Bubble algae
- Thread starter Walter
- Start date
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
Best option cut off all of the bubbles make sure not to pop them if you do wash it off inside the bubbles they have spores that will grow more of them in the tank
If cutting is not a option try Emerald crab
If cutting is not a option try Emerald crab
- Location
- Deer Park NY
rabbit fish. Had excellent experience with one spot foxface, many different occasions
That's what I thought at first but that's not how they multiply. I read up on BA, If you leave a little piece behind they grow from that, not spores. Do you think the Emerald crabs eat them without popping the bubbles? I use to just scrape them off and suck them out with a turkey baster. I didn't have much in my tank so it wasn't a problem. Dosed Vibrant for HA and noticed the BA disappeared and haven't seen it back.
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
My apologies i meant to say cut them off with a piece of whatever is behind them
Im thinking of frags i get if there is bubble algea
i cut the pieces that have it, cut off the plug dip it and glue to a piece of rock
- Location
- Wantagh, Long Island, NY
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/hcj/feature/index.php
untrue about not releasing spores upon popping. some strains of BA do release spores, as per this article. just a lot of factors for them to replicate, but popping them in your tank should be a last resort
"Much has been said about the danger of liberating spores when popping the vesicles of bubble algae. This is particularly true for members of Order Valoniaceae, but even then, the vesicles are said to be a sporulant risk only when having reached at least a third of their full size. Even if spores escape when you botch the job of vesicle-removal ('vesectomy', anyone?), those escapee spores have to run the gauntlet of herbivorous filter feeders, filtration equipment, and the wild lottery of hitting a good, unoccupied spot to settle and grow. Those spores will eventually be released anyway if you don't remove the vesicles.
In any case, it is prudent to remove the whole alga, from the vesicle down to the holdfast. During 'uprooting' of a problem alga, a siphon hose can be positioned at close hand to draw off any spores or tissue. One can also use the siphon to hold onto a removed plant by suction -most of the vesicles described above will sink rather than float, and can be very hard to hold onto. This siphon hose can held in a looped manner that allows you to bend it with the same hand, pinching the siphon off at will. Philips proposes rigid plastic tubing, sharpened at one end, and affixed to the siphon hose, for use as a combination vesicle-piercing and draining apparatus, followed by removal of the deflated vesicle with tweezers. In any of the above methods, if one can temporarily move the infested rock to a clean plastic basin of proper saltwater, vesicle removal is made so much easier. For those with a paranoia against spores, the basin water can be discarded after vesicle removal, the rock flushed with tank-water and returned to the tank.
Whatever remnant algal material, regenerating algal structures, or newly-settling spores might then manifest themselves, an in-tank population of appropriate herbivores is supposed to help with 'mopping them up'."
untrue about not releasing spores upon popping. some strains of BA do release spores, as per this article. just a lot of factors for them to replicate, but popping them in your tank should be a last resort
"Much has been said about the danger of liberating spores when popping the vesicles of bubble algae. This is particularly true for members of Order Valoniaceae, but even then, the vesicles are said to be a sporulant risk only when having reached at least a third of their full size. Even if spores escape when you botch the job of vesicle-removal ('vesectomy', anyone?), those escapee spores have to run the gauntlet of herbivorous filter feeders, filtration equipment, and the wild lottery of hitting a good, unoccupied spot to settle and grow. Those spores will eventually be released anyway if you don't remove the vesicles.
In any case, it is prudent to remove the whole alga, from the vesicle down to the holdfast. During 'uprooting' of a problem alga, a siphon hose can be positioned at close hand to draw off any spores or tissue. One can also use the siphon to hold onto a removed plant by suction -most of the vesicles described above will sink rather than float, and can be very hard to hold onto. This siphon hose can held in a looped manner that allows you to bend it with the same hand, pinching the siphon off at will. Philips proposes rigid plastic tubing, sharpened at one end, and affixed to the siphon hose, for use as a combination vesicle-piercing and draining apparatus, followed by removal of the deflated vesicle with tweezers. In any of the above methods, if one can temporarily move the infested rock to a clean plastic basin of proper saltwater, vesicle removal is made so much easier. For those with a paranoia against spores, the basin water can be discarded after vesicle removal, the rock flushed with tank-water and returned to the tank.
Whatever remnant algal material, regenerating algal structures, or newly-settling spores might then manifest themselves, an in-tank population of appropriate herbivores is supposed to help with 'mopping them up'."
- Location
- Astoria, NYC
Low nutrients didn't do anything to keep bubble algae down in either of my tanks. I almost had a heart attack when I found more BA in my new tank after setting it up. I bought 5 or so emerald crabs, and a small bottle of vibrant when it started expanding faster than I could remove it.
I'm still skeptical as heck about vibrant, but I'll be darned, no more BA. No algae at all while dosing. Though nutrient levels did rise since there was nothing to capture the nutrients. nopox, water changes, and heavy skimming cleaned that up. No more BA, whew.
I'm still skeptical as heck about vibrant, but I'll be darned, no more BA. No algae at all while dosing. Though nutrient levels did rise since there was nothing to capture the nutrients. nopox, water changes, and heavy skimming cleaned that up. No more BA, whew.
- Location
- Wheatley Heights, NY (long island)
I sucked them all out during a water change and eventually they have disappeared
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