ID these bubbles please

Little green bubbles starting to form on my rock. I have never seen this. They are not fish eggs or snails. What could they be?

 

Those little green bubbles are algea bubbles and are very difficult to rid off. I think the coral banded shrimp will eat those. I might be wrong, but I know a little critter will eat that.

It's considered a pest algea and plainly, just look ugly.

 

Bubble algae, i know the emerald crabs will eat them when they r small....but once they get big...just wait till they r super big then pick em! thats what i did lol...

 

Bruce is right in that they get big. Really big, particularly under high lighting. I've seen them bigger than grapefruit. At that size they look really cool with a metallic finish.

The problem with them is that they reproduce so quickly. Anything that would eat them would likely be promoting its growth more than it would be eliminating it. When you pop one of those little suckers spores go everywhere, and more baby bubble boogers come out. Same thing goes for that emerald mithrax I don't think he eats it, but I have seen him pop one. Sucks.

 

The best way of getting rid of them is to take the containing piece of LR out of the tank and carefully remove the bubble, being particularly careful not to pop it. Don't worry about your corals being out of the water, they can handle a few minutes. Just a lil low tide that's all.

 

Besides a coral banded shrimp or a emerald crab. What else would eat these and or aptaisa?

 

Joe,

Read up on those previous posts.... you don't want anything to eat it. To eat it they have to pop it right? And if they pop it the bubble algae spores go all over the tank and make more baby bubble algae right? Take them out carefully preferably outside of your tank water. Or just take them off, just be careful it doesn't pop.

 

I thought I read on another post saying that if you pop them the spores pretty much get taken to the skimmer and die.

 

Hmmmm... Maybe....

I don't have a skimmer on my 20 gal where I've had them, so I wouldn't know. I just know you pop'm they spread. ;D

 

i have had those in the past and sometimes they can be picked but if they are stuck good. the best thing is to take the rock out and do what you have to do to get it off. if it pops rinse the rock with tank water before putting it back.