Green eggs and .... ?

Mike_yo

AC Members
Jan 16, 2008
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I have lots of little metallic green orbs scattered through out my tank, all over the live rock. They appear to be some sort of little eggs, and I've seen the empty clear shells lingering afterward. I know it's a vague description, I've tried taking pics but they are to small to make out.

Any ideas?
 
Sounds like (and it is a guess absent any photos) that you have bubble algae. Looks like a small green sphere? If so it is typically present becuase of excess nutrients. WetWebMedia.co is a great place to research and get solutions. I go through spurts of it as well and it appears that my emerald crabs don't care to get after it nor do any other of my clean-up crew. I do see it more when I overfeed. Hpe that helps.

If it really bothers you, one way to get rid of the spheres you see is to syphon them off. DO NOT BREAK THE BUBBLE, it will release all the spores and you don't want that to happen. If you leave them they break open over time.

Dolfans posted a great reference, perhaps one of the better on the subject.

Hope that helps.
 
Ya, that is BAD. I sounds exactly like green bubble algae, and what the shells do, turn clear once they are popped. When they are popped though, they release tons of spores into the water so it spreads throughout your tank. Very bad because it is very hard to get rid of. If it is at all possible, try and remove and scrub, even boil the rock clean that has the majority of it on it. Just do NOT pick at the bubbles inside your tank.
 
i don't recomend boiling the rock, i think it's too much. just take the rock out and put it in the bucket with aquarium water and take some bubbles off by hand or pick them off with a razor blade or a small nife, then rince with clean aquarium water and put it back.
 
try and remove and scrub, even boil the rock clean that has the majority of it on it. Just do NOT pick at the bubbles inside your tank.

Boiling the rock seems a little extreme. Wouldn't that kill everything on the rock?
 
i'd be scared to boil the rock as well...kinda defeats the purpose of live rock. i'd only do that in an extreme situation, and even then i'd probably just get new rock.
 
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