Purple bubble algae?

[tigershark]

I was looking at some of my LR this weekend and noticed on one piece there were some bubbles starting to form. They are somewhere between a tear drop and a tic tac in shape and pretty small. They are transparent but have a purple color to them. I saw several of them on the same surface of the rock but I havent seen it anywhere else. I havent really seen bubble algae, only heard about it so Im not sure if this is it? Any guesses? Also how can I get rid of it? I am putting my tank though another cycle so is there a way I can clean it from the rock like using a wire brush or something before I start adding livestock to my tank?

 

[tim]

I'm not an expert on this, but last night I took a turkey baster to my tank and blasted all those annoying bubble algaes off the rocks, along with all the other algae. Looks great now.
They suggest vacuuming instead, to get the stuff out of the tank, but I just put a sponge filter on my powerhead and return in take, and get hope it all gets filtered out...

 

[tigershark]

What did u put in the turkey baster to blast it with?

 

[broomer5]

TigerShark
There are a few species of bubble algae that show up in our tanks. They are usually either Valonia or Ventricaria.
I've had most of them before
The Valonia venticosa is pretty easy to spot. Many times it will grow into a single large bubble - like the size of a grape - and sometimes takes on a silver-gray haze to it.
Valonia aegagropila and Velonia macrophysa are longer in shape.
Not really round, but more like a roundish hotdog shape.
Velonia ocellata grow in clusters and can actually begin to cover live rock or powerheads in the tank. Smaller bubbles than the other types above - and lots of them.
Here's some pics of Bubble algae.
I've never seen purple tissue - but I've seen this reddish/purple dusty coating that can cover each bubble.
Maybe this is same as you're seeing ?
Reference: Dr. Robert J. Goldstein's book "Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook"

 

[broomer5]

next

 

[broomer5]

last one

 

[nm reef]

Just a note of caution...if it is bubble algae then I'd urge you to take steps to remove/control it because it can become a nusience. I've battled the stuff for several months now with limited success. I remove what I can manually(take care not to burst them if possible)...plus I try to keep several emerald crabs(they seem to prefer munching the fresh/smaller stuff but do help keep it under control)...check this link for
information on bubble algae

 

[tigershark]

Well they dont really have that long shape yet but they are still small and they definately have a purplish tone to them. Maybe they are some eggs of somesort. Im just thinking it is bad, so lets say it IS bubble algae, how can I get it off the rock? The rock I see it on is easily accessable right now so I would like to clean it now. I was thinking about removing the rock from the tank and taking a wire brush to it. Any other ideas?

 

[tahoe ocean]

I also had the purple bubble algae. It was a slow grower in my tank, but once I got an ID, I took the rock I could see it on out and used a steak knife to carve it out of the rock. I even took some rock with it. I found a little one on my powerhead and took it out and gouged away some of the plastic to get the sucker off.
I'm getting some mithrax crabs to take care of the ones I can't find. Good luck.