How to deal with Bubble Algae

[Daniel@R2R]

Bubble algae is one of those nuisance algaes that can take over a tank (ask @Rakie... he knows...). It can also be one of the most frustrating to eradicate because of trying to find predators that will take it out. The one predator I know of that is usually the go-to IMO is the emerald crab...but those guys can go rogue...

Have you found bubble algae to be a pain? What solutions have you found to be best?

This is one giant bubble algae bulb. Photo by @Mr V

 

[sfin52]

please share your tricks. @Rakie please share

 

[brandon429]

after studying valonia invasions a long time I can safely say Vibrant has the highest statistical cure rate for valonia of anything including sally lightfoot/mithrax crabs etc. That doesn't mean Id use vibrant for everything, but its the best treatment for valonia Ive seen

anything else I could think of to recommend also has documented cures, before and after pics, but they're sparse compared to vibrant.

 

[pelphrey]

Emerald crabs from reef cleaners took care of my bubble algae issues! A little comes up here and there and they attack!

 

[sfin52]

Emerald crabs from reef cleaners took care of my bubble algae issues! A little comes up here and there and they attack!

How are emeralds with seahares

 

[BeejReef]

Emerald crabs from reef cleaners took care of my bubble algae issues! A little comes up here and there and they attack!

how many crablers do you keep in there to hold it down?

 

[pelphrey]

How are emeralds with seahares

Sorry, I can't answer that!

 

[pelphrey]

how many crablers do you keep in there to hold it down?

Two in a RedSea Reefer 250.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I currently have about 16 emeralds in a 75g tank.......

Can't say I've seen any bubble algae in awhile.....

 

[BeejReef]

I currently have about 16 emeralds in a 75g tank.......

Can't say I've seen any bubble algae in awhile.....

I just got my first two in a 65g... why I'm so interested. Very minor bubble algae issue in my tank. The two I have are meticulous. Each has been working a 3" x 3" patch for a couple of days. Unfortunately, neither patch had any bubble algae

 

[RyanSweet]

Black long spine urchins or blue tuxedo urchins. I got 2 very small black long spine for my 75gal when it was over run with bubble algae. I had them for 3yrs before they outgrew the tank and haven’t seen bubble algae since. That was 6yrs ago.

 

[Jinko]

Get a more aggressive type of algae to out compete it, cheato for example.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Vibrant. However, it
Only worked for me at twice the dosage. Eg 18ml a week was recommended and did nothing. I moved to 18ml twice per week while watching Params and then noticed bubbles detaching. My filter socks were of bubble algae and so was my tunze Powerhead.

 

[Rakie]

I've not had success getting rid of it. After switching out to real reef rock it all grew in at once over every inch of rock.

Nothing as stopped it, but I have added some emeralds that are slowly making a dent. The only thing people have at least 50/50 shot with is a fox face.

He'll, vibrant gave me dinos too. Whenever I dose any type of algaecide I get dinos

 

[Crabs McJones]

Emerald crabs from reef cleaners took care of my bubble algae issues! A little comes up here and there and they attack!

+1. My uncle has bubble algae running rampant in one of his tanks. He added 3 to his 65 and the amount has decreased by almost half over a couple weeks.

 

[TexasReefer82]

I also have good luck with urchins (tuxedo, halloween, long spine, etc) with bubble algae. It's not that they seek it out but they scrape algae of all kinds (except for bryopsis) from the rock, and urchins are strong enough to break and eat even the toughest bubble algae - unlike smaller emerald crabs. Unfortunately, urchins can't get into the small crack and crevices and there's always a bit that remains.

I'd use some vibrant, get a few urchins and get a group of emerald crabs from Reef Cleaners all at once. I bet your bubble algae will no longer be a problem.

 

[ReefAtlas]

I have used Vibrant at 15 ml per 150 gallons every other week for about 3 months. It has reduced drastically but not completely eliminated the bubbles. I have a young foxface coming out of quarantine on Saturday. I am hopeful he will finish it off. I do think the vibrant can safely keep it in check and reduce to the point of not being a nuisance or eyesore. I have not wanted to risk increasing the dose of vibrant.

 

[lbacha]

I use emeralds and seem to have no issues in my display even though I have bubble algae in my Xenia fuge. I accidentally killed my emeralds when I didn’t rinse all the Bayer off a large acro colony. It took a month or so before I could add crabs again and in that time I got a bunch of small bubble algae growing in the display. Since then I have added more emeralds back and it is gone again.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

The only thing I found to eat bubble algae was a Foxface. Urchins, emeralds, etc. wouldn't touch it. But the foxface just ate it here and there, usually when it was floating in the water column. Vibrant permanently removed it for me.

 

[Greybeard]

Had a fairly severe case... bubble algae covering probably 80% of the exposed rock in my tank. I used a three pronged attack: 1) Reduced light intensity in the tank by half (8 T5's to 4 T5's). 2) Reduced light duration in the tank by 30% (10 hours to 7) 3) Purchased a new, more intense refugeum light (Zetlight) .

Took a while, but it worked. I won't say that you can't find any bubble algae in my tank today... but you'll have to look for it for a while.

I've pushed my T5's back up to 6 tubes during mid-day, duration to 8 hours, no problem. Corals don't seem to mind.

I do have a handful of Emerald crabs... but I'm not convinced they had much to do with the elimination of bubble algae.