Bubble Algae Plaque

[Rocky Mountain Reef]

I'm getting a captive bred Gold Lined Rabbitfish soon in an order from Dr. Reef. Will see what it does.

 

[joe-ejs]

So I have always read in the past that if they pop, the spores spread and then you have a dozen to replace the one that popped. Is this now a myth? Is it ok to manually remove them, and not cause a bigger infestation if I accidentally pop them?

 

[Rocky Mountain Reef]

So I have always read in the past that if they pop, the spores spread and then you have a dozen to replace the one that popped. Is this now a myth? Is it ok to manually remove them, and not cause a bigger infestation if I accidentally pop them?

I've heard this myth has been debunked...let's see what others say. I have so much that I don't see it making a difference....just pulling it out in clumps.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

So I have always read in the past that if they pop, the spores spread and then you have a dozen to replace the one that popped. Is this now a myth? Is it ok to manually remove them, and not cause a bigger infestation if I accidentally pop them?

If you do nothing and just stare at that one bubble, they will still mysteriously appear randomly all over your tank, and they will spread very quickly. The one bubble will turn into hundreds within a week. Popping it or not doesn't matter, it spreads equally fast either way. . I think it either pops itself or it spreads in a different way without popping. Either way, its evil stuff.

 

[dwarfseahorse]

My question is simply what would happen if you leave the Bubble Algae in the tank? I have some and it is not easy to just take out. I had read that they do not do any harm so if that is true, do they really need to be removed?

Here is the update on my Bubble Algae. There are a lot of people that claimed that the bubbles popping would not create more so I decided to just go for it. I spent last weekend taking the Bubble Algae out one by one. It did come off a lot easier that I thought and I was able to pull most of them off with long tongs. The few smaller rocks, etc. that had Bubble Algae on them that I was able to remove from the tank (the rocks) and then removed the Bubble Algae from them and put the rocks back into the tank. When I did it that way, I did find that some of the Bubble Algae did pop and so I recommend wearing glasses just in case. Once I started, I found that there were a lot more I had not even noticed. So, it took many, many, hours but after it was all done, it was all worth it. So now we'll see if they come back and if so, in what numbers. Now that I know they easily pull off I will be a lot more watchful to grab them as soon as I see them.

 

[19Mateo83]

I’m waiting for my coralline to start covering the bubbles…either way my emeralds keep their chosen rocks clean and I remove what I can on water change day. I’ve accepted the fate of the bubble.

 

[Kiboshed]

Does playing with tank chemistry help with this?

I am having a BAD outbreak of Bryopsis and Bubble Algae right now and have tried bottoming out my Nitrates.

The Bryopsis seems to be receding, the bubble algae doesn't seem to care, and all of my LPS are super ticked and their flesh is now receding.

Should I pick my nutrients back up and just focus on the physical battle?

 

[dwarfseahorse]

Here is the update on my Bubble Algae. There are a lot of people that claimed that the bubbles popping would not create more so I decided to just go for it. I spent last weekend taking the Bubble Algae out one by one. It did come off a lot easier that I thought and I was able to pull most of them off with long tongs. The few smaller rocks, etc. that had Bubble Algae on them that I was able to remove from the tank (the rocks) and then removed the Bubble Algae from them and put the rocks back into the tank. When I did it that way, I did find that some of the Bubble Algae did pop and so I recommend wearing glasses just in case. Once I started, I found that there were a lot more I had not even noticed. So, it took many, many, hours but after it was all done, it was all worth it. So now we'll see if they come back and if so, in what numbers. Now that I know they easily pull off I will be a lot more watchful to grab them as soon as I see them.

Here is an update on Bubble Algae - yes, they do keep coming back. If you keep removing them every time you see them then over time there are less and less to keep showing up. I remove them with long tongs. Still don't know how they multiply but it is much easier to just keep removing them when you see them than to let them multiply which will then take forever to get them all out.