Major outbreak of Bubble Algae - tank doomed?

[CMOS]

Hey All,

Sad to say but my tank has a major infestation of BA - on virtually every rock in the tank. I attempted today to try the manual removal method of scraping them off (while siphoning nearby water to remove any spores) but after 30 minutes I think I got about 4 square inches partially done. No way can I remove these.

Is this tank doomed? Try an Emerald Crab?

Help please.

CMOS

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

I'd try a handful of emeralds if the outbreak is THAT bad! good luck with them.

 

[yote]

Nope.The tank aint doomed.Just needs a little TLC.:D
With that much BA,I'd try 4 or 5 emerald crabs along with manual removal.

 

[Bifferwine]

You and some emeralds can remove it faster than it can continue to reproduce. Hang in there! Can you take out each rock one by one? If it's that bad, it may be worth it to scrub each rock with a stiff-bristled brush (in a bucket of saltwater).

 

[CMOS]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try the EC's.

CMOS

 

[dcantucson]

If you can't get then locally for some reason this is a good place with good prices.

Emerald Crab

 

[d.french]

been through bad bubble algae, my foxface and short spined rock urchins helped me through it.

 

[d.french]

here is were i read about bubble algae and picked my attack team.
'Bubble' Alage: Selected Descriptions, Controls and Comments by Horge Cortes-Jorge, Jr. - Reefkeeping.com

 

[CMOS]

Great responses. Thanks guys.

CMOS

 

[crazy cajun]

just reading this thread, just wanted to let you know that i had BA and 2 emerald crabs cleaned it like a good car wash !!!!

 

[Hiker4twenty]

+1 on all your responses. You also need to find the cause of the outbreak and find a way to correct it. You should increase you water changes, reduce your feedings and cut your lighting. That will all help to fight the algae in not letting it feed or get proper nutrients/lighting. You can even do a whole tank blackout for a few days and it won't hurt anything but the algae. Hang in there and don't get too overwhelmed. I had a very bad outbreak of hair algae that was covering about 75% of my tank and now it's clean as can be. We're all pulling for you.