What is growing my bubble algae?

[serbusfish]

I have a fairly concerning red bubble algae problem. Yesterday I had to remove a powerhead to clean it as bubble alage was growing out of it. There are various clusters scattered around the tank, I have plucked some out but it will take a few water changes to get them all.

I dont understand what is causing them to bloom, my nitrate is at 2 and phosphate 0.03. What other nutrients can there be? I have ordered some polyfilter and im hoping that is going to help absorb any excess nutrients and slow the bubble algae growth. I have an emerald crab but he doesnt seem interested in eating it :(

[anthonys51]

i am not an expert, and maybe someone correct me if i am wrong, but i would add more rock to your tank. it looks light. rock is living filters and i have a ton in my 57 gallon tank. my tank looks very crowded and i feed my fish a lot and cant seem to build phosphates or nitrates. just a though, but maybe you are doing something else different than me

[anthonys51]

My tank http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/08/373bd69c8a20ae88c67f86ce792b2682.jpg

[serbusfish]

i am not an expert, and maybe someone correct me if i am wrong, but i would add more rock to your tank. it looks light. rock is living filters and i have a ton in my 57 gallon tank. my tank looks very crowded and i feed my fish a lot and cant seem to build phosphates or nitrates. just a though, but maybe you are doing something else different than me

Did you see my most recent pic? I have added more since I setup the tank. I thought there was a decent amount (around 78lbs):

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h58/serbusfish/banner_1.jpg (http://s61.photobucket.com/user/serbusfish/media/banner_1.jpg.html)

[anthonys51]

nice looking tank. i dont really see an algae problem though. little on the powerhead, but nothing crazy

[billdogg]

What is growing your bubble algae?


I'm convinced it's Aliens!

I siphon out every little bit I can find every water change and it still comes back. No problems with any other algae, just bubble.

[serbusfish]

nice looking tank. i dont really see an algae problem though. little on the powerhead, but nothing crazy

A lot of them are quite small, and there are patches around the side of the rock work. I suppose it could be a lot worse though.

[shifty51008]

I have to agree with billdog on alians. While i dont have any in the dt i do have it in the fuge and no matter how good i clean the fuge they always come back. And i am like you .02 p04 and less than 5ppm nitrates

[Allentown]

Bubble algae is more of an infection like aptisia, less a nutrient indicator like hair algae and cynao.

Also I disagree with the "more rocks will fix". Live rock can help for year 1, but live rock also becomes a source of leaching nutrients back into the tank given a long enough time line and works against you so pick your poision.

When ever I have restarted my tanks, I always set them outside in he sun for a few weeks and wash them heavily and clean them, some times running them in a vat of salt water with a skimmer etc.

It completely recharges them to almost like filter media. For that same reason I also run no more than 1 inch of sand (often less), and would run bare bottom if I didn't hate the look.

Many people here run minimalists tanks with no algae or nutrient problems, there are entire threads about it that are like 60 to 100+ pages.

My personal opinion is that the people with the highest success in long term natural substrate function are those that run such low nutrient tanks that the water itself keeps the nutrients pretty much leached out of the substrate at all times.

Like I said, anyone can have success for 1 year. Many can have success for 2 to 3+ years. Very few people can go 5+ years without a massive tank crash, break down and restart. The ones that do usually have impeccable husbandry including constant frequent water change, regular media replacement in reactors, avoid over stocking, have plenty of flow and large refugiums.

The most I have ever gone is about 3 yrs and two months...... so I have been paying attention and trying to modify my habits for better success.

[anthonys51]

rocks don't leach phosphates into a tank, once there in there
the tank leaches them into the rock, witch in turn leaches them back into the tank when you lower phosphates. thats why its so hard to get them out of your tank once there in there.

i find more rock will mask your problems longer, but if you have bad habits (over feeding, not enough water changes, etc) in the end . nothing you buy will stop your tank from crashing. no rock or equipment out there is a cure all for good habits
all algae grows from excess nutrients, its how they grow

also if your needing to redo your tank every 3 years, shouldnt you be listening to advice not giving

[raybyrne67]

Bubble algae can get out of hand very quickly. I had a couple of spots that exploded into a nightmare. It covered almost every bare spot of rock in my tank. It took almost 6 months to get it under control. IMO I would take care of it before it becomes a problem.

[Allentown]

the tank leaches them into the rock, witch in turn leaches them back into the tank when you lower phosphates. thats why its so hard to get them out of your tank once there in there.

i find more rock will mask your problems longer, but if you have bad habits (over feeding, not enough water changes, etc) in the end . nothing you buy will stop your tank from crashing. no rock or equipment out there is a cure all for good habits

We were actually saying the same thing just in different ways, which if you read what you just wrote, actually SUPPORTS the argument that just adding rock isn't a "fix", you literally just wrote that almost verbatim which is what I said. no rock or equipment out there is a cure all for good habits

FWIW: Its usually my sand bed that I become unhappy with. Have been guilty of not doing enough water changes which is why one of the requirements on my new set up was that the tank had to have RODI lines and a drain pump with a salt mixing station integrated into the system.

I freely acknowledge my lazy husbandry skills and if you read my previous post, I think I mentioned something about studying people who had more long term success and adopt more of their practices.

FWIW I almost have almost never lost a fish and have never had a full tank crash in my entire time of running salt water tanks (since 2003). I have however been un happy with the building nutrient cascade that required me to actively take action to avoid a tank crash ahead of time (as already mention).

[anthonys51]

don't think rock will fix his problem. but i am a firm believer in adding one really big rock. denitrification rock for lack of a better word. i always add big rocks and in all my years of doing tanks never had a nitrate problem. now maybe this is just by chance, maybe its not. as far as sand bed, i went deep this time around. the 2 inch ones dont give any of the benefit of the deep, but do get dirty . now i know deep has it issues, but i want to try it myself. i never went deep before. tend not to want to try it myself when there are multiply opinions. but yes get the bubble alage out, it can go mad very quickly

[Allentown]

don't think rock will fix his problem. but i am a firm believer in adding one really big rock. denitrification rock for lack of a better word. i always add big rocks and in all my years of doing tanks never had a nitrate problem. now maybe this is just by chance, maybe its not. as far as sand bed, i went deep this time around. the 2 inch ones dont give any of the benefit of the deep, but do get dirty . now i know deep has it issues, but i want to try it myself. i never went deep before. tend not to want to try it myself when there are multiply opinions. but yes get the bubble alage out, it can go mad very quickly

I suspect you are a Robert Fenner fan....nothing wrong with that Sir. :smokin:

[anthonys51]

never heard of him. google time