bubble algae and acan (1 Viewer)

[panther009]

I got a new piece of live rock with some acans on it. other day i noticed it also had a small bubble of bubble algae. removed the bubble and quaranteed the the rock out of my aquarium for fear of spreading the algae, however i would like to get the acan off off that rock and back in my main tank without fear of the algae. anyone any ideas??

 

[Llama]

If you removed the bubble algae without bursting the bubble and made sure to get the flesh off you are good to put it back in. I do this all the time when a frag has a bubble on it.

 

[panther009]

bubble

If you removed the bubble algae without bursting the bubble and made sure to get the flesh off you are good to put it back in. I do this all the time when a frag has a bubble on it.

did that last week on a couple of tiny bubbles. however saw some more tiny bubbles yesterday so pulled out the rock and did it again but this time quaranteed the rock. am afraid to put back in for fear of spreading to all other rocks that i cannot keep pulling out and getting bubbles off. need a way to kill bubble algae on this rock without killing the acan else the acan will be sacrified in the houston sun..........

 

[trb]

Can you cut the coral part of the rock from the rest? I've done that before to get rid of some aptasia I got on a rock. I wanted it gone so I used some wire cutters and was going to use a hack saw blade, but was able to cut it with the cutters. Could even use a chisel and hammer.

The 3 bubble aglaes I had, I removed manually, and two actually broke, but I never had any grow back.

Good luck!

 

[gabe_j]

Emerald crabs like that stuff.

 

[panther009]

Don't think wire cutters will do for this rock so I guess it will have to be hammer and chisel. By the way who carries emerald crabs here ? Are they reef safe?

 

[Llama]

If the bubbles are not dark wih a blueish hue yet then they aren't carrying spores. When they are small and clear it SHOULD be ok if one pops in the system. I'd still try to avoid removing them in the water though.

I've had to pull some off of frags I was adding to a friend's system. I found it best to use my fingers to gently pull the bubbles from the rock. Then tweezers to get the growth on the rock. Then rinse the frag in a bow of tank water. Throw the frag back in the tank and the water gets tossed out.

 

[trb]

Don't think wire cutters will do for this rock so I guess it will have to be hammer and chisel. By the way who carries emerald crabs here ? Are they reef safe?

Dennis at FJW usually has some. I have one right now I got from him. They are considered reef safe but my prior one never ate the bubbles I had, at least that I knew of..

 

[Llama]

I hear the crabs are hit and miss for sure.

 

[gabe_j]

i got a pretty good sized one at fish gallery (i was in passing and remembered i needed one put the torches down.) lol yeah they are deffinately hit or miss though. i've got 2 of them and i only saw 2 bubbles and never saw any again so i assume they got it.

 

[panther009]

maybe you can sell me one of yours.......

 

[Llama]

Another issue with crabs is that they cannot eat said algae unless they pop the bubble. If they pop a bubble with spores in it you will run into major issues.

 

[rxonco]

I actually like bubble algae. I think they look pretty cool/natural. We sometimes go overboard with these warnings of "next thing you know, you'll have a complete takeover of bubbles." I don't mess with them. I've got two rather large emerald crabs which might keep them at bay. However, I see them pop up every once in a while and then go away. Like all algaes, it's a nutrient thing.

 

[Llama]

I actually like bubble algae. I think they look pretty cool/natural. We sometimes go overboard with these warnings of "next thing you know, you'll have a complete takeover of bubbles." I don't mess with them. I've got two rather large emerald crabs which might keep them at bay. However, I see them pop up every once in a while and then go away. Like all algaes, it's a nutrient thing.

Very true! They can only grow as much as the food supply provides for them.

 

[flexrac]

I've had more success with Naso Tangs, than with emerald crabs. if your tank is big enough for a small naso, i would try one. you could always sell it afterwords.

 

[Llama]

I think he may be a bit too much of a novice to suggest the naso.

 

[RR-MAN]

When I do get a BA here and there, I remove the smaller ones with with a medical tweezer (sometimes they do pop), larger ones removed by hand.

 

[hoffy02]

Im with RXonco... I think they look cool... I dont have many.. See them now and then.. Guess it just personal preference.. I do know that its just one more creature/ plant taking bad things out of my water...

 

[flexrac]

Bubble algae can grow quite large, ask anyone who has been to Mike's house. AKA Fishstick. those things were like marbles, coraline algae even grew on them.

 

[flexrac]

came home today, and my new naso has totally eradicated my tank of all bubble algae. both red and green.