Evil Red Turf Algae

[sen5241b]

Red turf algae is a dark wine color and trying to scrub it off is like try to srcape pavement off a highway. You can pick up a rock by grabbing this stuff. In the pic you can see it puts out little vine like creepers. Many discussions of it confuse it with cyano but this is totally different. I put some rock in a dark bucket 5 weeks ago and the algae has not died back a bit.

 

This stuff is taking over my whole tank and I am losing the war. The thought of nuking my whole tank has crossed my mind! I put a Blue Tuxedo Urchin in the tank and he will not eat it. I pick him up twice a day and put him right on the algae and he immediately crawls off of it without taking a bite. I researched this and it seemed the Tuxedo was the most likely to eat this algae. But of course the urchin just loves coralline. My questions:

 

What kind of tang is most likely to eat this?

What tang has the biggest appetite for hard algae like this stuff?

What about some other type of urchin? Long-spined?

 

At this point I could care less that my tank is small for a tang. I'll get a small one and sell it when it gets big then buy another small one. I am getting desperate here.

 

 

[BowieReefer84]

Did you try API Algaefix? http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4250222&utm_source=googleproduct&utm_campaign=4250222&utm_medium=cse&mr:trackingCode=ECEEC8F9-3B81-DF11-9DA0-002219319097&mr:referralID=NA

 

I would do the same thing put some in a bucket with a powerhead. Start with a small dose, and increase as needed. I have used it in my tank with corals and fish with no ill effects. I have zero algae now. Sounds like you are willing to try anything.

 

Sorry

[hypertech]

I have heard one spot rabbit fish and adult red sea sailfin tangs are your best bet. Zebromosa tangs are generally the best. Scopas are a good choice. They aren't super flash, but do a good job with many types of algae.

[Jan]

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/redalgcompfaqs.htm

[zygote2k]

When I was battling bryopsis with magnesium, I found that the high levels of Mg also killed off that stuff too. I got it to nearly 2000 ppm before I saw a massive algae die off. Contrary to popular folklore, you don't have to use Kent Tech M. Regular mag chloride/mag sulfate mix worked perfectly for me.

[gilmour01]

i did the same thing with the BRS mg, and i got zero results with a mag of 2200. i switched to tech-m and it died within a week with a mg of 1700. (scratches head)

Edited September 17, 2010 by gilmour01

[Vadim]

this stuff was rampant in my tank, i setup a refugium and it took about a month for it to go away.

[Jan]

Kent Tech M is great! Sally Jo Headley of GARF told me to use Kent Tech M to bring the pulse back to my xenia. It worked! I purchased a large 64 oz bottle of it online for an amazing price http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=KM3471&child=KM3473&utm_source=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=PST2-KM3473.

I had a problem with bryopsis and someone on here told me to raise my Mg to 1500. All I had was the Kent Tech M and it worked for this too. It's great!

 

i did the same thing with the BRS mg, and i got zero results with a mag of 2200. i switched to tech-m and it died within a week with a mg of 1700. (scratches head)

[bluefunelement]

That's all you have? I have 2 rocks completely covered in it so much that it looks more like red hair algae.

Only thing I have that touches it is emerald crabs and turbo snail. The nerites try but really just leave a path through it back to the glass they so love. Useless. If you have a sump I would put it down there with some hungry grazing inverts and they will take care of it.

[rocko918]

Get a Zebrasoma tang, my scopus torn this stuff up.

[paul b]

Being that I use a portion of Long Island Sound water and the Sound is filled with the stuff I sometimes get loads of it like 2 years ago in this picture. See how everything was red?

I don't worry about these things as they are just a cycle. I did nothing and it left as it always does. There is not a trace of it in my tank now.

I will probably get it again in a year or five years but it will again leave on it's own.

 

 

This was a couple of weeks ago.

 

Edited September 17, 2010 by paul b

[bluefunelement]

I still think I have you beat.

[paul b]

yes, you win

[sen5241b]

It overgrows corals. This stuff, like cheato, grows on non-eutrophic (low 'trate) reefs especially in high-flow areas. There are numerous web discussions of this crap that confuses it with other red algaes and even with cyano. I doubled the light time on my refugium cheato to try and out-compete the red stuff. The mag sounds like a very good idea, but will it work on an algae that grows on non-eutrophic reefs?

 

I'm going to throw everything at it. Which of these would you try?

 

sea hare

long-spined urchin

scopas tang

blue hippo tang

yellow tang

Mexican fluctuosa snails

other ???

[sen5241b]

Also, bluefunelement, I have 2 types of red algae. I have the type in your pic which is more hairy and fuzzy like. It has never been a problem. It stays in one spot. The red algae that is a problem is shorter and sends out vine-like creepers as you can see in the 2nd pic I posted.

[rocko918]

Get a Zebrasoma tang. dont fight it with chemical.

[Jan]

Long spine urchin? I've used, with great success, the tuxedo urchin on bryopsis. These guys leave a path of white when they munch on the rocks. I have two. One was given to me. I'd be happy to pass it along to you to see if it works for this. Let me know.

Jan

 

It overgrows corals. This stuff, like cheato, grows on non-eutrophic (low 'trate) reefs especially in high-flow areas. There are numerous web discussions of this crap that confuses it with other red algaes and even with cyano. I doubled the light time on my refugium cheato to try and out-compete the red stuff. The mag sounds like a very good idea, but will it work on an algae that grows on non-eutrophic reefs?

 

I'm going to throw everything at it. Which of these would you try?

 

sea hare

long-spined urchin

scopas tang

blue hippo tang

yellow tang

Mexican fluctuosa snails

other ???

[bluefunelement]

I think I might try urchins also - I gave mine away when I thought I was going acrylic.

[sachabballi reef]

this happened to me last year (although your outbreak is TRULY impressive ) and between emerald crabs and those humungous mexican snails (Turbos on steroids type) They got rid of it all.....quickly too. But I put about 6 of the huge ones in a 92G and 2 emeralds

Edited September 17, 2010 by sachabballi reef

[sen5241b]

I put a Blue tuxedo urchin in 2 weeks ago and he will NOT eat it! I pick him up twice a day and put him right on the algae and he crawls right off! This was rather depressing to watch cause everyone said urchins will take care of it no problem.

 

Also, I've heard Kent-M works because of some impurity in it and it has nothing to do with the Mag itself. If this is wrong then how exaclty does hgih Mag kill algae?

Edited September 17, 2010 by sen5241b

[zygote2k]

 

 

Also, I've heard Kent-M works because of some impurity in it and it has nothing to do with the Mag itself. If this is wrong then how exaclty does hgih Mag kill algae?

 

this is just another example of one person having success with Kent M and another that didn't have success with non-Kent M. These myths get perpetuated in this hobby all the time.

When I battled this algae and Bryopsis, I tried the Kent M at first but to raise the Mg levels from 1300 to 2000 over a sufficient period of time to eliminate the algae, it took nearly 6 gallons of Mg. The first g was Kent at $23/gl and I decided that I didn't want to spend nearly $150 to keep buying the Kent. I bought 50# of Mg chloride and 25# of Mg Sulfate for $25 and it is enough to make nearly 50 gallons.

There are impurities in Mg mix because it is not 100% pure. These impuruties are what people speculate about. No one knows exactly what the impurities are either.

If you use the cheap stuff from Home Depot or the expensive stuff with the fancy label, it's all the same chemical composition. People are more comfortable buying a premixed product than simply mixing it themselves.

 

Bring your Mg up to 2000 slowly and the stuff will disappear. Your starfish and snails might disappear too though.

[rocko918]

just get a Zebrasoma tang

[sen5241b]

this is just another example of one person having success with Kent M and another that didn't have success with non-Kent M. These myths get perpetuated in this hobby all the time.

When I battled this algae and Bryopsis, I tried the Kent M at first but to raise the Mg levels from 1300 to 2000 over a sufficient period of time to eliminate the algae, it took nearly 6 gallons of Mg. The first g was Kent at $23/gl and I decided that I didn't want to spend nearly $150 to keep buying the Kent. I bought 50# of Mg chloride and 25# of Mg Sulfate for $25 and it is enough to make nearly 50 gallons.

There are impurities in Mg mix because it is not 100% pure. These impuruties are what people speculate about. No one knows exactly what the impurities are either.

If you use the cheap stuff from Home Depot or the expensive stuff with the fancy label, it's all the same chemical composition. People are more comfortable buying a premixed product than simply mixing it themselves.

 

Bring your Mg up to 2000 slowly and the stuff will disappear. Your starfish and snails might disappear too though.

 

Where did you get the stuff? Mg chloride and 25# of Mg Sulfate ?? Also, how do you mix it?

[zygote2k]

Where did you get the stuff? Mg chloride and 25# of Mg Sulfate ?? Also, how do you mix it?

Home Depot or Southern States sells Mg Chloride in 50# bags. Make sure it's pure and not mixed with other things.

Mg Sulfate is Epsom salt- buy it at CVS. Mix 5 cups Sulfate to 3.5 cups to Chloride per gallon of water. Shake well.

Dose it at whatever rate that raises Mg by no more than 50ppm per day. Most Mg kits go up to 1400, so you'll have to extrapolate the numbers to get the correct result above the range of the test kit.

[sen5241b]

Home Depot or Southern States sells Mg Chloride in 50# bags. Make sure it's pure and not mixed with other things.

Mg Sulfate is Epsom salt- buy it at CVS. Mix 5 cups Sulfate to 3.5 cups to Chloride per gallon of water. Shake well.

Dose it at whatever rate that raises Mg by no more than 50ppm per day. Most Mg kits go up to 1400, so you'll have to extrapolate the numbers to get the correct result above the range of the test kit.

 

thx! Very good info.