Drastic measures against red turf algae

[bird]

On certain rock I have red turf algae has been spreading to the point it is choking some of the coral out.

I have tried all sorts of treatments against it short of adding tangs (if they would even eat it that is).

No type of snails, crabs, water treatments/filter media has slowed its growth.

Much of the rock the algae does not seem to touch.

I suspect that the rock it is growing on is leaching PO4 or something and short of trashing the rock I have no clue what to do.

My last hope before fragging the corals from this rock is this-all the white you see is a soupy mix of kalkwasser I have covered the algae with.

I shut off flow except for a small powerhead to keep a little circulation going, but not enough to disturb the kalkwasser.

I applied the mix with a small syringe and am allowing it to sit for 2 hours. I am then siphoning it off with an ice-maker 1/4 hose. Carefully. Very carefully.

So far one prior small treatment had burned the algae.

This is a second larger treatment I am doing.

PH has not risen by more than .05 after 1/2 hour.

A few corals did get a fine mist of kalk particles but it does not seem to have harmed them.

I will report progress of algae growth/abatement later.

[Phixion]

Good stuff Bird. Beautiful corals BTW!! Let us know how this treatment goes. And with dealing with kalk, I'd definitely recommend keeping a monitor on your Ca and alk levels through this. This definitely sounds better than more drastic measures and chemicals.

[bird]

Also, I have done this so that I can shut off the lights and it will be dark for the 2 hours. This will hopefully keep the fish from moving around and disturbing the kalk and most of the corals closed. Also help the ph lower as it raises when the lights are on anyway.

 

Good stuff Bird. Beautiful corals BTW!! Let us know how this treatment goes. And with dealing with kalk, I'd definitely recommend keeping a monitor on your Ca and alk levels through this. This definitely sounds better than more drastic measures and chemicals.

Good point.

I use kalkwasser saturated dosing ph controlled and add magnesium per testing anyway. I have kept it at 1300 and alk runs about 10 with the kalk dosing. Only on occasion do I add any calcium chloride (if calcium drops below 400).

With this extra kalk, you are right, something I had not thought about, might be a drop in mag. Thanks for the tip.

[Phixion]

No problem, just looking out for a fellow Finnex'er and for an amazing reef in general!

[bird]

Nice to have pple help. That's what it is all about here.

Check out the orange zoanthids in the 2nd pic. I had tried to sell them in the classifieds about a month or so ago with no one wanting them. There were 8-10 polyps, maybe 12 then, don't remember exactly.

Now look how many there are. Kind of glad no one wanted them. Now there are like 20+.

[jeffblly]

Good luck with this treatment as this is the worst algae you can have IMO. I used to burn it off with Chem-marin stop hair algae and the algae would always come back stronger each time I applied it. It would disappear for a few days and then it would grow right back.

 

The only thing that has worked for me is manual removal and one large turnbo snail which keeps it trimmed to the rock. I still have little pieces inside the rock but the stuff the snail can reach is almost gone.

[Phixion]

Nice to have pple help. That's what it is all about here.

Check out the orange zoanthids in the 2nd pic. I had tried to sell them in the classifieds about a month or so ago with no one wanting them. There were 8-10 polyps, maybe 12 then, don't remember exactly.

Now look how many there are. Kind of glad no one wanted them. Now there are like 20+.

 

Yeah, they are very nice!! Totally surprised no one wanted them... If I was local, I'd have snatched them up in a heartbeat, lol!

[psreefer]

I had the same red turf algae growing on all my rocks and some corals that was doing the same. I tried everthing from buying more snails, emerald crabs, sea hare and also a lawnmower blenny that didnt even put a dent in removal of the algae. I finally was talked into a small yellow tang that my lfs recommended, minutes after putting in the tank he started to nip at the red turf. It has been one month since got him and problem solved all that are left are very small patches that he keeps undercontrol. The size of the tank is a 24 Nanocube, so far the tang is doing well and is still small. When he grows too big I will take him back to the lfs.

[bird]

algae has turned green-lost its red coloration. I am thinking it will survive and return to its former self, but we will see. Hopefully it will die off though.

The small patch I had initially treated I may have left for more than 2 hours as it seemed to be totally burned, but after treating a much larger amount I did not want to leave it more than this go around. I probably could have since the ph had not risen above 8.35. It stays at 8.2 when lights off and raises to 8.45 when lights have been on for 4+ hours.

If it survives and turns red again I may treat and leave for a longer period, but hopefully it will die-off where it was kalked. I am running phosban and high-grade carbon right now.

 

I am wondering if after treating it this way leaving the lighting off for a few days may help to finish it off.

 

I had the same red turf algae growing on all my rocks and some corals that was doing the same. I tried everthing from buying more snails, emerald crabs, sea hare and also a lawnmower blenny that didnt even put a dent in removal of the algae. I finally was talked into a small yellow tang that my lfs recommended, minutes after putting in the tank he started to nip at the red turf. It has been one month since got him and problem solved all that are left are very small patches that he keeps undercontrol. The size of the tank is a 24 Nanocube, so far the tang is doing well and is still small. When he grows too big I will take him back to the lfs.

I hate to try that route, but have heard a yellow tang will help on other forums. My tank is a 30 Finnex and not large enough, but a temporary small tang I may have to try if this does not work.

I don't know why, but trading corals in to the LRS seems easier than fish.

[javisaman]

There are two invertebrates that I've found capable of tackling this stuff.

 

1) Halloween Urchin. Not from my personal experience but I've seen it from another hobbyist.

2) Fuzzy Chiton (from reefcleaners!). They are terrible shippers; of the 4 I ordered only 1 made it to my house alive. But that one will literally eat all algae that it crawls over. The only problem is that it's slow as hell...

[brandon429]

you can also drain the tank like a water change and use a blue jet lighter to burn it off, so your pH isn't in flux. Just wipe it off with a paper towel the rest will degrade no problem. to prevent cross burning make paddle shields out of tin foil

B

[bird]

24hrs later and treated algae is turning white. PH never rose above 8.35. So far so good.

[bird]

48 hours later and the now white algae had begun to disintegrate. All corals seem unaffected.

[fiction101]

I had turf algae in my 24g; tuxedo urchins mowed it down within a week. Drop a couple in there and they should take care of it.

[bird]

Day 5 has died off completely where treated.

[bird]

Day 7

looks like coralline may be trying to start? seeing a hue of purple/green forming on the bare white.

[brandon429]

nice thread. I'll keep this on file to link up in other forums where people are battling this. nice documentation of kill methods, the pics are the proof nice job and most of the red turf threads don't have such nice documentation of the outcomes

B

[vresor]

Not sure if your red turf algae was the same as the red algae I had, but did you try a Mexican Turbo Snail? Mine mowed the algae down in a couple days and it has never been back. All other mitigation efforts were unproductive.

[TJ_Burton]

Good job with the kalk bath. It is a great remedy for many unwanted algae and anemones. I have resorted to it many a time!

[bird]

Not sure if your red turf algae was the same as the red algae I had, but did you try a Mexican Turbo Snail? Mine mowed the algae down in a couple days and it has never been back. All other mitigation efforts were unproductive.

Tried Mexican Turbo and other kinds of snails, crabs, hermits and too many frags to allow urchins to roam around. Have read that tangs can work but no guarantee. Know someone locally that has a Foxface and it will not touch any of his algae.

One method suggested is to drain the tank and burn the algae. Right! Like I am going to expose all my livestock for however long it takes to torch the rock while placing shields so as not to burn the nearby corals.

This may be a more sure and permanent fix without adding any more livestock to a small tank that may already be overloaded as it is.

So far so good.

Where the algae has died off it has shown no sign of returning.

If in fact PO4 was leaching from the rock's surface and as it is known that calcium hydroxide can precipitate PO4 maybe this is a better way both in killing the algae and ridding its food source.

We will see.

[bird]

Good job with the kalk bath. It is a great remedy for many unwanted algae and anemones. I have resorted to it many a time!

Round two last night. I did a few more spots that I missed the first time and that algae has turned green too.

I did the same method as the first.

Mixed some kalk with RO water to get a mixture that is thick but not too thick that it can't be drawn into a small syringe.

Turn off flow in the tank except for a small amount, enough not to disturb the kalk on rock.

Draw mix into syringe and wipe end clean before placing into tank.

Dab over algae while dispersing small amount and at the same time gently spreading (I found that is takes very little, much less than I piled on first round).

After a couple hours I again took a 1/4" icemaker hose and carefully siphoned it off then replaced water removed with new make-up water.

PH did rise from 8.3 to 8.5 last night during this time but stayed at 8.5 (lights had been on for 3+ hours and I never bothered to turn them off-I probably should have to keep the corals closed up and fish calm)

This morning back to 8.2. (normal ph pattern in this tank is 8.2 light out 8.4+ lights on)

So far all corals are still looking good with full PE.

Mag levels adjusted to 1300.

[Ando]

WOw thanks for this thread! I think I am in need of doing this as well! The turf alage is starting to smother some of my zoo colonies! This turf alage is some nasty stuff!!

 

Any other advice for me? I am going to try out this method.

 

 

Sent you a Pm instead