Bluish purple cluster

[grootaquatics]

I noticed these bluish purple clusters about 4 weeks ago and initially thought it was something that had been on the rock that I just hadn't noticed before, now I have seen more.

I have no idea what they are and I am seeking help to identify them.

Should I be pulling the rock out and cleaning/dipping it?

 

[56longroof]

Bubble algea. Welcome to the club. How old is your tank? If it will support it get some emerald crabs and manual removal. I just use a pair of tweezers and pull them out when I see one.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Agree looks like bubble algae

 

[grootaquatics]

Bubble algea. Welcome to the club. How old is your tank? If it will support it get some emerald crabs and manual removal. I just use a pair of tweezers and pull them out when I see one.

My tank is 10 months old.
I have one of these crabs, came in as a hitchhiker.

 

[dakoop]

Not the right crab.

 

[carri10]

This.

Bubble algea. Welcome to the club. How old is your tank? If it will support it get some emerald crabs and manual removal. I just use a pair of tweezers and pull them out when I see one.

Keep tweezering them out and don’t get lazy about it, they can grow exponentially.

 

[paraletho]

Also try to do your best not to pop them.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Also try to do your best not to pop them.

Why the heck not?? That's one of the easiest ways to get rid of the hard to reach ones.

And, no, despite what you read in the internet, there are no "spores" released.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Why the heck not?? That's one of the easiest ways to get rid of the hard to reach ones.

And, no, despite what you read in the internet, there are no "spores" released.

From Wikipedia, but a good summary nonetheless...

"Valonia ventricosa [bubble algae] is among the largest known single-celled organisms. Its thallus consists of a thin-walled, tough, multinucleate cell with a diameter that ranges typically from 1 to 4 centimetres (0.4 to 1.6 in), although it may achieve a diameter of up to 5.1 centimetres (2.0 in) in rarer cases. The "bubble" alga is attached by rhizoids to the substrate fibers.[3]

"Reproduction occurs by segregative cell division, where the multinucleate parent cell makes child cells, and individual rhizoids form new bubbles, which become separate from the parent cell."

 

[56longroof]

Also try to do your best not to pop them.

That is one of the old myths that won't go away.