The Great Bubble Algae War

[BubbleAlgaeFarmer]

The war has been an endless one. No matter what i throw at them, they just keep prospering and sending in their reinforcements. I have a foxface, nope he doesn’t seem to eat it. Nutrient control, nope, they seemingly need no rations at all! Six or seven different emerald crabs, “nah bro, we prefer LPS!” I’m down to my last special ops soldier. Enter the pithos crab. Pray with me that this one soldier has a taste for bubble algae!

 

[sgdnycct]

Good luck! I’ve seen a lot of recommendations for pithos to deal with bubble algae.

 

[slythy]

How large of a tank? I had a bad outbreak in my 75 which was full of lps/sps and put about 15-20 emeralds in there and it worked.

 

[rtparty]

API AlgaeFix and done. I’ve tried pithos multiple times and they don’t last more than a couple months even with plenty to eat.

 

[Moe K Verified Sponsor]

I love pitho crabs much better than emerald crabs but like rtparty said they dont last but for a few months for some reason. IME they 100% have a much bigger appetite for bubble algae though.

In my small tank I just paid no attention to the bubble algae that was creeping in on hard to get place on the scape and on my wavemakers. I figured I will deal with it when it becomes a real issue lol. Fast forward at least 6 months and most of it is gone. I kept the tank relatively low nutrient with po4 .04 or lower and nitrates around 5ppm. I understand that sometimes that is not enough but in this case it worked. In other cases I had I am not sure this low nutrient parameters would be the same as sometimes you get some kind of mutant indestructible bubble algae. Might be the rock leaching.

 

[BubbleAlgaeFarmer]

How large of a tank? I had a bad outbreak in my 75 which was full of lps/sps and put about 15-20 emeralds in there and it worked.

It is w 75 as well. I hope the pithos does something to knock it back a bit more.

 

[Maho.B]

Following this, when you can please update on how the Pithos work. I have battling bubba algae too and I'm losing, it spreads SO fast, I harvest what I can get to all the time but still losing. I tried ordering Pithos a couple months ago but the vendor won't ship toy location due the cold winter months so for now I'm waiting. I would love to know if they work for you. Good luck!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I spent $200 on pithos and they did nothing. Bubble algae is the only algae I’ve not been able to beat. Twice I switched my rock scapes as a rip clean effort to get rid of it. Now I use brightwell razor or something else to get rid of it. It does work but it messes the tank balance for a while IMO

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Nutrient lowering is usually a fail with valonia as it grows fine at levels that corals need.

Fish can solve it, such as a foxfsce, but as noted, Algaefix can also work.

 

[BubbleAlgaeFarmer]

My foxface might be doing something as i’ve yet to have it get out of control. I’d still like to see a further reduction.

 

[JTP424]

If you have a LFS that has pithos i'd give one or two a shot at least.

 

[BrokenReefer]

Tuxedo Urchin worked for me; I got two plus a Foxface and I've been valonia free for quite some time now.

 

[Thales]

Scrape it off manually with a dental tool. Turn off flow. Collect with a net. Or put a filter sock on your overflow and leave the flow on. Do that once a week till you are ahead of it.


Biological controls are hit an miss. Either way, you being the hervibore will help the actual herbivores who often don't like to eat old growth much like deer prefer leaves over branches.

 

[BubbleAlgaeFarmer]

I regularly clean up what i can get at to do my part. Thus far the pithos seems to be a bust. Hopefully it’s just eating stuff i can’t see. Holding out hope

 

[56longroof]

I tried pithos a couple different times. They just dont last long. I ended up putting in a magnificent foxface and about 30 emeralds and its all but gone now.

 

[slingfox]

I tried pithos a couple different times. They just dont last long. I ended up putting in a magnificent foxface and about 30 emeralds and its all but gone now.

How large is your tank? I starting to see a few bubble algae pop up so I likely need to get ahead of it!

 

[slingfox]

I regularly clean up what i can get at to do my part. Thus far the pithos seems to be a bust. Hopefully it’s just eating stuff i can’t see. Holding out hope

How is the war against the bubble algae going now?

 

[painter1982]

API AlgaeFix and done. I’ve tried pithos multiple times and they don’t last more than a couple months even with plenty to eat.

How does this affect other algae? And would this starve the cleanup crew and tangs?

 

[rtparty]

How does this affect other algae? And would this starve the cleanup crew and tangs?

It attacks all algae. It’s non-discriminatory.

 

[CHSUB]

I have it and won or at least my corals won, if you can really win against algae which I don’t think is possible. I picked and poked it where it was and eventually my corals ended up occupying all available space, now it only grows in the overflow which I occasionally clean…