Something on my coral, any ideas?

[wazzupmac]

I noticed a strange mass on the side of one of my corals sitting on my frag rack. I've been too busy at work to pay attention and it didn't seem to be affecting the coral.

Any ideas what this is on the basal plate (googled the fancy word for this part of the coral -- hope I used it correctly)?

 

[fishy408]

Looks like bubble algae to me.

 

[Srt4eric]

100% bubble algae. Scrape it off.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

But scrape it off OUTSIDE the tank
if done in the tank you will release spores

 

[Corallus]

After scraping it off the frag outside of the tank, I’d squirt some hydrogen peroxide all around the area it was growing on the frag, or it will grow right back.

 

[wazzupmac]

Thanks all - will do when I go into the office tomorrow. Odd that it is only in one place and I haven’t added anything new to that tank in 3-4 months

 

[JVU]

Likely came in on that frag. I had the exact same issue (Valonia aka bubble algae on a frag base from someone). Coral dip doesn’t prevent algae hitchhikers.

Agree with the advice you got regarding scraping it all off then treating that area with peroxide outside the tank. In my experience it isn’t a big deal as long as you remove it whenever you see it. As I recall the conventional wisdom that the bubbles contain spores so you have to careful to not rupture them in your tank is completely wrong. It grows back from fragments of tissue left behind, hence the peroxide to kill whatever remnants are left.

 

[PeetaJai]

After you scrape them out, I find it very satisfying popping them.

 

[Coral2Coral]

I find foxface is good at eating those.

 

[Klatzy]

Yep, had some bubble algae grow adjacent to a frag about 3 weeks after I placed it in the tank (after dipping). Luckily it was easy to take out the rock and scrape off the algae and then spot treat with peroxide. Haven't seen any since then (this was about 2 months ago), except for a patch that grew on the wavemaker. Also treated the wavemaker outside the tank. So far so good.

 

[Reef-Geek]

Hi guys, what is the correct way to use hydrogen peroxide? I have tried to soak in 50% saltwater 50% hydrogen peroxide for 1-2 minutes and using hydrogen peroxide soaked paper towel to wrap the affected area for 1 minute, I still see bubble algae come back after a few week in the same area, what's the best practice?

 

[Corallus]

I can tell you what I’ve done in the past, but I’m not sure if it’s correct

With whatever I’m treating outside of the tank, I use an eye dropper to squirt undiluted (5%) peroxide all over the effected area, a couple of times, letting it soak into the rock or whatever. You’ll see it start to foam a little, and that’s fine. I have no experience doing this with lps/sps, but zoas and mushrooms will close up and look angry for a while, but recover pretty quickly, and brittle stars and bristle worms don’t like it. You have to do it multiple times, and I’ve really only used it in cases where there‘s a lot of algae.

I’ve had much better luck long term having an urchin in the tank, but not everyone likes keeping them.

 

[Qwiv]

Hi guys, what is the correct way to use hydrogen peroxide? I have tried to soak in 50% saltwater 50% hydrogen peroxide for 1-2 minutes and using hydrogen peroxide soaked paper towel to wrap the affected area for 1 minute, I still see bubble algae come back after a few week in the same area, what's the best practice?

Depends on the concentration of the HP you have as it can come in a few forms. The strength is key. The typical store bought bottle at a CVS type store is 3% and you can use that strait (recommended) in a dip for 2 min. 6%, cut it 50/50 with RO water, etc. Confirm your bottles concentration! Can assure you people have just followed directions online without noting this detail and ended up doing more harm than good. You can get HP in 33%, 40%, 50% quite commonly which could end up 10x + the dosage.

Look up what people have used in on successfully and what dosage as that likely keeps changing as people experiment. I have has success with Zoas and Acans (3% up to 2 min) and have dipped every one I have added to tanks as a preventative. It takes the place of a FW dip for me. I have lost some corals doing this but also lost some not doing this as well so I can't blame the HP directly as any new frag can melt on you. Be careful of anecdotal evidence by others that may have made the mistake above and not admitted it. Zoas/acans should look recovered the next day or so. Not done a branching LPS like in the OP photos so no experience there. I would cut that base off, scrape it and paint/dip the skeleton only to be on the safe side unless you can find success by others online.

HP is really useful for the tank. You can paint it on target areas, sterilize frag plugs and also drain your tanks to spray/paint in on nasty algae areas like "confined" areas of Bryopsis, then just refill the tank assuming you don't spay a ton and its not a tiny tank like a nano. (kills the algae vs distributes the algae) The HP will dilute enough to be safe and quickly reacts with your tanks water when you fill it back up assuming you Don't over do it. It is H2O2, so the tank water will strip that O molecule off. It's not like a poison, it just oxidizes (which is why it is terrible for wound treatment despite what grandma says). I have used it directly in FW shrimp tanks to knock out the pest algae and keep the desired tank plants/shrimp alive but have since forgotten the dosage strength and would need to look that up.

DO NOT use it on SPS or anything else you would not use a FW dip. Your plug will also be bleach white after like cleaned bed sheets, so know that as well as it is basically "OxyClean" without the washing sodas.

 

[JVU]

Depends on the concentration of the HP you have as it can come in a few forms. The strength is key. The typical store bought bottle at a CVS type store is 3% and you can use that strait (recommended) in a dip for 2 min. 6%, cut it 50/50 with RO water, etc. Confirm your bottles concentration! Can assure you people have just followed directions online without noting this detail and ended up doing more harm than good. You can get HP in 33%, 40%, 50% quite commonly which could end up 10x + the dosage.

Look up what people have used in on successfully and what dosage as that likely keeps changing as people experiment. I have has success with Zoas and Acans (3% up to 2 min) and have dipped every one I have added to tanks as a preventative. It takes the place of a FW dip for me. I have lost some corals doing this but also lost some not doing this as well so I can't blame the HP directly as any new frag can melt on you. Be careful of anecdotal evidence by others that may have made the mistake above and not admitted it. Zoas/acans should look recovered the next day or so. Not done a branching LPS like in the OP photos so no experience there. I would cut that base off, scrape it and paint/dip the skeleton only to be on the safe side unless you can find success by others online.

HP is really useful for the tank. You can paint it on target areas, sterilize frag plugs and also drain your tanks to spray/paint in on nasty algae areas like "confined" areas of Bryopsis, then just refill the tank assuming you don't spay a ton and its not a tiny tank like a nano. (kills the algae vs distributes the algae) The HP will dilute enough to be safe and quickly reacts with your tanks water when you fill it back up assuming you Don't over do it. It is H2O2, so the tank water will strip that O molecule off. It's not like a poison, it just oxidizes (which is why it is terrible for wound treatment despite what grandma says). I have used it directly in FW shrimp tanks to knock out the pest algae and keep the desired tank plants/shrimp alive but have since forgotten the dosage strength and would need to look that up.

DO NOT use it on SPS or anything else you would not use a FW dip. Your plug will also be bleach white after like cleaned bed sheets, so know that as well as it is basically "OxyClean" without the washing sodas.

^Excellent advice and details