Obnoxious overgrowth: What is the toughest algae to get rid of?

What is the toughest algae to get rid of?

  • Bryopsis

    Votes: 87 19.0%
  • Bubble algae

    Votes: 108 23.6%
  • Caulerpa

    Votes: 6 1.3%
  • Cyanobacteria

    Votes: 60 13.1%
  • Green Hair algae

    Votes: 135 29.5%
  • Red turf algae

    Votes: 24 5.2%
  • Other

    Votes: 38 8.3%

  • Total voters
    458

Spieg

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I voted bryopsis, but bubble algae is a close second. Nothing seems to eat it but bubble agae can be dealt with by the right animals.
 

Greybeard

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Caulurpa. Specifically, C. Racemosa.

If you've ever had Caulurpa go sexual in your tank, you're going to side with me on this one. The rest can be a pain, no doubt, but there's really no comparison.

I once used 180lbs of very expensive, wet shipped Marshall Islands live rock to fill a hole in my back yard. Yeah. That's what it takes to get rid of Caulurpa when it takes over an aquarium.
 

JoJosReef

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Do people still put vibrant in their tanks? I used it once. Instant bad stuff.
Why use vibrant when Algaefix is much cheaper and it is apparently exactly the same.

I used it. Got rid of some algae. Got dinos and ticked off corals ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Still wondering how to get rid of bubble algae and ulva for good, but a large part of my display is macroalgae, so...
 

Townes_Van_Camp

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Why use vibrant when Algaefix is much cheaper and it is apparently exactly the same.

I used it. Got rid of some algae. Got dinos and ticked off corals ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Still wondering how to get rid of bubble algae and ulva for good, but a large part of my display is macroalgae, so...
Next time I get the urge to use either of those products I'll call a new guy with cyano and dinos and buy a culture of each. Just skip the part where I think I am doing good.
 

HomebroodExotics

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Bubble algae is the only pest I can’t stop in my tanks. Luckily I don’t really mind the look of it and my corals mostly grow over it. But I am still working on figuring out how to do away with it to make my display tank that shiny perfect reef.
 

A Young Reefer

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In my experience bubble algae, bryopsis and red turf are all on the same level.
However luckily all three have solutions
-bubble algae: emerald crabs and vibrant wiped it.
-Bryopsis: reef flux hit it pretty hard
-Red turf: tuxedo urchins keep it under control
 

homer1475

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I actually take my post about bryopsis being the worst back......


Forgot about the tank I tore down because of pink cotton candy algae!

That stuff is the absolute worst! Not only is it ugly, it turns the water slightly pink, spreads like wildfire (worse then GHA), and nothing, and I mean NOTHING will eat it.
 

ZipAdeeZoa

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I chose other, had a tiny bit of GHA the once my Scarlet crabs found out where it was growing it's no longer there.

I've got some very hard green algae that is covering the glass and if I don't keep up with it everyday my magnetic glass cleaner no matter how much I go back and forth will not remove it. I need to pull my scraper out and that's the only way I can get rid of it. Anybody know what this type of algae is?
Is it possibly green coraline?
 

srobertb

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Did anyone say coralline? It grows in thick plates everywhere. I don’t clean my back panel of glass so it forms in thick plates, falls off, breaks, and I think it looks ugly having constant chunks of it in my sand bed too small to get at. I had to use a tiny rake to pull it out the sand then scoop it up.

The most stubborn (for me) is bryopsis in small tanks where tangs and things can’t be used but coralline isn’t without its faults.

Bubble Algae can be controlled but once again, in small tanks it can suck (or it can be a feature and nutrient export). I like it.
 

Fat_ Ninja

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I've been fighting cotton candy algae for a while now. It's hard to get rid of. Just when I think I got it all it pops back up.
 

Jwise

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Whatever algae that is like a film on the glass is the only algae now that I deal with the most. I had hair algae but that disappeared really quickly when I added my Tang Army of 8 into my aquarium when it was ready for that many tangs to add. So instead im only dealing with film algae.
 

IPT

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For me a foxface will immediately eat all bubble in a tank...
That's the first time I have seen this. Have others had good experience with them for Velonia or did he have a one of a kind Foxface?
 

Slocke

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That's the first time I have seen this. Have others had good experience with them for Velonia or did he have a one of a kind Foxface?
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 70 53.0%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 68 51.5%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 34 25.8%
  • None.

    Votes: 29 22.0%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 6.8%
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