Bubble algae-suck it up or blow it off?

[Bperau]

i have a small spot of bubble algae in my tank. Pretty sure Iv heard before that it will spread if you pop it up I could be wrong. Wondering the best way to remove it?

 

[authentic]

I pierce them with a hypedermic needle and suck the insides out then remove the sac witha tweezer,
This can also be done with a piece of rigid tubing connected to soft tubing and creating a siphon

 

[Bperau]

What if I sucked them out with a turkey baster?

 

[authentic]

Not the best way to do it unless you can dislodge the entire bubble,which if you can better to have a constant siphon to pull out

 

[Bperau]

Alright

 

[mcarroll]

@Bperau Best not to worry about it unless you have good reason to.

• If you've recently started adding a lot more nutrients to the tank than it's used to, then it can become prone to an algae bloom....if that's the case, you may have reason to worry a little.

• If not, then be thankful you have a beautiful, easy to manage, easy to remove algae, and just enjoy it while it lasts. I've had some individual bubbles last so long that they grew to an inch+ in diameter and grew coraline algae over the surface. One of the coolest things to happen in my tank, so don't automatically presume algae is bad. More than likely it'll go through a minor bloom and then go away or die mostly back – all by itself.

Which case are you?

 

[Bperau]

I rencently removed a phosban reactor from my tank so I'm not sure if that's what allowed it to grow but then again where it's located it's hard to see and it could of been there the last year and I would of never known. I recently started feeding my tank heavily but was only because I added some fish that weren't getting along and when they were fed and happy they didn't seem to bother each other. Now that they have been good I planned on cutting back the feedings starting today and getting some macro algae going on the fuge again (died off after the phosban reactor was hooked up for a month)

 

[mcarroll]

Careful using PO4 removers when you don't have much PO4. Zero-PO4 is not a good destination for corals, algae, macroalgae, or anything else. You always want some PO4 around.

How has your NO3 number been? How often do you test either parameter?

 

[Bperau]

I never really test. Iv left the tank for 3 months without water changes and feeding flakes and pellets, came home and never had any algae other than cleaning off the glass. Like I said that bubble alage could of been there since the day the tank got set up. I was just wondering if I should remove it. Now that I know it's there I look at it everyday to see if it's growing

 

[mcarroll]

I never really test.

I would just not use the phosphate reactor then, IMO. It sounds like you shouldn't need it anyway. If you want to use it, I would at least use a cheap liquid/drip test like Salifert or API to make sure you don't run the PO4 number into the ground accidentally. Keeping "some" is definitely a goal.

I was just wondering if I should remove it. Now that I know it's there I look at it everyday to see if it's growing

Cool! I have an old Baensch Marine Atlas that refers to bubble algae as something like "a jewel of the aquarium". Folks were more progressive back then!

 

[Bperau]

I only ran some phosphate remover bc I put a rock in there that grew hair algae...only piece of liverock in the tank (think it was leaching phosphates maybe?) so I ran some phosphate remover, removed the algae in a day then I never took the reactor off until a couple weeks ago