Frag Factory Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Hey all, I've got a question, I have bubble algae all over my tank. It's really started to take a foothold in my system and I need to take care of it now. However, my usual option of throw some emerald crabs in there isn't available. I cannot find any locally in the UK and I can't drive further afield due to lockdowns. Pulling rocks out isn't an option either, it's all puttied into one piece. So what options do I have? Has anyone got any success stories with brightwell razor? information seems mixed on it's effectiveness on bubble algae. I know Vibrant can do similar things but I don't want to also wipe out other algae's that snails are feeding on... Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks Quote Link to comment
Reef Reece Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 If you are by chance near Essex, I bought an Emerald Crab this weekend and they have a few more, about the only help I can give I'm afraid ! Quote Link to comment
Frag Factory Posted January 20, 2021 Author Share Posted January 20, 2021 I'm up in the north unfortunately, not to far from Preston. I think Kraken have some but driving an hour to buy crabs in the middle of a lockdown doesn't seem too wise... Quote Link to comment
Reef Reece Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Ah thats no good then, I know there are a few online places that send Inverts by post, never tried them myself but could be worth checking it out. Goodluck with it all ! Quote Link to comment
Jerad81 Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 If emerald crabs aren't available you can look for decorator crabs or pitho crabs. I know all three are related and supposed to eat bubble algae. If you don't want to take the risk of either of those crabs or can't find them either you can try removing them manually. I recently had bubble algae popping up in my tank as well and found a few reports from people who had success. I'll see if I can find them again and post the links for you. Basically, they all followed the same basic method: use a small tool in one hand to scrape it off, at the same time use a turkey baster or some other "sucking" tool to suck up the bubbles as they come free, squirt the bubbles into a separate container outside the tank to dispose off it. The biggest disclaimer with this is making sure you don't break any of the bubbles open inside your tank. I personally didn't use this method because this was my first time dealing with bubble algae and I was a little scared of it. A lot of people claim to have had success with it though. I'll see if I can find the links for you so you can read their reports yourself. Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 On 1/20/2021 at 2:02 PM, Frag Factory said: I've got a question, I have bubble algae all over my tank. It's really started to take a foothold in my system and I need to take care of it now. You have to pull it out manually. I know it's not hair algae, but you can still use the same technique....use an actual pair of tweezers if you have to: Can you post a pic so we can see the extent of the bloom? Also, how has the tank been up to this point? You aren't encouraging pest algae by over-filtering the tank or anything like that are you? Quote Link to comment
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