Turf Algae? Control

I have a couple photo's below and hopefully they will help. I've been fighting this one for a couple months now, but its getting worse. I'm on top of everything from A to Z, but I can't seem to gain control of this algae. So I'm assuming that I'm missing something.

I'm considering the following livestock to help get this under control: a Sea Hare, Sailfin Algae Blenny, Fuzzy Chiton?

I have some Green Bubble Algae, but the emerald crabs are withering this down to nothing.

Green Turf? Algae
Soft to the touch, spreading around the tank in patches. Now finding it on coral bases.

Tank Parameters:
pH 8.1-8.4
Salinity 1.025
Temp 78-78.5 F
Cal 420
Alk 9dKh
Mag 1280
Phos, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia all 0

Livestock:
2 Onyx Clowns
1 Blue Hippo Tang
1 Pink Spotted Watchman Goby
1 Green Chromis

I run Carbon and Phosban (changed religiously), Chaeto (trimmed monthly) in the fuge that has a small amount of Red Slime (but it is not in the DT).

CuC includes: Nassarius, Blue Legged Hermits, Cerith snails, Nerite snails, Emerald Crabs x2.

I had the same thing going on in my tank. I kept doing water changes and it finally went away. I also made sure the flow was a little better. I tested everything fine as well, but I think the algae was keeping my levels down by consuming it.

Looks a lot like algae I had issues with in my tank a while ago. I shortened my light-cycle time by an hour and that almost completely cleared it up.

How long do you run your lights, and what type of lighting do you use?

Are you sure it turf algae and not cyanobacteria? Hard to tell from the pics. How much GFO do you use and how often do you change it?

If it is turf algae it can be tough to get ride of. I would start with 50% more GFO. You can shorten the light cycle and see what happens or even no lights for 2 or 3 days. Corals will be just fine for a few days with no light and a lot of people report a growth spurt after doing this.

Doesn't bumping the magnesium up to about 1500 do wonders. Never tried it, but I've heard of people doing that.

I run T5's for lighting, about 9 months old now, but this started developing a few months ago. Light cycle is 8 hours total.

I do a 25% WC religiously on every other Wednesday (that's one of my days off).

GFO - Recommended is 1.3 cups. I have always run 2-2.25 cups, and have changed it on a monthly basis. I know it isn't even exhausted at the 1 month mark, but it's cheap from BRS, and I won't let it get to/near the point of saturation.

Chaeto is trimmed monthly due to growth.

Raising Mag was a thought, as this can be done to get rid of Bryopsis (levels of 1500-1700), but I'm unsure of what it would do for this algae.

I'm having bad thoughts/visions of having to tear this tank down and start again...

Originally Posted by spinycheek

Doesn't bumping the magnesium up to about 1500 do wonders. Never tried it, but I've heard of people doing that.

That works for Bryopsis but cant tell you if it would work here

Originally Posted by Daimyo68

I run T5's for lighting, about 9 months old now, but this started developing a few months ago. Light cycle is 8 hours total.

I do a 25% WC religiously on every other Wednesday (that's one of my days off).

GFO - Recommended is 1.3 cups. I have always run 2-2.25 cups, and have changed it on a monthly basis. I know it isn't even exhausted at the 1 month mark, but it's cheap from BRS, and I won't let it get to/near the point of saturation.

Chaeto is trimmed monthly due to growth.

Raising Mag was a thought, as this can be done to get rid of Bryopsis (levels of 1500-1700), but I'm unsure of what it would do for this algae.

I'm having bad thoughts/visions of having to tear this tank down and start again...

I dont see anything wrong with what you are doing right now. You listed a few animals earlier but IMO there is nothing better for algae then this urchin. Lytechinus variegatus

Also, you do know that you can regenerate GFO right? Hate to see you throwing it out

RODI right? have you checked the TDS if so just to rule that out? sounds like you got everything covered though. Out of my three tangs, the hippo does the least grazing, and the pointier mouthed types ( yellow and sailfin tang) are non-stop algae eaters. and i've tried several diff cuc employees. I can say that the seahares don't seem to live long, i've tried two, one died after eating like a pig for a month, the other ate a 3'' frag of monti digi overnite........ the best of my crew now are mexican turbo snails, and an algae blenny (sailfin) .

You could always contact John at reefcleaners.org. He has solutions for every type of algae posted on his site.

I'm gonna give John a call or stop by his place, he's right down the road here. I did go through his Algae ID page and the closest I came up with was Turf. When I call him, I'll see if I can bring a sample by for him to check.

I was talking with a close friend tonight at dinner that owns a LFS. I showed him the pics and right away he said high nutrients, inverts inverts inverts, especially Mexican Turbo's. So I will be bringing some home tomorrow after work when I stop by his place. He had it breakout in one of his systems and found that his employee was over-feeding. Added the Mexican Turbo's and they cleared it out. Only issue I have with this is that I feed every other day, and so little that my girlfriend is amazed that my fish are fat and healthy (and she's a fish nazi! I always consult her on any fish I am interested in... and then she begins to spew at the mouth with too much data for me to process in a month).

Regenerating GFO - Never tried it, it seems somewhat involved. I'm watching the new PO4x4 media that recently came out. They sell their own regenerating chemical. Once I see the 1+ year reviews, I might consider that (Unless of course doing the BRS GFO has become easier).
RO/DI - Yes, all filters changed every 6 months, with the exception of the DI if needed. TDS is 0
Algae Blenny (Sailfin) - I definitely have this guy on the burner, just need to consult the girlfriend

The turbos won't let you down and the blenny..... mine has tons of personality, and its fun to try and find it. they camouflage so well you can be staring at it for a minute and not realize until it blinks or moves!