Bubble algae invading my tank.. =( Very discouraging..

[brandon429]

assets: open scape, no piles of rock walls

liabilities: you want a method that doesnt require rock removal lol



still working in between meeting notes lol


transmissibility in valonia ranges in tanks, its possible to kill it in some areas (lift out rock, apply to bad part, dont pop, rinse, put back in) and it not show up in others.

lysmata cleaners will tolerate none in tank, you must rinse well or/and quarantine it, hold it elsewhere if you are serious about getting this invader under control. you have a delicate animal precluding the war that is necessary.

I am totally for having ideal nutrients all along, and Ive seen these guys run independent of anything you do with them, others have success, but we are breakingn down peroxide predictions here before the start. our method can be tested on a single rock w no big commitment either, just to gauge grow back potential etc.

still in planning phase

you willing to lift out all them rocks?
B

 

[brandon429]

pics are so critically helpful in these and in cycling threads, critical for planning.

see how in your entire scape zero alt algae, but an obligate hitchhiker is the only prominent plant? That speaks volumes about nutrient issues or non issues to me....

These corals clearly like, and are adapted to cur levels, I don't feel free to drop them mega low but we need to be considering with simultaneous input how to starve them as well from those that have

my plan works best accessing those rocks in the air, if possible. I was able to cure it in my tank via direct access.

an oversized uv unit is indicated if accessible easily

 

[lviva003]

pics are so critically helpful in these and in cycling threads, critical for planning.

see how in your entire scape zero alt algae, but an obligate hitchhiker is the only prominent plant? That speaks volumes about nutrient issues or non issues to me....

These corals clearly like, and are adapted to cur levels, I don't feel free to drop them mega low but we need to be considering with simultaneous input how to starve them as well from those that have

my plan works best accessing those rocks in the air, if possible. I was able to cure it in my tank via direct access.

an oversized uv unit is indicated if accessible easily

.......... I am not following.......... You want me to take out the rocks and pour some h2o2? should I bathe the rock or just pour? do I use the regular peroxide from groceries? for how long do I bathe or pour the peroxide onto rock? Will it harm the beneficial bacteria in the rock?

 

[brandon429]

Still planning no action so far...

No harm to bacteria as the spot dose mentioned

before starting, Google 'peroxide to cure valonia' read some of how it went down for others, see the mix. Tell me your brainstorms from reading that

we simply need to plan well before any actions

 

[Stephanie11]

You can manually remove a lot of that. Esp during water changes. The big ones i can pull no problem without popping. If you pop. Have your siphon ready to catch the spores. The little ones you can use tweezers. Make sure you siphon water out of you pop some. In your case some might come off in a mat form, yes some will pop. You can beat it. Every water change I pull some. I don't have much because of manual removal.

 

[brandon429]

That's a non chemical option, we are collecting action plans...options building, nice. We want all options that work.

when I got red valonia I chipped it off the rock like you said, gutted that little spot.



The use of an algal turf scrubber should be researched for seated in valonia. It is a method of long thread testimonies, should be part of the prep reading. Its primary attraction is it can't harm anything in your tank to try it. The easy test for peroxide is lift out a rock test, pour 3% across the bad parts only and rasp them off with a brush in my opinion, get the popping done outside preferably. The peroxide is zapping the regrowth potential down nicely per spot


Rinse well out back and can chart regrowth from that one test before expending lots of energy on the whole tank.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Here is the info to build your own scrubber...
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/l...urf-and-slime-algae-from-your-aquarium.86207/

~CI

 

[gtbarsi]

Lowering nutrients will help control the outbreak and slow / stop spreading but physical removal is a must. I have personally found the best way to do this is with some long forceps and a siphon. I use some regular air line tubing connected to rigid air line tubing to create a mini siphon, this lets me work longer than when using a typical gravel vac siphon. They key is to carefully remove a much as possible, and have the siphon right there to suck up any spores that get released by accidental breakage. In addition if what you remove from the rock is small suck it up, or if you get a hunk that is too big remove it with the forceps. I did this one night a week till I hit the mark I had for the 5 gallon water changes I did at the time. It took about 3 water changes before I was free of the vast majority of the stuff. After that I was able to return to my more regular method of using a gravel vac for my water changes and removed the few small bits I found and sucked them up. Additionally the gravel vac pulls so much volume you can just pop the ones that are in places too tight to carefully hold and remove with no chance of any spores getting free in the DT.

In my opinion bubble algae happens, just like .... The key is to keep calm and clean up the mess carefully so it does not get spread everywhere. Keep control of your water parameters and it will not spread too fast and sooner than later you should not have any more.

 

[Bad Company]

I have a 60gal and two emerald crabs cleared up all my bubble algae they can get to (still have it in my sump). You are probably feeding too much. They are eating the food you add instead of the bubble algae. I'd add some crabs, cut your lighting to 8 hours, and feed 1/2 of what you are feeding. If they are like the crabs I got, they'll clear it up eventually. Patience. Now they keep it from coming back, and I didn't have to do any more work!

 

[gtbarsi]

I tried emerald crabs, they do go after the bubble algae if they are hungry, but they also went after my cleaner shrimp while it was mid mult. The basteds ripped him apart and ate him.

 

[Lonely reefer's]

I got a few here and there in my nano & removed by hand
To be honet nothing will work,wc,gfo,crabs & snails,bicolor tried it all

 

[brandon429]

mini summary so far as option built

any rocks that can be lifted and doused w perox across the valonia, cleaned off, perhaps even hit again in that spot to burn leftovers can have near instant spot removal which stops further building and budding in that area, it stops encroachment next to corals without delay, and we have 2 options for nutrient controls and a few for hungry crabs which help for those not accessed in spot removal, if that was selected. chemically assisted spot removal via peroxide is nice because it kills cells in that spot, vs chipping which may miss some (but very effective if not) or simple rasping off to get the bubbles free. peroxide is more challenging to use for valonia where rocks cant be removed, although underwater concentration methods have been used in the threads. valonia is one i like to put in manual work, accessing all rock, forcing the invader out, vs the type of battle where you simply leave it in place and attack the water.

peroxide use in any mode, even in several overdose situations to full running sps reefs documented, does not alter your nitrifying or denitrifying bacteria but overdoses are clearly stressful to other inhabitants (options=dont overdose, access out of tank via manual work)

bacteria have affordances in nature that protect them, dilutions are at play, many things are different in a real world setting vs sterile lab kills using hydrogen peroxide.

To me, thats the follow up controls and the manual work was the price paid for ever having imported it via no QT for the tank, and for leaving the spots in place vs simply remving rock and making it gone. Thats easier said than done for large tanks, and IMO large tank keepers have far more to worry about than nano reefers involving invasive obligate hitchhiker invasions. delay=pay/.

If i were a large tank owner that had seated in val, id begin employing nutrient controls as a test just after hand removing all that I could see. its easier to stop growback via nutrient controls, if they'll work consistently for valonia and thats questionable, vs using starving to remove a seated in biomass.

The *major* challenge in using nutrient controls for valonia is we are mostly always reading advice where what worked in someones tank is recommended, but that transfer actually hardly ever works. Making outcomes occur in other tanks is a real challenge thats why there are few if any actual threads where multiple valonia tanks were cured right and left w nutrient restrictions only, posted by the participants in the threads. in fact, many were running core nutrient controls when the valonia HH in on a frag. This is a truly challenging invader. Any form of nutrient control or any other preventative should be tried, these invaders can take over a tank. I like to collect options on literally anything that works.

Its only known preventative/cure is quarantining before adding anything to the main tank. thats the only for sure way not to get a valonia problem.

 

[brandon429]

I bet strong oversized uv in addition to these guys would be powerful

 

[Rattooth]

Emerald crabs worked for me

 

[lviva003]

so how much less should i feed?.... should i feed one cube of mysis/ everyother day? .... My emerald crabs are eating my acans.. I've now lost three acans and one of them was very expensive... this is so frustrating... I'm going to try to rearrange so I can vacuum the rocks easier... I am able to control the front of the rocks as far as bubble algae, but as far as the back since the rocks hitting the back glass I am unable to get the hose there. and thats where most of the bubble algae are... =(

 

[lviva003]

I bet strong oversized uv in addition to these guys would be powerful

I dont have a sump so I am not sure how I would add an UV...

 

[brandon429]

That's why my peroxide is viable option.

but you need to remove to access

simple manual removal you could do without peroxide doesn't kill plant cells, p will.

each way has pros and cons. a con in trying to starve them is starving corals, bleaching.

an ats cannot Starve your tank, they just might not work. if you can access infected rocks, peroxide is fastest kill.

 

[brandon429]

I ran uv no sump

a hang on back one

 

[lviva003]

That's why my peroxide is viable option.

but you need to remove to access

simple manual removal you could do without peroxide doesn't kill plant cells, p will.

each way has pros and cons. a con in trying to starve them is starving corals, bleaching.

an ats cannot Starve your tank, they just might not work. if you can access infected rocks, peroxide is fastest kill.

So I think Im going to try the peroxide.... What would be a good ratio of water and peroxide? I was thinking of doing two 5 gallons buckets and having one of them mixed with peroxide and the other would be a rinse bucket.

 

[brandon429]

shopping for uv that's correctly sized for your rates and volume is exactly like shopping for a car where you tell the salesperson


my only goal is to go 65 mph and if you sell me one that goes faster I'll leave.

The right way to use uv, if ever, is to grossly oversize.