help with buble algae

[seashark]

just noticed that i am starting to get buble algae how can i get rid of it ? my water params as follows nitrates 10ppm phrostates 0ppm calcium 420ppm alk 7-8 ph 8-02 any idea why am getting this?

[DC_40gallon]

Get a emerald crab. 1 per 40-50 gallons. They are $5 at Petco or $10 at most LFS.

fun crab to have, won't mess with corals and all they do is hide and work their a$$ off clipping away at your live rock cleaning it and in a month you will wonder where all the junk went from your live rock (corraline and your corals will thrive and the green junk algae will disappear). You will thank your emerald crab for that.

[thebkramer]

+1 for emerald crabs. I couldn't imagine not having them. Especially for my green star polyps! They keep the nasty algae from growing on the mat. They also help my zoas stay clean from algae growth.

[Tylt33]

Bubble algae = reef herpes. The stuff is nearly unavoidable. I don't put crabs in my tank, as they come with their own set of problems. I use a pair of long handled tweezers and I pluck bubble algae once a week or so.

[stingythingy45]

Emerald crabs are hit and miss.I had good luck with a few,no bubble algae to speak of left in my tank.But you also have to take proactive measures.
You can also pick it from the rocks manually and use a sharpened 1/4 inch ro line tube to break bubbles and siphon out the spores.It can be a pita,but you can rid a tank of it.

[BrianneC]

Will the emerald crab mess with my fish?

[Felix T Cat]

What color bubble ? I had an emerald that took care of the green and refused to touch the red.

[Felix T Cat]

Will the emerald crab mess with my fish?

None of mine have ever even bothered with them other then if a fish gets close they kinda rear up and wave their claws around.

[sdc19982002]

I tried the emerald crab too and it didnt work. Manual removal is the best way to go.

[bertoni]

Emerald crabs sometimes work, but they also sometimes eat fish, especially after they get larger. I got rid of my bubble algae problems by nutrient control, which is a lot safer. Lower feeding, running a GFO reactor, or upgrading the skimmer are all common approaches. Growing and harvesting a macroalga can do a lot, too, although it's more work to set up.

[jimrawr]

Man, I will tell you something that probably no one here will agree with but it worked wonders for me.

I had bubble algae, that started off as just a couple and spread pretty badly. Before it got out of hand, I had purchased like 4 emerald crabs (30 gallon nano). I would see them from time to time picking at it, but really didnt do much damage. Against what everyone said, when I would do water changed I would ram the siphon hose against the bubbled to break them, and get as much of them out with the siphon as I could. Sure enough after doing this 3/4 times, I got them all and they were gone for good.

From what I had read, everyone said NOT to pop the bubbles as it will spread worse, but using the siphon to pop/remove in one action really did the trick for me when the emerald crabs couldnt keep up with them

[bertoni]

I agree that popping the bubbles is okay. The reasoning behind not popping them is that they contain spores, which is true if the alga is mature, but not all that relevant, in the end, because the availability of nutrients is the key to controlling them.

[seabayaquatic]

Rabbitfish and Naso Tangs are great for controlling bubble algae. Emerald crabs have never worked for me.