Does/Did your Emerald Crab erradicate your Valonia problem?

[Myka]

Just wondering what the success rate is for Emerald crabs munching Valonia (bubble algae). I'm sick of it. I dispise crabs, so putting a crab in my tank is a last resort. If an Emerald Crab isn't the answer, then I'm bleaching my rocks.

[phillybean]

Drastic!

I've never had one, however I although they eat it, to do so the pop the bubble which caused them to spread. Kinda mixed results :S

[Gools]

I had good results with a sailfin tang. Emeralds didn't touch my bubble algae.

[Myka]

Unfortunately a 33g tank is a bit small for a Sailfin!!

Thanks for the responses everyone! So far, the chances are not looking favorable!

Maybe my BC Day will be spent bleaching my rock! Ohhhh, sooo exciting!!

[OCDP]

Mine did nothing at all unfortunately. It seems like getting an Emerald that eats valonia is hit and miss. I hear some stories where one Emerlad plows through it, and the other doesn't go near it.

Then again, there are many similar instances in the hobby!

I found manual removal (depending how badly infested you are) is the quickest, and easiest. Mine always seemed to pull off the rock nice and easy without bursting the bubble though. Spend 10 minutes a day and it does make a significant difference.

Cheers

[fortheloveofcrabs]

I had great results - but emerald crabs are picky little buggers. I've had probably five or six emerald crabs and only one of two were really interested in bubble algae. They have been inconsistent at best, but in the end, they did solve the problem for me.

At the time we had a member of the reef community, Beverly, was also at her wits end with the stuff. I gave her my ‘Voracious Valonia Eater’ to little avail in her tank for some reason…. Go figure, eh? She ended up boiling her live rocks on the stove in desperation – which did eradicate the problem.

Interestingly enough, the boiled rock did come “back to life” relatively quickly.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by fortheloveofcrabs

She ended up boiling her live rocks on the stove in desperation – which did eradicate the problem.

Interestingly enough, the boiled rock did come “back to life” relatively quickly.

Hmmm....I was going to bleach them because I figured the bleach wouldn't reach the middle of the rock where the oh so important anaerobic bacteria are. I figured boiling would definately kill them...?

[fortheloveofcrabs]

To be honest, I'm not sure which is a better way to as far as preserving bacteria is concerned - both are pretty drastic. I'd be concerned with bleach leaching into my tank afterwards, however.

Another thing to try is to take out the rocks (which you are going to have to do in either scenario) and use a blow torch on the bubble algae.

[marie]

Originally Posted by fortheloveofcrabs

...

Another thing to try is to take out the rocks (which you are going to have to do in either scenario) and use a blow torch on the bubble algae.

If your taking the rocks out anyway, they're super easy to pick off and then rinse the rock in some tank water before replacing in the display.
I had a huge amount of them at one time and I found manuel removal the easiest. If you remove 5 a day before you know it you will have trouble finding any
Valonia has been the least toublesome algae I have come across (and that includes coralline algae)

[Myka]

I have tried the manual removal for over a year. I do manual removal with every waterchange. I even took the rocks out in January or so, and "cooked" them in a Rubbermaid in the dark for 9 weeks or so. At that time, I removed ALL visible algaes before putting them in the dark. Nitrates and phosphates were both reading 0 when I returned the rocks to the tank, but lo and behold Valonia EVERYWHERE now.

The blowtorch idea sounds great!!! Mostly because it just sounds fun!