Is bubble algae actually bad?

[Gaviota]

Sooo... I got a piece of live rock and it has a small bubble algae on it. I read through the threads and people are trying to eradicate it... can someone tell me why? Is it just an aesthetic thing? Should i get rid of the bubble?

[Red_Blenny]

11 minutes ago, Gaviota said:

Sooo... I got a piece of live rock and it has a small bubble algae on it. I read through the threads and people are trying to eradicate it... can someone tell me why? Is it just an aesthetic thing? Should i get rid of the bubble?

It tends to take over a tank is left unchecked. Plus, when it grows into giant clusters, it's not aesthetically pleasing, Also, once you have it and accidentally pop a bubble algae in your tank, it's a long and uphill battle trying to get rid of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gaviota]

Oh crap. It's on a small piece of rock I can remove but there's other coral on the rock. I can pluck the whole rock out but then what?

[Red_Blenny]

If you can remove it without popping it, you're fine. If it's too small, you can break it off, put a generous amount of super glue over it, or let it grow bigger to the point where you can safely remove it.

[sadie]

I have taken the whole rock out and using a pair of tweezers, below the bubble at the base pulled it off.  I had one burst on me once and I just rinsed it with some tank water in my sink.  So you might want to have alittle tank water ready in case it did.

[HarryPotter]

Break off the part of the rock that has the bubble if you cant get the bubble off easily. You dont want a gazillion of em 

[Gaviota]

Lol. A gazillion is usually only good in dollars... which would  make for a nice tank. Ty for the tips!

[OPtasia]

There's worse things than valonia. Bryopsis for instance.

[A Little Blue]

There are also Emerald Crabs that love bubble algae. In the past, I would physically remove it from the rock. Scraped the area that algae was on and use liquid Crazy Glue to cover that spot. Never had bubble algae afterwards. 

It is another matter if you have bubble algae outbreak, 

[HarryPotter]

1 hour ago, OPtasia said:

There's worse things than valonia. Bryopsis for instance.

 

That or Dino’s; I never can decide. 

[Clown79]

I've never had an issue with bubble algae taking over myself. I just remove them by hand. Its never spread.

 

There are different species of it. 1 is particularly aggressive, the other isn't.

 

I'd rather bubble algae than bryopsis or dino's.

 

[wsonner]

It's not bad if you're an emerald crab :).  It's my understanding that if you pop them they spread. I have a device I created with a sharp plastic tube connected to airline tubing for popping and draining them. Thinking of starting a YouTube channel, "Dr. Bubble Popper." 

[Clown79]

28 minutes ago, wsonner said:

It's not bad if you're an emerald crab :).  It's my understanding that if you pop them they spread. I have a device I created with a sharp plastic tube connected to airline tubing for popping and draining them. Thinking of starting a YouTube channel, "Dr. Bubble Popper." 

According to many online, the popping is not a necessary cause of spread, again based on species.

 

The ones I've had, some got popped- still no spread. They are all gone after manual removal.

[NanoRox]

28 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

According to many online, the popping is not a necessary cause of spread, again based on species.

 

The ones I've had, some got popped- still no spread. They are all gone after manual removal.

I agree with this.  I have some myself that I just manually remove when necessary.  I have not found popping the bubbles causes any issues.  Emerald crabs pop them all the time yet are considered good custodians of the stuff.  Don't be worried about it...remove manually and if some pop no big deal.  

[Clown79]

49 minutes ago, Duane Clark said:

I agree with this.  I have some myself that I just manually remove when necessary.  I have not found popping the bubbles causes any issues.  Emerald crabs pop them all the time yet are considered good custodians of the stuff.  Don't be worried about it...remove manually and if some pop no big deal.  

There is a particular bubble algae that can spread I've just never had any of that in my tank.

[wsonner]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

According to many online, the popping is not a necessary cause of spread, again based on species.

 

The ones I've had, some got popped- still no spread. They are all gone after manual removal.

Shhh...I'm trying to sell my invention :-D.  Anyway, I don't mind a couple, I think they're pretty as long as they don't become a problem.  

[Clown79]

3 minutes ago, wsonner said:

Shhh...I'm trying to sell my invention :-D.  Anyway, I don't mind a couple, I think they're pretty as long as they don't become a problem.  

Lol.

 

I never keep the bubble algae, it's always removed- so any device designed to remove it would be great! 

[NanoRox]

40 minutes ago, wsonner said:

Shhh...I'm trying to sell my invention :-D.  Anyway, I don't mind a couple, I think they're pretty as long as they don't become a problem.  

Ha I would still buy it.  I don’t care for the stuff...just not flipped out about it.  ;-)