avoid braking the bubbles. If possible take the rock out of water to do this. An emerald crab will eat some but maybe not all. I have also witnessed my naso tang eating bubble algae but your tank is too small for one of those. So my suggestion: remove as many as possible out of water (if possible) and then get an emerald crab and continue to remove ones you find.

[evermann]

eme's are great for this they munch it up...and they r safe...feel free to get a couple..

[Radcast2]

Originally posted by laddy00
Take care to avoid braking the bubbles. I often wonder why people say this? I am assuming that it is becuase if you break it, it'll put thousands of spores into the tank and you'll get more? I guess the emerald crab only reduces the amount of spores put into the tank, since an emerald crab will break them in order to eat it. They also will only go after ones that will fit inside there claws so if you have really big bubbles then you will ahve to remove them, by hand. I myself to the rocks out of the tank and removed as much as possible.

[steve68]

u'r funny man u anwser u'r own question i guess u have broken one before right :) LOL

[Radcast2]

:D broken about 20 to many :D

[mmgm]

If I were you I would be more concerned about ich than a small outbreak of bubble algae.

Tangs are Ich magnets. You are supposed to quarenteen your fish at least 4 weeks before introducing to your tank. All this information is readily available on different forums here at Reef Central.

As mentioned on other posts and by others I would suggest you go slowly with setting up your tank and take the time to read and understand what you are getting into before you do anything like add fish to your tank. Cycling your tank is one thing. Up until now you have just had some very small issues with a little cloudy water and don't understand why you have holes in your LR, bubble algae etc...

However, when you start adding livestock without first researching you put yourself on the boarder of irresponsible reef keeping. After all your fish will die very soon if you do not QT and treat them ASAP. Do you realize this?

Anyway, I think I will move on to another thread now.

Good luck to you moving forward in this hobby.

[steve68]

amanda how long have u had u'r tank set up for?
i had my tank for 4 months before i put 1st fish in there i wanted to make sure everything was staying stable & i still have not transfer over my corals from my 55 still waiting i think this weekend im going to do it.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

My tank is just shy of 8 weeks old and has completly cycled. Wow MMGM, you are kinda hard on me! I can't quarentine my fish, I have nothing to put them in other than my tank, and for your info, my tang doesn't have ANY ICH, it's my coral beauty that does and my Hippo has only one spot. AND, I am treating my fish with Kick Ich which is a reef safe treatment for ich, and Also, after only one application of the treatment, only my coral beauty has ich, and it went from having 6-7 white spots to only one in one day. I have read what people have suggested here, and I have followed what was directed. My tank HAS cycled, I have new growth, my parameters are perfect, including calcium now too. I refused to wait 4 months to put fish in if my tank is perfect. And I know for a fact, there are many people on this site here that did NOT wait 4 months before putting things in and there tanks are fine. I can't believe you are saying I"m am an irresponsible reef keeper because the fish I got from the store had ich when I bought it. I'm sure not everyone has a hospital tank and I'm sure other people other than me have had to deal with ich. I appreciate any advice from people that have been in my situation or have knowledge to help me with things Iam concerned about. I never posted that I needed help with ich, I posted about bubble algae, that it was I needed advice on, not how wrong I'm doing my tank. So, unless you have some positive advice to give me, don't post on my subjects!


Amanda

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

OOps, my tank is shy of 5 weeks, I was thinking Aug. instead of Sept.

Amanda

[drscheck]

Amanda, you better get use to having some very critical comments made about your practices, it seems to be commonplace here.

Anyways, about the Valonia, I have a great deal of experience dealing with this algae and personally if I had to have a algal breakout. I would choose Valonia. IMO, it is the easiest to remove of all the nuissance algaes. I have used a few different methods of removal.

First, just scrape it off the rock and while it is floating around in the tank scoop it out with a net or other tool

Second, use 1/4" polypropelene tubing cut on an angle, the tubing that is used for RO/DI, you can scrap and siphon at the same time, and when a large piece gets stuck to the end of the tube, just crush it against the glass.

Third, elevate your Alkanility to like 11 - 12 dkh, this alone will cause the Valonia to die-off.

Forth, Emerald crabs are hit or miss, I've had some that ate the stuff like no tomorrow, other wouldn't touch it.

IME, bursting Valonia does not proliferate the spread of this algae.

[WaterKeeper]

Holy Cow Amanda,

Your troubles sure pile up. Don't be too hard on mmgm. He is right on when he says that the ich is more of a threat than the algae. The algae will pass but your fish may pass on with ich.

It is too late to tell you that you should only medicate fish in a hospital tank as you already added Kick Ich to your main tank. IMO there is no such thing as a "reef safe" medication especially since you already have inverts. Ich is a protozoan and just about anything that kills it will kill other things in your tank. It is about the same as using a broad spectrum antibiotic. Both the good "bugs' and bad "bugs" are wiped out.

Anyhow, it just so happens that Steve Pro has a series of article on Ich in RK magazine. Suggested Reading--

Ich Part I (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.htm)
Ich Part II (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.htm)

Also---good input on bubble algae by Doug. Bursting the bubbles does not spread it IMO.

[Fuzzy]

Hi Amanda,

I would suggest doing weekly 10% RO/DI water changes. One of the causes of bubble algae is an excess of dissolved nutrients. Using a protein skimmer and water changes are the best way to get rid of them. (That and carefully picking them off your rock)
We had a bubble aglae problem a while back and it worked for us.
We also tried crabs. My wife went to a LFS while I was out of town, and came back with 2 Emerald crabs. Now I can't say if they helped get rid of the bubbles - But I can definitely say one of the buggers decimated a huge colony of Xenia. I didn't have a problem with losing Xenia - it was like a weed anyhow. But then it had the nerve to try out one of our Leathers. So needless to say, the crabs are gone!

I would also go slowly when stocking your tank. Be sure to keep tabs on your phosphate and nitrate levels. Your tank is young and you may still have some algae blooms or other problems. I'm not saying you will - But a guy who knows a lot more than me said there is one rule to remember when keeping reef tanks.
"Bad things happen Fast, Good things Take Longer".

Be patient, keep reading RC, and you will be successful!!

Hope this helps,

Fuzz

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I have been told by just about everyone to only medicate my fish in a hospital tank, but as I have mentioned several times before, I don not have a hospital tank, nor can I afford one or have room for one. Also, I have a ton of snails and crabs(red and blue legged) they have not been affected in any way by this medicine, nor have my feather dusters or anything other than ich. I don't think I'll buy the the emerald crabs, I have enough crabs in there and my tang is picking at live rock all the time. I think i'm going to try using my python and syphin and scrape the algae at the same time. I am doing 10 % water changes weekly now, I guess I'll bump it up to 15%.And I am using RO water.
I have a love hate relationshiip with this site!!! I love that people want to help me get to where I want to be, but I hate that people can be so crude! DOn't you think I feel bad enough about the ich? Don't you think it wouldn't matter if my tank was cycles 5 weeks or 5 months, my fish can still get ich? I 'm doing what I can with my budget, this medicine alone was $40. which my husband doesn't know, if he did, I'd be in big trouble! I had been doing a lot of reading, although you may not think so. I am also adding garlic extreme to my fish food to help boost immune system and also I was told that since ich can't see, they go by smell and attach themselves to fish because they can smell the fish, and by me feeding them garlic, the smell of garlic goes through the fishes body thus, the ich can't smell the fish and drops off. Now, that may all be a bunch of garbage, but like I said, I'm doing what I can.

Amanda

[WaterKeeper]

Originally posted by AEALOVESHERGIRLS
I am also adding garlic extreme to my fish food to help boost immune system and also I was told that since ich can't see, they go by smell and attach themselves to fish because they can smell the fish, and by me feeding them garlic, the smell of garlic goes through the fishes body thus, the ich can't smell the fish and drops off.
:lol: Well at least you have explained ot me how garlic cures ich. :D

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Look, I'm only telling you what was told to me, if it's a bunch of garbage, well, at least it can't hurt the fish.

Amanda

[Trek Rider]

So this thread isn't about ich, but I've used Kick Ich in my tank without any invert problems and it got rid of the ich infection. Maybe I was just lucky. I have since decided to avoid the fish which most readily suffer from ich infections.

Onto bubble algae, since I lost some livestock in the recent hurricane, I have a bit of a bubble algae problem. It's now on two rocks and has lost it's beauty. I am going with emerald crabs. I'll keep an eye on my xenias though.

[wooglin]

There are lurkers here that are ready to pounce on the first notice of anything that deviates from their "SOP".

[z6joker9]

honestly, IMO you may have stepped too far with the hippo tang. it's only 75 gallons, it's still new, and he is ticky about conditions. It might be ok, I noticed no one here has mentioned it yet and i'm sure most are more experienced than me, so i'd get a second opionon from someone.

a hospital tank does not have to be expensive. I used a $8.99 10 gal with no hood, a $20 aquaclear mini, a $15 submersible heater, and a few pieces of base rock for hiding places and biological growth(never move this to a reef or invert tank, it can leach the chemicals in medicine long after you've used them).

BTW my fish caught ICK while i was out on vacation. I lost a blonde naso, a coral beauty, a pysedochromis, and a damsel. I got home in time to medicate my tomato clown, and after a freshwater dip, he pulled through. My yellow tang, however, never caught ick. I was quite impressed with him.

[steve68]

i have a hospital tank made up of a 10 gallon plastic canister from wallmart $3.50 & a hang on filter i had laying around a local reefer gave it to me & also had a heater that he gave me.
i understand ur frostration amanda but remember u are feeding for 2 so be gentle on ur self if u where near me i would give u a filter for ur hospital tank heck PM me ur adress & i will send it to u just to help u out ( i will pay shiping:) ) but back to ur algae problem just do the water changes for now & keep on skimming.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Oh, well I can handle that!!!! I have a Walmart close to me! Oh Steve, that is so nice of you! But I think I'm going to see how much 10 gallon tanks are. Oh by the way, how in the world am I going to catch these guys out of the tank???????? Or, should I finish my treatment with the 3 of them in the tank and any future fish just quarentine them in the hospital tank for a week? By the way, all invertes are still acting as though nothing has been added to the tank and now, NONE of my fish have ich!!!!!! I'm so excited. The funny thing is, my yellow tang never got it, my blue tang only got 1 ich and it was my coral beauty that had 6-7 spots, but now I'm happy to say there are none. Now it's a 15 day treatment in which you add medicine every 4 days, so I have a ways to go with the treatment, and I can hardley wait for it to be done, I'd like to do a 15-20 % water change after the treatment and put fresh carbon in!


Amanda

[Kirk_M]

Originally posted by evermann
eme's are great for this they munch it up...and they r safe...feel free to get a couple..

Mine don't touch it. I have yet to see one of the 5 I have in the tank eating anything other than detritus off my rocks.

[steve68]

cool amanda :) my offer still stands for the filter :)
try looking at garage sales sometimes u can pick one up cheap.
yes the hard part is trying to catch them i made a fish trap its
plastic square about 4x4x4 & it looks likea cell i put food inside ofcourse u have to cach it as soon as u see the ich cuz they are still a bit healthy i wait it's like fishing when the fish goes in i pull the sting & gate goes up (gotcha)
my brothers tank had ich sorry to say he killed all his fish cuz he dint read the instructions but all his inverts survive :)

[Radcast2]

Hey Amanda take this with a laugh,...,...(remember we helped each other once)
You want crudeness...let them know you have a yellow tang in a 55g tank and then let them know how they are wrong for putting a emperor Angelfish that they got and is wild caught into there 135g. Them not understand that the thing was use to millions of gallons of water and now is in a cage, so what they have done is the same as you taken something that was happy and made it unhappy......
Good luck with bubble algae, and Wlmart has 10g tanks for like $8 down here and then they have some HOB filter for $14.99, if that helps your wallet some.

[WaterKeeper]

And now a word on behalf of a Lurker. :reading:

Originally posted by wooglin
There are lurkers here that are ready to pounce on the first notice of anything that deviates from their "SOP".

One of the ideas of the New to the Hobby Forum is to provide a little hand holding for the novice. With the phenomenal growth of RC it was hard for the staff to give all the personal attention needed so TRC was born. Some TRC members, like myself, lurk about the newbie forum and try to field the posts as they come.

Do we "toe the party line"? Well yes, to some degree. You must remember that this is the Newbie forum and not the Research and Development forum. There are tons of new idea provided in RC posts every day. When I suggest a course of action it may not include the most recent theory on the subject. Why? Well I want the new hobbyists reef experience to be rewarding. The info I give is based on both consensus and experience in the most widely accepted method to maintain a reef. I would be wrong if I gave the new reefer information that was not tested and accepted as proper for reef husbandry.

Take Amanda's case. Cryptocaryon is a ciliated protozoan parasite. In Amanda's tank right now there are a host of other protozoans that, in most cases, are beneficial to her tank. Although Kick-Ich may indeed kill off ich the question remains "what else does it kill?". The human drug manufactures spend billions of dollars on research looking for medication that are organism specific. Few are actually found and then only after years of testing. Do you think a reef medication goes through the same trials?

The biological processes in a tank are fragile at best and adding any medication to one's tank may upset that balance. There are also synergistic effects that may not be immediately apparent. A medication which has no immediate observable effect may cause dire problems down the road. This often caused inevitable build up of metals and other element that increase with time. While not a problematic levels in a new tank, they may be so a year from now. I am trying to steer Amanda away from taking those chances.

Yes Amanda, you made a mistake adding medications to your main tank. Is it the end of the world? I think not, but it is something you should try to avoid in the future. I hope you don't feel I'm chastising you. I only want to help.

If that isn't the party line then it is a least the WaterKeeper line.

[mike4271]

And so, back to the original question about bubble algea, I have had no luck with my Emerald crab, obviously had no training before I bought him :) . Ive had quite good results using a turkey baster, totally compress the bubble before going in after the algea, then gently force the opening over the algea and at the same time release the baster bubble and it most times draw it into the tube. Alternativley, if it wont go away, call Petsmart and tell them its a rare, never been seen before coral, they will most likely buy it off you :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[dmiannay]

Let me interrupt this thread for just one additional moment for an encouraging message :)

I realize Amanda's original question has gotten a bit lost in this thread, but I want to backup what Tom just said. In my intense research over the last two months on the board I can't say I've ever seen any Team RC member take a prideful position on a specific SOP. I have seen very responsible, balanced responses that seem to tow the "proven methodology" line. The goal of any Team RC member in this specific forum is to guide the newbie to a successful reef experience based on tried and true methods. Many others seem to like to chime in with unproven methods that might work in their particular setup but that could plunge the inexperienced newbie into spiraling tank conditions and discouragement.

Failure is a motivator to some, but sadly not to most. The best chance a newbie reefer has to get a successful reef tank going is to take a middle of the road (read: safe) approach at the beginning to allow for the confidence-building maturity that only time can bring.

My wife and I are complete newbies to this hobby and we appreciate Waterkeeper and the other TRC members for their balanced, non-controversial methods for starting and maintaining a reef tank. With maturity comes experimentation... but for us, that's a couple years away!

And now... back to bubble algae :)

[bertcmg]

Amanda,

You Do NOt need to wait 4 Months to add fish

However it may be better if you did

This way you will have gone through all the cycles and not just the Nitrogen cycle ( Algae cycles etc )

I used a product called BioSpira which is a bottled bacteria culture
I have seen some independent studies that show the Bacteria contained in some other products is not really the bacteria that is part of the nitrogen cycle

After adding Biospira into my tank I noticed my ammonia and nitrite levels rose for two days and wen't to zero less than 4 days later, Also I never had a nitrate spike

I added fish just a week later and have never seen the cycle ( Third month now )

I find that some people in the forum seem to overcomplicate the already complicated hobby of reefkeeping

I AM NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANY MANUFACTURERS IN ANY WAY. MY RECOMENDATION OF ANY PRODUCT IS SOLELY DUE TO PERSONAL EXPERINCE

[mmgm]

Originally posted by WaterKeeper


If that isn't the party line then it is a least the WaterKeeper line.

I couldn't agree with you more waterkeeper. When I first started the hobby I tended to add things to my tank more quickly than recomended. All was fine for a few months and then the big crash. After the crash I could not keep a fish alive more than a week.

I almost quit the hobby. Long story short before quitting I let the tank sit, mature and read all I could about disease control on this site. Also, compatibility of fish, Tangs in a small tank etc.... When I started stocking again I used the methodology identified on this site. To my satisfaction all went well. See pics of my tank....

When I post I try to help out and try to steer people away from mistakes I made in the past. I also learn from other more experienced reefers like yourself on how to avoid other potential problems.

Above all, absolutely no harm or crudeness ment or implied from any of my posts.....

I visit this site at my liesure and would not visit unless it was fun for me:D

See you on another thread......

[Diehl]

Amanda, What works for one person might not work for you:rolleyes: Thats great if your getting a Q-tank, but your going to have to keep your fish out of the main tank till the Ich is out of your system which might take 6 weeks? I think its more stressful for the fish anyway IMO. Plus if you have alot of LR in your tank your going to cause more stress trying to catch them. I would add garlic soaked foods instead. I have had Q-tanks in the past and lost more fish that way. I feed garlic to my tank and have not seen Ich for 3 months. I know its still there but my fish fought it off and I have not lost any fish since my tank has been set up:D But take whatever I said with grain of salt:rolleyes:

[DaveJohnson]

Originally posted by mmgm
When I post I try to help out and try to steer people away from mistakes I made in the past.
This is my reason for being here too (as well as learning, you'll never know it all and I've got some GREAT ideas and learned a number of things from people here)

If you can think of a mistake, I've made it. If you can screw up your tank in a certain way, I've probably done it too. I try to help people who are experiencing the same things I was and try to divert them from the many wrong paths I've been down (mainly from poor LFS advice and Tetra-Press books :mad2: )

This is a great place and it's sometimes hard to remember that there is more than 1 "right" way in that if something works well for me I promote it! :D

Cheers,
Dave Johnson (a TRC wanna-be)

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Thank you all for your comments. I realize I'm not the only person to have a new tank, you have all been where I am and now look at where you are. I hope to someday be where all of you are with the knowledge you have and a successful reef such as all of yours. I know I'm going to make mistakes, but I"m also learning from my mistakes. The hard part for me is I trust all of you, and all of you have different opinions, so I read like 5 posts that almost all contridict eachother(from different posts)and then I try to decide how to put all the information together. I'm sure it's because I'm hormonal right now, because when I'm not pregnant, I don't take things so personally, however, I take every post directed to me very seriously because believe it or not, I'm trying to do things right the first time around. It's also hard when I go to the LFS and they are recommending things too. So, although it seems like my threads are going in the wrong direction, I really am trying to learn and I really do love this site. So thank you, all of you for your comments, and I'll continue to post as the only way to learn is through advice and experience which all of you have.

My plan of action for the bubble algae is as follows...
10% water changes weekly(RO water of course)
I"m going to use a syringe(turkey baster) and gently suck up the bubbles
I'm going to continue testing my water every 4 days to confirm parameters are perfect
I'm going to buy a Hospital tank to keep for future outbreaks of ich(which I'm sure will happen because I have 2 tangs)
I'm going to continue the feedings with garlic extreme every single day, regardless of ich or not
I'm providing my fish with 6 different frozen and 2 different flake and one type of pellet food rotated everyday for optimum immune systems and generally happy fish(and no, I'm not feeding all that food at the same time, they get one kind per day)
I also have seaweed growing throughout the whole front of the tank I planted a long time ago, the fish graze all day long and love it. I also have bought dried seaweed I put on a clip sometimes.

If you have any other suggestions for anything I'm doing, please let me know!

Amanda

[cwschoon]

Hi Amanda. I am a lurker too and WaterKeeper is not as mean as he appears to be in his picture.

[cwschoon]

One more thing, Amanda, this is not an exact science. My "job" used to be calling on the better aquarium stores in Ontario and Western New York. When I had a question-and you learn something new every day-my strategy would be to ask the same question to as many people as possible, then go with my gut. This is what you should do and don't feel bad about it. You can do quite a bit of on line research on lots of other sites....not "chat" forums but "info" sites.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

thanks cwschoon, good tip!!!!

Amanda

[crpeck]

Read that whole thread .... WOW ....what a brou ha over bubble algae.

I'm a newbie too (tank up 4 months) and I think your plan sounds excellent. I agree with the last post ... read everything you can and then go with your gut. I ask, I've bought books, and read, and do searches on the internet, and even ask the guy I trust at the LFS. Heck, I even go back and forth between two LFS and have a ton of "favorites" bookmarked in Internet Exlporer in my "Fish" folder alone. It never ceases to amaze me how many different answers I will get sometimes to my questions. I just take it all in and decide what what makes the most sense for me.

Good choice about the Emeralds. I got two to take care of bubble algae. I left it too long because it was the first live thing to show up after I cycled and I was happy to see anything alive.

Well now it is out of hand, the emeralds haven't touched it, and I just busted the two of them picking on the base of a leather coral that I have been going crazy trying to figure out why it wasn't thriving.

Time to get the traps back out .... Hang in there!

Cathy
ready to go crabless

[Pinkskunk]

Bubble Algea are NOT strickly due to feeding the tank. I have NO fish, let me repeat once a gain, I have NO fish in my 120 reef and i have massive clusters that covers every rocks in the tank. and i use RODI water.