First Reef tank

[chemist]

bought the actual tank. Then modified it for what I needed.

[chemist]

Here we are.
Tank at 78 degrees

[aquawolf]

Nice picture. Does the little one have a camera of his own to take pictures of the tank already? It kind of looks like he is holding one of those Crayola ones. Nothing like starting them off early.

[Mark_Winn]

Rock looks fantastic. Looks like some good Coraline already on it. Did you buy already cured LR ?

[chemist]

So I have the tank up and going. I have found that I am growing something on my live rock. Does anyone know what small greyish brown bubbles are? They are right next to the snail in my picture.

[chemist]

yes it was cured Indonesian rock

[cutietwo]

Beautiful tank i am jealous!!

[aquawolf]

The picture is a little too blurry for me to tell what you are talking about. Of course my eyesight is not the best either.

[chemist]

They are actually green bubbles now that I have pulled one off. I think it might be bubble algae.

[aquawolf]

If you can pull that rock out of the tank, put enough saltwater in a bucket to be able to rinse the rock off in. Then use a toothpick to remove all of the little bubbles and rinse the rock very well before putting back in the tank. Another trick that some people use is to cover the bubbles with superglue and then let it dry. You should then be able to pull them off the rock without breaking the bubbles at all.

Yet others may tell you that emerald crabs will eat that stuff, and then you have to decide if you want to take a chance at adding one to your tank or just go about removing the stuff manually.

[chemist]

Thanks for the advice. I think I may try the removal option, I already played the crab game (hitchhiker) and it didn't go well. Why is bubble algae so bad?

[Loverotties]

It spreeds like crazy and chocks things out.

[aquawolf]

As George said, it is a nuisance algae. If you allow it to grow in the tank, the bubbles fill up with spores. Once the bubble bursts those spores are sent throughout your tank to make more bubbles wherever they may land. It is better to get rid of it while it is a small amount, and do so outside of the tank.

Another option, if you cannot remove the rock, is to use a siphon tube and place it next to the bubble while you pop it. Hopefully that will suck out all of the spores for you.