What eats bubble algae?

[TrIsTaTe05]

Hey everyone i have some small areas that have bubble algae on iy not much at all but some whats the best way to get rid of this? what kind of REEF safe fish would eat this if any? or anything else that come to your head that would work would be apreciated thanks everyone

 

[Lenny718]

You could try Emerald crabs I've herd good things with them and bubble algae.

 

[Dre]

The Naso and Yellow Tangs in my experience.

 

[TrIsTaTe05]

thanks guys

 

[Chongpark27]

you could try emerald crabs i've herd good things with them and bubble algae.

+1

 

[skene]

emerald crabs... but then keep an eye on them afterwards..

 

[TrIsTaTe05]

thats what i was thinking, im a little worried, a yellow tang would eat bubble algae? and it seems like thats the easy way to go what do you guys think?

emerald crabs... but then keep an eye on them afterwards..

 

[skene]

you dont have to worry so much with fish that are always swimming... however if you have fish that hide at night to sleep like wrasses and gobies/blennies it may be something to watch out for.

 

[TrIsTaTe05]

i do have a 6 line,. but what your saying is you would do the yellow tang?

you dont have to worry so much with fish that are always swimming... however if you have fish that hide at night to sleep like wrasses and gobies/blennies it may be something to watch out for.

 

[marrone]

You don't have to worry about emerald crabs attacking your fish but you do have to worry about them turning over corals, which if the coral lands wrong, can cause it to be killed or kill another coral.

Also it's hit or miss that an emerald crabs will eat the bubble algae, especially if you have other food sources in the tank for it to eat.

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Not sure if your tank is big enough but foxface/rabbitfish will eat the valonia

 

[dubs]

yeah the foxface also eat zoas/polys /shrooms for that i think the emerald crab is a better go

 

[Alex]

I had good results with a naso tang


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[e.muehlbauer]

I've never had a problem with emerald crabs. On the other hand, I've never seen them eat bubble algae. Bubble algae usually fades away...I haven't seen the small kind in over 10 years, I still get the occasional giant bubble...but I kind of like them. At first they look metallic, like a "gazing ball", then they get crusted over by coralline.

 

[Dre]

Under the right conditions bubble algae will spead like wild fire, smother Zoas and any other small polyp slow growing corals.It seem like if you pop them they spread faster. Some Rabbit fish will eat Zoas and can give you a nasty sting from it's spines.How much bubble algae do you have in your tank?Maybe it's not worth getting a fish at this point ,wait and see if it die out on it's own.

 

[e.muehlbauer]

I've popped plenty of bubbles...never saw an increase afterwards. Don't forget that anything that eats bubble algae will also pop them.

 

[marrone]

The spores don't develop until the bubble gets larger, so you can pop the small bubble without release spores. Also smaller bubbles contain less spores than larger one do. Yes things that eat them will pop them but they will also eat the newly formed ones too. With a combination of these two things, eating the bubbles and the spores either not develop or not a lot yet, eventually your tank will be free of them.

What does help is to have really good water moment in the tank, that way the spores can't settle down and most will get sucker up in the over flows. You do need to look in the over flows as you would be surprised how many are in there. I've seen tanks that have crazy flow with no bubble algae in the main tank but the over flows and sump where filled with them.

 

[nminunni]

I have an emerald crab that is too big for my 20g tank. I will sell him to you for $7 (what I bought him for). He has eaten bubble algae in the past. let me know

 

[Dre]

the spores don't develop until the bubble gets larger, so you can pop the small bubble without release spores. Also smaller bubbles contain less spores than larger one do. Yes things that eat them will pop them but they will also eat the newly formed ones too. With a combination of these two things, eating the bubbles and the spores either not develop or not a lot yet, eventually your tank will be free of them.

What does help is to have really good water moment in the tank, that way the spores can't settle down and most will get sucker up in the over flows. You do need to look in the over flows as you would be surprised how many are in there. I've seen tanks that have crazy flow with no bubble algae in the main tank but the over flows and sump where filled with them.

+1