Long battle with Bubble algae

[dugthefish]

125g mixed reef. Long story short, over a year ago my BA was out of control. Probably 30% of rocks covered, choking out corals. Tried natural remedies like emerald crabs, reducing feedings, etc. Finally tried Vibrant and ended up nuking the tank. All but 2 corals and 2 fish dead inside a week.

Fast forward a year. I have done nothing with the tank besides top off water and monthly 20% water changes. Just went with a "let itself balance out" philosophy. Remaining fish and corals maintaining but not growing with zero nutrients introduction. Honestly don't remember the last time I put any food in the tank. Nitrates/phosphates at zero, dinos all over the place, and the f****** bubble algae still going strong.

I'd like to give it one more chance before I break it all down and move on with life. What should I do?

 

[adsf430]

How many emeralds did you put in there? Could try adding about 20 and then removing half once the issue is handled. They're pretty easy to catch.

 

[Tcook]

I put about 6 in my 120 and they destroyed the bubble algae. I usually don't trust them but the bubble algae had to go

 

[dugthefish]

How many emeralds did you put in there? Could try adding about 20 and then removing half once the issue is handled. They're pretty easy to catch.

I think I added 6 then another dozen when thru didn't make a dent. Probably all dead by now.

I am mostly unsure how I can even be having algae issues now with zero nutrients for a year.

 

[Tcook]

The nutrients are in the algae

 

[TaiN]

That’s weird, are you sure it was vibrant that made the tank crash? I battled bubble algae for 2 years on plague proportions. Finally used vibrant at 1ml per 10 gallons each week to start and it cleared out all of the BA while corals and fish remain unaffected. I turn off my skimmer for about 2-4 hours after I dose vibrant.

 

[rwreef]

Vibrant is the only thing I've used that 100% got rid of my bubble algea. Crabs only propagated it slowly. I'm suprised by the crash and would be curious what other variables may have led to the crash while using vibrant. Best wishes

 

[dugthefish]

It's been a while, but there was literally nothing else I even suspected. All parameters were stable for the duration of Vibrant treatment. I wanna say it took several weeks of half dosing with little effect, followed by a couple weeks of full dosing before the BA finally seemed to turn the corner. A week after I ceased treatment, corals and fish began to die en masse.

 

[LxHowler]

I was battling bubble algae for months aswell. I agree with the others that vibrant was the best solution I had.
I did manual removal for as much as possible, added some emerald crabs to eat it, I don't think they actually did much, and dosed vibrant. I also did larger water changes for a few weeks, 30% per week to remove as many spores as possible, and it was mostly gone in 3 weeks fully by week 5.
Was the crash quick with treatment. I have heard a couple of people say it can slightly reduce oxygen when dosed, not sure how true that is though

 

[rwreef]

I was battling bubble algae for months aswell. I agree with the others that vibrant was the best solution I had.
I did manual removal for as much as possible, added some emerald crabs to eat it, I don't think they actually did much, and dosed vibrant. I also did larger water changes for a few weeks, 30% per week to remove as many spores as possible, and it was mostly gone in 3 weeks fully by week 5.
Was the crash quick with treatment. I have heard a couple of people say it can slightly reduce oxygen when dosed, not sure how true that is though

Great point, manual removal was also a critical step with vibrant when I used it.