Will bubble algae go away on its own or is it permanent without manual removal?

[jacrispy516]

TLDR: Does bubble algae go away on its own over time?

Since the beginning of my reef I was plagued with, in different stages, hydroid jellyfish, pineapple sponges, flatworms, and cyanobacteria. All of which managed to completely go away over time. Even the cyanobacteria completely disappeared months back when I upped my water changes. At this point all of those pests are completely gone with almost no intervention other than water changes and at this point I barely even get film algae, just coralline growing everywhere.

Now when my reef is looking its best bubble algae appears. It first started about 3 months ago and is gradually getting worse. I always manually rip it out until I can't see a single bubble left and it always comes back and pops up randomly in new spots, especially around my coral. My tank is too small for a rabbitfish and I have decided not to try emerald crabs as they are unreliable and can eat coral. I also do not like dosing any chemicals to fight off pests.

Considering manual removal just isn't enough to stop it for good, will bubble algae eventually go away over time? I have some acropora and a lot of other SPS species so I do like to run intense lighting, but other than that my parameters are perfect and stable and I only do one light feeding per day for my gobies. Is bubble algae more stubborn than the pests I originally had? I couldn't imagine anything being worse than cyano, but it seems the bubble algae is even more stubborn. Have any of you had bubble algae eventually disappear over time from water changes or did you have to take more drastic measures?

 

[Dragen Fiend]

Mine came from an lfs. I didn't notice until about a week then bubble algae all over the frag plugs and started to grow all over my firework cloves. I eventually lost it. Pulled the infested frag then manually removed all the algae off the 3 other frags that got it. Ran UV sterilizer for 24hrs. I haven't seen any in a month or so.

 

[jacrispy516]

Mine came from an lfs. I didn't notice until about a week then bubble algae all over the frag plugs and started to grow all over my firework cloves. I eventually lost it. Pulled the infested frag then manually removed all the algae off the 3 other frags that got it. Ran UV sterilizer for 24hrs. I haven't seen any in a month or so.

Mine got in from the lfs as well. First noticed it growing on an acan frag then noticed on a candy cane frag from the same store later on. I must have accidentally popped when manually removing because then it started randomly popping up in different spots.

 

[RoanokeReef]

Mine got in from the lfs as well. First noticed it growing on an acan frag then noticed on a candy cane frag from the same store later on. I must have accidentally popped when manually removing because then it started randomly popping up in different spots.

Popping doesn't spread it.

 

[blecki]

Got a frag in QT right now that has bubble algae. Nothing when I bought it, showed up on the plug. Just planning to hit it with peroxide.

Starving it out is possible but your coral will starve first.

 

[jkcoral]

Bubble algae can get out of hand if you don’t take action. Manual removal is quick and effective, and there’s some creatures that are known to munch on them (like fox faces).

Pitho crabs are the most effective bubble algae eaters I’ve ever seen.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

Popping doesn't spread it.

Correct bubble algae aka Valonia ventricosa does not contain spores in the body. Enough evidence supports segregative cell division instead.

And yea while I was careful not to pop any. I did pop a ton and never saw any other spots grow new ones besides what was already on the frags.

 

[ReeferFive-0]

Mine was out of control. It went from just a couple appearing on frags to removing sheets of them from the back of the rockwork and they were overtaking the aquarium when my maintenance wasn't the best. Manually removing them, increasing flow, and lowering nitrate and phosphate worked for me. I still have a couple pop up now and then, but they don't spread like they used to and I actually noticed a couple bleaching and dying off. I also started a small refugium, but I'm not certain if that helped or not.