Bright Red algae in my BB reef

[cham]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9652913#post9652913 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zoom
Green bubble algae it is no way you can control it at all without some fish / crabs that they like to eat it .

Emerald crabs is no 100% effective some will eat it some will not is what they have to eat in your tank if you have other easy to eat algae they will not go after the BA.
The best fish that eats the BA is the B Naso tang and some of the rabbit fish.


As for the red algae it is still grown well in my tank but the Large turbo snails keep it from getting out of hand.


My tank did crash about a month a go and i lost all my SPS .
As of today I still have some red bright algae in some of the rocks not much but it is still there.

Well fortunately the BA is only on this rock that I recently added to my tank from another reefer. I need to be more careful of what I add to my tank because it looks like he gave me BA & this red algea too. He had an amazing SPS tank so I trusted it.

I will take the rock out and try and remove the section that has the ORA birds nest and throw the rest out.

 

[Zoom]

That is a good idea. also you can just clean it good with a SS wire brush.

 

[cham]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9653969#post9653969 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Zoom
That is a good idea. also you can just clean it good with a SS wire brush.

Can I just soak the rock (other than where the coral is) in vinegar or fresh water or ? to keep from chopping the rock up?

I would rather something less messy, but if I need to get dirty I will.

 

[Zoom]

I will not do that you see the rock is full of life you will kill most of it if you dip it.
You can just do what you had in mind just cut it all up.

 

[aquavista99]

I have had problems with red turf algae for a while as well. I even have a green version, but the green does not grow as quickly as the red. I have seen trochus snails eat the red algae, but I only have a few in my 180g SPS reef, which is connected to a 125g macro sump. I think I will give the turbo snails a try along with some more trochus snails.

I had the same problem with my 75g reef, which included a powder blue tang and hermit crabs.

 

[kslick]

Bump, its been awhile

 

[cwschoon]

I still have it and it still moves to new rock i put in the tank.

 

[Radioheadx14]

Mine went away right after i got a yellow tang. Also if you have a smaller tank, the large mexican turbo snails work very well too... just a little slower than the tangs.

 

[Zoom]

Talking about getting this Thread back up from the dead :lol:
Is been some time so here is some update.
Well the turbos was doing a great job keeping it in check but i got a bad case of dinos in my tank that lasted over a year that kill all my snails and the red algae in my tank the tank just crash on me about two years a go and i started over again i have no red algae any more .
The tank now is not as full with sps i have about ten large head and some LPS and soft corals i can say is mix reef now and i like it more because is not as demanding as it was .
Lets put this thread back to it grave again :lol:

 

[newguy1983]

I think I have this crud too...

However, does yours seem to go away after the lights are off for a while (as in go away, does it fade out?). Mine is on the sand, rocks and glass...and it is a royal PITA...

 

[kslick]

Not letting this thread die until we have a cure.

 

[Zoom]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15183268#post15183268 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kslick
Not letting this thread die until we have a cure.

I still have this S**T all over the tank.
I lost my Powder blue tang long a go when my tank crash but the red algae never die out.
I notice was taking over the tank faster than ever so i got a Powder Brown tang to see if that tang will eat it .
I don't like to get another Powder blue tang because the fish was a terror but the new Powder Brown tang is no better .
I still have more bright red algae than i like to but everything looks good .

 

[luther1200]

I also have that stuff I think. I used o have it pretty bad, but now it is mostly on the outside of my overflow. I can scrape t all off but it comes back in about a month. Is there anyway to completely kill it???

 

[cwschoon]

This little thread I started just refuses to die!! I believe that I know what was causing this algae and it was not something that could be removed by snails or tangs, only urchins and was NOT cyano.
I am confident that it was the lighting, as all other perameters were always good. My reef tank has mainly softies, fish and lots of live rock, so I was not worried about the lighting. I had the same metal halide bulbs on for about 3 years or so but for the last several months, have had NOVA extreme T-5 flourescents. Nice, inexpensive 4 bulb system; kind of wish I had gone for the 8 bulb setup. Anyway, the hard, reddish stuff is not spreading like it used to and the only thing that I have changed is the lighting and very recently, back to Tropic Marin salt.

 

[RRaider]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15184249#post15184249 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by luther1200
I also have that stuff I think. I used o have it pretty bad, but now it is mostly on the outside of my overflow. I can scrape t all off but it comes back in about a month. Is there anyway to completely kill it???

Take a syringe full of really hot water and squirt it on the algae, it will kill it. Worked for me.

 

[kslick]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15195771#post15195771 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cwschoon
This little thread I started just refuses to die!! I believe that I know what was causing this algae and it was not something that could be removed by snails or tangs, only urchins and was NOT cyano.
I am confident that it was the lighting, as all other perameters were always good. My reef tank has mainly softies, fish and lots of live rock, so I was not worried about the lighting. I had the same metal halide bulbs on for about 3 years or so but for the last several months, have had NOVA extreme T-5 flourescents. Nice, inexpensive 4 bulb system; kind of wish I had gone for the 8 bulb setup. Anyway, the hard, reddish stuff is not spreading like it used to and the only thing that I have changed is the lighting and very recently, back to Tropic Marin salt.

That's right, I won't let it die until we know the answers. Seems like the why it happened is hard to put a finger on. People have had good Parms, new lighting whatever but it somehow makes an appearance. For me its not spreading just hanging around. Tried some Mexican Turbos, only been a few days so the jury is still out. Seems they wil consume but we will see.

 

[trueblackpercula]

deleted my post

 

[cwschoon]

I never posted a picture of what was in my tank but have seen lots of stuff, as I used to be a sales rep in this industry and the one thing I knew for sure, was that this was not cyanobacteria. I am sure that a few posting on this thread have a cyano problem and if you do a search on cyano, will get a ton of info. What I have is very hard and can't really be scraped by a fingernail but needs to be gouged by an urchin.

 

[Alaska_Phil]

My nano is plagued with both red and green turf algae. Only thing I've found the puts a real dent in it is a hitch hiker keyhole limpet. His half of the tank stays spotless. When I first saw him he was about 1/8", now he's over an inch across.

Hermits in my experiece pick at it and help, but will never eraticate it.

I had a Rainford's goby for a couple years that would also pick at it. When he died the stuff really took off, so I have to assume he was doing some good.

I read on a biology site that Hawaiian damsels eat it too, but I'm not about to put one in my tank.

On the plus side, my nitrates and phosphates are always undectable due to the turf algae. So I'm not sure I want to totally eliminate it. :thumbsup:

Phil

 

[Me No Nemo]

I had an outbreak in a well established tank after I switched to t-5 lighting. Here are some of the measures that worked for me:
-Switched out the 65K GE bulb for a 14K and cut back my lighting cycle
-Put in two hairy urchins and a Royal Blue Tuxedo urchin
-10 large MALE emerald crabs (Male emeralds are betting at eating all types of algae In my experience...including bubble algae.)
-10 medium Mexican Turbos
-20 Trochus Grazer snails
-15 Scarlet Hermit Crabs

Took about a month, but my tank is pretty much cleared up. The urchins mowed paths throughout and the male emerald crabs were pulling chunks out of the rock constantly in areas the urchins couldn't get into. The scarlet hermits also dug right in. The Turbos and trochus ate it, but weren't nearly as effective as the urchins and crabs. HTH...I know the crabs can be problematic, but I'll pull them out and pass them along as I can grab them.