Ohio Reef
Reef Discussion => Corals => Topic started by: mbettman on February 26, 2018, 10:00:45
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What are the bubble looking things in the middle of the zoas?
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Looks like Bubble Algae.
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bubble algae
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Is that bad
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It’s kinda cool looking but invasive. Peroxide in a syringe and squirt them with it and they will go away. Treatment Will not hurt the corals.
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Do not bust the bubble if at all possible. It will spread everywhere. Take the rock out, if possible, and tray to pull the bubble off without damaging it. Then rinse the rock in a bucket of tank water before putting back in the tank.
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Do not bust the bubble if at all possible. It will spread everywhere. Take the rock out, if possible, and tray to pull the bubble off without damaging it. Then rinse the rock in a bucket of tank water before putting back in the tank.
:offTopic
I don't want to start an argument... but I've been waiting for this issue to come up on OhioReef for a while.....and was wondering is anyone actually had any info on this...
What evidence exists that popping them causes them to spread? Bubble algae is a single celled organism, everything that I have found (scientific papers and such) indicate that they reproduce by splitting at the base, and since they are just a single cell, they can split and spread very fast. The natural remedies for this problem (emerald mythrax crabs), end up popping the bubbles when they eat them. And, if they do release spores... wouldn't those spores have to consist of at least one cell? Meaning that a single bubble algae with spores would be a multi-cellular organism? I am by no means a biologist, I've just been very curious about this for a while and have never seen any evidence supporting the "do not pop" stance other than people just saying it on forums.
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My evidence is my eradication of it in my tank. Do what you’re comfortable with. I don’t pop them in my DT.
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My evidence is my eradication of it in my tank. Do what you’re comfortable with. I don’t pop them in my DT.
I'm not saying you are wrong... I just haven't seen anything beyond anecdotal evidence. Its like garlic curing ich.... it's just something that has spread through the hobby online to the point where people believe it but there doesn't seem to be any studies anywhere to prove if it does or doesn't.
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I have the same bubble algae that keeps growing back from the same spot on my gonipora. I've tried to scrape it off, sometimes with better luck than other times. Sometimes I'll accidentally pop one. Luckily, it still seems isolated to that one coral.
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Well first, there are quite a few different types of “bubble algae”. All of which are a nuisance. However, some appear to reproduce via anchor roots while others release spores (Order Valoniaceae). Simple google search, first return.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/hcj/feature/index.php
My personal experience is that when I popped them, new bubbles would show up 4”-6” away on another rock. I quit popping and started removing the vesicles outside the DT and then rinsing the rock in a separate bucket. The only time I see it in my DT now is shortly after putting new frags in the tank.