Red turf algae help!

**SteezySPS** · 02-23-2012, 04:03 AM

[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif]yeah definitely the gelidium red turf. impossible to remove manually. I purchased 2 large turbos and they eventually ate all of it within a week but that stuff came back and had to repurchase large turbos again. never reappeared ever again
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**reefknight** · 02-23-2012, 12:57 PM

I'm headed to my LFS this weekend to grab some. Anything I can add that will rid me of this nightmare would be great!

**Otter_rs** · 02-23-2012, 01:39 PM

Helps to run GFO to keep it from taking hold again once the snails and urchins get rid of it. It's also a good idea to siphon off the snail and urchin waste that settles onto the rocks.

**EpicWin** · 02-24-2012, 01:45 AM

I sort of found a solution. I removed my bad rocks and hit the bad areas with hydrogen peroxide. Hit the last remaining areas in the tank with a 1.2 watt laser. Well see. I've had no luck with turbos.

**SteezySPS** · 02-24-2012, 03:21 AM

how long have you had the turbos for? mine didn't immediately go for it but if i could remember correctly if was a week. I had two very large turbos in a 40g and they did the job. they're like pigs, their main mission in life is to just devour all sorts of algae and once they get through the preferable ones they will go after the turf

**nvdiz** · 02-24-2012, 10:19 AM

Turbos do the job. Just give them a month or two, and they'll easily get rid of the red turf algae.

**CalmSeasQuest** · 02-24-2012, 10:32 AM

I fought a major Red Turf outbreak. I found minimal success with any inverts, (including turbos.) The only effective solution I found was eliminating excess nutrients. Aggressive use of GFO, a couple weeks of MB-7 followed by mechanical removal was enough to knock it out. Once the loss of nutrients starts to take effect, it's easy to loosen and pull out the algae.

**reefknight** · 02-24-2012, 11:04 AM

I wish there was a way of manually removing mine. It's so entwined throughout the rock that its just not capable. I would have to break down the entire reef structure, remove the rock and proceed. I haven't added GFO because my NO3 and PO4 are both 0.

Epicwin - What laser did you use, lol? I hadn't thought about getting high tech.

**CalmSeasQuest** · 02-24-2012, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by reefknight

I wish there was a way of manually removing mine. It's so entwined throughout the rock that its just not capable. I would have to break down the entire reef structure, remove the rock and proceed. I haven't added GFO because my NO3 and PO4 are both 0.

Epicwin - What laser did you use, lol? I hadn't thought about getting high tech.

If you have algae growing, your PO4 is not zero. Your reading zero due the the algae consuming the phosphates.

The mechanical removal is helpful, but not required. If you don't manually remove it as it dies, it breaks down and releases nutrients back into the water column, lengthening the time it takes to eradicate the algae (this is another reason for the GFO.)

Here's the thread on Lasers - Use of Lasers in Controlling Pest Algae and Corals It does work on Red Turf, but it requires long lase times and would be very difficult to do for large amounts. If you decide to try the laser, please carefully read through all the safety concerns.