Bright Red algae in my BB reef

[sahin]

I'm cooking my new live rocks in the hope of getting rid of this and another type of macro algae. Now that I hae read this thread from start to finish, I know cooking wont kill it. I will however brush/scrape with knife/whatever else to completely remove areas on the rocks this stuff is growing on. There is not lots, a few patches here and there.

I had this in my first tank and none in my second tank. Now that I have returned to the hobby this stuf gets me again!

 

[SeanT]

"Cooking" the rocks will rid you of it.
Just "cook" them all the way.
Manual removal (scraping with a hard bristle brush during water changes) will speed up the process.

Sean

 

[edacsac]

dup

 

[edacsac]

Seriously? Four years and no cure for this algae?

How many of your folks have it and just deal with it?

I have it... It showed up one day and I picked at it, and wc'ed and checked levels and nothing. Then I held on to way too many corals for a friend, which made my tank overstocked and it finally crashed and everything died. So now I'm cleaning everything over the past few days, lots of water changes, got my levels good and the tank looked great. 4 minutes later this red turf is growing again with a vengance.

I've gone through this thread front to back, plus many others. Mexican turbo snails seem to be the only constant in helping with the problem. I can't use them because I have a small tank and I don't want to risk a rock slide and break my tank. I think that would be worse than algae.

I'm trying to convince myself this algae is pretty, although since everything in my tank died, the only thing I had really to look forward to in the short term was nice coraline algae, which it seems the red turf grows on and chokes out. Bah...

Some of the things I'm going to work with:

New bulbs - My T5 bulbs are old, and this stuff took hold about when it was time to change them. Any advice on what K of bulbs might discourage this and other algae? I'm not so concerned with how the light looks as much as it would help corals and discourage algae.

Long light cycles and lowering lights - to hopefully burn the algae. I have no corals right now, so it shouldn't hurt.

Stomatella snails - I like 'em anyway, so it can't hurt. I'm going to see if I can find lots of them.

Syrenge of boiling water - I've read a couple of posts with folks squirting boiling water onto the algae. Not perm fix, but sounds pretty easy to add to maintenace regimine.

Underwater torch of some sort - Using my imagination.

Learn to love it - It's nice wine color.

The suggestion to let this thread die was ridiculous. When I first got this algae, I had a hard time finding info to identify it. Today, there are tons of threads on this low nutrient, clean water loving algae.

I've also been through the pages of this thread arguing about reactor media as the culprit. I do not have a reactor on my nano tank. But it does grow faster when calcium is up.

 

[RG Rude]

I'm going to get a few Mexican Turbos this weekend. I have had a terrible time with this turf algae.

 

[baldwinaquaman]

I don't know if this will help or not, but I saw turf algae on a pier at the beach,a nd there were emerald crabs all over it, so maybe they eat it?

 

[RG Rude]

In one week the three Mexican Turbos that I bought have destroyed 85% of the red turf algae in my 29 gal. tank.

 

[aquavista99]

I have not replied to this thread since 2007 but can confirm that Mexican turbo snails will eat the red turf/red hair algae...if you keep enough turbo snails, they will keep this algae in check.....in my opinion, the red algae looks great if it is mowed down by the snails....makes the live rock look more natural (as seen in the ocean on wild reefs) as opposed to the purple coralline algae seen in most low to moderate light aquariums.

This red turf/red hair algae also thrives in low nutrient, high light and high flow reefs (ie, the typical sps system). So if you think adding GFO or other measures will work, think again. I run an over-sized skimmer on my 400 g SPS system, which includes a 125 gallon glass refugium aquarium filled with mangroves and chaetomorpha macro algae.......and the only thing that will keep the red algae in check that I am aware of is Mexican turbo snails...they love it!!!!!!

 

[luther1200]

Can somebody post a link or picture of the exact type of snails that eat it. Thanks.

 

[Ridwaan]

Glad I gound this thread..I have the same stuff all over my rocks and back glass..My tank is BB and nothing on the base...This stuff grows on the pumps aswell, even on my Vortech propellors while spinning!

I was thinking, What if I setup a ATS (Algea Turf Scrubber), Maybe then, it will move out of my system and only grow on the scrubber...???

 

[jbanks]

Mexican Turbos did the trick for a buddy of mine.. His RC name is "ONEWAY". Send him a PM. I'm sure he will share his experience with those who are interested..

 

[Ridwaan]

Cool thanks jbanks..Much appreciated...

 

[gonpostal]

Let's keep this thread alive.
I've had the same algae (see post #63, and post #309) for several months, and can't get rid of it. As stated in other posts, it seems to thrive in very clean, low nutrient water with good flow. I also believe that, as stated earlier, it out competes coraline algae for certain elements needed to grow, including magnesium. I've had this tank set up for about 8 months or so, and I used the rock from my old tank. The rock had plenty of coraline on it, and no red algae. I have had almost NO new coraline growth in this tank, but the red algae is growing like crazy.
There may be some posts here where the person had a different type of algae, and turbo snails worked for them, but they didn't do anything for me. I put 3 Mexican turbo snails in the tank. I took them out after about a month because I didn't see any difference, and I got tired of them knocking down my corals. This algae may be to tough for them. I also tried a few blue leg hermits, but got rid of them too. I never saw them eat the algae, and got tired of them taking out my snails.
I may try a Longspine Urchin next, but I'd like to figure out how to stop it from growing rather than relying on some critter that I really don't want in my tank to keep it under control.
Is there anyone out there that's found the proverbial "magic bullet"?
Thanks in advance

 

[Zoom]

Let's keep this thread alive.
I've had the same algae (see post #63, and post #309) for several months, and can't get rid of it. As stated in other posts, it seems to thrive in very clean, low nutrient water with good flow. I also believe that, as stated earlier, it out competes coraline algae for certain elements needed to grow, including magnesium. I've had this tank set up for about 8 months or so, and I used the rock from my old tank. The rock had plenty of coraline on it, and no red algae. I have had almost NO new coraline growth in this tank, but the red algae is growing like crazy.
There may be some posts here where the person had a different type of algae, and turbo snails worked for them, but they didn't do anything for me. I put 3 Mexican turbo snails in the tank. I took them out after about a month because I didn't see any difference, and I got tired of them knocking down my corals. This algae may be to tough for them. I also tried a few blue leg hermits, but got rid of them too. I never saw them eat the algae, and got tired of them taking out my snails.
I may try a Longspine Urchin next, but I'd like to figure out how to stop it from growing rather than relying on some critter that I really don't want in my tank to keep it under control.
Is there anyone out there that's found the proverbial "magic bullet"?
Thanks in advance

I try a Longspine Urchin but after three months it got very big and start to spawn in my tank white milky sperm or eggs all over .
I still have the red algae not as bed i just give up on it.:hmm3:

 

[gonpostal]

after three months it got very big and start to spawn in my tank white milky sperm or eggs all over

Hmmm...that sounds pretty gross. :eek2: I may have to rethink that one.
Sorry to hear that you couldn't get rid of the algae. I'm not sure what else to do. Well, at least the stuff looks like coraline algae from a distance.

 

[cwschoon]

I started this post way back.....I still have it too and it does seem to out compete corraline. Watch your lights and the only thing that works are urchins.

 

[gonpostal]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.
Has anyone out there managed to beat this stuff? If so, please let us know how.

 

[moonpies4misfit]

I'm dealing with the same red turf algae (Red Death) in my 90gal with 29gal sump. It is a wine/burgundy color, very tough and wire like. It loves flow and light. When I look through my tank length wise I can see that it tends to favor the edges of the rocks where the flow and light are strongest.
I've tried different snails, Mex Turbos, Astrea, Cerith, and none of them phase it but they are now cruising around my tank with the stuff all over their shells I have observed all of the snails eating and they appear to be eating it but once they have passed, the same threads of algae are still there. I think they are only eating an algae film that is growing on the red hair algae but not the red algae itself. I personally feel that it's too tough for any fish to control.
I took a piece of Tonga out that had it thick and used a Dremel tool with a sanding attachment to grind it off. It took most of it off but not all and that was after a 20 min session with a small piece of rock. After a month it is spreading on the Tonga again.
I added 4 purple pincushion urchins and they do take it off by grinding down the rock to nothing but they seem to like my Coraline better and they can't get into the tight spots.They have reduced the amount of algae on my rocks quite a bit though.
This algae if left unchecked grows into fuzzy tufts. If you take the rock out and scrape it down or the urchins get it, it grows back like threads creeping across the rock. I'm almost ready to break down and start over! It grows on my Coraline and smothers it out. Most of my sps can fight it off but some of my softies and Montis are not so lucky.
No cure here...:sad2: but let's keep throwing around our ideas and experiences and hopefully find something that works.

 

[reefrick.M]

I've been struggling with it also. This stuff is pretty hard to remove but if you can take the rock out and soak it in vinegar it will dissolve it and come off pretty easily. I found out because it even covered my Koralia's. Another thing that will kill it is Kalk paste. You can shut your flow down and brush it on. It will then turn white and die! It would seem to be on a decline in my tank. I have a Hippo and Purple Tang that keep it mowed down but never eliminating it. I'm not sure why it's about a quarter of what it used to be in my tank. I've increased my Mag level with Tech M and keep it around 1500. I've also increased my vodka dosing and went back to using GFO. I'm at 0.01 for Phosphate with my Hanna meter down from 0.06.

 

[rikers1271]

I have a very similar algea in my tank being discussed in this thread. Its a burgandy red color. You can pull off a small bit with your finger but couldnt totally scrub a rock clean if you worked an hour. Some places it forms small "tufts" others it has long strings coming off the rock. My phosphate and nitrate levels are 0 on the salifert kit. T5 lights and high flow. I am posting to say that I just purchased 5 large mexican turbos. They have been in the tank 6 hours and have already made a dent in the algea. I strongly reccomend them if your problem sounds like mine.