Bubble algae

[danagrzyb]

Need help on this crummy algae, what kills it?

 

[den75]

If you can reach it get yourself an insulin syringe and inject it with hydrogen peroxide. Only takes a tiny amount for each one. You can probably treat 8 to 10 of them with the. .3ml the syringe holds.

 

[kevindo123]

Emerald crab will get rid of it. I had some bubble algae once in my 24G nano and two of these crab took care of it with in a week. They both died soon after due to starvation, I think. You buy more if you gave a larger tank.

 

[danagrzyb]

Emerald crab will get rid of it. I had some bubble algae once in my 24G nano and two of these crab took care of it with in a week. They both died soon after due to starvation, I think. You buy more if you gave a larger tank.

Thanks so much! They won't harm my fish or coral ?

 

[den75]

Keep in mind, emerald crabs have been known to be hit or miss . They may take care of your problem, but there is also a chance they won't.

 

[kevindo123]

Thanks so much! They won't harm my fish or coral ?

Your corals and fish will be safe. I picked two of them 1 to 1.5" long.

 

[bevo5]

My emerald crab went to town on some acans after it ran out of bubble algae. Absolutely caught it red headed a few times but couldn't get in fast enough. Finally got it on top of an acan that far from rocks and grabbed it. I didn't have the heart to destroy him so he sat in a floating prison for a few days until I could bring him in to store.

 

[Salty1962]

They are opportunistic. They will eat ANYTHING they can grab and put in their mouths. Years ago I caught one eating my zoas and that was the last time I kept any. They never did eat the bubble algae. Ended up with a Foxface.

 

[LetItReef]

I bought one emerald crab and could not see him in my tank hoping to consume Bubble algae.

 

[cb684]

About a month ago I added 5 or so small ones in my 30 gallons that have a bubble algae problem and I could not see any improvement. I had a big one in my 400 gallons that would go for the tips of my across and birds nests. I still have emerald crabs in both systems. Some will consume bubble algae and other algae. But I always take a look at night to see what they are up to.

 

[mfinn]

I've had emerald crabs kill a pipefish and eat zoanthids. So use with caution.

 

[cnseekatz]

I would manually remove clumps of bubbles, being careful to not pop them if you can. Emeralds won't eat the big bubbles but will go after new little baby bubbles, so in theory, if you remove all the big pieces, the emeralds will take care of any new ones that pop up. But, like others have said, emeralds (as with most crabs) are opportunist and will eat whatever they can. If you feed your tank a lot (which would explain the bubble algae) the crabs will likely just be happy eating leftover fish food.

I've also heard that raising Mg can help, but cannot substantiate this technique vs. bubble algae.

 

[R eef]

Siphon with hard tube attachment which also scrapes them off.
No fuge, so I grow them on specific rocks as they are easier to remove than other algae and take out phosphates as well.

 

[kevindo123]

I got my emerald crabs from my LFS. I was amazed by how they ate all my bubble algae over-night. It did grow back at the same place again the following week but next time around the crabs was able to eat it all and eventually the crabs just died.

I only had one big patch of bubble algae which was growing in a hard to get place for clean manual removal. Note my tank is clean of any other macro algae so the crabs concentrated on the bubble algae only. All my feeding are direct feeding so the crabs only food source would be the bubble algae.

If you plan to remove it manually, be extra careful not to break it. The juices can spread and you will end up with bubble algae everywhere. I have done manual removal before and was not successful, it actually spread everywhere and I gave up and started a new tank.

 

[KingTriton]

Emerald crabs are definitely a hit or a miss. More of a miss in my experience. They have to pop the bubble algae in order to eat it, which wouldn't help the cause imo. They don't consume it as a whole. I would manually remove it with a strong siphon. Bubble algae is very hard to eradicate once it spreads.