green bubbles?
 

i have just noticed a small(like a 1/4 inch) of this bubbly looking green stuff. is this good or bad?

kristian________ :confused:

It could be Valonia (a.k.a Bubble Algae) which is bad since it can get out of hand.

what do i do with it?

Manual removal is usually the best. Emerald crabs might work as well though its usually a 50/50 thing with them.

there are no fish or anything else in the tank right now, if they,can they pop and is that bad?

Get a Emerald crab I was told they love the stuff. I have not tried it myself

Cheers
Tyler

Some say popping only spreads them but Emerald crabs, when they eat them, pop them, so I really don't know what to believe there :confused:

well i guess i'll try removing them manualy :eek: hope it does not spread.
thanks :biggrin:

My guy loves bubble algae

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/1305jade.jpg

the problem with emerald crabs is they get big and can get nasty sometimes. i have a huge one in my tank that hitched in on some coral *cough*jason*cough*. this one is kinda scary looking but so far all it's done is systematically knocked every coral in the tank over, that and oh yeah it's now eating coraline after it finished up all the valonia. all the fish still have their fins though :P i guess i would only add one as a last resort unless you really like having scary crabs in your tank.

is this stuff bad to have in your tank :confused:

it's not great as it will start to get out of control if left unchecked. i wouldnt loose any sleep over them on the otherhand. if you can reach them just grab them with your hand and pull them out.

Grab them lightly and give them a twist. Or use a realy sharp pointed object and carefully scrape or pull/pry off the rock etc. you want to try and get them whole. If they do pop, and you have other types of corals etc some if not most of the particles now released from the bubble may be used as food for the other corals. if not hope your skimmer takes some out.

In my first tank a long time ago I would see them and I would just pull them out. Once and awhile I would pop one with no ill affect or major outbreak in the tank. You just have to keep on top of it.

Good luck.

I recently moved a piece of rock and found two bubbles that had grown to the size of large marbles :shocked!: (the big ones). They had been around so long that they each had a covering of purple corraline algae on them.

When I do come across valonia, manual removal seems to work fine with no ill effects even when I popped a couple.

just remove them or pop them, it is a myth that they will spread spors and such if they are poped as they are a single cell algae and do not contain spors.

Steve

thanks everyone for your input :biggrin: i just removed them using a sharp knife, hope the don't come back

thanx :biggrin: :cool: