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Not pooping but popping bubble algae!
We all at some point or another get green bubble algae. When we're new to the hobby we think it's pretty. Heck some stores have been known to prey, I mean sell it to their new customers. Once it gets out of control it can cover everything including rock, sand, equipment and even kill off corals. People have had luck with various removal options such as but not limited to certain fish that eat it, manual removal, tank chemistry, inverts, etc.
But one thing has always been circulated in the hobby is something that I have always struggled with and I thought we could settle it now.
The theory is that if you "POP" the bubbles then the spores from the algae will be released into the water column and the bubble algae will spread. I personally have always had good luck just popping the bubbles in the tank, crushing them and scraping them out without them reproducing somewhere else in the tank.
One thing that always made me take pause to the argument is the fact that emerald crabs, a known bubble algae eater, doesn't eat these bubbles whole but rather pops the bubbles as it eats them. Same with certain rabbitfish that has been know to eat it.
So my question is this.
Does popping green bubble algae in your tank create a negative effect by causing more to grow in other places due to spores being released into the water column?
And some crazy large bubble algae photos for kicks and giggles.
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