UV to treat bubble algae outbreak?

[harlequinnut]

I recently bought a 9w turbo twist UV sterilizer for my 46g reef tank with no fish in it. I have an outbreak of bubble algae. I know that it will NOT kill the bubble algae that is already in the tank but I was hoping that it will help in controlling the spread of more bubble algae. Meanwhile I will try to manually remove as much bubble as I can by hand. Do you think the UV will help in this way in the long run? Thanks.

 

[socal57che]

Never used UV, but you may spread the bubble algae by trying to physically remove it. I strongly disagree with adding livestock to address a problem, but some people have had success with emeralds eating bubble algae. (I've had 3 and they never touched the stuff)

 

[harlequinnut]

I am aware that by physically removing them I run the risk of popping them in the tank and therefore spreading more bubbles, thats why I got the uv so even if some does pop in the tank, the uv will take care of the spores floating in the water. As far as livestock, my tank is coral only with no fish or crusteaceans and I don't plan on adding any anytime soon. I have tried adding emerald crabs before without much success.

 

[maxalmon]

Best thing to do is remove the LR from the tank and then use a knife and scrape the bubbles off and then scrub the area. Then use a squirt bottle and seriously rinse the LR off with extra tank water freshly made SW. Scrub and repeat the rinse process.
I just went thru this in my frag tank and scrubbed off all the bubble algae while the LR was in the sink, so far none has come back. The goal is to get rid of the algae and rinse off all the bubble juice and let it go down the drain.

 

[nycbob]

my turbo snails would eat bubble algae.