Rocky Mountain Reef
Active Member
I have a huge plaque of Bubble Algae on all my rocks in a 210 gallon aquarium. What success have you had in ridding your aquarium of bubble algae? Emerald crabs...Tangs....what works?
Bubble Algae Plaque
- Thread starter Rocky Mountain Reef
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AlyciaMarie
Where's my anemone?
You can manually remove this algae pretty easily, but be careful not to pop the bubbles! As far as something to munch on it, I've heard turbo snails will eat this stuff.
ChiCity
2500 Club Member
turbos will NOT touch it.
pretty much emerald crabs and i believe there’s a rabbitfish, are the only things that will eat it
your best bet is manual removal as mentioned above,
don’t worry about popping them, that’s an old myth…
they multiply by cell division.
but manually remove as much as you can before adding the crabs to make their jobs easier
pretty much emerald crabs and i believe there’s a rabbitfish, are the only things that will eat it
your best bet is manual removal as mentioned above,
don’t worry about popping them, that’s an old myth…
they multiply by cell division.
but manually remove as much as you can before adding the crabs to make their jobs easier
I find pitho crabs more effective than emeralds, although you'll occasionally get a superstar emerld just like you'll get the occasional slacker pitho.
On a tank that size you should try a foxface.
On a tank that size you should try a foxface.
Gman83
Valuable Member
I didn't have luck with emerald crabs, but I manually removed (outside the tank, so incase I knocked some smaller bubbles loose they wouldn't be able to go somewhere else in the tank and reattach), and then treated with peroxide. Haven't seen them again
OP
OP
Rocky Mountain Reef
Active Member
I'm going to try emerald crabs but add them after some manual removal....I have noticed some of my tangs trying to eat it, but rarely and they all died in a power outage, so restocking them shortly
Rabbitfish, Fox Face, Yellow Tang, and emerald crabs eat it all in my tank. It shows up once in a while in my sump. I take it out of the sump and drop it in my display tank, which is consumed instantly. I don't think emerald crabs alone can consume enough to make a difference in most tanks.
OP
OP
Rocky Mountain Reef
Active Member
Which species of Rabbitfish? I prefer the Orange Spot, but seems everyone says Foxface...
OP
OP
Rocky Mountain Reef
Active Member
Foxface, which species? Will other Rabbitfish work?
dwarfseahorse
Community Member
My question is simply what would happen if you leave the Bubble Algae in the tank? I have some and it is not easy to just take out. I had read that they do not do any harm so if that is true, do they really need to be removed?
phillyb614
Well-Known Member
Had a pretty big problem with bubble algae. I’ve never actually seen my two Emerald crabs eat the bubble algae, but there is now significantly less bubble algae in the tank since getting them. I think I’ve been pretty lucky when it comes to the crabs. One is very small and one is humongous. Neither one of them have gone after Corals or other inverts or anything. I also feed my tank pretty well though.
Basically, all the research that I have seen is that it is a bit of a crapshoot. Either you get a good one that eats the proper things or you get a bad one that eats the improper things. This is why each time I have gotten one, I watched them like a hawk whenever I see them. In fact, I kind of drove my wife crazy getting up and shining a light in the tank a million times at night, because that’s usually when they come out to eat for the most part. Have to buy one and keep an eye on it. That’s been my experience. Hope all gets better with the algae. I know how hideous and awful that stuff is.
SaltyZinn
New Member
For those hard to reach bubbles... Use a skewer and just wiggle it around in the clusters. They'll pop loose. You just have to keep going everyday a little bit here and there. I used one of those colorful coral pointers and rubber bands with an Oxo scrub brush and that really helped. Still have and use it often. Just not so much on bubble algae anymore.
But that reveal with Fred above- Classic.
OP
OP
Rocky Mountain Reef
Active Member
It just covers everything and gets in the pump intakes....it's not as bad as hair algae, for sure, but it grows so much if unchecked.
