Red bubble algae removal
- Thread starter Mthompson
- Start date
I'm thinking he is talking about this:
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I've seen people grow it intentionally and I have had a sprig or 2 pop up on occasion, but I have not seen this get out of control like Valonia or Caulerpa. Other than manual removal, maybe a green mithrix crab would work.
I've seen people grow it intentionally and I have had a sprig or 2 pop up on occasion, but I have not seen this get out of control like Valonia or Caulerpa. Other than manual removal, maybe a green mithrix crab would work.
Here are some pictures of the stuff I have growing. I am not sure it is the same as Bradnonberry posted, as it currently consists of groups of 'bubbles' only stacked one high, and not to any apparent stalk. I will let it grow, and if it turns out to be this, I will be more than happy to share the wealth.
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Also, if you have any 'best way' to control the green algae you can see in the pics above (pic 2) and below, please please let me know. I have also attached a photo of some neat-looking red algae. Again, if you know what it is....I'd like to know. I think that this red algae look better than the bubble stuff.
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do you have much flow going on in those pics?
i have some hair algae in my overflows, and it looks alot like that. at first i thought it was razor caulerpa, but when the flow hits it, it shows it's true colors.
i don't think there are too many things that eat that. some say emerald crabs, but i believe you have to starve them in order to get any sort of effective algae removal out of them.
as for the pet anemone....i'll second aptasia. get a syringe. fill it with some vinegar. stab it into the thing and inject a couple drops. it will be gone before you know it. kalkwasser works too...very thick paste-like consistency. i believe you have to blast it in the mouth with that though.
i have some hair algae in my overflows, and it looks alot like that. at first i thought it was razor caulerpa, but when the flow hits it, it shows it's true colors.
i don't think there are too many things that eat that. some say emerald crabs, but i believe you have to starve them in order to get any sort of effective algae removal out of them.
as for the pet anemone....i'll second aptasia. get a syringe. fill it with some vinegar. stab it into the thing and inject a couple drops. it will be gone before you know it. kalkwasser works too...very thick paste-like consistency. i believe you have to blast it in the mouth with that though.
X - I had one other aiptasia that I just burned with a grill lighter. That seemed to work well, but it was on the back side of a rock, where no other life was located (unlike this new bugger). I will try the vinegar route on this one and then compare. I do know that burning them certainly works instantly.
As for the algae, I didn't have much flow in the pics because I had to move the rock closer to the front pane to get a goo shot. I am not exactly sure what hair algae looks like, but I do have a lot of red and green strands and clumps scattered across the substrate. How would you go about starving this algae? I would just turn the lights out and cover the tank, but I have those mushroom corals in there now. I am waiting on my friend to send some various macro algae this next week, so hopefully it won't explode between now and then.
I have improper lighting in my fuge for the mushrooms, but would they be ok for a week or two in there? That way I could keep the lights off on the display.
Also, there is no nuisance algae at all in the fuge...what could be keeping it at bay down there. I only have a few hermits and I have seen one bristle worn thing, but nothing else. The only thing I could think was the scarlet legged hermit down there (only one I have and the only difference in scanvengers) or that the lighting is too low for it to really grow...
Any ideas?
As for the algae, I didn't have much flow in the pics because I had to move the rock closer to the front pane to get a goo shot. I am not exactly sure what hair algae looks like, but I do have a lot of red and green strands and clumps scattered across the substrate. How would you go about starving this algae? I would just turn the lights out and cover the tank, but I have those mushroom corals in there now. I am waiting on my friend to send some various macro algae this next week, so hopefully it won't explode between now and then.
I have improper lighting in my fuge for the mushrooms, but would they be ok for a week or two in there? That way I could keep the lights off on the display.
Also, there is no nuisance algae at all in the fuge...what could be keeping it at bay down there. I only have a few hermits and I have seen one bristle worn thing, but nothing else. The only thing I could think was the scarlet legged hermit down there (only one I have and the only difference in scanvengers) or that the lighting is too low for it to really grow...
Any ideas?
a grill lighter sounds effective. i didn't think about removing the rock to kill it 
btw, that red algae(not the bubble, but the branching stuff) looks cool. i wouldn't worry about it too much. something will most likely eat it eventually.
as far as the refugium being "nuisance algae free", it's all a matter of preference. you have the fuge filled with? chaeto? bubble caulerpa? those can be considered nuisance algae as well. i believe, that given time, the algae in the display will eventually show up in the refugium, unless the nutrients triggering the growth of these strange algae are depleted, by either proper husbandry(waterchanges/phosphate removal...) or the growing demand of the algae in the fuge.
as far as putting the mushroom in the fuge for a while and shutting off the lights, i don't want to be the one to advise on that.
what i would do is keep my water as clean as possible and just wait and see.
btw-5 or 6 hours of light a day won't hurt a mushroom. what is your light schedule now?
btw, that red algae(not the bubble, but the branching stuff) looks cool. i wouldn't worry about it too much. something will most likely eat it eventually.
as far as the refugium being "nuisance algae free", it's all a matter of preference. you have the fuge filled with? chaeto? bubble caulerpa? those can be considered nuisance algae as well. i believe, that given time, the algae in the display will eventually show up in the refugium, unless the nutrients triggering the growth of these strange algae are depleted, by either proper husbandry(waterchanges/phosphate removal...) or the growing demand of the algae in the fuge.
as far as putting the mushroom in the fuge for a while and shutting off the lights, i don't want to be the one to advise on that.
what i would do is keep my water as clean as possible and just wait and see.
btw-5 or 6 hours of light a day won't hurt a mushroom. what is your light schedule now?
Yeah, another plus for only have four rocks - removal of rock for pest control! I also like the branching red algae, however, it is small and looks tasty (I just don't have any vegetarians apparently).
I currently don't have any macros in the fuge, I plan on getting it filled with chaeto soon. There is some helimeda and Caulerpa taxifolia (I think) on a rock in the display. The only thing is that the nuisance crap is growing faster than the macro right now, and is slowly taking that rock over. Would manually scrubbing this rock help in any way? I could do that in the buckets of water I take out for a water change...I tried sucking it off the substrate with my gravel vac, but it was well attached, so that didn't work (just ended up burying most of it).
I currently test for PO4- and NO3-, and neither are out of whack (0ppm and <10ppm respectively). I run the lights for about 12hrs. and can cut that back to about 8hrs, but that probably won't have much effect on the nuisance algae. I also have the feeling that this is also part of the cycling of my tank, but does three months seems a little long?
I currently don't have any macros in the fuge, I plan on getting it filled with chaeto soon. There is some helimeda and Caulerpa taxifolia (I think) on a rock in the display. The only thing is that the nuisance crap is growing faster than the macro right now, and is slowly taking that rock over. Would manually scrubbing this rock help in any way? I could do that in the buckets of water I take out for a water change...I tried sucking it off the substrate with my gravel vac, but it was well attached, so that didn't work (just ended up burying most of it).
I currently test for PO4- and NO3-, and neither are out of whack (0ppm and <10ppm respectively). I run the lights for about 12hrs. and can cut that back to about 8hrs, but that probably won't have much effect on the nuisance algae. I also have the feeling that this is also part of the cycling of my tank, but does three months seems a little long?
i had algae spurts for about 7 or 8 months, but i wasn't using R.O.D.I. at that time either, so i can't tell you for sure.
halimeda is a slow grower, and it needs good calcium levels to thrive. i like it, but i don't think i would depend on it.
i prefer chaeto and bubble caulerpa. everyone worries about the bubble caulerpa, but i feel it's the best for nutrient export, due to it's amazing growth. and i really like the fact that i get 3 dollars a handfull credit at my favorite LFS.
i don't see how scrubbing the rock in waterchange water would hurt anything. i'm not in a position to do that, or i would be :wink: .
halimeda is a slow grower, and it needs good calcium levels to thrive. i like it, but i don't think i would depend on it.
i prefer chaeto and bubble caulerpa. everyone worries about the bubble caulerpa, but i feel it's the best for nutrient export, due to it's amazing growth. and i really like the fact that i get 3 dollars a handfull credit at my favorite LFS.
i don't see how scrubbing the rock in waterchange water would hurt anything. i'm not in a position to do that, or i would be :wink: .
Thanks for the help. So here is a synopsis of where I stand now:
-Do some water changes to get the NO3- down to 0ppm or close. Also manually remove nuisance algae in the process, whenever possible.
-Cut back on light cycle
-Get some chaeto/caulerpa in the fuge to out-compete the nuisance algae for excess nutrients.
I wonder if adding some turbo snails (or other species - perhaps a sea hare) would help eat some of this algae? I currently have zero organisms like this (except 10 hermits - but they don't eat it), as they would have most likely starved before this point. Any other suggestions on a 'clean-up' crew?
-Do some water changes to get the NO3- down to 0ppm or close. Also manually remove nuisance algae in the process, whenever possible.
-Cut back on light cycle
-Get some chaeto/caulerpa in the fuge to out-compete the nuisance algae for excess nutrients.
I wonder if adding some turbo snails (or other species - perhaps a sea hare) would help eat some of this algae? I currently have zero organisms like this (except 10 hermits - but they don't eat it), as they would have most likely starved before this point. Any other suggestions on a 'clean-up' crew?
I kinda think they're neat...but I like most anything that has extensive cryptic coloration. Sargassum fish, sea hares, frogfish, etc. - you get the idea.
I would have to wait for at least a few days to a week to get either of these (sea hare and snails), because the LFS here doesn't have 'em and I don't think I am gonna shop there anymore. I will have to order online or travel up to Little Rock. But if I can solve the problem and not spend money, that would be great!
So I will see what happens in the meantime. Just out of curiosity, are there any fish that eat this stuff?
I would have to wait for at least a few days to a week to get either of these (sea hare and snails), because the LFS here doesn't have 'em and I don't think I am gonna shop there anymore. I will have to order online or travel up to Little Rock. But if I can solve the problem and not spend money, that would be great!
So I will see what happens in the meantime. Just out of curiosity, are there any fish that eat this stuff?
Just an update--
It has been ten days now on the new schedule where I have been running the actinics for 10hrs/day and both actinics and 10ks for 3hrs/day. I cut back feeding to once every other day. I have also been hand picking algae from the substrate, and picking/scrubbing algae off the rocks during water changes.
So far so good, I think the hair algae is receding, but I don't want to suspend the routine to find out! I plan on getting some snails and a lawnmower next week, so hopefully I can get some help from them.
That's all for now. Oh, and I have a few more of those fluffy red algae tufts, and they are getting bigger. However, the red 'bubble' algae is getting snuffed out by the nuisance stuff right now (there are still some spots of it, but it is not growing).
X - I'll keep you posted on the bubble growth...
It has been ten days now on the new schedule where I have been running the actinics for 10hrs/day and both actinics and 10ks for 3hrs/day. I cut back feeding to once every other day. I have also been hand picking algae from the substrate, and picking/scrubbing algae off the rocks during water changes.
So far so good, I think the hair algae is receding, but I don't want to suspend the routine to find out! I plan on getting some snails and a lawnmower next week, so hopefully I can get some help from them.
That's all for now. Oh, and I have a few more of those fluffy red algae tufts, and they are getting bigger. However, the red 'bubble' algae is getting snuffed out by the nuisance stuff right now (there are still some spots of it, but it is not growing).
X - I'll keep you posted on the bubble growth...
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