Algae Bubble Removal?help!

[binhzino]

I have a ton of algae hairs and algae bubbles growing on my liverock and even on my protein skimmer. This is an established tank that I purchased from someone who was moving. How do I remove this stuff? They said to pick the bubbles off, but really there's got to be a better alternative than sitting there and plucking all that off.

 

[darknes]

Plucking the bubbles off isn't going to help. If one of them pops, it'll release tons of spores into your tank, and you'll have hundreds more of them.
If you don't have an aggressive tank, I would recommend buying a few emerald crabs. They love bubble algae, and it will be gone in a week or two.

 

[larrynews]

yep...emerald crabs

 

[darthmatt]

ya they eat it, but they pop them and release the spores while they are eating. It's a catch-22.

 

[binhzino]

so that's not a good thing......???????

 

[mudplayerx]

Use a turkey baster to suck them up or a long length of aquarium tubing and use your mouth to vaccum them up (careful not to get a mouthful lol).

 

[darknes]

A turkey baster won't suck up bubble algae. :nope:
The bubble algae I had was attached to the rock real well. You had to almost scrape it off.

 

[binhzino]

how did you remove em then darknes:help:

 

[darknes]

I bought two emerald crabs, and the bubble algae was gone within a few weeks. Now my tank is bubble algae free.
Here's a pic I found that I took of my bubble algae at the time:

 

[binhzino]

nasty algae hair and algae bubbles

 

[mudplayerx]

OMG! That isn't bubble algae, that is a pic of invasion of the pod people! lol
I've never seen bubble algae so prolific. It is sort of unfortunate that it is a rapidly-spreading pest, because it is actually kind of nice to look at.

 

[binhzino]

then what is it...