Nightmare bubble algae/aptasia problem

[Nick96]

Hey guys,
I've had my tank almost a year and all my parameters are fantastic, corals and fish doing great. The issue is the insane bubble algae problem and aptasias i have. A friend recommended to just het new rock but... i have so much rock in my set up i dont wanna ruin it. What do you think I should do?

 

[fishguy242]

hi, what size tank, fish, corals, can you post full tank shot ?

 

[Nick96]

hi, what size tank, fish, corals, can you post full tank shot ?

Yes! The other pictures i think are still loading let me retry. Its a 40g breeder, i have mostly lps and things like pusling xenia, kenya, mushrooms, torch coral/hammers

 

[fishguy242]

manual removal of bubble will help,
is myth breaking will spread spores, loose pieces will.
true peppermints for the aip's.
really dislike crabs to recommend for bubble , i think a starry blenny will eat ??
not sure @TriggerFinger @Mibu ??

 

[Nick96]

manual removal of bubble will help,
is myth breaking will spread spores, loose pieces will.
true peppermints for the aip's.
really dislike crabs to recommend for bubble , i think a starry blenny will eat ??
not sure @TriggerFinger @Mibu ??

Thank you for the advice, i have corals on the rocks that are covered in the stuff. How do you think i should handle it?

 

[fishguy242]

shut down pumps while picking off and netting what you picked off.

 

[moz71]

So your tank looked very similar to mine with bubble algae and even after picking and sucking it out it always frustrated me when it just came back. Emeralds eat it but could never keep up with it and not even put a dent in it. Foxface didn’t do much either. Unfortunately, the only thing that got rid of it was Vibrant but came with consequences. Took another year to get it stabilized again.

 

[rwreef]

I cured my similar bubble algea by using Vibrant combined with water changes a manual removal. It took several weeks (months?) But finally all bubble algea was gone. Vibrant will kill any macro algea. For aptasia I've had great success with berghia nudibranch.

My2cents, best wishes!

 

[vetteguy53081]

For aptasia infestation, my best and still best is a Bluehead- NOT Yellow kleini butterfly which eats them like candy and does not bother coral. Have one in each tank
Fpr Bubble, foxface rabbit, female emerald crab or grasping gently and wiggling or twisting and pulling the algae at its base until it pulls off from the surface it is attached to. Use a siphon to suck up the algae once it has been removed from the surface it was attached to. Lastly, you can remove entire rock with the livonia and scrub it . By doing this, you are decreasing the chance of causing one of the bubbles rupturing.
Vibrant is a bacteria and May or may not work

 

[Nick96]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll think about it some more and see what I decide. Glad im not the only one with this issue

 

[Wasabiroot]

I used vibrant and it kicked my microbiome back to the stone age - I got dinos, then diatoms, then cyano everywhere.

Manual removal helps a lot. If you kick it up into the water column, it will eventually get on your pumps making it easier to remove. I would use something like a pen cap, then net a lot out. But you will need patience to win. Fishofhex sells a cool 3d printed tool that you can attach to a hose so you remove as you scrape.
I purchased peppermint shrimp from reefcleaners, and they absolutely made a difference. Don't expect them to eat the large polyps or instantly start.
An aiptasia eating filefish also will do good work, but keep an eye on any fleshy lps as they can get a taste.

Any livestock you add will need to eat once the aiptasia are gone, so ensure you feed the tank so that they don't start picking at your corals.

 

[fishguy242]

vibrant is a no go !!
tank is too small for either foxface or butterfly.
@Eagle_Steve which blenny eats bubble algae ?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

vibrant is a no go !!
tank is too small for either foxface or butterfly.
@Eagle_Steve which blenny eats bubble algae ?

Molly millers will devour it, at least the few I keep for my coral QT will. Seaweed blennies for FL also eat it, but harder to get.

In addition, molly millers will eat aiptasia from time to time. Not enough to eradicate it, but they will mow some down from time to time.

 

[Royalreef22]

I threw Abt 30 emerald crabs in my 180g and bubble was gone in a couple weeks

 

[Nick96]

***UPDATE***

I ended up taking over 50% of the rock out. I basically did a reset on the tank. So far luckily I haven't lost much at all. The corals are adjusting since I had a lot of stuff that probably wasn't good trapped in the tank. I'm slowly working in cleaning the other 50% best I can. Is it smart to add more than one emerald crab?

 

[Royalreef22]

***UPDATE***

I ended up taking over 50% of the rock out. I basically did a reset on the tank. So far luckily I haven't lost much at all. The corals are adjusting since I had a lot of stuff that probably wasn't good trapped in the tank. I'm slowly working in cleaning the other 50% best I can. Is it smart to add more than one emerald crab?

I'd say so. Although most of the ones I released into my tank ended up dieing with the first 30 mins because I released them near a long tentacle anemone and they ended up instantly dieing when they touched it lol

 

[Nick96]

I'd say so. Although most of the ones I released into my tank ended up dieing with the first 30 mins because I released them near a long tentacle anemone and they ended up instantly dieing when they touched it lol

Lol well I'll try to avoid that!