Bubble Algae

[jtrheaume]

So i just found out I have a case of Codium ovale (bubble algea).

Can anyone tell me what to do.

[scuba_steveo]

Emerald crabs.
Try to remove the ones you can without popping them. The emerald crabs should take care of any small ones and keep them from spreading too much. I have several emeralds and some eat them and some do not. So don't just buy one.

[Isis]

Emerald crabs.
Try to remove the ones you can without popping them. The emerald crabs should take care of any small ones and keep them from spreading too much. I have several emeralds and some eat them and some do not. So don't just buy one.Funny that you say that. I just heard that at the Marine Ornamentals Conference they did a study on the mithrax and bubble algae. They said that they don't care one way or another about eating versus other foods, but when they do eat the bubble algae, they pop it, releasing the spores. You might as well try to remove the bubbles but keeping them intact.

[Ram_Puppy]

I always wondered about that Isis...

I think a much better strategy would be to add a phosban reactor to your system, manually remove all you can, and starve out the rest.

[jtrheaume]

thank you for the comments....

So now just tell me how to remove it....

Do i just pull the rock out and try to pull it off?

[Ram_Puppy]

when I had a bubble algae problem I would just reach in the tank and worry it off the rock, gently rolling the bubble between your finger until it pops off the rock. remove from tank.

however, this is no different than any other algae, it thrives in the presence nutrients, so you need to take a 2 step approach and control your nutrients as well.

[scuba_steveo]

Yes.
And get the phosban reactor, that is one of the best thigs I have on my tank.
I still say to get some emerals for two reasons.
1. To eat any bubbles that are just growing and
2. They are freaking cool!!!

[GaryP]

Its funny how all these nuisance algae threads pop up like... like... well like nuisance algaes the week before the meeting on, you guessed it, nuisance algaes. At least I can say is that our timing is good.

[Bug_Power]

I talked with some people at large aquariums, they told me the smaller ones don't have spores so to go ahead and pop the smaller one, larger ones have spores so take care in removeal.

[Ram_Puppy]

you know Gary, it is interesting that all these algae threads popped up now. makes one wonder if there is some correlation with peoples habbits this time of year (we get lazy being shut in). or perhpas there was a lot of nitrate in san antonios war.

[GaryP]

Its not the time of year. Its just not worth getting out of bed unless we 2-3 nuisance algae threads every week.

I doubt that SA water is the problem. The phosphate in the food we feed is more likely the culprit. What triggers an algae bloom is called the limiting nutrient. Since there is always a lot more nitrogen compounds present in a tank then there is phosphates, the limiting nutrient is almost always phosphate. On top of that, the guy of fish is very inefficient. In other words a large percentage of the nutrients, including phosphates, passes through the guy and ends up as algae fertilizer.

Consider this. Even the most water quality conscious reefer wouldn't really worry about .5 ppm nitrate. Yet, if he saw .5 ppm phosphates he would be doing large water changes, and scrambling for every phosphate removal product and procedure he could lay his hands on. That's because .5 ppm would mean that an algae bloom is probably on the way. That doesn't even count the calcification inhibition that comes with that level of phosphates in a reef tank.

[Jynxgirl]

I am a newby and have a few bubble algaes popping up here and there. I have been picking off those that i can get to but rearranging rock every few days to get to some of the stuff is not an option. I have some emeralds. I am going to do a search for phosban reactor, but can someone tell me a good place to get this? I would like to do the two step approach.

Jill

[Ram_Puppy]

hey Jynx, I went to college near where you live (UMHB). ahh the sweet vibrations of artillery shells while taking a final exam. :)

anyhow...

I fyou were in San Antonio I would say go for CB Pets, but since your way out there, I would say see if your LFS can get it, find out the price. If they CAN NOT get it, then order one off marinedepot.com, that is where I got my first one and it was a reasonable price.

[Jynxgirl]

I would like to support my local LFS but as they only have a few tanks and very little to choose from, online is going to be my main source of anything.

Thanks for the site, will check it out there. Jill

[GaryP]

The other option besides emerald that I have had success with is Foxfaces. They won't eat the big tough skinned bubbles but they will get to the smaller ones. They are also limited to the ones they can get to. The only bubbles I have in my tanks are wedged into crevices they can't get to. I have a long plastic tube attached to some siphon tubing. I just pierce the bubble with it when I am doing a water change and suck the spores up with the siphon water. If any spores escape, the foxface cleans them up when they produce new bubbles. Of course, this is all based on the idea that you have a tank large enough for a foxface. I have one in each of my tanks and they are the biggest fish in there. Its not a fish you would want in a Nano.

[GaryP]

I hope everyone makes it to the meeting at Green Mako's house the weekend. We should have a great discussion about the "mysteries" of algae control.

Bubble algae can be a pain, but not nearly as bad as some of the other nuisance algaes we will be talking about this weekend.

[Thunderkat]

I find bubble algae to be a easy nuisance to tolerate. They don't plug up filters or overgrow coral (at least I have never seen them do that. The bubbles look pretty cool too, I had one that almost reached the size of a golf ball but the rest don't seem to get larger than a pea. I think it also looks cool, and if they get somewhere I don't like them I just remove them with my hand. Bubble algae also seems to grow slow unlike hair algae.

I like pulling them out and popping them too, kind of like bubble wrap :lol

[GaryP]

TK, you have become on expert on algaes, haven't you? :) That's cool though. It's how we learn. You managed to survive dinoflaggelates and that is more then I can say for most people. That's a tough nut to crack.

[Thunderkat]

I may not survive my tank upgrade. So far 4 leaks, one design flaw, and one case of inadequate materials in my transition. Three of the leaks fixed, one is leaking into my drain line so I didn't care about that one but put some extra sealant on outside to keep it in pipe. Forgot backup isolation ball valves so added those, and finally my drain hose on one side was cured already and would not bend (2" flex hose braided) so replaced with PVC piping. I think I lost my blue tang in the move (can't find it anywhere, think it jumped or was eaten by meat coral). The good thing is the bubble algae made it and the hair algae on my refugium rocks made it (doh).