im starting to get a little bubble algae in my tank. the main outbreak of it is in the middle of a zoa colony. i've heard emerald crabs will take care of it but would that harm the zoa as well? if i went the emerald route, are the compatible with other crabs, specifically porcelain crabs? i've tried manually removing it but it seems like more pops up in its place. i would remove the rock but its a larger anchor piece of rock.
removing bubble aglae
- Thread starter hiimsean
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Emerald crabs (other crabs do not do the same) have done well for me, I have also used Mrs Wages pickling lime. Be careful with the lime it will also kill the polyps on the Zoas! :yes:
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Mystery- out of curiosity, will the Peroxide (H2O2) harm the mother colony
Last ones I had were on a plug with some zoos. I took the plug out, scraped them off carefully so I didn't pop the bubbles and release too many spores. Then put the zoos in a dip of H2O2 for a couple mins before putting them back in the tank.
Edit: I mixed one cap of H2O2 in gallon of water. No issues...
Edit: I mixed one cap of H2O2 in gallon of water. No issues...
Manual removal would probably be the best in a 5.5 gallon nano situation, IMO. If you try a chemical means, have some saltwater separate from the tank water to dunk the treated rocks in before you place them back in the nano. If you have a larger system volume, you have much more water to dilute residual H2O2 from a direct placement on the bubble and right back into the tank.
Ralph, I have tried the Napalm on Bubble Algae, and it did not work. This was putting it on the bubble and not injecting it, though. I'm sue injecting it would kill it.
What worked for me as well, was to remove as much manually first with a pick and wire brush, dunking the rock in extra saltwater (from a WC) to get the loose valonia off, then wait a few days until the remainder is easily seen, then pull the rock and let it drain, then using a Q-tip, dip the Q-tip in pure bleach and just hold it on the valonia. After about 15-20 seconds of contact the valonia bubble turns clear and dies. Then dunk the rock in a separate saltwater rinse and place back into the tank. Obviously, be careful with desirable corals near the bubble algae you are killing. Using a Q-Tip allows spot treatment and the bleach isn't going everywhere on the rock.
I cleared a 30 gallon frag tank of valonia using the bleach/Q-tip method.
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