Bubble Algae completely destroyed

[Mical]

My foxface doesn't touch corals. I feed him Nori via clip once a week and supplement algae pellets in auto-feeder.

 

[landlubber]

What do you recommend? My tank is clean but bubble everywhere

I personally have had great results with emerald crabs using 1 for every 30 gallons of water.

How can I tell it’s a male?

definitely not a scientific approach but I always go for the largest crabs and it hasn't failed me yet. i should mention if this is the route you plan on going ensure that your rock work is sturdy. emerald crabs have amazing strength for their size and can topple unstable, stacked rocks.
if you find that you're problems are solved and the crabs are no longer needed they're fairly easily captured before the lights turn on if they're in a good spot and you have the right tools (net, tweezers). good luck!

 

[phil bevilacqua]

My foxface doesn't touch corals. I feed him Nori via clip once a week and supplement algae pellets in auto-feeder.

Awesome!

 

[phil bevilacqua]

I ordered vibrant. Will keep you posted!

 

[TX_Punisher]

I’m glad to see this. Having a BA issue and have ordered Vibrant to try. Will update soon.

 

[Mattscubeofwater]

I’m glad to see this. Having a BA issue and have ordered Vibrant to try. Will update soon.

Good to hear. Keep me posted. I’ve weened off of both NOPOX and Vibrant and have now started nitrate dosing using seachem Florish and have completely avoided the cyno trap. Nitrates are holding steady at 3, phosphates are .02.

Something to keep in mind. The NOPOX is vodka carbon dosing and Vibrant is vinegar Carbon dosing. Based on what I observed I believe the two combined weaken the protective casing on the BA and when the spores are released, they are released to a hostile environment due to the carbon dosing and die. I don’t have a single bubble in my tank and my emerald crabs are busy.


I also suggest doing to little research on what carbon doing actually is. You are essentially feeding organisms that are already present in your tank causing their number to grow to the point where they consume all your nitrates and phosphates which kills nuisance algae and if continued to long will starve everything in your tank. Algae dies off much sooner then coral which is why it works. It should be noted that the phosphates are still present in your tank in the gut of the bacteria so it is essential to remove them via skimming and weekly water changes. Otherwise once carbon dosing stops, the bacteria that you have been feeding dies and phosphates are released back into the tank.


Cyno can occur in a true nitrogen deficient environment which is why I’m dosing nitrates. I’m also dosing them to even out the ratio and ensure my nitrates are higher then phosphates. Look up the Redfield Ratio. Anyway, so much to learn.......

 

[TX_Punisher]

Good to hear. Keep me posted. I’ve weened off of both NOPOX and Vibrant and have now started nitrate dosing using seachem Florish and have completely avoided the cyno trap. Nitrates are holding steady at 3, phosphates are .02.

Something to keep in mind. The NOPOX is vodka carbon dosing and Vibrant is vinegar Carbon dosing. Based on what I observed I believe the two combined weaken the protective casing on the BA and when the spores are released, they are released to a hostile environment due to the carbon dosing and die. I don’t have a single bubble in my tank and my emerald crabs are busy.


I also suggest doing to little research on what carbon doing actually is. You are essentially feeding organisms that are already present in your tank causing their number to grow to the point where they consume all your nitrates and phosphates which kills nuisance algae and if continued to long will starve everything in your tank. Algae dies off much sooner then coral which is why it works. It should be noted that the phosphates are still present in your tank in the gut of the bacteria so it is essential to remove them via skimming and weekly water changes. Otherwise once carbon dosing stops, the bacteria that you have been feeding dies and phosphates are released back into the tank.


Cyno can occur in a true nitrogen deficient environment which is why I’m dosing nitrates. I’m also dosing them to even out the ratio and ensure my nitrates are higher then phosphates. Look up the Redfield Ratio. Anyway, so much to learn.......

Good info. I’m dosing sodium nitrate to get my nitrates up. Po4 is good both verified by ICP last week.

I’m carbon dosing already via bio pellets. My tank consumes nitrates very quickly.

I’m utilizing my Apex via DOS to change out 6-8g per day on a 160g system which I may stop periodically to let the Vibrant work. I’ve also got an oversized skimmer I’m running on speed 2 of 5 which I can speed up during this phase.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Mattscubeofwater]

Good info. I’m dosing sodium nitrate to get my nitrates up. Po4 is good both verified by ICP last week.

I’m carbon dosing already via bio pellets. My tank consumes nitrates very quickly.

I’m utilizing my Apex via DOS to change out 6-8g per day on a 160g system which I may stop periodically to let the Vibrant work. I’ve also got an oversized skimmer I’m running on speed 2 of 5 which I can speed up during this phase.

Thanks for the info.

No problem. Your tank is consuming nitrate very quickly because your carbon dosing. I would stop that until the BA is gone once you start with the vibrant.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Dosed 12ml tonight. Turned off the doser which was dosing nitrate mainly.

In 160g of volume 12ml took my alk down from 8.5 to 7.9 very quickly.

I’ll update the progress in the coming weeks.

 

[phil bevilacqua]

Mine is on order I will be posting once I get it going as well

 

[Oshengems]

How can I tell it’s a male?

This not a an emerald crab but more or less it’s the same females have a big shell the males have the shell but same that shaft as well... to note some here said about bigger emeralds just to note the ones I tried were also bigger the males tend to be bigger also have bigger claws that’s another way to tell them apart

Btw by no means I’m against products for results I just finished using Purge from uwc definitely will consider Vibrant if I run into BA again.

 

[TX_Punisher]

No problem. Your tank is consuming nitrate very quickly because your carbon dosing. I would stop that until the BA is gone once you start with the vibrant.

How often were you performing water changes during the dosing period?

I’ve dosed 16ml so far. First dose fri 11/23.

 

[TX_Punisher]

nm

 

[Mattscubeofwater]

How often were you performing water changes during the dosing period?

I’ve dosed 16ml so far. First dose fri 11/23.

10% weekly. My system has about 100 gallons including sump minus rock. I dosed 11 ml of NOPOX every Sunday and the dirty tank vibrant dosage on Monday and Thursday

 

[Mattscubeofwater]

Still bubble algae free for anyone still interested

 

[TX_Punisher]

Still bubble algae free for anyone still interested

Ditto. Think It’s gotten worse.

 

[YumaMan]

Question: Did the Vibrant kill all or any of your snails? Do you plan to remove the emerald crabs eventually? I use MicroBacter 7 to clarify my water and reduce NO3, and GFO to absorb P. Do I stop these, as they are not slowly down the BA spread?
Thanks for this thread, I will treat my 120 gallon reef as you outline above, as I am getting more and more BA.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I used Vibrant to get rid of the bubble algae in my tank. I had it for years and it was out of control. I tried male/female emerald crabs, yellow tang, blue tang, fox face, manual removal, low nutrients, everything. Nothing made a dent until Vibrant. Some people have found their Nitrates/phosphates drop when using it which could effect corals. Mine stayed level and I never had to dose either. I did have snail loss, but I attribute that due to less food for the snails. It decimates algae so it thins out your snail population. I had no loss in any other inhabitants.

 

[YumaMan]

Yes, that makes sense -- thank you. If I intentionally feed my snails greens (nori, steamed spinach, etc.) they should be OK. I'd hate to look my beloved conchs, they work hard for me on the reef bottom.

 

[YumaMan]

Lose my conchs, that is.