Botryocladia skottsbergii ID confirmation

[Melina]

Is this Botryocladia skottsbergii (red bubble algae)? Has anyone had experience with this? Good or bad, should I remove it asap?
Thanks!

[Johnny Reefer]

My vote is yes. I have a fair bit in my sump/fuge. So far no ill effects. Sorry, I can't be of much more help than that.

Cheers,

[Swags]

Hi Melina,
YES, YES, YES. Remove the scourge as soon as possible. It will take over whole tank eventually, unless as in Marks and my case, you have a fish that will control it. I have a 55 and a 75 plumbed together, the 55 is for softies and the 75 is sps and lps with a tang (yikes the tang cops are going to probe me). In the 55 they started as a little bubble on a frag I got from a local reefer. Within 6 months, the bubbles took over, and now I have to manually remove them every 3 months. People will tell you that it is from bad maintenance, excess nutrients etc, and their argument has validity, but still not much help. It will grow over corals, in my case it is my zoos, but removal is quite easy..... and that leads to the most important point.... do not burst your bubbles in the reef tank! They contain spores in the form of a gel, and it is practically impossible not to pop them when you remove them. I use a small knife and try to pry them off the rock, trying not to disturb the bubble itself, and yes, this is all done outside the tank! It starts as a red patch, then blows up into a bubble patch that glows under moon lights, cool... not. Watch your cleaning tools as well, it can and will transfer, ask my 90 gallon reef Managing it is the best solution, getting rid of it... please pm me with your fix! I posted a while back and got nothing worth while back, so good luck! You may be one step ahead by removing now, just do it outside the tank and wash the rock with waste water from a water change. That is my routine, take 20 gallons out for water change, remove bubbles and rinse rock well in waste water.

Good luck!!

[Melina]

Originally Posted by Swags

Hi Melina,
YES, YES, YES. Remove the scourge as soon as possible. It will take over whole tank eventually, unless as in Marks and my case, you have a fish that will control it. I have a 55 and a 75 plumbed together, the 55 is for softies and the 75 is sps and lps with a tang (yikes the tang cops are going to probe me). In the 55 they started as a little bubble on a frag I got from a local reefer. Within 6 months, the bubbles took over, and now I have to manually remove them every 3 months. People will tell you that it is from bad maintenance, excess nutrients etc, and their argument has validity, but still not much help. It will grow over corals, in my case it is my zoos, but removal is quite easy..... and that leads to the most important point.... do not burst your bubbles in the reef tank! They contain spores in the form of a gel, and it is practically impossible not to pop them when you remove them. I use a small knife and try to pry them off the rock, trying not to disturb the bubble itself, and yes, this is all done outside the tank! It starts as a red patch, then blows up into a bubble patch that glows under moon lights, cool... not. Watch your cleaning tools as well, it can and will transfer, ask my 90 gallon reef Managing it is the best solution, getting rid of it... please pm me with your fix! I posted a while back and got nothing worth while back, so good luck! You may be one step ahead by removing now, just do it outside the tank and wash the rock with waste water from a water change. That is my routine, take 20 gallons out for water change, remove bubbles and rinse rock well in waste water.

Good luck!!

Thanks. I will do this. Hopefully, like you said, I'll be one step ahead in catching it so soon. Wish me luck!