Pests?

[manimal]

I am somewhat new to the hobbie and have identified what look to be possibly eggs on my live rock. They are dark colored kind of green-gray and look like a couple of BB's. Does anyone have any idea what these could possibly be?

 

[jhnrb]

Not a clue without a pic and then maybe no help. Just a thought maybe it is bubble algae (valonia or other). if it is eggs, what do you have in your system that may have desposited the eggs. if no clue you can wait a bit longer or remove

 

[Bifferwine]

Sounds like bubble algae to me too. Emerald crabs will eat it, or you can remove them by hand (don't pop them in the water). Check your nitrate and phosphate levels.

 

[JellyMan]

Sounds like algae bubles, my reccomendation is to pick up some hermit crabs from the local pet store, any attempt to remove them by hand may cause them to busrt, and thats not beneficial at all to your setup.

 

[manimal]

thanks for the help everyone!!! It sounds like it is bubble algae. I have several hermits in the aquarium so hopefully that will take care of the issue. Does anyone know if bubble algae is harmful to the aquarium?

 

[JellyMan]

Green bubble algae is one of several species of Valonia algae. It can become a nuisance in reef aquariums, over-taking desirable Coraline algaes and choking out polyps and corals. The solution is to get one or two Emerald Crabs, Mithrax sculptus, which are primarily herbivores. These crabs seem to love to eat Valonia algae and have helped us clean up Valonia in several of our client's aquariums. Be careful though, as once the Valonia is gone, the crabs may start eating polyps and may need to be removed. We have used these crabs for Valonia control several dozen times, and have only had to remove them in half a dozen cases. There are several species of Emerald Crabs and the tendency to eat polyps may be species-specific.

I done some research for you I hope this helps.

 

[manimal]

thanks for your help....it's definitely bubble algae

 

[JellyMan]

No problem glad I could help :)