I have bubble algae cropping up help!

[Damsel13]

I need a refresher course. The darn algae is stuck right down tight in crevaces. Turkey baster won't work

 

[Scooterman]

Yea once you get it, best to remove it, I just take the rocks out & gently remove them & then rinse the rock throughly in some tank water. JMO though because I've seen all sorts of ideas!

 

[Krish]

Sorry to hear Debbie...I had the same problem. I had to physically remove the rocks from the tank to get all of mine. Some are just too hard to get to. They are a real pain so try and get them now before they get out of hand and be sure not to pop any mature ones in your tank

 

[trido]

Or you could just ignore them like I do. I have had some colonies for over two years that havent really done much of anything but exist. But keep in mind, I cant even get my cheato to grow

 

[Damsel13]

haha trido my cheato is super slow grower here as well.

krish, I already popped one. TOTAL BUMMER!

Scooty, the rocks are on have so much other life I would not want to lose, like mushrooms feather dusters all colors of coraline alage pods etc. so I don't know what to do.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will ruminate.

 

[dnjan]

I pull out what I can, and then follow trido's approach for the rest. I've had some big ones in the past that actually started getting covered by corraline algae. Of all the nuisance algaes, bubble at least seems to be the least aggressive in terms of damaging corals.

 

[loohunter]

an emerald crab might help

 

[Scooterman]

I pull out what I can, and then follow trido's approach for the rest. I've had some big ones in the past that actually started getting covered by corraline algae. Of all the nuisance algaes, bubble at least seems to be the least aggressive in terms of damaging corals.

Agreed, get what you can while they are small & hope the rest don't get worse, I've seen tanks with them & it takes a while to really get bad, If at all.

 

[Damsel13]

Ok, I just didn't want to pop anymore ( accidently popped two while trying to suck them out with a turkey baster). I need to address my water quality I know that will help. There are a couple of rocks I can get the whole bubble off and rinse quickly. Thanks for your help. Seems to me with nuicance algae the thing is to get on it quickly and not pretend it will go away...

 

[Scooterman]

Seems to me with nuicance algae the thing is to get on it quickly and not pretend it will go away...

Couldn't say it better, be aggressive on your cleaning & It will show in time. Also avoid the miracle cures & buying creatures to solve that type of issues.

 

[Reeferdude]

This is what I do...

Take a piece of plastic tubing and shape the end of it to use as a scraper. Shape and size may vary. Use it on the end of your siphon hose to scrape off the Valonia while doing a water change. This will siphon out any spores and loose pieces that try to float away...

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Reeferdude beat me to it...

If you get the little ones with a siphon while you do your water change, you'll go a long ways to slow the spreading down. I've got a big one right now down in a crevice that I can't get to, but I'm sure eventually it'll get big enough to get out... with someone standing by with a siphon hose! Also... with the accessible ones, try to "roll" them off your rock with your fingers. If you're gentle, you can usually do it without breaking them. Takes some practice though.

 

[72fishboy]

Ah the bubble algae problem, emerald crabs are a good assassin but think about it… they don’t swallow the sphere whole now do they?? So, is it a myth that popping them will spread or does the emerald crab eat them so fast that they don’t have time to reproduce???

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Oh trust me... if you pop them, they'll spread! Learned that the hard way.

I think the crabs eat the little guys fast enough that they can't turn into big guys.

 

[72fishboy]

i have never really had a problem w/ them. i have two or three clusters of small one but thats it.