Battling turf algae

[Joeganja]

Alright guys so I’ve been dealing with turf algae for about 3 months now. The tank is about 5 months old and the only thing I could think that could be causing this would be the excessive amounts of potassium I’ve been using from the seachem vibrant sea salt. I feed once a day, 8 hour light period, high flow, weekly water changes, all that stuff. I have 20 turbo snails, 20 coralline margarita, 20 Black magarita, and 15 astrea snails.

 

[sfin52]

What’s your lighting period.

 

[Joeganja]

What’s your lighting period.

8 hours with 1 hour ramp time. On 35% intensity.

 

[Dan I]

I've been having problems with this as well. Going to cut down my lighting and install a ATS. Hopefully, this helps out.

 

[sfin52]

I’ve heard cutting hour of lighting will help. I believe I heard that from @saltyfilmfolks

 

[JTreef]

I’m using Vibrant with good results. I’m sure I need to up my maintenance on the tank to really make a long lasting difference. But I used Vibrant to help me out. After 1 dose the algae started to brown and die in places. 2nd week 2nd dose same thing.

 

[a119]

Using rodi water ?

 

[Monti34]

I suggest a marine iguana.

 

[Joeganja]

I got rid of it finally. Picked up giant turbo snails from work and they did the trick along with an urchin from ORA

 

[omarsolom]

I got rid of it finally. Picked up giant turbo snails from work and they did the trick along with an urchin from ORA

Hey, i'm having a serious case of turf algae too, i just got trochus snails, i don't know if they would help, what kind of urchin that would do the trick?

 

[N11morales]

Hey, i'm having a serious case of turf algae too, i just got trochus snails, i don't know if they would help, what kind of urchin that would do the trick?

Pincushion or tuxedo. I think any would eat it though.

 

[BryanM]

You might consider a lawn mower blenny.

 

[Biokabe]

Wow, a necromancer has appeared!

They don't get recommended nearly enough, but another great option for dealing with turf algae like that is zebra turbo snails. They do get big, but only on par with urchins; if you can deal with an urchin, you can deal with a zebra turbo. I have two in my tank and they are absolute beasts when it comes to any kind of algae.