Bubble Algae

[Gillybaby]

Don't get much bubble algae in my main reef so imagine my surprise when I discovered this monsta hiding behind one of my leathers, alongside the little one:

http://www.trapper300.co.uk/photos/albums/userpics/10002/valonia.jpg

Never seen a bubble so big before, thank goodness it came out in one piece. Just think if it had burst, the tank would have been overrun with the things in days :eek:

[lenny]

believe it or not you have to have good water quality for these thing to grow.so they are not all bad news. lenny

[Gillybaby]

lol lenny - well that's made me feel better ;)

[berns]

oo er that is a giant bubble algae:eek:

[Macca]

I have a super large myhrax crab for you Gilly :D

Christ I think the smaller of the two is big never mind the other one.

I note you say if this had burst then your tank would be plagued by them. I never knew this. Does this mean a mythrax crab can cause more bubbles with dining on them :confused:

James

[Harrison]

That’s fantastic Gillybaby, I don’t suffer with them anymore but when I had a few I enjoyed removing them and piercing them with pin, there’s so much fluid in them they’re like a water pistol. I remember measuring how much fluid one of the larger bubbles contained and I think it was about 25 – 30 ml certainly don’t want to pop them in your tank..

Cheers

Matthew

[nemo]

i had one 2 times bigger than that it was like a golf ball ha ha. my sailfin tang likes to eat them when i burst them :D

[Gillybaby]

lol, I couldn't believe how much it weighed either, was about the same as a golf ball :eek: And I must admit to having had a bit of fun bursting them in the sink :D

James, as I understood it, the liquid inside carries spoors. A mithrax would usually eat them when they are smaller, I'd have thought, so it wouldn't be so much of a problem. Actually, I do have a lot of small bubbles in my nano and have been considering getting a mithrax for in there. So I might just take you up on that offer soon ;)

[Rover]

Just removed one (hopefully the only one) the size of your baby one (had two smaller bubbles attatched to it), thought I had removed it carefully off the rock and dumped it in a bucket until lights back on and observed it floating around the tank:eek: Quick fishing trip with a net fortunately soon removed it.

Is it true about water quality? would certainly make me feel happier if it is after the recent effects of crab carnage.

[liquidlogic]

omg bigggest iv seen. welldone getting it out

[Wilfy]

Why are you taking them out?
Valonia is one of the more desirable algaes unlike cyano, they make an interesting feature in the tank as well as being a different colour (not many green fish) and you don't get hundreds like aiptasia.
Eventually the nutrients they are feeding on will diminish and they will disappear only to return several months later.

[Blue]

Why are you taking them out?
Valonia is one of the more desirable algaes unlike cyano, they make an interesting feature in the tank as well as being a different colour (not many green fish) and you don't get hundreds like aiptasia.
Eventually the nutrients they are feeding on will diminish and they will disappear only to return several months later.
I agree, I don't find them nasty and have never been plagued by them either.
The common name for them is a Sailors eyeball. ;)
regards

[Gillybaby]

I have actually seen a tank completely overrun by valonia which may have been doing a great job but I thought them a tad unsightly. Honestly, there wasn't a single bit of rock that didn't have valonia on it. I'd rather mine didn't get to that but am quite happy for the odd one or two to stay.

My nano on the other hand is well on its way to being overun (the bubbles are out competing the chaeto which is no mean feat) so I'll need to get a male mithrax at some point to clear them out - any excuse to buy another invert ;)

[tonyponty]

mmmmmm i got 1or 2 littles ones in my tank wondered what they was thx gilly

[Blue]

I think you only get plagued when you burst them but I am not sure.
Like I said I have never been plagued so I must be lucky.

[Macca]

Not only that we get charged a lot of money to import Sailor's eyeball Algae! :eek:


James