Luther,
I have read similar responses to red turf algae as this hobbyist below. Naturally, all red turf algae is not the same genus or species, so I can not conclude that AF would not work in your situation. I don't know if you tried the mag. method for control or not? I do know that AF works on some macroalgae but it takes at least 10 doses.
http://forums.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?p=3219177
This is one hobbyists response regarding your question:
From it:
"Hmmmmm.....sounds like turf algae. I'm fighting this problem as well. Believe me, it is a fight. This particularly pernicious stuff clings to the rock. There's no way of removing it completely by hand or by scrubbing. It breaks off at the base, and the tiniest thread will regrow the colony. It will grow over the stony bases of corals and smother them if left unchecked. It survives under very little light, and seems to be able to soak up the tiniest amount of phosphate and use it to explode into larger colonies.
Have I scared ya? Good, 'cause it's scary stuff. Here's a list of things I've done, what effectiveness, and what I still want to do. Hopefully someone can use this as a preventative before their personal battles get as out of hand as mine has.
First, you should know that mine started showing up at about 6 months of bulb age. Small patches came in here and there, that's it. And I ignored it. The small patches grew quickly, and I replaced the lights at around 9 months. I didn't see any reduction in the algae, despite weekly 20% water changes. At some point this stuff seems to reach a critical mass, and it EXPLODES everywhere in your tank. Everywhere I looked I saw reddish hues floating in the currents. I tried removing the rocks and scrubbing by hand. I'd get the rocks down to about an 8th of an inch, but I could never get it completely off.
I've added a foxface (wanted one anyway). I heard that tangs are hit-and-miss with this algae, but the foxface might be more helpful. This turned out to be helpful, as the 'Face now keeps the algae at least trimmed to a short level on the rocks.
I tried API's Marine Algaefix. This stuff is reef safe (supposedly), but it did nothing at all for the red turf algae. Didn't make a single dent.
I heard that mexican turbo snails are 50/50 on this stuff. The ones I had existing in the tank weren't doing a thing. I got 4 more, and for some reason the new ones started eating it. It's almost as if the algae wasn't recognized as food to the snails that were present as it grew, but the new snails mowed right in to it. Trouble is, I think you'd need 20-30 snails to make a true dent. And AGAIN, snails don't eat it down completely! So don't consider this a permanent fix. It will come back.
Finally, I've been running phosgard and purigen pillows in the sump under the filter floss. I change it out once a month. Since I've added the phosgard and purigen I've notice an additional recession of the red turf, and increased coralline growth in the places the algae receded.
Whew. Long post, but your comment reminded me that this needed to be printed. So, you can see the steps I've taken to get rid of this nasty crap. I'm seeing some turnaround, but not enough. The next step for me is going to be a GFO reactor to remove a much greater amount of phosphate. I may also have to consider a DIY Nitrate reactor, but we'll see.
The bad news is this stuff is NOT like hair algae. I don't think lawnmower blennies are going to do much good for you here, and I don't have any experience with sea hares so I can't comment on them. The rabbitfish family seems to be pretty effective at keeping it mown down, but it's still very visible.
If the stuff is just in spots right now, I would go ahead and get more turbos. Keep picking them up and putting them over the patches. Consider a foxface or a rabbitfish, and see where your sources of phosphates are coming from. Mine was from the RODI water I bought from my LFS. Yup. I've since learned that many LFS RODI units are sub-par only because they're used so often. I tested my topoff water one day when I brought it home and discovered it had been the source of my phosphates all along. You may also want to consder adding phosgard or a GFO reactor to your system. Good Luck!"
and some lime green/yellow matting algae
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