Turf algae problem

[thomas_neil]

Hello all,

Ive been fighting with turf algae the last couple of month. My no3 and po4 are under control and all my other parameters are in check- I’ll list them below. It was introduced to my tank through some back chato and I havnt been able to get rid of it ever since. I also got bubble algae which I was able to get rid of with vibrant. The vibrant didn’t even do anything to the turf algae. I’d prefer not to keep dosing vibrant since it seemed to make my lps very unhappy.

I manually remove the big clumps every 2 weeks before I do a water change and also picked up 2 tuxedo urchins to try and keep it in check but it always just grows back.

I’m considering pulling out the rock that is infested the worst and hitting it with some peroxide this weekend. I have a spa colony and a Xenia on the rock I’m planning on doing this. Anything harmful happen to them if I get some peroxide on them. I don’t really care about the Xenia but I don’t want to kill the zoa.

Any ideas on how I can fight it besides using an algaecide?

Parameters:
Alk 11 I know it’s high, Red Sea black bucket comes mixed this high so that’s why I dose this high (Hanna)
Calcium 430 (sulifert)
No3 5 (sulifert)
Po4 .08 ppm (Hanna ulr)
Sal 1.026 (ice cap)
PH 8.5 (Hanna)
Mag 1360 (sulifert)

 

[CoralB]

I like the tuxedo urchins , I would also add Mexican turbos , astrea snails , and if you don’t have but have room for a utilitarian fish like kole tang or fox face . It will take a little time but the tuxedo urchins and the snails I mentioned will eventually work . Keep up the fight with manual pulling as well . Keeping your parameters in line will also get you back on track .

 

[thomas_neil]

I like the tuxedo urchins , I would also add Mexican turbos , astrea snails , and if you don’t have but have room for a utilitarian fish like kole tang or fox face . It will take a little time but the tuxedo urchins and the snails I mentioned will eventually work . Keep up the fight with manual pulling as well . Keeping your parameters in line will also get you back on track .

I have 2 Mexican turbo snails and a handful of Astria snails. It’s a 75 gallon. I have a mimic tang that I plan on returning to my lfs when he outgrows the tank. I’ve been eye balling fox face, they’re one of my favorite fish but my problem would be not wanting to return him when he outgrows the tanks eventually. I feed a small amount of pellets twice a day with an auto feeder and frozen at night. I also change my filter socks 3 times a week and wash my sponges every other day.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

pull the rocks out, one by one on your next water change, and brush/SCRUB the heck out of them in a seperate bucket. I would say do it weekly.

Also be aware that if you started your tank with dry white rocks, they usually leach phosphate back into the water, and you have to export that phosphate until the rocks have leached it all out. in this case you need GFO to help you. My tank is 1.5 years old and my rocks still leaching phosphate. I recently saw another thread that someone mentioned it took 2 years to end. So if you started with dry rocks, forget about fish or urchins to solve your problem, or feeding less, it wont help if the rocks are the source of the phosphate.

 

[CoralB]

That’s would be my choices and give it time , a couple more tuxedos would be good for the 75 . That’s about it for natural and a fox face. If you want to go chemical , flux rx has good reviews

 

[Duncan62]

Hello all,

Ive been fighting with turf algae the last couple of month. My no3 and po4 are under control and all my other parameters are in check- I’ll list them below. It was introduced to my tank through some back chato and I havnt been able to get rid of it ever since. I also got bubble algae which I was able to get rid of with vibrant. The vibrant didn’t even do anything to the turf algae. I’d prefer not to keep dosing vibrant since it seemed to make my lps very unhappy.

I manually remove the big clumps every 2 weeks before I do a water change and also picked up 2 tuxedo urchins to try and keep it in check but it always just grows back.

I’m considering pulling out the rock that is infested the worst and hitting it with some peroxide this weekend. I have a spa colony and a Xenia on the rock I’m planning on doing this. Anything harmful happen to them if I get some peroxide on them. I don’t really care about the Xenia but I don’t want to kill the zoa.

Any ideas on how I can fight it besides using an algaecide?

Parameters:
Alk 11 I know it’s high, Red Sea black bucket comes mixed this high so that’s why I dose this high (Hanna)
Calcium 430 (sulifert)
No3 5 (sulifert)
Po4 .08 ppm (Hanna ulr)
Sal 1.026 (ice cap)
PH 8.5 (Hanna)
Mag 1360 (sulifert)

Sailfin tang and urchins. They got a mess under control for me. I have trouble keeping nutrients up but some new rock brought it to me. Mine is well managed but I'll need to feed the urchins soon. Good luck.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My best success with turf which is a nightmare was pencil urchins, some ninja star snails and pitho crab combination

 

[thomas_neil]

pull the rocks out, one by one on your next water change, and brush/SCRUB the heck out of them in a seperate bucket. I would say do it weekly.

Also be aware that if you started your tank with dry white rocks, they usually leach phosphate back into the water, and you have to export that phosphate until the rocks have leached it all out. in this case you need GFO to help you. My tank is 1.5 years old and my rocks still leaching phosphate. I recently saw another thread that someone mentioned it took 2 years to end. So if you started with dry rocks, forget about fish or urchins to solve your problem, or feeding less, it wont help if the rocks are the source of the phosphate.

Okay I’ll try pulling out the ones that need scrubbing. My tank is a little over 2 years old now. The whole problem started when I bought some chato from my lfs and got all kinds of problems from it.

 

[Chrisv.]

It would take a lot to get me to pull rocks from a tank and manually scrub them as suggested. Have you tried urchins?

 

[CoralB]

pull the rocks out, one by one on your next water change, and brush/SCRUB the heck out of them in a seperate bucket. I would say do it weekly.

Also be aware that if you started your tank with dry white rocks, they usually leach phosphate back into the water, and you have to export that phosphate until the rocks have leached it all out. in this case you need GFO to help you. My tank is 1.5 years old and my rocks still leaching phosphate. I recently saw another thread that someone mentioned it took 2 years to end. So if you started with dry rocks, forget about fish or urchins to solve your problem, or feeding less, it wont help if the rocks are the source of the phosphate.

His phosphates are fine . GFO could zero out his phosphates which would cause more issues . Can’t see pulling out rock and scrubbing every week be fun not to mention possible stress to coral inhabitants. It might be ok to do once. After two years up don’t think his rocks are leaching .

 

[Chrisv.]

His phosphates are fine . GFO could zero out his phosphates which would cause more issues . Can’t see pulling out rock and scrubbing every week be fun not to mention possible stress to coral inhabitants. It might be ok to do once. After two years up don’t think his rocks are leaching .

The turf algae is probably sucking up phosphates masking a problem.

 

[Derrick0580]

My snails wouldn’t touch turf algae, bought a small pincushion urchin and he wiped it out at a fairly decent rate!

 

[CoralB]

Hello all,

Ive been fighting with turf algae the last couple of month. My no3 and po4 are under control and all my other parameters are in check- I’ll list them below. It was introduced to my tank through some back chato and I havnt been able to get rid of it ever since. I also got bubble algae which I was able to get rid of with vibrant. The vibrant didn’t even do anything to the turf algae. I’d prefer not to keep dosing vibrant since it seemed to make my lps very unhappy.

I manually remove the big clumps every 2 weeks before I do a water change and also picked up 2 tuxedo urchins to try and keep it in check but it always just grows back.

I’m considering pulling out the rock that is infested the worst and hitting it with some peroxide this weekend. I have a spa colony and a Xenia on the rock I’m planning on doing this. Anything harmful happen to them if I get some peroxide on them. I don’t really care about the Xenia but I don’t want to kill the zoa.

Any ideas on how I can fight it besides using an algaecide?

Parameters:
Alk 11 I know it’s high, Red Sea black bucket comes mixed this high so that’s why I dose this high (Hanna)
Calcium 430 (sulifert)
No3 5 (sulifert)
Po4 .08 ppm (Hanna ulr)
Sal 1.026 (ice cap)
PH 8.5 (Hanna)
Mag 1360 (sulifert)

Thomas what are your nitrates ?

 

[thomas_neil]

Thomas what are your nitrates ?

5ppm with the sulifert test kit.

 

[CoralB]

That’s fine . Give it time with your CUC and manual removal . The other thing you could try is finding and or borrowing a dolabella sea hare . They will munch your issue away , but if they run out of algae they will die so sell , trade , or give him away to some one with algae to keep him alive after he’s done with you algae issue

 

[BionicReef73]

I am also having the same issue with turf algae in my tank. It is super turf. I have been trying everything known to man to kill it. My phos is a.01 n3&4 are hovering around 10-12 ppm. I have tried scrubing hydrogen peroxide dipping it , flux and bacter clean. The funny thing is that it is only on my rock work. And it doesnt get long enough to manually pull it off. Its getting frustrsting.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

I am also having the same issue with turf algae in my tank. It is super turf. I have been trying everything known to man to kill it. My phos is a.01 n3&4 are hovering around 10-12 ppm. I have tried scrubing hydrogen peroxide dipping it , flux and bacter clean. The funny thing is that it is only on my rock work. And it doesnt get long enough to manually pull it off. Its getting frustrsting.

Did you try an urchin? If that and crabs don't do the trick, turf is one of the few species that I would consider using algaefix.

 

[GarrettT]

Variegated and tuxedo urchins should manage it well. Reef flux and h2o2 didn’t do anything for mine. Lowering my phosphate made it worse, as it allowed the turf algae to dominate.