red hair algae
- Thread starter blkhawk10
- Start date
xcali1985
Active Member
Lawnmower Blenny or Sea Hare. Warning: Sea Hares can die and release lots of toxins that will kill everything in your tank. They are poisionous so nothing will eat it and it will just decay. A Blenny is slower eater but can do the job also. A Sea Hare can clean 1/2 a 55 gallon over night they are fast.
You need to monitor him for any signs of death and pull him immediately even if its to QT him for a while to make sure hes not croking.
A Lawnmower can do the job you need to assist him with good water changes and possibly pulling some of it out to give him a head start.
You need to monitor him for any signs of death and pull him immediately even if its to QT him for a while to make sure hes not croking.
A Lawnmower can do the job you need to assist him with good water changes and possibly pulling some of it out to give him a head start.
blkhawk10
Member
I don't have a local place to get a sea hare so thats a no go, plus I don't wanna have the risk. The blenny is a no go too because I have a midas in my tank. I added 3 big mexican turbos to see if they help and to 10% water changes weekly. I addd a fuge too to take away some of the nutrients. I was thinking using chemicals, but thats a last resort.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Hmmmmm.....sounds like turf algae. I'm fighting this problem as well. Believe me, it is a fight. This particularly pernicious stuff clings to the rock. There's no way of removing it completely by hand or by scrubbing. It breaks off at the base, and the tiniest thread will regrow the colony. It will grow over the stony bases of corals and smother them if left unchecked. It survives under very little light, and seems to be able to soak up the tiniest amount of phosphate and use it to explode into larger colonies.
Have I scared ya? Good, 'cause it's scary stuff. Here's a list of things I've done, what effectiveness, and what I still want to do. Hopefully someone can use this as a preventative before their personal battles get as out of hand as mine has.
First, you should know that mine started showing up at about 6 months of bulb age. Small patches came in here and there, that's it. And I ignored it. The small patches grew quickly, and I replaced the lights at around 9 months. I didn't see any reduction in the algae, despite weekly 20% water changes. At some point this stuff seems to reach a critical mass, and it EXPLODES everywhere in your tank. Everywhere I looked I saw reddish hues floating in the currents. I tried removing the rocks and scrubbing by hand. I'd get the rocks down to about an 8th of an inch, but I could never get it completely off.
I've added a foxface (wanted one anyway). I heard that tangs are hit-and-miss with this algae, but the foxface might be more helpful. This turned out to be helpful, as the 'Face now keeps the algae at least trimmed to a short level on the rocks.
I've tried API's Marine Algaefix. This stuff is reef safe (supposedly), but it did nothing at all for the red turf algae. Didn't make a single dent.
I heard that mexican turbo snails are 50/50 on this stuff. The ones I had existing in the tank weren't doing a thing. I got 4 more, and for some reason the new ones started eating it. It's almost as if the algae wasn't recognized as food to the snails that were present as it grew, but the new snails mowed right in to it. Trouble is, I think you'd need 20-30 snails to make a true dent. And AGAIN, snails don't eat it down completely! So don't consider this a permanent fix. It will come back.
Finally, I've been running phosgard and purigen pillows in the sump under the filter floss. I change it out once a month. Since I've added the phosgard and purigen I've notice an additional recession of the red turf, and increased coralline growth in the places the algae receded.
Whew. Long post, but your comment reminded me that this needed to be printed. So, you can see the steps I've taken to get rid of this nasty crap. I'm seeing some turnaround, but not enough. The next step for me is going to be a GFO reactor to remove a much greater amount of phosphate. I may also have to consider a DIY Nitrate reactor, but we'll see.
The bad news is this stuff is NOT like hair algae. I don't think lawnmower blennies are going to do much good for you here, and I don't have any experience with sea hares so I can't comment on them. The rabbitfish family seems to be pretty effective at keeping it mown down, but it's still very visible.
If the stuff is just in spots right now, I would go ahead and get more turbos. Keep picking them up and putting them over the patches. Consider a foxface or a rabbitfish, and see where your sources of phosphates are coming from. Mine was from the RODI water I bought from my LFS. Yup. I've since learned that many LFS RODI units are sub-par only because they're used so often. I tested my topoff water one day when I brought it home and discovered it had been the source of my phosphates all along. You may also want to consder adding phosgard or a GFO reactor to your system. Good Luck!
Have I scared ya? Good, 'cause it's scary stuff. Here's a list of things I've done, what effectiveness, and what I still want to do. Hopefully someone can use this as a preventative before their personal battles get as out of hand as mine has.
First, you should know that mine started showing up at about 6 months of bulb age. Small patches came in here and there, that's it. And I ignored it. The small patches grew quickly, and I replaced the lights at around 9 months. I didn't see any reduction in the algae, despite weekly 20% water changes. At some point this stuff seems to reach a critical mass, and it EXPLODES everywhere in your tank. Everywhere I looked I saw reddish hues floating in the currents. I tried removing the rocks and scrubbing by hand. I'd get the rocks down to about an 8th of an inch, but I could never get it completely off.
I've added a foxface (wanted one anyway). I heard that tangs are hit-and-miss with this algae, but the foxface might be more helpful. This turned out to be helpful, as the 'Face now keeps the algae at least trimmed to a short level on the rocks.
I've tried API's Marine Algaefix. This stuff is reef safe (supposedly), but it did nothing at all for the red turf algae. Didn't make a single dent.
I heard that mexican turbo snails are 50/50 on this stuff. The ones I had existing in the tank weren't doing a thing. I got 4 more, and for some reason the new ones started eating it. It's almost as if the algae wasn't recognized as food to the snails that were present as it grew, but the new snails mowed right in to it. Trouble is, I think you'd need 20-30 snails to make a true dent. And AGAIN, snails don't eat it down completely! So don't consider this a permanent fix. It will come back.
Finally, I've been running phosgard and purigen pillows in the sump under the filter floss. I change it out once a month. Since I've added the phosgard and purigen I've notice an additional recession of the red turf, and increased coralline growth in the places the algae receded.
Whew. Long post, but your comment reminded me that this needed to be printed. So, you can see the steps I've taken to get rid of this nasty crap. I'm seeing some turnaround, but not enough. The next step for me is going to be a GFO reactor to remove a much greater amount of phosphate. I may also have to consider a DIY Nitrate reactor, but we'll see.
The bad news is this stuff is NOT like hair algae. I don't think lawnmower blennies are going to do much good for you here, and I don't have any experience with sea hares so I can't comment on them. The rabbitfish family seems to be pretty effective at keeping it mown down, but it's still very visible.
If the stuff is just in spots right now, I would go ahead and get more turbos. Keep picking them up and putting them over the patches. Consider a foxface or a rabbitfish, and see where your sources of phosphates are coming from. Mine was from the RODI water I bought from my LFS. Yup. I've since learned that many LFS RODI units are sub-par only because they're used so often. I tested my topoff water one day when I brought it home and discovered it had been the source of my phosphates all along. You may also want to consder adding phosgard or a GFO reactor to your system. Good Luck!
blkhawk10
Member
I was wondering if my old bulbs caused the breakout and u confirmed that. I have noticed the snails doing a decent job so far, along with the new bulbs I got. I've been scrapping coralline off the glass to get it to spread and the refuge is working out very well. I have noticed a little change so far, but am waiting for it to be all gone. I guess this stuff takes time to get rid of so I'm getting ready to play the waiting game.
king_neptune
Active Member
I used chemi clean once. And one time only. It never came back. So whatever it did, it decimated every single trace of red algae.
Didn't harm my fish, corals, or inverts.
Follow the directions. This stuff works!
Didn't harm my fish, corals, or inverts.
Follow the directions. This stuff works!