View Full Version : Green Bubbles taking over
Jexai
04-13-2003, 10:54 PM
Over the last 6 months my tank seem to have been slowly but surely overtaken by small green water filled bubbles.
At first I thought they were some king of algae and quite harmless, but they are growing on everything. My tufa rock is all completely covered, the base of the tank is the same, and over the last 2 weeks they are even growing over my first attempt at an invert, a medium sized star polyp that has been in the tank approx 4 months now.
I have tried scraping the bubbles off the tufa in the past and scooping up the hundreds that litter the bottom of the tank, but within no time they are back again.
If anyone has any idea as to what these are, why they are growing so rapidly & most important...how can I get rid of them I would be very grateful. :)
That is Valonia, or bubble algae, and they can be a real pain.
The most common method of removal is by hand. But if you pop one, the spores start new colonies of Valonia, so you have to be very careful if you try this method.
I gave up after about a year and put in a few Mithrax (Emerald) Crabs. They do a great job of eating Valonia...at least they do in my tank. I still have a few bubbles that I pull out, but the Emerald crabs keep the population under control. Some people have had trouble with these crabs damaging corals, but I haven't had that experience yet.
Oh, and welcome to AC :)
Mandairn
04-14-2003, 7:43 PM
I dont know what size of tank u have, what u like to keep, but fox face (any rabbit fish) will eat the Valonia (bubble algae). I heard the do and exclent job. I just want to cauntion u that they (the fish) do sting.
tHE'RE aNd NOthER OPtion.
votek
04-15-2003, 12:42 AM
Ehhhh a fox face is a tough call. It depends on if you get one that was brought up on algae. Sometimes you will feed them flakes and they will just not eat the algae unless you stop feeding them.
But, emerald crabs are algae lawnmowers!
1 per 20-30 gallons should be plenty.
Mandairn
04-15-2003, 1:24 AM
I like the look of fox face. My bother enlaw had them and they didn't touch the stuff and went (though never cought cuase of a 1/2 @.. effort) after the fish.
Thanks for the help all.
Had a go picking them of the rocks and polyp yesterday, not an easy task they seem to be glued on.
Going to pop into my local shop today, will see if he's got any emerald crabs available, my tanks approx 90gall so I try 3-4 and see how they go.
Will be nice to be able to see the rocks again :D
I also seem to have 'aquired' from an unknown source (I guess they came with rocks or corals) some animals that look like a cross between slugs and snails.
They mainly come out at night and in the daytime go into hiding under the rocks and gravel. They are very fast and breed like rabbits.
I have added a pic of one, could anyone tell me what they are as I would like to be able to put a name to them other than 'Slug'.
Thanks
I've got three Emerald crabs working in my 100g and was thinking about getting more. However, after a couple of months, I noticed a huge decrease in the numbers of valonia in my tank. Give them time to work their magic! Also, a hint on manual valonia removal - gently grab the bubble and rock it back and forth a little bit, to loosen it at the base, and then gently break it off.
Ah snails :) Looks like you've got a Stomatella there. If so, that's a very good thing! They are herbivores, are safe for reef tanks, reproduce rather quickly, and are excellent grazers. :D