Red turf algae

M

melvis

Well-Known Member
Hi all

Been battling this for a while now and lately it seems to be on a growth spurt - so new long handled scissors are about to get to work!

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Could this have something to do with my lights being on their way out? They're being changed later this afternoon anyway but good to know if that's the reason, as I'll be more prepared next time and have them ready to swap.

My LFS has been trying to get me some Mexican Turbo's but no sign of them lately. I know they're not farmed during July-September in Mexico due to the heat, so I'm hoping some find their way soon.

I can't add a Yellow Tang as already at fish limit and I wouldn't want to put one in a RSM C130.

Any of you more knowledgeable folk got any ideas as I really don't want an indoor water garden!!!! :(

Cheers
 
Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
I don't know anything about this, but it looks like it sucks. Are you running GFO? Would that help?
 
M

melvis

Well-Known Member
It's a b$%£$*d Pat! Had it on one piece of LR and didn't realise how bad it was and in the last two weeks or so, it's spread like wild fire through the tank. The scissors don't work as they just help it spread around the tank and pulling it off just moves LR - this stuff is strong!

I changed my T5 PCs yesterday (after going 'gardening' to manually remove a load of it) and the difference was surprising. The tank looks a lot brighter and more blue tbh. I'm beginning to think I should have pulled the trigger on those LEDs lol, as that might have stopped the RTA thriving under the red spectrum of the fading PCs.

Been looking into DIY algae scrubbers or a refugium/sump as that may help my battle.
 
StevesLEDs

StevesLEDs

RS Sponsor
Melvis, I would say there is a 99% probability this has to do with the lighting, and 1% chance it is phosphates. Given that the algae didn't exactly bloom overnight suggests it is lighting. Micro algae as well as macro algae absolutely thrive on the red wavelengths of light. When T5's or almost any other type of light is on its way out (consistently around the 9 month mark), they output less blue light, and much more red light.

Correct again about using LEDs. LEDs don't have the color shift, nor do they wear out (in less than 15 or so years or more). We also can tailor the spectrum to exclude a bulk amount of the red light so nuisance algae is a problem of the past. We only include a relatively small amount of spectrum in case there is beneficial algae such as shaving brush, or very shallow water corals that can photosynthesize the red light (very rare species though).

I'm not trying to throw a sales pitch, but in all 7 of my personal aquariums that have LEDs, I only had an algae problem twice. First time was when I was trying a new experimental LED combination that used "Ocean Coral White" tristars - that's a 3-LED star that uses a red, a green and a royal blue LED. Once I removed the red LEDs, the algae was stagnate for a few days and began to die off - and the lawnmower blenny went to town on it. Second time was because my phosphates shot up because I had a large fish die and start to rot in the tank. I though he was just always hiding :( RIP beloved clown trigger.

Hope that helps!
Jeff
 
Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
StevesLEDs said:
Correct again about using LEDs. LEDs don't have the color shift, nor do they wear out (in less than 15 or so years or more). We also can tailor the spectrum to exclude a bulk amount of the red light so nuisance algae is a problem of the past. We only include a relatively small amount of spectrum in case there is beneficial algae such as shaving brush, or very shallow water corals that can photosynthesize the red light (very rare species though).
Click to expand...

Are you saying the LEDs I currently have are like this (standard 14k super full spectrum) or that you CAN do it upon request.

I don't really care what the answer is. Just curious.
 
StevesLEDs

StevesLEDs

RS Sponsor
If you have chosen one of the standard or custom LED combinations that Steve's offers, then it has been specifically designed to reduce the red output to prevent algae blooms.

On a side note : We have some customers than have "deep water" ocean aquariums that keep specific species of corals (particularly public aquariums, jellyfish tanks, etc), and if that is the case, we can produce light that has virtually no red light, and instead we use the amber LEDs. This makes it darn near impossible for nuisance algae to grow regardless of water quality - but it doesn't really make the coral look that great.

The 14,000K Super Full Spectrum is optimal for reducing algae growth. I'm just saying there are LED combinations available that reduce it further, but those come at the cost of sacrificing how good corals naturally look.

Hope that helps explain it a little better?

Jeff
 
Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
StevesLEDs said:
If you have chosen one of the standard or custom LED combinations that Steve's offers, then it has been specifically designed to reduce the red output to prevent algae blooms.

On a side note : We have some customers than have "deep water" ocean aquariums that keep specific species of corals (particularly public aquariums, jellyfish tanks, etc), and if that is the case, we can produce light that has virtually no red light, and instead we use the amber LEDs. This makes it darn near impossible for nuisance algae to grow regardless of water quality - but it doesn't really make the coral look that great.

The 14,000K Super Full Spectrum is optimal for reducing algae growth. I'm just saying there are LED combinations available that reduce it further, but those come at the cost of sacrificing how good corals naturally look.

Hope that helps explain it a little better?

Jeff
Click to expand...

Yep. That makes sense. Thanks!
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Which side of London are you on mate? If you are close to Essex you could try H2O in Brentwood - got my single big turbo snail there and he is like a lawnmower. Nice little shop with some great corals..... Shame it is so far for me.

Best of luck with the red peril!
 
M

melvis

Well-Known Member
Thanks for such a detailed response StevesLEDs. I did think it was the T5s that were causing the rapid growth and thankfully my LFS managed to get some in as they were getting lots of requests for them. My tank started in September so they're about at the 9 month mark (as they weren't on fully during the cycling process). I think if I don't upgrade to LEDs (which I still want to do), then I'd swap them out at about the 8 month mark.

Really interesting information and certainly what I'll refer back to when choosing my LEDs (probably the same set up as Pat's tbh). Just need to work out whether a tank upgrade is feasible now or whether I go for LEDs and a bigger tank later lol.

Thanks again.

I'm in north London Dave so not a million miles away from Brentwood. I've got about 6 LFS near me, but have only got livestock from my regular one as I don't trust the others anymore. They've gone down hill since I used to work there when I was a teenager and in fact, some don't look like they've updated things in the last 20 odd years lol. Will check them out I think, cheers mate.
 
Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
melvis said:
Thanks for such a detailed response StevesLEDs. I did think it was the T5s that were causing the rapid growth and thankfully my LFS managed to get some in as they were getting lots of requests for them. My tank started in September so they're about at the 9 month mark (as they weren't on fully during the cycling process). I think if I don't upgrade to LEDs (which I still want to do), then I'd swap them out at about the 8 month mark.

Really interesting information and certainly what I'll refer back to when choosing my LEDs (probably the same set up as Pat's tbh). Just need to work out whether a tank upgrade is feasible now or whether I go for LEDs and a bigger tank later lol.

Thanks again.

I'm in north London Dave so not a million miles away from Brentwood. I've got about 6 LFS near me, but have only got livestock from my regular one as I don't trust the others anymore. They've gone down hill since I used to work there when I was a teenager and in fact, some don't look like they've updated things in the last 20 odd years lol. Will check them out I think, cheers mate.
Click to expand...

I am not sure about this at all, but I think I remember reading somewhere that the first set of supplied T5s needs replaced faster than new ones you just bought. So, it makes sense to replace them a little earlier than you would your later sets.

I say "not sure" because whoever told me that didn't give me a reason for why that would be and I can't think of one. So, really this makes no sense to me. But, I was told it by someone who sounded like they knew what they were talking about. Could be nonsense though.

Regardless, my point is it is possible that you were having problems at 9 months with this first set because it's the first set, but your later ones could go longer.
 
M

melvis

Well-Known Member
Good to know Pat, cheers. I don't mind changing them at 8 months, they only cost me about £50 so not the end of world if they go a month sooner.
 
M

melvis

Well-Known Member
My mate at the LFS sent me an SMS today to say he'd managed to get me some Mexican Turbo's to help with this RTA problem. Hoping to collect on Saturday but wondered how many I should add to my C130? I know this is a 'how long is a piece of string' type question, but given their reputation for eating all algae in sight, would 3-4 be too many? Cheers
 
DaveR11

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
melvis said:
My mate at the LFS sent me an SMS today to say he'd managed to get me some Mexican Turbo's to help with this RTA problem. Hoping to collect on Saturday but wondered how many I should add to my C130? I know this is a 'how long is a piece of string' type question, but given their reputation for eating all algae in sight, would 3-4 be too many? Cheers
Click to expand...

My (very limited) experience has been that my single Mexican turbo had quite an impact in my 650 though never got on top of my green algae. The two tangs I have recently added have seen to that now though. My guess would be see what 1 or 2 do but I expect people with much more experience than me will be able to give you better advice.
 
reefer gladness

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
FWIW, I've battled a couple varieties of red turf algae over the years and have never positively ID'd the source of the problem but I'll share a few observations.

First, I've found nothing that will eat this stuff. Urchin's don't touch it and neither do the snails, you can try a Mexican turbo but I wouldn't expect it to eat red turf. Manual removal is the only thing that has worked for me.

Second, it seems to love high-flow areas but that could just be my tank.

Third, I've almost always run LED's and had the same issue when I was running a basic 10k 50/50 split of royal blues and cool whites as I do now with a more 'full-spectrum' selection of LED's tuned to around 20-22k. I had the same level of red turf algae with both setups.

Fourth, test your magnesium levels. My unproven theory is this stuff loves water with low magnesium. I dose kalkwasser in my system and maintaining magnesium is a challenge. But at one point when I was battling bryopsis I elevated magnesium levels way about 1500ppm and noticed the red turf algae disappeared also.
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
These types of turf algae thrive in nutrient rich tank water and once they get a foot hold they can be difficulty to eradicate. With water quality improvement you can get this under control.

Agree with above, high mg levels have been used by many to get rid of all sorts of unwanted algae.
 
M

melvis

Well-Known Member
Thanks refer gladness and Oxy. I suspect the high flow my MP10 is chucking around the C130 isn't helping, that and the ongoing struggle I'm having getting my Mag up. I'll try the Turbo's as I've heard good things, will report back if they do anything.

Cheers
 
M

melvis

Well-Known Member
Thanks Glenn.

I think I'll go with 2-3 for now and try and get my mag levels a bit more stable. They are up on what they were, but I've got a little way to go before I'm truly happy. Not that I want to be chasing numbers either.
 
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