Red Velvet like alge

[Rickesco]

My live rocks and coral is being over run by thos red stuff. Can someone tell me what I can do to remove it?
appreciate any assistance. My tank was first setup back in March of this year.

PH is 7.8
Ammonia is .25
Nitrite is 0
Nitrates is 20
Temp is 78
55 gal tank with a mud filter

[masterqaz]

i'd do something about that ammonia. what your experiencing is most likely cyano. whats your light cycle like? how often do you feed. has anything died reacently, do you run a skimmer at all?

[bertoni]

The ammonia number might be due to a bad test kit. I'd get that double-checked, if possible.

The red film is like cyanobacteria, as noted, and is often caused by excessive feeding or a lack of nutrient export. Growing and harvesting a macroalga is one approach to starving out cyanobacteria. An iron-based phosphate sponge is another idea. This article covers a lot of territory, although it is written in terms of a nitrate problem:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

Improving water circulation also might help.

[Rickesco]

Thanks guys,
I run the lights from 5:30 am to 8:00pm. I do have a skimmer and feed once per day. No nothing has died in a long long time.

I'm taking some water to my local guy and have it checked so I can compare it with my readings.
Thanks for the article I'll read it when I get back.

Thanks again....

[Lizz85]

You may want to try cutting back feedings to every other day and diminishing your light cycle to around 10 hours to 12 hours. It may help. Do as much manual removal as possible. Like said, increasing flow may help alot too, as cyanobacteria love dead spots.

[leapfroggg]

flow and macro algea is the best way i always have this problem in my seahorse tank do mostly to flow i belive