a few bb questions

[jbeltmann]

I have read the sticky on how to and still am going thru the whole process currently. Right now I have all my live rock cooking in tubs and I have all the corals in the display. One of my reasons for doing this is to rid myself of a horrid bubble algae problem. My question is what do I do about the bubble algae on the remaining corals, clams, inside the overflow, and in the sump? I was thinking of setting up another tank to house the corals, inverts and fish while I tear down my current tank for a thorough cleaning. Could I get by without having to tear everything down or would that not be enough? My biggest fear is to go through this whole process just to have it come back again. I don't overfeed my tank at all, nori twice a week along with mysis once a week. I think my problem is my live rock is 6 years old and has lots of nutrients locked up inside the pores. Any thoughts?

[hng]

Welcome to TRT jbeltmann!

Bubble algae is not as closely associated with phosphate and overfeeding as the other nuisnace algaes. Bubble algae spreads through spores inside the liduid inside them. In order to get rid of bubble algae, you should take the corals or rock out of the display tank and place them in a small dish of tank water (enough to cover). Using a tweezer, remove all of the bubbles, taking care not to burst any of them. You should also have one or two other dishes with tank water next to you. After cleaning the coral/rock, rinse it off in the two other dishes to remove any spores that you might have released. Then place the coral/rock back into the display tank. You will have to repeat this a few times, but eventually, all of the bubble algae and spores will be gone. Others have suggested using emerald crabs to eat the bubble algae, but IME, not all emeralds will touch the stuff.