Is This Bubble Algae?

[RyanReef]

Out of nowhere, this formed on the base of my Duncan. Is this bubble algae?

If so, how do I get rid of it? I know emerald crabs love it, but will an emerald starve in my 24 gallon that is only a few months old?

Will my hermits, turbo or trochus snails touch it?

 

Thanks!

[sublunary]

Yep, looks like bubble algae.  In that first picture it also looks like you've got a vermetid snail on the frag plug.

 

Can you take the frag out of the water?  Easiest thing to do is take it out and scrape off the algae (and the vermetid snail) outside the tank.  If not, you can scrape it off inside and have a siphon going to catch/remove the algae.  

 

I wouldn't add an emerald this early for that amount of algae.

[RyanReef]

Yeah, I can remove the plug. I'll try scraping off what I can. Oh crap, didn't even see that snail.

Thanks!!

[Superdave]

Bubble algae for sure.  

 

Some people like it.  It will spread, but it never became a huge problem in my tank in the past.  

 

I had emeralds employed to take care of GHA so I'm sure they would take care of bubble algae as well.  They can get hungry and pick at corals if they are super hungry or just because--it's hard to know.  

 

I would suggest (if you want to get rid of the bubble algae) that you pluck them off and or remove rocks as best you can.  I see it's on a frag plug in the pic.  Maybe transfer to a different plug?  

 

Breaking open the bubble can/will release spores (if that's the correct term..?) which could cause it to spread so maybe remove rock, place in separate container when you scrape them off and then rinse that rock before placing back in main tank.  

 

Overall, no "easy" solution but I wouldn't stress to much about it.  

[RyanReef]

2 hours ago, Superdave said:

Bubble algae for sure.  

 

Some people like it.  It will spread, but it never became a huge problem in my tank in the past.  

 

I had emeralds employed to take care of GHA so I'm sure they would take care of bubble algae as well.  They can get hungry and pick at corals if they are super hungry or just because--it's hard to know.  

 

I would suggest (if you want to get rid of the bubble algae) that you pluck them off and or remove rocks as best you can.  I see it's on a frag plug in the pic.  Maybe transfer to a different plug?  

 

Breaking open the bubble can/will release spores (if that's the correct term..?) which could cause it to spread so maybe remove rock, place in separate container when you scrape them off and then rinse that rock before placing back in main tank.  

 

Overall, no "easy" solution but I wouldn't stress to much about it.  

Thanks for the input and suggestions! Appreciate it. 

[mcarroll]

I've had it in my tank off and on for around 12 years...I like it.  It never gets bigger than what you have pictured and it always goes away without me intervening....like the other algae in my tank.  👍 (Except cyano...it's the most omnipresent of algae.)