Turf algae

[eric33014]

So I have patches of turf algae. Have a clan of emeralds, snails etc. Nothing is eating the turf algae. Any fish that will take care of it? If not what is the next best step. Cause I'm starting to get some small patches of it around other rocks in the tank.

Phosphate is reading zero on the Hanna checker. And 0 TDS out of RO system. All corals happy etc. Just don't want that crap taking over the tank.

 

[eric33014]

Forgot to attach pics

 

[austibella]

Forgot to attach pics

that is how mine started i thought my tangs would eat it. i have been fighting to get it out of my tank. been using Vibrant for 3 weeks and some of it now i can pull some of the turf algae off but now but it is everywhere faster.. and my Nitrates got way to high as the algae was dyeing . i sure would love to know how to get rid of it also. i ordered a foxface tang. maybe he will get rid of it. i read they can. i dont even know how i got the turf algae. no new corals, its growing near corals and clams getting worried... sure would love to hear from other people to if they had sucess.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi folks,

I had turf algae all over. To the point I actually liked watching it. It was so much I could watch it wave back and forth in the flow of the water. I have a fairly good CuC and tang set up. Only thing that worked for me was Flux RX (fluxanole) . 14 day treatment took care of it. I have to stay on top of it since then, but I have not let it get to the point it was prior.

@eric33014 yours is not that bad. I would always start with maintenance over chemical. Manually remove what you can by pinching the bush at the base like picking a weed and pulling. Try to keep a fish net right next to where you are pulling the clump to catch any floaters. It can spread if it goes floating all over the tank. You can use a tooth brush to remove the rest, but again if it starts floating all over and landing in other rock it could spread.

 

[eric33014]

Will an algae blenny eat this stuff? I thought about Tang route also. Worth a try or?

 

[Pistondog]

rabbitfish if > 75 gallons
Else tailspot or starry blenny or
Urchins

 

[DaneGer21]

My opinion would be to manually remove as much as possible every day for a few days. During those few days try to figure out the cause. Over feeding, a little to long between water changes, sump need vacuumed, etc...

 

[eric33014]

Rabbitfish reef safe for softies, lps, torches?

 

[Aqua Man]

Pencil urchin chowed my turf algae. Best CUC ever!

 

[eric33014]

Plan on removing. But again don't know the cause. Feed only what fish will eat etc. Phosphates are nothing. Cleanup crew I guess ate some but not touching the clumps of crap.

 

[eric33014]

@Aqua Man pencil urchin reef safe? Softies zoa's lps torches?

 

[Pistondog]

Rabbitfish reef safe for softies, lps, torches?

Most certainly, foxface.
If you want the fish to eat a non desirable algea , don't feed him nori.
This sounds obvious, but is ignored sometimes.
My filefish wouldn't touch the aptasia i bought him for until we cut back on the good stuff, mysis. Then he did his job. Tough love.

 

[Aqua Man]

The one I had was a model citizen. Will move corals around some. Will eat coralline on rocks and frags but didn’t damage any Of my zoas or lps in the process.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Pull off as much as you can by hand and let an urchin or fighting conch finish the rest

 

[eric33014]

Have a fighting conch. He can't get up the rock work.

 

[Broke2Broke]

I’m in the same boat. Not bad but starting to get there. My nitrates are kinda high and always have been from the start. I think it’s because I used old live rock. Various CUC, tang. Didn’t start spreading until I tried to manually remove it. Not easy to pull off. Tried chaeto in sump but doesn’t grow for me. Testing out a homemade algae scrubber but doesn’t seem to lower nitrates. Started Reef Flux Sunday see how that goes. Haven’t tried vibrate yet or urchin. I did try spots with Peroxide and helped a little.

 

[eric33014]

Just bought a algae blenny. See how that goes. Like you @Broke2Broke I have more of an issue after I tried removing some of it manually. My nitrates are low to nothing and phosphate is low to nothing. Have no other issue with algae other than this. I have an awesome CUC from @reefcleaners that is keeping up with everything but nothing is touching the turf. Will update when I get back home about the blenny and any damage it's done to it.

 

[Broke2Broke]

Cool, let me know. That was next on the list maybe, but yellow tang is not touching it. Various hermits red, blue, mixed and emerald. Same with snails. All from @reefcleaners as well. 3 days in with Flux and haven't noticed anything as of yet.

 

[Aqua Man]

Blenny will graze on it some. Cool fish, one of my favorites.

Turf is not like hair. I’ve about toppled my rocks trying to pull on it! Scrubbing would only get it temporarily and would grow back. scrubbing and and peroxide was a little better.

Urchins have strong jaws. They actually scrape the rock bare to get the algae, roots and all.

 

[Broke2Broke]

Blenny will graze on it some. Cool fish, one of my favorites.

Turf is not like hair. I’ve about toppled my rocks trying to pull on it! Scrubbing would only get it temporarily and would grow back. scrubbing and and peroxide was a little better.

Urchins have strong jaws. They actually scrape the rock bare to get the algae, roots and all.

Never had an urchin before. Any recommendations on which one? Any concerns with corals?