[sdorsky]

Some of you may recall this thread from a few weeks ago. I think some progress might have been made.
I have continued a weekly vacuum of the red turf, added 5 large Turbo Fluctuosus, which seem to graze on this stuff( if only a little), added a long spine urchin, which doesn't touch the stuff, added a Kole tang, which is very actively grazing on any other algae, and lastly I added two days ago a medium " lawnmower blenny" who is simply chowing down on the " red menace". It might be too early to claim any sort of victory, but we'll certainly know in a few weeks. At least there's some hope.

[randymon]

If it is cyno you have, try some chemi clean. I had a outbreak last year and like you I tryed everything to no avail. My lfs suggested chemi clean and it worked wonders, and my fish and corals were all happier after. It isnt something I would use every time as catiching it early with more flow works well to, but it will fix a nasty outbreak and get your tank back to looking good. Just remember to follow the directions to the t and turn your skimmer off.

[Ninong]

My mysterious red turf alga was driving me crazy for months but it is now 99% gone!

My Foxface Rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus) grazed on it constantly but he simply kept it neatly mowed like a suburban lawn -- a rather selfish, self-serving method if you ask me!

I purchased three very large Mexican turbo snails (Turbo fluctuosus) and the red alga began disappearing within two or three weeks. I'm almost 100% sure that they are eating it and it would seem that they are rasping it off the surface whereas the rabbitfish was leaving the bottom 1/8"-1/4" of growth to provide next week's salad.

Here is a picture of what mine looked like before I got the Mexican turbo snails:

[Tereefic]

I agree with Ninong. When I had a problem with red turf algae a year ago, mexican turbos cleaned up the entire tank. I keep a few larger mexican turbos in the tank all the time now and the algae has never returned. You can watch them slowly move accross the algae and mow it down so I am possitive it was the Mexican turbo's that rid my tank of the red turf algae.

[Reefland]

Just so everyone knows, this is the aglae sdorsky is experiencing:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/attac...tachmentid=3191
http://www.reefland.com/forum/attac...tachmentid=3192

[sdorsky]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Just so everyone knows, this is the aglae sdorsky is experiencing:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/attac...tachmentid=3191
http://www.reefland.com/forum/attac...tachmentid=3192

Yes indeed that is it. I am keeping it somewhat under control by vacuuming/water changes...keeping it short enough so the turbo fl' can work on it. This alga can grow large if left alone. There does seem to be some hope.

[Reefland]

I never tried the Blenny...I hope it works out for you! Have you had any migration of the algae into the other displays since they are all plumbed together?

[Ninong]

The pictures that Scott posted are NOT the same as the red alga that I had in my tank. Those are picturers of the same dreaded "Algae from Hell" that caused Scott to take down his tank. He was unable to find anything that would eat it. I would not refer to that as "turf" algae.

[Reefland]

Correct. For others that might view this thread I wanted to make sure they new that the algae sdorsky was dealing with was not a turf algae.

[sdorsky]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I never tried the Blenny...I hope it works out for you! Have you had any migration of the algae into the other displays since they are all plumbed together?

This algae is in my algae scrubber/refugium but seems to be a little more controlled. I do harvest it from this tank regularly along with large amount of chaetomorpha. It has not shown up in the 100gallon reef tank at all.

[boo2boy]

just wondering? how does this typr of algae start? I mean what does it look like? Im asking because I seem to be growing some kind of clear branchy tree things on my LR (its not aptasia), and i noticed that they are starting to spread. Any info???

[Reefland]

Hi boo2boy, Welcome to Reefland!

It starts as small patches of red algae just like the pictures that are linked in my post above. I don't think it ever appeared translucent in our experience with this particular algae.

[sdorsky]

For me I noticed it beginning as a small patch of what I thought was an attractive calcareous algae. The first mistake was not getting it under control immediately. I let it grow to a tennis ball size and then the second mistake was when I made a manual effort to remove it, it breaks into a zillion pieces and spreads with the water flow. My advice would be to vacuum this material out of your tank unless you are absolutely sure it is something of value. And be as careful as you can to control it getting away from your syphon or vacuum hose. Good luck!


Stephen Dorsky