[Bughead]

I have these pretty black round things that are hard and shiny and look just like black pearls growing on a rock in the reef tank. The big one is about the size of a large pea and a couple of clusters of tiny ones like little Indian beads. They are really hard and stuck really tight on the rock. Any ideas what they are?

[NaCl-H2O]

Can you burst them? And if so what color does th shell look after being burst?

[Bughead]

At first I thought they were too hard to burst, but I did get hold of the biggest one and took it over to the sink. When I got it out of the water, it was more of a dark green and rather light-bulb shape. I squished it and it popped, having a liquid inside. Would this be the dreaded bubble algae? Actually, I think it's pretty. As long as it's relatively harmless, I'll leave it.
Oh, the color of the shell is light green after it burst.

[Tank]

Yea sounds like Valonia. I don't use any crabs in my tank , but I've heard emeralds will eat these. Just try not to burst the bubble while in the tank. As I understand that this will increase the amount of it you have.

[NaCl-H2O]

Yes, it sounds like bubble algae. And they do spread when burst, it realeses spores(for lack of a better word) into the water. And true Emeralds are the only animal I've heard of eating them, and sometimes that can be hit or miss as it seems to be a personal preferance with some of them.

[Bughead]

As luck would have it, I just put 2 emerald crabs in yesterday! They scurried under the rocks and I haven't seen them since. Hopefully they'll climb up at night and feast on the valonia. There's not much in there right now, and it is attractive, but I sure wouldn't want it to reach epidemic proportions and take over the tank. The battle with hair algae is frustrating enough.

[Elmo18]

Bughead,

The two emerald crabs (Mithrax crabs) will also help with hair algae. They are known to eat bubble algae, and yep mine did. The problem is if you have really really large bubble algae, they will not eat them. I have witnessed them munching on the troublesome hair algae, though.

Best of luck and keep us informed.

- Elmo

[Bughead]

I doubt very much if those two little emerald crabs can even make a dent in the hair algae. I've been trying to remove the long stuff every other day or so by hand. But to my horror, I also have a lot of turf algae. That stuff refuses to budge. So here's the plan, let me know if you think this will work.

The phosphates are like sky-high. I didn't know this until 3 weeks ago because my phosphate tester kept reading very low. Finally I got suspicious and took a sample of water to the lfs. So I put a phosphate sponge in. This is a new kind I got as a sample called ROWAphos. It's supposed to work fast and not leach back into the system when it's full. We'll see.

I've been removing algae by hand every other day or so and doing weekly water changes. I have one happy lawnmower blenny, and like I said, just added 2 E. crabs. I also have a large coral beauty and a maroon clown pair, hense my compulsive over-feeding. (I know, I know. But it's really hard not to over feed.) I have some feather dusters and lots of mushrooms. I don't want to start adding corals until I get this algae thing under control. I'm quite open to any suggestions. Thanks. (OK, starting tomorrow the fish only get half as much food. I PROMISE!)

[Tank]

If the tank wasn't so fully stocked already I'd sugest a Yellow Tang. 55 Gal is pushing the limit already for them though. I am also against any clawed critters in my system so I cant offer any helpful advise in that area either. What I would do is set up some way of removing the excess nutrients , which you are attempting to do with the pillow. Alot of people would probably suggest a water change or 2. Of course cut down on feeding and skim heavy. I think patience is key here and with restricted nutrients and the little emeralds all may be well, given enough time.