Help. Asparagopsis (Red Hair Algae)

[Noobeef]

I come to you with a problem that seems to plague people to the point of tearing down their tanks. I have Asparagopsis (a red hair algae), and it is pretty well established. I have removed the rocks and scrubbed them to death, but nothing seems to remove it completely. From everything I've read, it doesn't seem to be a simple "œFind the source of the pollution problem." I have seen several people on message boards who are seasoned reefers give up and restart their tanks. Most threads are 3-4 years old, so I'm hoping something may have come on the market that helps with this algae.

My water parameters seem pristine, zeros across the board. I am aware there can be nutrients in the water that the algae is eating up, but it's a 120 gallon monster with 4 small fish and about 100 pounds of live rock. I don't even feed the tank as they are able to live exclusively on algae and copepods.

From what I've read, Mexican Turbo Snails, a couple urchins and Foxface/Rabbitfishes are the only things that even attempt to eat this stuff. Every other crab, snail, fish finds it disgusting. I'm getting to the point where I'm a little desperate. I'm even to the point where a chemical solution might be considered. Any comments would be VERY appreciated. I would hate to have to start over completely.

 

[dzfish17]

Lets start from the beginning. When was the tank set-up and are you using RO/DI water?

Dave

 

[lewk]

Not sure of your exact situation, but I had a friend recently with red hair algae, and Marine SAT did the trick for him. I just recently used it to clear up some Green hair algae, and it worked wonders. It's like magic in a bottle. From what I understand, it's not really a chemical, it's bacteria that out-competes the algae for nutrients.

 

[Noobeef]

Lets start from the beginning. When was the tank set-up and are you using RO/DI water?

Dave

OK. From the beginning.

I started with a 40 Breeder. It was about 18 months old. Over the last 3 months in the 40 gallon tank, it was an absolute jungle. I didn't have any surface skimming mechanism in place on it so the oxygen exchange was poor. I figured when I traded up to the 120 gallon, the overflow would alleviate the problem. Before I put the rocks in the new tank I scrubbed off as much of the Red Hair as possible. Put them in and it started to grow back slowly over the last 3 weeks in the new tank.

40 gallon tank was mature when it first showed up, and the stuff has been around for a while. Even after switching to a 120 gallon, it still just starts growing to the point where it needs to be pruned every week or so.

 

[mbingha]

Are you using RO/DI water?

 

[seapug]

My 90 was overrun with that stuff for the first couple months it was set up. I'm never one to advocate using an animal to control an algae problem, but three big boy Mexican Turbo snails ate every single speck of that stuff in about one week and it never returned.

 

[dzfish17]

I just did a little research on Asparagopsis which used to be called Falkenbergia and it seems like some nasty algae that comes in on the bottom of corals. From what I read the turbos are youre best bet. I would make sure there are no phosphates or nitrates going into the tank (Check RO/DI filters).

Dave

 

[Noobeef]

Sorry I couldn't get back on last night to respond.

Yes, I am using RO/DI water. I have never used tap water in the tank. I figured the mexican turbo snails were my only bet. From looking at all the threads on different sites out there and articles, there seemed to be a 2-3 year gap between those thread and article dates and today. I was hoping there might have been some sort of advancement on that algae front in the last few years since people are always trying to innovate in this hobby.

 

[RVANANO]

I think most people refer to it as pink cotton candy algae. I had a ton a month or so ago. I dropped 4 large Mexican Turbos in and they took care of most but not all. And it's now coming back a bit. I hate this stuff more than anything. It's the devil and is terrible to get rid of. Removing by hand makes it much worse. Hopefully my turbos will continue in my 120. Might have to add 3 or 4 more even thought they might die off fairly quick.

 

[Noobeef]

I think most people refer to it as pink cotton candy algae. I had a ton a month or so ago. I dropped 4 large Mexican Turbos in and they took care of most but not all. And it's now coming back a bit. I hate this stuff more than anything. It's the devil and is terrible to get rid of. Removing by hand makes it much worse. Hopefully my turbos will continue in my 120. Might have to add 3 or 4 more even thought they might die off fairly quick.

That was my other concern. I keep my tank on the cool side (77°), but not cool enough for Mexican turbos. They like cooler temps and I've read they'll even go so far as to climb out of the tank (lol) if it's too warm. I ordered 8 of them from LiveAquaria since my two LFSs don't even like to carry them due to their propensity to fail in warm tanks. I suppose that a couple snails dying in a 120 tank won't kill my water parameters, but I have to make sure I am constantly watching for them.

 

[RVANANO]

I would rather kill some mexican turbos than have the algae grow over and kill all my corals. My tank stays b/t 77-82 and I haven't had any problems with the snails over the last few weeks.

 

[ludnix]

In my experience the mexican turbos do well in warmer tanks, it's the margarita snails that do not. The margarita snails are sometimes sold as mexican turbos, even though they look nothing alike.

 

[seapug]

That may be true, but I have a few Mexican Turbo snails that have been in my 77-80+ deg. tanks for the past 3 years. Most cool water animals won't last more than a few months at tropical temps.

 

[Noobeef]

Update on this thread. I went out and got about 8 turbos for the tank. They are mopping up the red cotton candy algae very quickly. At this pace, I'm guessing that within a week it will all be gone (minus the places where they are too big to fit). Let's hope it stays gone.

 

[RVANANO]

I also bought 4 more small ones Friday (in addition to my 4 huge ones)

 

[Noobeef]

A second update: The Red Hair/Cotton Candy Algae is almost completely gone due to the Mexican Turbos performing Blitzkrieg on it. They even climbed up the wall of my tank and cleaned the powerheads that were covered in the stuff"¦as if they had radar for it. I have read on other sites that some people have not had success with Mexican Turbos.

My advice to anyone who is searching for answers regarding this evil rebel force and stubbles across this humble thread: If you buy a batch of Mexican Turbos (and make sure they are the MEXICAN variety) and they do not eat the cotton candy algae, order another batch from someplace else. Keep getting them until you find some that will eat it because they are out there. I got mine from Live Aquaria (along with a Tuxedo Urchin to make the shipping charges more worth my while). Eventually you will find some that devour it like my batch did. There is honestly no other way to get rid of this stuff once it's taken hold of your tank. It is a demonic plague that took a whole host of Turbo Angels to eradicate.

 

[RVANANO]

Ditto!! Mine is almost gone too. And yes, they will climb anywhere they can find it. I found a really big one in my overflow going to town. Glad I found it and covered my overflow to prevent future critters or light from entering. That could be very bad if a bigun got stuck in an overflow drain!!