Bubble Algae Control and Removal in a Saltwater Reef Aquarium - Emerald Crabs and Vibrant Reef

Bubble algae can quickly spread and take over your reef tank. Bubble algae and grow on top of coral., pumps and everything in between,,. now fear not there is a solution!
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I have seen many saltwater aquariums shut down due to a little bit .. or a lot of nuisance algae.. but with a little work persistence will pay off and bring your tank back your blissful chunk of ocean.
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[@Reefkpr1]

Good info Dev. I've always heard not to pop the bubbles as you mentioned. Often wondered when Emerald crabs are eating they must pop. Glad the Vibrant is working

[@WellDoneBurger]

exactly my thoughts. or if a fish is eating it the odds of it swallowing it whole are very slim, yet again popping it.

[@firebird5288]

Bubble algae is not filled with spores, that's not how they reproduce. If it was, then no one would recommend getting emerald crabs and or foxface.

[@Kokufu2000]

Foxface must be big fish, small fish mouth is too small to eat,It's safer than crabs:)

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Great Video Dev! Vibrant was hit or miss with me. It worked well on hair algae the first time and not so well when it flared back up again. Either way it is more expensive than other bacteria products in my opinion. I am glad it worked well for you!

[@DJ_LittlePea]

I was so close to closing my tank down .... I’m so glad that I invested in a bottle of vibrant reef ... it worked wonders on my tank ... great video and great info ✅😍

[@ReefDudes]

Thanks so much, PB! Awesome to hear you had a good experience as well

[@DJ_LittlePea]

ReefDudes yeah totally it took me 43 days to rid my tank fully of the bubbles and the GHA ... lost a few fish in the process which really pissed me off but we learn by our mistakes right ... 😋

[@ReefDudes]

So ironically i have some little tuffs of hair that have appeared since i added the vibrant.. but the bubble algae is 95% gone! lol trade-off i guess. Sounds like you are right about that 6 week mark as well.

[@DJ_LittlePea]

ReefDudes maybe we are both into something because I didn’t have that much GHA but like you I now have little tufts of t here and their .... interesting and thankfully I’m not alone ✅

[@gardenextra7415]

Caught one of your older videos. Knowledge is power, bubble algae.

[@tsurro8086]

Been using it also, completely wiped out all hair and tuff algae first , now working on bubble algae, have a few crabs also , not doing much!!

[@ReefDudes]

It’s ironic that I have a bit of turf but the bubble is almsot gone. Haha slacker crabs!

[@MrMsm333]

​ @ReefDudes a couple of questions. Did bubble algae come back after you stopped dosing vibrant? and Did you get any cyano or dino after you get rid of bubble algae? Thanks.

[@johnsreef2622]

Thanks buddy. I have to say I am glad I took your advise. Vibrant works. Not sure what it is but I am impressed with it. After 3 weeks I am seeing a big difference.

[@ReefDudes]

Awesome to hear its working for you! It makes me sad when i see someone shut down a tank when it gets overrun when it can be so easy to fix! Thanks for letting me know! Love it!

[@InfamousAquatics]

saving 'tanks one video at a time. nice work dev!

[@SG-Motorsports]

Your video just came across in my feed and I can see that it's 2018 when you put it out, my question is, did your Emerald crabs survive eating all that poison sucked up by the bubble algae?

[@dreaddinit1075]

I might try this. I stopped doing reef videos because mine is so covered in bubble algae. I've tried everything I could think of. Weird that bryopsis would be easier to get rid of than this stuff.

[@ReefDudes]

It did the job in my nano. I'm debating trying it in my large reef to kiill the stuff hiding in the cracks befoe the upgrade... or possbily experimening with fluconazole

[@Racer-M]

I bought a emerald crab for this crazy buble algae outbreak im having and it ran straight to this little patch of hair algae and cleaned it up in one hour... havent seen the crab since 😅 guess ima grab a bottle of vibrant.

[@lonestarpatriot876]

Wanted to add something. Vibrant will go after weaker algaes first. As those die off you may see an increase in other tougher algae, Dino, or Cyano. It will eventually get to those but could take months depending on what you have. This is a key point because I have seen many say that Vibrant caused other outbreaks and they stopped using it due to that. Those people simply did not give the product enough time. BRS has a great video on this subject. GHA is one of the tougher algaes you may see an increase in as this process plays out. Eventually, and with continued use, that will die off as well.

[@ReefDudes]

Great points! thanks Travis :)

[@marcelrodriguez2067]

I started getting dinos 2 weeks into virbrant and had to stop since that just put way too much stress on my corals ( lost the majority of it once my phosphates stayed at 0)

[@lonestarpatriot876]

@@marcelrodriguez2067 My guess is that your tank zeroed out on Phosphates and possibly Nitrates as well which is something you need to be aware of when using Vibrant and bacterial cleaners. You may need to dose Phosphate and Nitrate while using Vibrant. In my experience, Dinos almost always pop up in zeroed out environments.

[@prsnlty6]

Lol vibrant didn't work on my HA but killed bubble. Fluconazole killed all the HA and it NEVER came back. I have a 180.

[@ReefDudes]

Hehe fixed both issue! Sounds like your winning!

[@Mr.Glitch]

I'm waiting on some Vibrant from a friend to try out, as my tank is getting overrun with bubble algae and my emerald crab was just bursting the bubbles and not much else.

[@ReefDudes]

On the plus side if bursting it does make new tiny bubbles. they will be softer and easier for the crab to eat.. so it all till helps. That stuff was a bit pricey.. but 6 weeks later it put a huge dent into it. Hopefully in a few more weeks it will be 100% gone.

[@Mr.Glitch]

True, I think it's getting the right ratio of algae to crabs. My crab ate everything but the bubble algae, I think he needed a mate to do the actual eating bit. Looking forward to getting the Vibrant (For free, wohoo!) so hopefully in a few months, I'll have to find something else to complain about. :D

[@plootsa]

Good to know right now I have very little of it I have been able to control it for a month by manual removal

[@ReefDudes]

Its a great way to do it if you can! suck ti out every water change.

[@chimpthereefer]

I might give this vibrant reef stuff a try, I have plenty of bubble algae and it needs to go.

[@ReefDudes]

It’s not cheap but it is doing the job.

[@RogueAquariums]

Great example on how to rid your tank of pesky algae. Sometimes getting different types of CUC will do the trick as well

[@ReefDudes]

I agree! Variaty is the spice of life! ima big fan of orange lip conch snails for the sandbed as well

[@RogueAquariums]

ReefDudes exactly. When was the last time you saw a bunch of cows in a field and there was long grass!! 😁 same concept about CUC. I’ll have to try those orange lip conch snails. Thanks & keep up the good work.

[@macbarb12]

Awesome vid! Is there any problem with using nopox with vibrant? I herd vibrant is also another source of carbon dosing? Also have you ever had any experience with Bacter-m by continuum?

[@ReefDudes]

Thanks Macbarb! From my understanding, Vibrant is a form of carbon dosing (at least partially) so I would cut back on the other products while using it to be safe.

[@RookieReefer]

Great work Dev 👌 shame we can't get emerald crabs over here (not that I've ever seen anyway) but the fact that vibrant stuff worked was interesting..

[@ReefDudes]

I was sceptical on it but I had 2-3 people mention it to me on a previously live stream so I figured it was worth a try

[@petepalazzolo7849]

Was there any bad side effects to any of your corals

[@ReefDudes]

I dont believe so.. i had a few not happy SPS but the alkalinity connection on the doser was leaking..so i attribute it to alk swings.

[@Emanna81]

Nice tips! .quick question. Since Rico's channel is down. Where have people been posting there monthly Rico's Nano Challenge videos at? Thanks for your time.

[@ReefDudes]

I post pics to Instagram and do a monthly update on KZbin. I think most are doing the same.

[@Emanna81]

ReefDudes , oh ok, I thought one of the rules were to post a link of the video to Rico's original nano challenge video. But since it's down you can no longer post to it.

[@ReefDudes]

Ah yes! i haven't done that since the original. we may have to review/revamp it.. But as long as people are doing the monthly updates then its fair game in my eyes

[@maddawgzzzz]

How about a crab in my sump that’s 30gallons? Is this humain and ok to do?

[@cubanreefer1582]

Can I get emerald crabs with having a harlequin tusk fish in my tank

[@ReefDudes]

The emerald crab would likely snack on him eventually

[@0xxddxxd392]

What tangs eat bubble algae??

[@bluefathoms3236]

Hey reefdude ? Were u using carbon in your nano when u dosed vibrant? And i u did , do u think ur carbon absorbed the vibrant? Or did u noticed your carbon neeed to be changed out sooner?

[@ReefDudes]

Ernesto Sanchez yea I did leave the carbon in. I didn’t notice any difference

[@bluefathoms3236]

Kool thnx for the quick response bro

[@ReefDudes]

No prob :)

[@sylvesterreef2637]

Hi very good video thanks for sharing 👍

[@ReefDudes]

Your most welcome! thanks for letting me know you liked it :D

[@beesreef5898]

How come we recommend to not pop bubble algae but let emerald crabs pop it?

[@ReefDudes]

If emerald crabs pop them then you have them in your tank. If new bubbles start they will be much easier for the crabs to eat and get eaten. If you are in there piping them you likely don’t have emerald crabs and it can likely jsut make it work. If you are looking or aggressively removing them I would turn off all of the flow and try and sick them out with your water change hose so any potential spores or tiny bubbles get sucked out rather than float around your tank

[@beesreef5898]

ReefDudes so what we are saying is.... if the crabs are popping them they will keep the clean up going. However if you do it yourself your not going to clean up the rest as often

[@ReefDudes]

Basically yea!

[@caina.c.a2185]

What anemone is on the cover

[@ReefDudes]

That is a fathead dendro

[@caina.c.a2185]

​@@ReefDudes thank you

[@bmx1riderm]

unfortunately my Green Corris Wrasse thinks that emerald crabs make a great snack. so that is not an option for me. i am however on week 3 of vibrant and feeling optimistic. I am starting to see a few empty husks hear and there!!!

[@ReefDudes]

hahah wrasses tend to do that :P It was about 5-6 weeks when i really noticed the massive reduction. Keep it up!

[@klc317]

I'm dealing with quite an outbreak of this in my 29g bio cube. Many years in the hobby and first time dealing with this. Ive tried quite a few emerald crabs but I've yet to find one that will eat the stuff. My wife is a hygienist so she has lots of teeth cleaning tools that we've used on the rocks we can remove to physically remove it but there are some larger rocks with corals on them we cant easily remove and risk damaging...so I am now on about week 2 of the Vibrant. Hoping to see some results as we go along.

[@zeichnete]

How did it go? Same boat.

[@mynameisnotcory]

Flatclaw hermit crabs are unheard of in the hobby...i have 7 in my 200 gallon and they destroy bubble algae for some reason...i think they do it for fun

[@ReefDudes]

haha, Thats the first i have heard of those guys! I just googled them, cool looking little guys.

[@mynameisnotcory]

ReefDudes they get big...like conch shell big...

[@mynameisnotcory]

Flatclaws and thinstripe hermits too!* both are found in the caribbean

[@ReefDudes]

Awesome! thanks for the tips :D

[@jesusfreak7777]

How about red bubble algae???

[@DwightMcCharles]

Or you can be like Harold (Pet City) and embrace bubble algae. I was at his place on the weekend and the show tank that was in his store is now in his home and he has a clump of bubble algae that looks like a coral. I guess he gave up trying to get rid of it🤪

[@ReefDudes]

Thats when you start calling it Globe Polyps :P

[@DwightMcCharles]

Exactly. Green globe polyps $20 per polyp😀

[@ReefDudes]

Did you get some for your tank? :P

[@DwightMcCharles]

I picked up four frags and I am willing to part with one for you Dev no charge of course lol 😆

[@DwightMcCharles]

Yes. They are beautiful 👍 lol

[@fr4nkthet4nk86]

Good content my friend!

[@ReefDudes]

Thanks Frank! i'm glad you enjoyed it :D

[@acanskywalker5631]

Most emeralds will eat bubble algae, unfortunately some of them also eat euphyllia and other coral.

[@swijack]

emerald crabs where eating my acro and monti... Now I've finally got rid of them. Better using vibrant.

[@ReefDudes]

Little punks! Do you know if they were eating healthy or dead tissue?

[@coralreef-arg]

Emerald crabs are a fucking lie absolute bastards they throw all the frags and also eat coral seriatopor montipora euphyllia everything

[@bcnrider6987]

Stay away from vibrant, never used before in my tanks yesterday I've decided to use it in a 40gal tank I've dosed it correctly according to instructions it killed two of the clowns I had there in matter of hours, even a clown that had been with me for over 6 years enduring changing tanks even moving houses. This is a disaster don't take the risk

[@leipeloetje5346]

is that a Irish coffeee?

[@ReefDudes]

Maybe, i'm sure it was delicious!

[@sillysalmon110]

Just an observation from myself.. The moment I stopped dosing iodine.. My bubble algae stopped..literally stopped

[@ozzyozzy6285]

Hi Dev you live today ?

[@ReefDudes]

Nope stream today. I’m Wi-Fi less on the plane :)

[@ozzyozzy6285]

ReefDudes safe flight dude 😎

[@ReefDudes]

ozzy ozzy thanks buds!

[@Babycat42069]

Okay but they are edible and someone needs to try them

[@ReefDudes]

Let us know how that goes

[@Angel_A6969]

I can’t believe there are thumbs down SMH 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@ReefDudes]

Right?! i get 3-5 per video on average.. its my thumbs down club! haha atleast they care enough to click something! Thanks for the good vibes @suthern Indiana Reefing

[@Angel_A6969]

ReefDudes that just comes to show that your doing something right 👌 😊

[@brettbennett73]

Emerald crabs suck!!! They like to eat my green star polyps...be careful

[@ReefDudes]

Good to know! I do have 2 in my big tank and so far my GSP has been safe! you never know what they can get an appetite for!

[@mr.reeftank1456]

My fat sailfin and yellow tang eat my bubble algae!

[@EDKsurly]

My emerald crabs are lazy... Lol

[@ReefDudes]

Ah you got the slacker crabs :P