alage problem

[kwtowmaster]

I have marble like balls of alage .that are starting to spread there black and shiney ,how can I get rid of them?

 

[Anemoneman]

GENTLY rock them back and forth with a tweezers until they come loose. If they are stubborn, wait a week and try again. Do not break them, they are full of spores. Grow macro algae to compete with them for nutrients.

 

[loganj]

Emerald crabs will supposedly eat this algae. I don't know if they do or not. I have a couple of emerald crabs, but I've never had the algae (valonia?). Mine haven't bothered anything in the tank as far as I can tell...might make a neat addition for your tank.
Logan J

 

[kwtowmaster]

Oh crap I popped a couple off and some broke,I guess that means I can expect more.How can I grow macro algae?& would tangs eat it?

 

[kribbz]

i got like 2 emerald crabs for my 65 and i rarely see bubble algae in my tank.

 

[kwtowmaster]

I think Ill get 3 or 4 of them.then see what happens

 

[Guest]

Question. I have been reading about Ventricaria ventricosa (AKA Bubble algae) and in the books I have read, they show this algae as a beneficial and easy to grow alge for control of nitrates and phosphates. Some of which we grow in our refugiums. So, in that sense, why is it so bad? It doesn't harm corals...or anything in a tank, so why get rid of it like it is the plague?

My guess is, it is a personal preference and not a scientific decision to tell others to get rid of it?

 

[kwtowmaster]

I had a peice of soft coral die ,alittle bubble formed at base and choked it out ,so I don't know how safe it is

 

[d9hp]

Yes, tangs LOVE calupra (macroalgae) it doesnt need a lot of light. Maybe 2 or 3 watts a gallon. So if you have a fuge or a sump, put it there. It will help a lot.

 

[kwtowmaster]

wow good idea,I thought i'd have to get rid of them thanx alot for 411

 

[d9hp]

No problem, tell us if that works ok

 

[Guest]

I had a peice of soft coral die ,alittle bubble formed at base and choked it out ,so I don't know how safe it is

I seriously doubt that a little bubble algae caused that...Hmmmmm

 

[Anemoneman]

beneficial and easy to grow alge for control of nitrates and phosphates

Maybe so. It may have some worth in the refugium.

My guess is, it is a personal preference and not a scientific decision to tell others to get rid of it?

It spreads very fast and can easily cover large portions of LR and some corals. As long as it doesn't try to take over my tank I generally leave it alone. I have had specimens 3" in diameter. Unfortunately, left unchecked, it will try and take over so I remove the easy ones with the method described earlier. I recommend removing it from the main tank from the objective view of it being overly prolific and the subjective view of it being ugly in large numbers.

 

[kwtowmaster]

I have no reason to lie .I had a little peice of rock w/2 corals coming off it I noticed 1 looked bad ,when I looked closer thats when I saw the bubble at the base on the dead one.they never bothered me before so I left it alone ,but when stuff starts dieing it gotta go

 

[Guest]

kwto, the reason I said that, is, it is unlikely, doesn't mean it didn't, but in the case of over population it would seem that it could choke out growth...I have yet to see it so bad and uncontrolled.. did not mean to offend...

Mark,

I agree that it can be ugly, no doubt. strange as it may be, I kind of like the way it looks in small quantities...I couldn't imagine what it would look like in profuse quantities. This hobby is so darn confusing sometimes and it is cool to be able to share and such...Reading from all of the greats in this hobby though, some were written quite a few years ago, and what was kosher then is not now and so forth...
Thanks for the reply, it cleared up what I had been thinking...

 

[kwtowmaster]

Im not offended the only way you could offend me is buy putting crap in your mouth and spitting it at me just kidding.But I alway was told the same thing that it wouldn't hurt anything.so when I saw a peice of coral I wanted and it had bubbles on it ,I thought it was cool.but it's definetly speading.a little here a little there .I just dont want it to get out of control.I think Ill try the emerald crabs

 

[CMKll]

I had the same problem until,,,
I hooked a UV Sterilizer to my tank,,,
I then popped all them bubbles and they never came back, the spores were zapped...
UV also controls other nondesirables like, Algae, Sickness and Cyano Bacteria...
Try it, You might like the results....
Here is a link to were I bought mine, depending on the size of your tank, I bought the Double Helix and it was cheap, 62.00 for the 9 watt, results were fantastic...
HTH
http://www.bigalsonline.com/cgi-bin...:U.V.+Sterilizers&inUID=1047155767.1047155767

 

[fishfreek]

Remember, UV only ZAP's what flows over the blub at the correct flow rate for optimal kill exposure.

 

[CMKll]

Right you are FF,,,
Mine is rated up to 200 gal. per hour, optimum is between 100 to 200 gph, I hooked a Rio 600 Power Head to mine with a little head pressure, I figure it's going about 150gph and kicken da shiet out of whatever passes thru, thus, No more Algae Bubbles and Cyano and Sickness...

 

[Hara]

This is so coincidental, kinda changing the topic of the thread, but I got a 36 watt double helix for christmas and tonight I was pondering throwing it out into the street. I am rather disturbed. I had noticed the flow rate was going down, The powerhead would flow great if I unhooked it from the sterilizer. When I put it back online, the water flow coming out was very low and the water dang hot. I had been trying to locate the problem of heat in the seahorse tank.....We took it off the tank, took everything to the bathtub, looked for a blockage. Decided to take the sterilizer apart and the hosing was so incredibly kinked it was unreal. Very very thin tubing and about 50 kinks. Seeing as this was a closed system, until tonight, I wonder how the mess just kinked up to where there was no water flow.

We called fosters & smith, they gave us the number to the manufacturer and said they would help if the people had no answer for us.

But I am rather mad that I could have lost a tank full of seahorses...I kept thinking it was a heater malfunctioning on the tetratec filter.

Needless to say, I recommend you guys with the double helix keep an eye out for this, especially after a bulb change. Looks like the kinking could happen very easily.