# Bubble algae



## newby30gallon (Jan 15, 2010)

just got new T-5 48 watt setup on my 29 gall tall. just noticed last night bubble algae is starting and green algae is starting to grow in between the coraline algae. any ideas on how to get rid of this bubble algae. i know not to pop them.


HELP


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## JohnnyD (Nov 24, 2009)

Im having a similar problem as well. If you dont have any corals, I have heard that Emerald crabs are the way to go (someone correct me if I am wrong). They are said to be "reef safe" but i have read too many stories about how they have torn up peoples corals. Some people have said that they believe that their size matters. Big ones tend to pick at corals when smaller ones do not. Anyone have an opinion? I was thinking about picking up a small Emerald crab and ditching it once it shows signs of destruction or once its job is done.


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## JohnnyD (Nov 24, 2009)

newby30gallon said:


> just got new T-5 48 watt setup on my 29 gall tall. just noticed last night bubble algae is starting and green algae is starting to grow in between the coraline algae. any ideas on how to get rid of this bubble algae. i know not to pop them.
> 
> 
> HELP


oh, sorry. I also saw in a post by betababy that if the majority of the bubble algae are on a single rock, you can actually remove the rock and basically scrub it and quarantine it in warm salt water with a light (to make sure the die off is minimal). this is kind of a last resort for me tho since the rock that most of my bubble algae is on is a base rock in my tank.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

you can carefully remove them without popping them then you can get them out. if you pop it ( which an emerald crab will ) it will release its spores inside and more will turn up around your tank. carefully remove the ones you can, which is why its best to remove the rock they are on first.

@johnny, i would never personally add something for them to do a "job." for example, if i had a mouse problem i wouldnt buy cats, then dogs...to me this is just like buying 10 arrow crabs for a bristle worm problem or 6 peppermint shrimp for aptasia. you dont need a problem to fix a problem. a big contributing factor to everything is prob. overfeeding. if alot of algae is present, even though you may or may not have much of a nitrate and/or phosphate reading in your test it may be a false reading. the algae ( usually this is common with tanks full of green hair algae ) is using up the nitrate/phosphates in the water so testing shows low ammounts when really higher ammounts are/were present. 
i personally also find crabs, including and esp. hermits to be a pest in my tanks. the hermits love taking snails from their shells only to find out they dont want that shell so they move on to the next one, thats even with having empty shells in the tank in my experience. emeralds you never know and once theyre in, good luck getting them out. even coral banded shrimp, which i know it says shrimp but to me acts more like a crab/lobster and will shred whatever it feels like. i find it seems anything the crabs can get ahold of they will. guess thats my personal preference with crabs though, i know some people love hermits.
i suggest taking another look at what you have at the minute, like ( but not limited to ) your feeding schedule,types of foods used, lighting schedule, old/new bulbs, your source water ( and i would test that ) how heavily stocked the tank is, your filtration/water change habbits, and so on


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