An urchin may or may not work. I had an algae called dictyota, that was close to getting out of hand, the faster I cleaned off my rock the faster it would grow. Water changes made no difference, my yellow tang , several varieties of crabs and snails, or my tuxedo urchin wouldn't touch the stuff. Finally I found out that the only thing that would eat it was, either a Naso tang or a Foxface, both of which grow too large for my current tank, but since I was in the process of up- grading, I went with a baby naso. It took care of my problem in about 2-3 months. Long story short, try to find out what type of algae problem you have, then look for the remedy. Good luck.

WELL, if you already have the REGAL and depending on tank size it might be hard to add another tang, ACHILLES is NOT a good choice as there a very hard tang to keep alive and if you don't know the type of ALGEA you have then I'm assuming ACHILLES care is not ready for you yet. IF your tank is large enough and you WANT another tang then the YELLOW is an AWSOME choice as they'll just abouit take care of any macro. LAWNMOWERS are hit and miss. you will also have to cutback on feedings so that the macro is attractive. you will also probaly have to manually remove lots. when RAZMOSA or GRAPE CAULERPRA[spelling?] take over they really take over

How about bubble algae what is the best cure for that i have a yellow tang,a maroon clown,and a yellow tail damsil

I agree. Look for the cause of the problem, what is feeding/contributing to the algae growth. You can't count on any fauna to eat any particular type of algae, and I think doing so is foolish.

Is the bubble, round(Valonia) or tear drop(Ventricaria Ventricosa)? these are two of the more common types, how bad is the outbreak? The valonia tends to grow slowly and usually not a problem. The ventricaria can grow very quickly, but not necessarily going to be a problem unless it starts to overtake an area (ie. coral). Some people have luck with emerald crabs but this totally hit or miss. If you think it's starting to become a problem, manual removal is going to be your best bet. Try to do this without popping the bubble and releasing spores (some say this is a myth but it makes sense to me) by gently rocking, twisting lifting etc.There will be some that will not be accessable and some that will not be coaxed off I would leave these for another day. Good luck

What's your source for the species names? I'd be interested.

Don't quote me on this but I read somewhere (WWM perhaps) that whether the bubbles contain spores depends on the life phase of the algae.

This paticular outbreak is bad it is in every corner of my tank. I was hopeing for a fish to help but alas if I must romove by hand I guess i will

I have read similiar statements about releaseing spores by breaking the bubble. It's reasonable that the life phase would be a determining factor, but at what stage it comes into play I have no idea. I just go by "better safe than sorry" If they can be picked off without breaking, great, if not I just leave them. So far, so good (knock on wood). Cheers.

Quinn, I know what you are saying, but it's not a nutrient problem. The halimeda and Chateo should be taking care of it. I know I overfeed, just like the other 95% of us :biggrin:
Besides, The Digitata I got off you is growing faster than the algae. But I know what type of fish to put in there to take care of that. :lol:
The algae is not that fast growing, just too fast for me. It is however starting to get close to some corals, so I would like to take care of it other than manual removal.
I tried the link above to ident it, but it is not in there. Does anyone know of any other good site to help identify algae.

I'll try to take a picture in the next couple of days.

Cheers,

Al

Ive actualy been syhponing them out when i do water changes seem to be winning the battle