flatlandreefer Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 My tank is 2.5 months old, so far algae hasn't gotten out of control and my clean up crew has been keeping up pretty well, nerite and 2 cerinth snails. I put in a few corals a couple weeks ago, dipped them in coral rx but no qt. I have noticed a few bubble algae polyps appearing on the trunk of the small trumpet coral that I added to the tank. From what I can tell the bubble algae is isolated to the trumpet coral. Any ideas/recommendations of how to get rid of bubble algae physically attached to coral? I took a quick pic of the coral in question, definitely isn't the best pic. Link to comment
nancymatthews Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 If that was my coral with bubble algae on it, I'd take it out of the tank and put it in a small container that has tank water in it and remove the algae with a razor blade or exacto knife, trying to not bust the bubble. Then redip it in Coral RX, in case I did pop a bubble and there are any spores on the coral. Use a separate container with tank water and some coral Rx to dip. Chuck any water you remove from the tank. Link to comment
nancymatthews Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 I meant to say to be sure to cut the bubble off where its attached to the coral. Cut it as close as possible. If the algae is attached where its bone, you could even dig the corner edge of the blade right under where the bubble is attached and remove a teeny tiny piece of the bone if need be. You have to remove all of it . If a piece of the stem is left, it will come back. You're going to have to play doctor. "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." -Spies Like Us. One of the best movies EVER Link to comment
Balix Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 yea, you don't want bubble algae in your tank. best to cut it from the bone if needed like nancy said. I got mine in the tank and it's a chore to remove them every few weeks to months, have to take rock out to scrub. I've learned to just live with it for now. Link to comment
flatlandreefer Posted September 16, 2016 Author Share Posted September 16, 2016 I meant to say to be sure to cut the bubble off where its attached to the coral. Cut it as close as possible. If the algae is attached where its bone, you could even dig the corner edge of the blade right under where the bubble is attached and remove a teeny tiny piece of the bone if need be. You have to remove all of it . If a piece of the stem is left, it will come back. You're going to have to play doctor. "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." "Doctor." -Spies Like Us. One of the best movies EVER Ok well tomorrow I am going to break the trumpet free and cut all the bubble algae that I can see with a razor blade. Thanks for the reply! yea, you don't want bubble algae in your tank. best to cut it from the bone if needed like nancy said. I got mine in the tank and it's a chore to remove them every few weeks to months, have to take rock out to scrub. I've learned to just live with it for now. How long does it take for your bubble algae to spread? Link to comment
markalot Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Ok well tomorrow I am going to break the trumpet free and cut all the bubble algae that I can see with a razor blade. Thanks for the reply! How long does it take for your bubble algae to spread? Slowly at first and then the tank is infested before you know it. Go to Walgreens or equivalent and get some cheap dental tools, take it out as described above, and while in the container of water, underwater, scrape until you've got it all. I would then rinse in a second cup of tank water and then return to tank. Link to comment
flatlandreefer Posted September 16, 2016 Author Share Posted September 16, 2016 Slowly at first and then the tank is infested before you know it. Go to Walgreens or equivalent and get some cheap dental tools, take it out as described above, and while in the container of water, underwater, scrape until you've got it all. I would then rinse in a second cup of tank water and then return to tank. I'm going to stick to razor blades because the closest walmart is 35 min away and walgreens is 3 hrs haha! I know re dipping in coral rx was recommended above, looking on their website it says it controls hair algae but does not say anything about bubble. Does anybody know if it does much to kill bubble algae? Link to comment
markalot Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 I'm going to stick to razor blades because the closest walmart is 35 min away and walgreens is 3 hrs haha! I know re dipping in coral rx was recommended above, looking on their website it says it controls hair algae but does not say anything about bubble. Does anybody know if it does much to kill bubble algae? Don't dip in CoralRx in my opinion, it's unneeded stress on the coral. A good rinse, or a double rinse will do. Link to comment
flatlandreefer Posted September 16, 2016 Author Share Posted September 16, 2016 Don't dip in CoralRx in my opinion, it's unneeded stress on the coral. A good rinse, or a double rinse will do Ok, well thanks for the advice. I'm going to follow the recommendations tomorrow and hopefully I will be bubble algae free! I wish I had the lighting means to qt coral Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Slowly at first and then the tank is infested before you know it. Go to Walgreens or equivalent and get some cheap dental tools, take it out as described above, and while in the container of water, underwater, scrape until you've got it all. I would then rinse in a second cup of tank water and then return to tank. I agree with this! I have a major infestation of bubble algae. It starts out slow, you can keep it in check and then boom. It's everywhere. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would actually go one step further and toss the frags that had the algae on them rather than scraping off and putting back in the tank. I would pluck the bubbles off very carefully, scrub the area where the bubbles were, wash and put back in the tank. The bubbles would grow back and I'd do it again. Eventually I must've popped some or not washed good enough because it spread from the frags to eventually my entire tank. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 I agree with this! I have a major infestation of bubble algae. It starts out slow, you can keep it in check and then boom. It's everywhere. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would actually go one step further and toss the frags that had the algae on them rather than scraping off and putting back in the tank. I would pluck the bubbles off very carefully, scrub the area where the bubbles were, wash and put back in the tank. The bubbles would grow back and I'd do it again. Eventually I must've popped some or not washed good enough because it spread from the frags to eventually my entire tank. Cursed legendary corals Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 I'm going to stick to razor blades because the closest walmart is 35 min away and walgreens is 3 hrs haha! I know re dipping in coral rx was recommended above, looking on their website it says it controls hair algae but does not say anything about bubble. Does anybody know if it does much to kill bubble algae? In my experience, coralrx has no affect on algae whatsoever. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 For bubble algae I usually use a metal pick and/or screwdriver - because I try to actually remove a little bit of rock/skeleton where the bubble algae was attached... If you leave even the tiniest piece it will regenerate. Also make sure to thoroughly search the tank for more - it like to hide. One time I removed some bubble algae and it kept coming back. I was really annoyed until I looked in my overflow and there was a bunch of it growing in my overflow box somehow. Link to comment
flatlandreefer Posted September 16, 2016 Author Share Posted September 16, 2016 For bubble algae I usually use a metal pick and/or screwdriver - because I try to actually remove a little bit of rock/skeleton where the bubble algae was attached... If you leave even the tiniest piece it will regenerate. Also make sure to thoroughly search the tank for more - it like to hide. One time I removed some bubble algae and it kept coming back. I was really annoyed until I looked in my overflow and there was a bunch of it growing in my overflow box somehow. I will take a look around but as far as I can see it is isolated to the skeleton part of the trumpet. The trumpet was added a few weeks ago so I am hoping it just hitched along on that frag and hasn't spread so far. Link to comment
nancymatthews Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 I had 1 bubble algae on my rock last week. I was waiting for it to get bigger so I could razor blade that bad boy. Then one morning, it was gone. I think my emerald crab ate it. I am waiting for a World War B now. I have no idea if the crab popped it prior to eating it. It really sucks. I had an infestation of red bubble algae once. I found that if you accidentally become an idiot and crash your tank, it will kill all of it and it won't cone back. Good Luck Doc Link to comment
ezcompany Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 i like to remove them during water changes. water pumps all off, dive knife in one hand, if i can remove it i'll remove it but some you just have to pop. after popping i just suck out the surrounding water column with a siphon. i also use my dive knife to scrape off vermetid snails and poke/scrape whatever i want to kill or remove then suck it out with the siphon. Link to comment
flatlandreefer Posted September 17, 2016 Author Share Posted September 17, 2016 Does bubble algae actually spread through spores when it is popped? I have heard varying opinions on this Link to comment
jcreefer Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Emerald crabs are really hit or miss. I had an outbreak awhile ago, bought two small emerald crabs,m. They didn't bother with the bubble algae at all. Bought two larger ones, and they went to town. So if your crew is good, they can obliterate a tank full of the pest algae in less than a week. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Read this: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/hcj/feature/ Link to comment
flatlandreefer Posted September 18, 2016 Author Share Posted September 18, 2016 Read this: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/hcj/feature/ That's what I was looking for, thanks! Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 I'd either get an Emerald Crab or scrape off the bubble algae outside of the tank if you could. If you pop the bubbles in the tank it will release spores which will turn into more spores Link to comment
Cintax Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 When I had this issue, I removed any smaller rocks that had it. If the rock was large or I liked it, I took a stout knife or hammer and removed a small portion of the rock. Link to comment
vlangel Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 I agree with this! I have a major infestation of bubble algae. It starts out slow, you can keep it in check and then boom. It's everywhere. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would actually go one step further and toss the frags that had the algae on them rather than scraping off and putting back in the tank. I would pluck the bubbles off very carefully, scrub the area where the bubbles were, wash and put back in the tank. The bubbles would grow back and I'd do it again. Eventually I must've popped some or not washed good enough because it spread from the frags to eventually my entire tank. This was also my experience. I have just learned to live with it and keep it somewhat under control. At least it doesn't sting! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.