help with red turf algae!

[AquaPython]

guys, any suggestions on how to rid my tank of this stuff?

i believe it to be Asparagopsis sp

my tank btw supports everything from zoos to acros, i have a phosban reactor, but since the PO4 has been at zero i have been running carbon in it.

i have what seems to be 2 different forms of it but i dont know.

form 1, looks like melev's photo:

this has grown to something the dimater of about 3-4 quarters on piece of LR, and something about the size of a nickel right on top of a maze coral
these things have not really shown much growth, but i want them gone. i can not even physically pull those stuff off.

the second form is a very light fuzzy growth on pretty much all open bare rock surfaces in direct light. the color seems to match the thick stuff, but it growth is so small, it is almost translucent. in fact, you can barely see it unless you look across the rock surface instead of straight on. the covering is about 1/8th of an inch high.
i think it can be slowing coral growth, making it harder for coral to spread.
please help me with an ID and options!

 

[AquaPython]

i want to add, i have atlantic and mexican turbos, super tongan nassarius and cerith snails, as well as a variety of blue leg, scarlet hermits and a LMB. so far nothing is touching is this stuff.

 

[AquaPython]

here is "form 1" in my tank last month

 

[AquaPython]

bump

 

[hatfielj]

That stuff is THE WORST! I had it in my last tank and it never went away and nothing ate it. My tangs would nip at it and all that would do is cause little strands to break off and settle somewhere else.
It got so bad that it took over colonies of zoo's and other corals. It was a real problem that I never found a solution to.
If anyone does figure out how to kill this stuff please share your knowledge!
Good luck, I just hope I never run into this stuff again.

 

[AquaPython]

ugh not what i wanted to hear!

 

[bluenassarius]

have you tried small blue legged hermit crabs or sally light foot crabs?

 

[AquaPython]

i have some micro blue legs, they could care less. my sally lightfoot has been RIP for about a year now so maybe that could be a start?

 

[AquaPython]

bump heeelp!

 

[yrema]

Really tough to remove. Try to remove it manually then give the frag a good rinse. You could also employ a small urchin, but urchins are pretty clumsy and eats microfauna.

Do you have nitrate/phosphate issues?

 

[AquaPython]

no trates / phosphates. all kinds of coral are happy.
it is not a frag, it is a whole tank issue.

my tank is acryllic so cant urchins scratch it?

 

[yeldarbj]

So you've probably read the article Melev linked to:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/nftt/index.php

You might need to try a rabbitfish, if not you may want to try some new Turbos from a different source - you may get a different species that will eat it.

 

[AquaPython]

are you a snail guy? have you any information on red-stripe turbos?

 

[yeldarbj]

I'm not a snail guy, but I do have the same algae problems as you. I didn't have any algae problems when I had a small foxface and mexican turbo. I'm probably going to get another mexican turbo, and I'd like to try a blue tuxedo urchin. If those don't work, I'll try another rabbitfish.

 

[AquaPython]

in that article, the author regretted the rabbitfish as it was hard to get out and it ate polyps after the algae was gone.

i think i will try and find a small army of the mexicans

 

[piercho]

First photo look like Gelidium or Gelidiopsis, to me. Not sure second photo. Neither lool like sporophyte stage of Asparagopsis, IMO. Asparagopsis very brittle and weakly attached algae. In most peoples tanks its color is a bright pink. Gelidium/Gelidiopsis - red wire algae - have strong thread-like filaments and strongly attached to rock. Diadema sestosum, rabbitfish, and powder-brown tang all consume red wire algae in my tank. None of these consume Asparagopsis. Sporophyte stage of Asparagospis consumed by Mexican turbo snail, a large snail that does not last very long (starves) in most reef tanks.

 

[AquaPython]

i added 3 mexican turbo snails last night, hopefully i see some improvement. too bad i am now reading that you dont think it will be consumed by them.

 

[piercho]

Mexican turbos will eat some filamented algae, unlike most snails. IME they were reliable to eat Asparagopsis and other tender algae. But they can't handle tough algae. They didn't seem to find enough to eat in my tank and would show up dead after several weeks. They seemed to starve. Talking to our LFS, he stopped carrying Mexican Turbos except if asked because they don't survive long in most people's tanks. Otherwise I think they are a great snail. Maybe there is a way to supplement their diet and help them survive longer but I never tried.

 

[AquaPython]

i had three that lasted a while, 2 eventually died and i have had the same one for about 2-3 years in a 150. i cant tell if this one had been fighting the fight or not, since he is often in the rockwork. hopefully these reinforcements do the job.

 

[whowadat]

Let's bring this baby back to life....any new information about ridding yourself of this hairy pita ??

I've got it mixed in but good on some Takota (sp?) rock that the Mex Tex snails apparently are unable to move around on. Any information concerning how increasing flow may keep this stuff in check ??