Bubble Algae

Hey Everyone

I have had this tank for quite a bit now.

Just recently saw some bubbles growing on the back wall and now its going all over the tank (corals, wall, and LR)

Any help would be greatly apprecaited

Hi Mike,

Get yourself a mithrax crab. It will devour the bubble algae. You could also remove some by hand, just take care not to pop the bubbles.

Hi, that does not look like bubble algae, more like green algae that is Photosynthesizing, what are you phosphate levels?

Thanks for the quick responses

Was unable to test the phosphate levels this week so far. been very busy.

Your saying the bubbles on the back wall is photosynthesizing? or the green on the rock?

I am assuming the green flowery type algae on the rocks as well as the vine that grew out of nowhere is ok.

Just worried about the bubbles

The stuff on the back looks like bubbles created by slime algae. I have some in the back section of my tank. The stuff on your rocks is hair algae, which the mithrax will eat. It will also eat the bubble algae, if that's what those green sprigs are growing up, like on the left in the first picture, that are out of focus.

If you do a quick image google image search you will see it's not bubble algae, bubble algae is very easy to identify, tell us more about your set-up, are you using any phosphate remover such as rowaphos, do you use RO water,how old is your tank?

No algae is ok imo, and when it starts to create bubbles like that it means that it is feeding and getting worse, it could take over your tank and kill your corals. take action as soon as possible

Sorry AK, but that does not look like slime algae to me either.

http/saltaquarium.about.com/od/algaephotosclassificati/ig/Green-Algae-Photos-Gallery/Green-Hair-Algae-Photo.htm

That is a link i just looked at about green hair algae.

I am using rowaphos. I would have to check exactly when i put it in. But this algae came after i put the rowaphos in

Here's what I have in the rear section of my tank. There is the dark purple slime algae and the air pockets protruding from it. If its the same stuff that you have, then you can simply scrape it off. I don't bother myself, as I don't have any in the display tank and at the end of the day, its feeding on nitrates and phosphates.

Obviously you have rather a lot of it and its a bit unsightly. You can scrape it off to remove it from the back of your tank. I'd also test your nitrate and phosphate levels as mentioned too. You may need to up your water changes, run phosban or introduce macro algae into the tank to out compete it but, find out what your levels are first.

Green hair algae is rather a loose term and it can come in many different forms, what do you think after looking at that link?

I agree.

My plan is tonight to test the water for the usual suspects.

I will go to get a crab this weekend, is there anything else i can do in the mean time?

I would not rush out and buy a crab thats for sure, crabs can cause other problems such as bulldozing your rock work, like AK mentioned you could just scrape it off, also think about doing a water change.

Personally, I'd wait to see what the state of affairs are with regard to the nitrates and phosphates levels. You can then take any appropriate action and may give you and indication of an underlying problem, such as overfeeding of livestock, over stocking of the tank, too much light, too small/few water changes, or a combination of them.

If after testing the water, the results come back as high, then you know right then and there, that this is the problem and hopefully you can identify the cause. However, if the results come back as fairly low on both the nitrates and phosphates, it might not be a true reflection of the actual levels being produced in the tank by your livestock, because the algae will be consuming both and thereby lowering the nitrate and phosphate - and spreading like wildfire in the process.

After you've tested the water, write down the results. Next scrape off all the algae on the back of the tank, until it is clean. Perform a water change and keep the waste water in a bucket. Remove individual rocks from the tank that are covered in the hair algae and using a new toothbrush, scrub the stuff off and replace the rock in the tank. If you do have actual racemosa caulpera (the green bubble algae) then carefully remove it grabbing only the stalks. Avoid popping the bubble parts. The mithrax crabs love eating that stuff and the hair algae too, but again, wait to see what your water parameters are before you do anything.

With the algae gone, test your water 24 hours later for nitrate and phosphate and continue doing tests daily for the next week and record the levels. Initially the levels should be lower due to the water change, but you can expect them to increase. Its just how high those levels reach after a week without the nuisance algae there to absorb them. If they do start reaching into levels toxic to corals, then you will need to perform another water change to bring them back down.

In the meantime, you can start identifying possible causes :

What size is your tank?
What is your stocking?
What is the circulation in the tank? Powerheads in LPH etc.
How long has it been established?
How long is it since you changed the rowaphos?
How much / often do you perform a water change?
How long are your lights on for? Is the tank receiving direct sunlight?


Solutions to combating the algae can be done in a variety of ways.


Larger, more frequent water changes to kick the nitrates and phosphates.
Using rowaphos/phosban in a reactor
Growing macro algae like chaetomorpha either in the tank, or in a refugium (better in the sump refugium as its ugly stuff) to out compete nuisance algae for nutrients. As it grows it gets more efficient.
A deep sand bed can remove nitrates down to trace levels. Read up on these thoroughly first though as they have to be maintained - probably best located in the sump.
Reducing the stocking of your tank
Ensure you aren't over feeding your fish.
Reducing the amount of light in the tank. If the tank is getting direct sunlight, then it can give rise to nuisance algae. However, reducing the light won't remove nitrates and phosphate, so is more of a bandaid than a cure.

Edit* Forgot about the protein skimmer lol. Do you have one ??

This purple stuff on the top left of the shell the blenny is in is bubble algae:

From the two bits on the bottom right, as we are looking at the picture, it sure looks like it

Seffie x