Red Bubble Alge!!!

[ThatPhillyReefer]

I've been going through a stage of red bubble alge. I was able to remove it manually the first time but now, it has come back worse. Now I can't remove it by hand without taking my rocks out which I can't do. I was wondering is there any other way for me to remove it? Is there an invert, Chemical or anything that can remove it.

 

[Hemmdog]

Pics ?

 

[Doctorgori]

Did you say “red bubble algae” you sure? Sound more cool than actual pest ... yes indeed pics are a must

 

[Billdogg]

I can't attest to it's effectiveness with red bubble algae, but for a horrible case of green, I used a combination of manual removal and Vibrant. Although it took a few weeks, the Vibrant did the job like nothing else could. I have been BA free for over a year now and continue to dose Vibrant weekly.

 

[flyline]

For green bubble algae in the past I used something like airline tubing I cut it at a angle so you could kind of scrape the bottom of the bubble I would create a siphon and get them out that way. The nice thing doing it this way is you can get them out without breaking them and you don’t remove too much tank water doing it. Hope this helps

 

[Billdogg]

For manual removal what I did was take a spare section of vinyl tubing long enough to reach from all corners of the tank into the sump, tie a filter sock around one end and place the sock in the sump. Start a siphon in the tubing and use the end of it to scrape the bubbles away. I also had a short length of pvc in the end to give me a nice rigid scraper.They will all collect in the sock, allowing for easy disposal. With the siphon draining through the sock into the sump you can keep at it until you either get them all or get tired! I had my wife work as a spotter for me so that I could just move from patch to patch without having to look too hard for them.

 

[ScottB]

Love to see a pic or RED bubble algae. That is a new one for me too.

For green bubble in my DT, I loaded up on emerald crabs and dosed Vibrant for a month or two. Can't say which factor carried the day, but GBA are all gone now.

 

[Keztrel99]

Not the OP but I've had red bubble algae most of the time I've had the tank.
I've tried several emerald crabs with no luck, as well as removing rocks and scrubbing and flushing it off.
Manual removal with tweezers and a small syphon have been the only successful methods of keeping it at bay. I used to manually remove it weekly and got it down to removal once a month or so.
I've heard excellent things about Vibrant, but also that you may battle cyano during and afterwards so I haven't made the commitment to try it yet.
Hope you find a successful method. It is my number 1 most frustrating thing in my tank.

 

[Magellan]

For manual removal what I did was take a spare section of vinyl tubing long enough to reach from all corners of the tank into the sump, tie a filter sock around one end and place the sock in the sump. Start a siphon in the tubing and use the end of it to scrape the bubbles away. I also had a short length of pvc in the end to give me a nice rigid scraper.They will all collect in the sock, allowing for easy disposal. With the siphon draining through the sock into the sump you can keep at it until you either get them all or get tired! I had my wife work as a spotter for me so that I could just move from patch to patch without having to look too hard for them.

This is simplistic genius...the best kind!

 

[Mical]

It looks like green bubble algae covered in coraline. Get yourself a foxface or rabbitfish, they'll inhale that within days of introduction. Keep in mind you'll have to feed them algae pellets or sheets of nori in future, but you'll be rid of bubble algae.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Not sure your tank size but on smaller tanks.

5 gallon bucket of tank water.
A syringe
Bottle of h2o2
A stiff bristle toothbrush.

take out each rock and scrub one at a time each rock not being worked on stays in the bucket. Spend no more than 5 minutes with each rock between scrubbing. Be sure to remove the foot of every bubble algae you see.
Next use the h2o2 where ever the bubbles were. If there are corals, use a syringe to avoid spraying them by mistake.
rinse each rock in the bucket before returning.

The benefit over vibrant is time before bubble free. The scrub method above. You are bubble free when done. Vibrant can take 2 months for bubble algae. Also there are no spores in a bubble. There is a colonial bubble algae species that spores but looks very different from the common single cell bubble algae most experience.

 

[homer1475]

Had some RBA myself(although like @Mical I think it's regular green with coralline growing on it). Couple weeks of vibrant twice a week knocked it right out.

 

[ScottB]

Not the OP but I've had red bubble algae most of the time I've had the tank.
I've tried several emerald crabs with no luck, as well as removing rocks and scrubbing and flushing it off.
Manual removal with tweezers and a small syphon have been the only successful methods of keeping it at bay. I used to manually remove it weekly and got it down to removal once a month or so.
I've heard excellent things about Vibrant, but also that you may battle cyano during and afterwards so I haven't made the commitment to try it yet.
Hope you find a successful method. It is my number 1 most frustrating thing in my tank.

Thanks for the pic. Something new every day for me on this forum.