Popping Bubble Algae: Let's settle this once and for all!

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Not pooping but popping bubble algae!

We all at some point or another get green bubble algae. When we're new to the hobby we think it's pretty. Heck some stores have been known to prey, I mean sell it to their new customers. Once it gets out of control it can cover everything including rock, sand, equipment and even kill off corals. People have had luck with various removal options such as but not limited to certain fish that eat it, manual removal, tank chemistry, inverts, etc.

But one thing has always been circulated in the hobby is something that I have always struggled with and I thought we could settle it now.

The theory is that if you "POP" the bubbles then the spores from the algae will be released into the water column and the bubble algae will spread. I personally have always had good luck just popping the bubbles in the tank, crushing them and scraping them out without them reproducing somewhere else in the tank.

One thing that always made me take pause to the argument is the fact that emerald crabs, a known bubble algae eater, doesn't eat these bubbles whole but rather pops the bubbles as it eats them. Same with certain rabbitfish that has been know to eat it.

So my question is this.

Does popping green bubble algae in your tank create a negative effect by causing more to grow in other places due to spores being released into the water column?

And some crazy large bubble algae photos for kicks and giggles.

 

[LetItReef]

that's not a Bubble algae, that's a duckpin ball!

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

I'm fairly certain that it's not an urban legend, but it's more complicated than is generally stated:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/hcj/feature/index.php

Much has been said about the danger of liberating spores when popping the vesicles of bubble algae. This is particularly true for members of Order Valoniaceae, but even then, the vesicles are said to be a sporulant risk only when having reached at least a third of their full size. Even if spores escape when you botch the job of vesicle-removal ('vesectomy', anyone?), those escapee spores have to run the gauntlet of herbivorous filter feeders, filtration equipment, and the wild lottery of hitting a good, unoccupied spot to settle and grow. Those spores will eventually be released anyway if you don't remove the vesicles.

Also:

http://blog.coralwonders.com/en/algas-burbuja-invasoras-elegantes/

Remove algae manually
It can be complex and laborious but generally essential if we want to eliminate the problem. Bubble algae share a common feature: inside their cells threre are a small reproductive organs (called cystocarps), when the bladder reaches maturity (about one third of its final size), it is capable of producing spores, which will be released into the water if the membrane is torn. The truth is that if the aquarium is mature and has a good filtration system, the chances of a spore becoming an algae are low and most of them die, but an immature system it can be like a freshly plowed field waiting for the first rains to upholster with weeds.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

that's not a Bubble algae, that's a duckpin ball!

LOL! Originally from this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/check-out-this-1-dia-piece-of-bubble-algae-omg.311240/page-2

 

[seamonster]

Hmmmm ...never thought of it that way on how the crabs, rabbit fish eat the bubble algae.. makes sense...I was always told not to pop them though...

 

[Jose Mayo]

Bubble algae release spores when they are sexually mature, this requires a certain size ... I think small algae do not release any spores, even when crushed.

Best regards

 

[Bdrake]

Not sure on bubble algae but I am 100% positive Botryocladia releases spores that can take hold when popped

 

[Mykesocalreef]

I used dry reef saver rock from BRS. I had a frag plug that developed bubble algae after about a month. I carefully removed the bubbles by hand careful not to pop. They were no bigger than a BB. I now have a small patch on my rockwork. I also do not have any frags on my rock, only on frag racks. I would guess popping would spread and also think that they do not need to pop to release spores.

 

[cracker]

The little ones taste better than the big tough skinned ones .
I hate the things ! They don't need popping to spread. That I know for sure !

 

[Jose Mayo]

No herbivore, fish or crab, will consume Valonia without breaking the bubble ... if any bubble burst liberated spores, it would be difficult to place an herbivore for control would be successful. So I think there is something irrational about this hypothesis that bubble algae releases spores at any time. I think it has to be big and mature for that.

Best regards

 

[ReeferBean]

I helped a friend do a major bubble algae removal in his 400. Every rock was completely covered. We popped thousands, filled half a five gallon bucket practically. He repeated the process twice, and with some herbivores, and no more bubble algae after a month or two.

 

[madweazl]

I only had them in one of my tanks and they had proliferated quite quickly. I cant remember if I was able to get rid of them or not now; I too was under the impression that popping them would/could release spores and cause more better never researched it further.

 

[easternreefer]

always popped mine.. never had another outbreak in a tank that I popped them.

 

[Gareth elliott]

I think this myth comes from two aspects.
1). If you manually remove them(pop or dont pop) and miss some pieces the pieces land elsewhere and maybe regenerate.
2). There is a multicellular green genus that looks similar enough, that supposedly produce spores to reproduce that maybe reports of these spread to the more common single cell type.

 

[Slarti]

I had a few and for a while I was to scared to even look at it for fear of popping and in the process overtake my tank. One day I decided enough is enough and ripped them out, one or two popped and for months I had nothing. While ago I noted a small green ball which I assume came hitchhiking on a frag, pulled that off next water change and nothing since. So I would guess the millions and millions of spores I released moved on...

 

[Moo76]

I avoid popping the large ones but the rest, I just use stats to grab em and yank em out.

 

[mcarroll]

I had a bubble about 1" before....it grew for such a long time that coraline algae grew on top of the bubble algae. The coraline grew in just the right shape to make the bubble look like a globe of the Earth with green oceans and pink land masses.

If you read the Baench handbook I have from the 1990's (German book; English language edition) bubble algae was called "a jewel of the reef".

I've always liked Bubble Algae when it decided to grow, and it's never taken over on me.

(could be that I do some things different than folks who get big outbreaks...maybe read up on R2R about my tank and some of my threads to see...it's possible)

Algae taking over a reef is something that has a name when it happens in the wild: phase shift (google)

Generally, the requirements for a phase shift are for the local ecosystem to be disturbed, and for nutrients, light and surface area to be available. The extent and nature of these variables are what determines the likelihood and magnitude of a phase shift.

Global microbialization of coral reefs talks about this.

I'm fairly certain that it's not an urban legend, but it's more complicated than is generally stated:

That's what makes the conservative statements in stretch's quotes true (click the little arrow to jump up to his post).

In a nutshell, algae is not really a worry in a stable tank.

Not even if you're pooping bubble algae.

 

[sayitfast]

I always wondered what happened to the blob that played the blob in the movie "The Blob"

That's just freaky

 

[mcarroll]

I forgot the original question I guess. ;Bucktooth

Yes bubble algae can spread if you pop them.

"Can" ≠ "will", however.

It depends on local conditions – whether the tank is ripe for it.

 

[Cae]

Not pooping but popping bubble algae!

We all at some point or another get green bubble algae. When we're new to the hobby we think it's pretty. Heck some stores have been known to prey, I mean sell it to their new customers. Once it gets out of control it can cover everything including rock, sand, equipment and even kill off corals. People have had luck with various removal options such as but not limited to certain fish that eat it, manual removal, tank chemistry, inverts, etc.

But one thing has always been circulated in the hobby is something that I have always struggled with and I thought we could settle it now.

The theory is that if you "POP" the bubbles then the spores from the algae will be released into the water column and the bubble algae will spread. I personally have always had good luck just popping the bubbles in the tank, crushing them and scraping them out without them reproducing somewhere else in the tank.

One thing that always made me take pause to the argument is the fact that emerald crabs, a known bubble algae eater, doesn't eat these bubbles whole but rather pops the bubbles as it eats them. Same with certain rabbitfish that has been know to eat it.

So my question is this.

Does popping green bubble algae in your tank create a negative effect by causing more to grow in other places due to spores being released into the water column?

And some crazy large bubble algae photos for kicks and giggles.

They are pretty! Maybe it's not so much what's in the algae but the algae tissue that separates from the bubble after it's popped that can float around till it finds a new crevice to multiply in. The Emerald crabs when they eat it might be able to minimize that tissue loss? Just a thought!