Red turf algae help!

**EpicWin** · 02-21-2012, 07:01 PM

Has anyone defeated this stuff? It's the very coarse bristly stuff that is the color of coraline. My turbos don't seem to do much and my emralds just stay away from it.

**specvjeff** · 02-21-2012, 07:02 PM

I had it till I added turbo snails. They mowed through it in a week. I've read urchins will eat it as well as Tangs.

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**RadReef** · 02-21-2012, 07:04 PM

I've had luck with Florida nassarius and cerith snails.

**SteezySPS** · 02-21-2012, 07:07 PM

the largest turbo snails you can find and return them after you're done since they will bulldoze through everything.

**Dave3112** · 02-21-2012, 07:21 PM

My yellow tang will pick at it but he doesn't keep it in check. The only thing I have found that took care of it was blue leg hermits and a longspine urchin. I had a bad case of it in my frag tank and I added 50 blue legs and a longspine urchin and its gone. I have moved the hermits to my display and the urchin I just feed algae sheets for now until I re-home it.

**Steven R** · 02-21-2012, 07:52 PM

Sea hares work really good to except if they are startled they can ink your tank and you have to immediately run carbon and do a small water change to keep something bad from happening in your system

**reefknight** · 02-21-2012, 08:09 PM

I've got a tank full of it currently! I'm guessing you have gelidium as I do. I attempted the Tech M treatment, don't waste your time or money as it does not work. I agree with the others go natural. I have two sea hares, two diadema urchins and am going to add some turbo snails this week. I have a foxface and a tang and they'll nibble at it but they won't keep it in check. I'll post a link later to what mine looks like, so that you may compare the two.

Good luck with your battle!

**EpicWin** · 02-21-2012, 08:51 PM

Yes keep me updated!

**reefknight** · 02-22-2012, 12:35 AM

This is a thread that I've been following.

Nuisance Algae Guide - Reef Central Online Community

It has some great information on different problematic algae. I have a gelidium outbreak for sure and one of my LFS's has it in a one of his display tanks. Makes sense considering I purchased my rock from him. This is the real kicker, I sun bleached my rock, scrubbed off the remainder and blasted the rock with fresh water. It came back after all that! It is very persistent!

I'd be interested in knowing if this is what you are battling as well. The diadema urchins are doing the most work currently in removing it from my rock. The sea hares are nibbling, don't see them doing a lot at the moment. Only problem with the urchins, is that they will remove all algae including coralline.