A whole mess of bubble algae.“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble” could be the lament of any marine aquarium hobbyist battling a stubborn outbreak of green bubble algae. (Okay, “Double, double toil and trouble,” is the actual incantation from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but I digress.) Green bubble algae appear as rounded or tubular green bladders ranging from about the size of a small pea to approximately quarter-sized or even larger. Contrary to popular misconception, there isn’t just one species of bubble alga; rather, several species representing various genera (Ventricaria and Valonia among others) are known to appear in aquaria. Pretty, but… Bubble algae present hobbyists with something of a dilemma. On the one hand, the shiny green vesicles can actually be quite attractive and interesting to look at, thus tempting the hobbyist to leave them in place. Indeed, in a balanced system with dissolved nutrients kept well under control, the presence of a few vesicles here and there is no cause for panic and merely adds to the biodiversity. On the other hand, if conditions are—or ever become—conducive to explosive growth, the bubbles can rapidly reproduce to plague proportions. When this happens, rocks, coral skeletons, and other hard surfaces can become coated; vesicles attached at the base of coral specimens can actually displace them from their attachment site; and loose, drifting bubbles can clog powerhead intakes, substrate vacuums, overflow tubes, etc More: End the Toil and Trouble of Bubble Algae… More:
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