These things, I swear...

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Bubble algae jumpscare!

So what eats this stuff? I'm not looking for eradication or any chemical solution. I might dose something in the long term if I can't find something to eat it, but I don't want to try that right now. I'm looking for a predator which will help to cut down on it naturally if practicable. These are the things which I'm finding sometimes eat it when I look through the threads.

- Emerald crabs (I've already tried them, no go. They did eat up my dictyota problem, so they weren't a complete bust)
- Mexican turbo snails (Not sure if these eat them, I can find a few people saying they cleared them up, but no evidence)
- Foxface (Not sure if my 3' tank is big enough, probably isn't)
- Sailfin/Naso tang (I know my tank's too small for one of these)
- Tuxedo/Halloween urchin (Haven't tried yet, probably up next. Didn't do anything in my last tank, though)
- Pitho crabs (Can't find these in my LFS and I can't justify paying 30$ shipping for a few tiny crabs, not even sure if they do anything)
- Sand sifting goby (Only one person told me that they eat them, I'm skeptical)
- Lawnmower blenny (I don't think these eat bubble algae, but someone said they do on another forum)

So which of these (if any) is my best option? I know that popping them doesn't actually spread them, so I'm tempted to just go around with a toothpick and pop them all, but I don't know if they'd grow back from the bits left behind on the rock.

Any thoughts?

 

[Slocke]

I used to have them and tried emerald crabs. Did not work. What did work is either my foxface or my mexican turbos. Haven't seen any in well over a year now. I imagine a tuxedo urchin will work as well.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I used to have them and tried emerald crabs. Did not work. What did work is either my foxface or my mexican turbos. Haven't seen any in well over a year now. I imagine a tuxedo urchin will work as well.

Do you think a foxface will go in a 3' 65 gallon? It's a low nutrient, high flow system with plenty of algae if that makes a difference. If I added one, it'd probably be the only large fish in the tank (there are three small fish right now, going to add three more under 2").

 

[OrchidMiss]

I'm gonna follow along on this thread as I'm having an issue with the same thing in my 20g.
I did just put 2 female emeralds in there, and they seem to be going after it a little. I have heard that you do need to make sure they are female (can tell by their underside). I'll let you know.

 

[Slocke]

Do you think a foxface will go in a 3' 65 gallon? It's a low nutrient, high flow system with plenty of algae if that makes a difference. If I added one, it'd probably be the only large fish in the tank (there are three small fish right now, going to add three more under 2").

I don't think foxes need big tanks like tangs. They aren't nearly as active nor are they aggressive. Look into the one spot. Its a bit smaller and seems to do a lot better in smaller tanks.