Green Turf Algae Problem

Nathaniellund17 · Aug 6, 2022

Hello All,
I have what I believe is a Turf Algae problem that I've been fighting for the past few months. It's overgrown a few of my coral, so I'd really like to do the best I can to get rid of the algae. I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on if I'm feeding too much, thus giving the turf algae enough nutrients to keep growing. I posted a video of the feed - it's what I feed every day of mysis and brine shrimp. The fish eat the food before a minute - so I haven't thought much of the food being a problem. But I'm at the point I can't think of what else it could be.

So a few specifics about my tank.
Display - 175 Gallon
Sump - 60 Gallon
Phosphate - .04 to .05 (using Hanna checker) I know this is right in line with where it should be, but I obviously have extra nutrients as evidenced by the algae.
Nitrate - undetectable (using API test)
Alkalinity - Between 8 and 9 (using API test)
Calcium - 420 (using Salifert test)
Magnesium - 1480 (using Salifert test)

Salinity - 1.026 (using Hanna checker and Refractometer)
Temp - 78.2 to 78.7 degrees

Equipment
Protein Skimmer
Algae Scrubber - Seems to be growing algae fine with me harvesting the algae once per week. I'm using the CW-100 external scrubber which is rated to up to 200 gallons... maybe it's too small and I need to get a larger scrubber?
2 EcoTech XR30 Lights - these are on the standard SPS light schedule, so lights are on a little less than 8 hours.
UV Sterilizer - though I don't think this would be impacting this algae problem - using it mainly to treat any protazoa floating in the tank.

What I've done to date, other than just pull out the algae is the following:
1st tried Flux Rx (4000mg to treat 200g) I followed the directions on the package where I turned off skimmer and scrubber for a number of days. This did nothing to the algae.
2nd tried MicroBacter 7 with the intent that this would help with any excess phosphate or nitrate. This did nothing to the algae.
3rd tried Waste Away, following the directions. This did nothing to the algae.

This leads me to believe that I might be feeding too much - let me know what you think from the posted video (I couldn't get the whole video posted because of space constraints).

Right now, the fish I'm feeding in the tank are:
1 Purple Tang
1 Sailfin Tang
1 Hippo Tang
1 Whitetail Kole Tang
1 Midas Blenny
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Diamond Goby
1 Watchman Goby
3 Wrasse
2 Clown Fish

Let me know if any more detail is needed or any other thoughts.

Much appreciated!

Spare time · Aug 6, 2022

Have you tried an urchin or two?

I don't think you have elevated phosphate. The number your checker shows should be accurate. You might have decent input and the algae is preventing accumulation, but algae is and should almost never be limited by nitrogen and phosphate in a reef tank (since that is what we are growing inside corals). I think you should definitely try some urchins. I would try that and scrubbing some off (followed by siphoning it out) while you are at it.

blaxsun · Aug 6, 2022

First, I watched the video and I don't think you're necessarily overfeeding (especially if nitrates are hovering around zero). At least in relation to what I feed the fish in my 160-gallon display (42 fish). The lawnmower blenny is probably hard-pressed to make a dent in your current algae crop (although he's most likely not suffering in the least!) Second, short of an algaecide I don't think there are any commercial products that will deal with this - short of removing the worst of the affected rocks and thoroughly scrubbing.

I agree with @Spare time - a few urchins (I like tuxedos myself) may help to make an impact such that the lawnmower blenny may eventually be able to assist a lot more.

sfin52 · Aug 6, 2022

If you have room a foxface will destroy that stuff.

KStatefan · Aug 6, 2022

blaxsun said:
I agree with @Spare time - a few urchins (I like tuxedos myself) may help to make an impact such that the lawnmower blenny may eventually be able to assist a lot more.

How many would you recommend?

blaxsun · Aug 6, 2022

KStatefan said:
How many would you recommend?

4. I'd get 2 if you opt for the Foxface.

ninjamyst · Aug 6, 2022

sfin52 said:
If you have room a foxface will destroy that stuff.

Maybe maybe not. My foxface won't touch algae on rocks =(

KStatefan · Aug 6, 2022

blaxsun said:
4. I'd get 2 if you opt for the Foxface.

Not the OP just was wondering how many you can use for future reference.

blaxsun · Aug 6, 2022

KStatefan said:
Not the OP just was wondering how many you can use for future reference.

As many as you like. I've had up to 4 in much smaller tanks. As long as they have a readily available food source, you're good to go with as many as will thrive.

sfin52 · Aug 6, 2022

ninjamyst said:
Maybe maybe not. My foxface won't touch algae on rocks =(

Are you feeding a lot of nori?

Nathaniellund17 · Aug 6, 2022

Thanks for asking about nori. I usually feed a quarter a sheet of green and purple nori (see pic). I have cut that down to just one quarter sheet per day, but didn’t think this would impact the algae too much. Should I rethink this?

sfin52 · Aug 6, 2022

Nathaniellund17 said:
Thanks for asking about nori. I usually feed a quarter a sheet of green and purple nori (see pic). I have cut that down to just one quarter sheet per day, but didn’t think this would impact the algae too much. Should I rethink this?

Cut back so the fish will graze of the turf. They don't have to work for the nori they have to work for the turf.

njreefkeeper · Aug 6, 2022

I’ve had this exact turf algae. Nothing eats it. Not an urchin, not a foxface, not a sea hare, no amount of snails or any other fish or clean up crew.

I was dosing Brightwell’s mbclean but only when I added Brightwell Razor did it turn white and disappear in less than 10 days. Caveat; I lost a few acropora in the process. I’m not convinced the Razor caused this, but rather whatever was in the turf algae that was released. If I ever get it again I’d probably go the safer route and daily dose mbClean until it’s gone because Razor works well...too well for me to deem it safe for all corals.

ninjamyst · Aug 6, 2022

njreefkeeper said:
I’ve had this exact turf algae. Nothing eats it. Not an urchin, not a foxface, not a sea hare, no amount of snails or any other fish or clean up crew.

I was dosing Brightwell’s mbclean but only when I added Brightwell Razor did it turn white and disappear in less than 10 days. Caveat; I lost a few acropora in the process. I’m not convinced the Razor caused this, but rather whatever was in the turf algae that was released. If I ever get it again I’d probably go the safer route and daily dose mbClean until it’s gone because Razor works well...too well for me to deem it safe for all corals.

Bright well razor may have lowered nitrate and phosphate too fast, leading to acro RTN. So yes, razor most likely caused the acropora dying

Nathaniellund17 · Aug 19, 2022

Wanted to send out an update to this post. Over the last few weeks I've talked with a number of other people at LFS, and most seemed to agree that no amount of clean up crew would fix this problem. I've added a lot of clean up crew over the past few months, mainly snails and crabs. I didn't want to add many other such as fox face or urchins if they cleaned it up and then I'd have to return to LFS.

I decided to give the Brightwell Razor and Clean a try. I followed the directions exactly as they said, adding clean in the morning and Razor in the afternoon. I used the same dosage according to my tank size as was described in the directions. After researching I was concerned about the impact it would have on coral.

However, as I watched my tank throughout the week, I didn't see any noticeable stress to the coral. My tank is in my home office, so I do get to watch it throughout the day. I replaced my filter socks once per day, as they certainly got clogged up fast. With that, I am very pleased with the results. I checked phosphates last night, and they were at .06, which I was pleased with. I'm thinking the changing of the socks was main important part to that as that was collecting most of the dead algae.

I've added a few pictures to show what it looked like the first day of treatment down to the 7th day.