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#26
01/14/2006, 11:40 PM
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reg algae
Finally I think Ive found an ID on this stuff, does this look like the same algae?
   Ive tried to find an ID on this stuff for a while now, Its terrible I know and feel for anyone else that is experienceing the same. I have found it very hard to remove, forget about syphoning, this stuff is very difficult to remove. Please keep the replies comming as they are a great help. You may be interested to know that Im in Australia so its just not perculilar to the nothern hemisphere. Paul. |
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#28
01/15/2006, 02:00 AM
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Update on this nasty Red Cotton Algae
I have had about 22 Mexican Turbo snails in the tank all week. I must say the snails really eat the algae and have managed to clean off a few rocks. I have ordered about 70 more snails..... Hopefully combined with all lights off this will make a difference.
Some things worth mentioning: 1. I have not harvested any macro algae from my fuge in a while. Looks like the macro algae has made some progress in choking out the bad Red Algae..... but too soon to say since the fuge still contains a considerable amount of Red Algae. Lets see how things go with not harvesting any macro algae for a while. 2. When the Red Algae started to become an issue I removed about 70 pounds of Live Rock from my tank and placed into my QT tank that is plumbed into the main system. The rock has been laying around in the QT for about 3 months with no exposure to light. I must say there is no sign of the Red Beast Algae anywhere in the QT tank. Also, I have a 50 gallon fuge full of LR plumed into my system. There is also no light in that fuge and the Red Algae is not in the 50 gallon fuge also. Too soon to say but it looks like the suggestions of "Rock Cooking" have some credibility here. The point is within a 700+ gallon system the Red Algae is only found in parts of my system that have a light source. I don't know about spores and whether spores can survive in no light situations...... Lets see how things progress from here..... Still keeping lights off except for 2 hours a day..... Corals seem unaffected at this time..... I'll udate next week with some pictures once I get some more snails in and have had a chance to hand pick more of this stuff out of my tank..... It's my son's birthday this weekend and did not have a chance to pick this out by hand this week..... Please keep siggestions and feedback coming..... Looks like this stuff can takeover a tank with no water parameter issues..... By the way, WebSquid Welcome to RC..... The pictures you have posted look similar to the Algae growing in my tank..... I also tried to siphom this stuff out but was not successful... It's too thick and clogs the siphon.... However, it comes out in large chunks rubbing a fishnet against the Rocks..... I fill up a 5 gallon bucket using this approach...... |
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#29
01/16/2006, 07:47 PM
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I have recently battled this red algea in my 75 reef and believe I have won. What is your PH this algea seems to thrive on low PH. My tank was quite neglected for some time when this red stuff started taking over. No water changes for a long period of time and little to no supplements. Finaly I regained interest and one day started harvesting this stuff by hand. Not a fun task for it is very slimy and breaks apart easily. I got a tooth brush and brushed every rock I could and siphoned what was left floating around. I started doing water changes, one big one to start and then 5gal. a week for the past month. My froesh water top offs were done with the addition of Kent Supper buffer almost daily until my PH returned to around 8.2. It has been 1 month and I do not even have a trace nor can you tell my tank was full of this red stuff. I removed on the initial harvest a 5 gal pail of this red stuff and some other calurpas I would say the pail was about 50/50. Unbelievable! I never new of the stuff till I had it and then I saw this post.So I say check your PH and Buff away!Good luck!
P.S. Any one have an answer for Valonia? |
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#30
01/17/2006, 03:10 PM
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I really appreciate this post. I had a small amount of this from a frag I got and thought it looked interesting and really didn't do anything about it.
Mine went away but by no special effort on my part. I do have urchins which seem busy. I will be vigilant in the future to watch for it. |
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#31
01/17/2006, 03:43 PM
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Quote:
That (and some vigilance) should be a rock-solid way to keep it from showing itself again. 
__________________
aka - Chevy, Scott, DM, etc... Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family. |
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#32
01/18/2006, 05:58 AM
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Oh the dreaded asparagopsis taxiformis!
 I have been on a vigilant all out war against this algae for over a year.My little tuxedo that I had for over a year suddenly died recently,and I have yet to replace him. This algae smells bad too. I have a couple mexican turbos,but maybe I should add more.This stuff is horrible..I regularly siphon it out..and when I see it floating in the tank I catch it with a brine shrimp net.
__________________
Excess on occasion is exhilirating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. ~W. Somerset Maugham |
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#36
01/23/2006, 10:35 PM
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update on the Red Nightmare
Waldomas:
After a few weeks with 100 Mexican Turbo Snails in the tank I have to say there has been a significant improvement with the Red Algae situation. I would say that at least 40% of the Algae has been eliminated in a very short period of time. (about 2 weeks) Also, the Mexican Turbos eat right down to the rock and corraline Algae is starting to thrive again on the cleaned portions of rock.... What a difference......  I have attached some pictures as an update..... The improvement is only from the snails eating the Red Algae and I still need to get in and pick some off by hand..... Also, the Urchins I ordered should arrive this week..... I am very surprised at the success of these snails... I did not think they would be this effective in taking care of the problem.... Here are the pics....  The next pic is same area as originally posted.... Notice the difference?   Check out the snail poop in the next pic..... Gotta go somewhere..... 
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#38
01/23/2006, 10:39 PM
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Wow!! Thats great to hear! I'll have to get about 50-75 of those as well. My only concern is that my tank averages 80-81 degrees and i hear they like cooler temps. What temp does youre tank run?
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#41
01/23/2006, 11:52 PM
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I picked them up from my LFS.... Eagle Reefs located in Hillsborough Mew Jersey...... Paid about $2.50 each for them....
arconom's earlier post on this thread provides an on-line place (e Tropicals) you can order these guys.... I hesitate ordering livestock by mail order in the winter because of the risk of freezing before they arrive..... When you add up overnight shipping along with the risk of freezing I prefer going to my LFS.... Good Luck and let us know how you make out..... Hard to believe such an impossible problem algae can be controlled with snails.... Or is it too soon tyo make any conclusions..... 
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#43
01/25/2006, 02:18 AM
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i found this thread on a search to fight this stuff. welcome me to the "i found red hair algae and i'm freaked club" haha. i have just a few tufts here and there, but after seeing some horror stories here on RC, i'm glad i took a more proactive approach.
does this stuff feed on phosphates? my lfs guy said it does, and a phosphate remover would take care of it. any thoughts? glad i found this thread. TIA
__________________
your friendly neighborhood casual reefer |
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#44
01/25/2006, 07:49 AM
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In my case a phosphate spunge did not help. I have a 250 gallon refugium with an 8 inch DSB that is fully packed with macro algae. My phosphates always check ZERO.
A lot of folks suggested to me that Phosphate had to be the problem since the Algae is growing. The rational is the Red Algae is keeping Phosphates at zero. However, I ran a Phosphate spunge in a Fluidized bed filter for several months with no results. Phosban and Rowaphos are very expensive and in my case did not do anything to help. As I mentioned I have a large refugium and my water parameters are perfect. I think this stuff thrives on light and if you do not have anything to eat the algae it will take over your tank. I have to admit when I upgraded from my 90 gallon to the new 400 gallon display tank I did not add any additional "Cleaner Crew" other than what was originally in the old 90 gallon. Also, I am running 6 400W HQI lights. Before the problem I ran the lights about 12 hours per day. (36 inch tall tank). Thats too much light and this stuff just took off. As I mentioned before I removed about 100 pounds of LR from my display that was over-run with this algae and placed in a holding tank that is totally dark. Within 2 months the Red Algae dissapeared. But the snails are really making a difference.... I don't know the situation with your tank. If you do not have a refugium and/or DSB you may have a phosphate issue that is contributing to your problem. If you do have a phosphate problem I would suggest adding a refugium instead of playing around with a Phosphate sponge. The reason is that the sponge needs to be cleaned weekly. If you don't clean the sponge you will still have excess nutrients to deal with.... Good Luck and keep us posted on this nightmare..... Too much light and not enough critters to eat this stuff seemed to be my issue.... |
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#45
01/25/2006, 09:16 AM
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I agree with mmgm. Mt water always tests great and the stuff still grows out of control. Must be the light. I cutting back my halides today from 10 hours to 7 hours. BTW, i have a refugium...55 on a 180 display.
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#46
01/27/2006, 12:24 AM
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The LFS finally got the Mexican Tubos in!!! I put in 40 today and it looks as though they are already going to town!
 They seem more active at nite. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly suprized in the morning. I'm feeling optomistic again.
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#48
01/27/2006, 08:01 AM
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Quote:
Thanks to all you guys on RC that made this suggestion..... I am starting to think about stocking the tank again.......
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#49
01/27/2006, 04:27 PM
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For those still fighting it the "longspine urchin" in my tank finally got off the coralline encrusted side-glass and started eating this stuff, but he's not nearly fast enough.
The rock I could save easily was transferred into my new 29g tank and the rest was scrubbed with a toothbrush and is spending a couple months in solitary confinement (a tub with pump and heater, no lights). So I won by losing.
__________________
aka - Chevy, Scott, DM, etc... Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family. |
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#50
01/28/2006, 08:48 AM
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Update: Unbeliveble Results 80% Gone
Guys:
I had to post this update. To my amazement 80% of the Red Nightmare is gone. I never thought these snails would be so effective to get rid of this problem Algae. Amazing results.... see for yourself.....Now my tank is really empty.... but I am motivated again to move on with the hobby and complete stocking my tank..... I really almost threw in the towel..... Hope this thread helps others with this problem..... It does not need to be a long term problem..... Updates to follow..... These are the same rocks pictured when I started the thread a few weeks ago....   and now my empty tank...... 
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