The red turf algae battle

[Will_WhatIsThis]

I put some aptaisia x on a patch in my tank and the red turf turned brown in minutes. This seems very promising to me.

 

[Will_WhatIsThis]

There you have a little side by side

 

[Justin101714]

How are you guys adding snails to the your tank so quickly? Just bypassing QT? I have red turf and would love you get some snails, but too worried about introducing pests that encyst on the shell.

 

[Spieg]

I've also fought with Red Turf Algae for a long time. Nothing I've tried (and I've tried just about everything) has even put a dent in it except for urchins. Smaller urchins are better at getting into the crevasses but there will always be some patches that can't be reached (still way better than having completely covered rocks!). They will eat coralline algae also but I don't care as that stuff grows back pretty fast anyway.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Only thing that devoured mine was a red tuxedo urchin. I had it on every rock in a 210g tank.

 

[Justin101714]

I’ve taken my rock out and scrubbed with a steel brush. Haven’t seen any adverse effects from it. I’m doing it again night now. It really does a number on that ****! Only thing, I can’t get in the crevasses with it. Plastic brush does nothing! This stuff is tough. I figure if I break down all the major areas and then use something to dose in the tank. I have two blue tuxedos in there now, they do a fantastic job, but by the time they clean a spot and move to the next, it’s growing back. I’m going to up my 20% water changes to every week combined with the scrubbing and see how it goes. I use three dipping stations to make sure not much makes it back into the tank.

 

[KMG]

Hi guys!
Lunella Coronata and ninja star snails will eat all the red turf in a week or two. I had a real severe growt of red turf in my 200 gallon tank. I've got 10 Lunella Coronata and they eat it all in 10 days. All gone for 2 years now

 

[sixty_reefer]

From experience I will say that true Mexican turbos will eat most If not all types of algae’s, I’ve dealt with a rare poisonous algae and the Mexican turbos were the only thing that ate it. This guys are the most efficient cuc in my eyes regarding algae. They can eat just as much algae in a day as a young sea hare.

 

[Will_WhatIsThis]

I’m telling you guys aptasia x is basically red turf x. If you have smaller affected areas like me, this stuff really works.

There’s still a few small spots that I missed so I’ll have to go back over those.

 

[lukaszra]

I had a similar issue a couple weeks back. I bought at least 7 Mexican turbos 5 Margaritas and 5 red legged hermits and it was gone in a week and hasn't came back since

What is margaritas ?? Legged hermits?? What is it?? Please use latin species names thank you

 

[lukaszra]

FWIW, I had green turf algae. Dosed fluconazole per instruction and it was gone and never came back.

Not working with red one .. friend tryied ..overdose 3x .. really poor working

 

[carmodpg]

I’m telling you guys aptasia x is basically red turf x. If you have smaller affected areas like me, this stuff really works.

There’s still a few small spots that I missed so I’ll have to go back over those.

I have been trying to figure out a solution for awhile and added a bunch of snails. However, it didnt seem to be working. So I went with Aptasia X based on @Will_WhatIsThis reaffirmation that it worked for him (even though no one seemed to have paid attention to his comments for some reason) and the Aptasia X instantly killed a large portion of the red turf algae on my rocks. There are a few stubborn spots that have survived multiple applications, but they look a lot weaker and the snails seem to be focusing in on those spots now (and hopefully they succeed). That being said, I agree, Aptasia X definitely works. thanks @Will_WhatIsThis!

 

[Javier Rivera]

I’m going to give x a try to see, because I try “nuke” the rocks and it came back,

 

[Javier Rivera]

Before

 

[Javier Rivera]

And now

 

[Kris4647]

I’m fighting this crap now. Just thought I’d add that if your rocks are removable you can run very hot tap water over them and it kills all algae. Coraline, this red turf, cyano pretty much everything. I took a live rock to the sink and just lightly scrubbed while running very hot water over it and returned it to the tank. The red turf turns pink and will disappear over the next few days.

I have very large rocks with coral growing on them so this was only so helpful for me.

Currently trying a round of flux.

 

[Justin101714]

I’m fighting this crap now. Just thought I’d add that if your rocks are removable you can run very hot tap water over them and it kills all algae. Coraline, this red turf, cyano pretty much everything. I took a live rock to the sink and just lightly scrubbed while running very hot water over it and returned it to the tank. The red turf turns pink and will disappear over the next few days.

I have very large rocks with coral growing on them so this was only so helpful for me.

Currently trying a round of flux.

One huge problem here....that rock is now dead and is going to release a **** ton of dead stuff into the tank. Watch your ammonia and nitrates over the next few days. If your going to do this, use a bucket of tank water, scrub the rock with a wire brush, it gets the turf algae off but won’t ruin what’s inside the rock. This, with more frequent water changes is what made mine disappear.

 

[Kris4647]

One huge problem here....that rock is now dead and is going to release a **** ton of dead stuff into the tank. Watch your ammonia and nitrates over the next few days. If your going to do this, use a bucket of tank water, scrub the rock with a wire brush, it gets the turf algae off but won’t ruin what’s inside the rock. This, with more frequent water changes is what made mine disappear.

Honestly I’d rather deal with ammonia/nitrate rather than any chemical fix. I’m guessing it will come around as phosphates (Decaying vegetation) which is less ideal but still better (IMO) than kalk or even peroxide.

My tank is low on nutrients so water changes do very little to effect the outbreak.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Nothing noteworthy! Unfortunately =(

I have had 2 urchins in the tank for a while and I'd say the algae by in large is more sparse than it was.

I actually just got a ICP test back which showed 0.01mg/l phosphate and 0.7 mg/l nitrate -- so as originally stated, it isn't an excess nutrient issue! =)

You have wrong urchins. Tuxedos are useless IMO, I have no idea why they’re so popular. 1 holloween urchin will take care of it In a few weeks.

 

[Emerson]

Anecdotal, but I fought red turf algae for months. I tried scrubbing, pulling, nothing helped. I'm not much for snake oils, but I used Brightwell Aquatics Razor concurrently with MicroBacter Clean (check their website). You build up dosing, adding a little more each day over a 10-14 day period. Within three weeks of starting I had zero red turf algae. I found using a filter sock helped as the algae broke down. No losses of coral, fish, or invertebrates. I dose the MicroBacter Clean weekly, and it has kept any algae in check.