What do I do with my red hair algae

[clownfishowner225]

Started a couple of days ago and this is the only spot in my tank with it. I didn’t want to scrap it off because I was worried it would spread faster if I did. What is the best way to deal with this? I have ordered a couple of Mexican turbo snails and saw that I should get what I can off of the long hair like parts and put the snails directly on the algae. What do I do??

 

[lapin]

Wipe it off with a strong paper towel. It should stick to the towel pretty well.

 

[chaostactics]

It's really hard to tell from the pic but that might be red slime algae/red "cyano".

 

[flyingscampi]

What is your nitrate/phosphate?

I had a plague of that red slime recently (with the long 'streamers') in my six month old nano, and concluded from other threads that is was a) cyano and b) was caused by nitrate being 0.

I stopped changing water and started dosing Brightwell's NeoNitro for a couple of weeks until nitrate stays between 5 - 10. Phosphate has stayed between 0.04 and 0.06.

Only a few patches of red gunge (cyano?) now appear in areas with direct light.

 

[anthonygf]

Maybe just part of the ugly stage. Make yourself a tool to suck this stuff out into a bucket and replace the water removed with fresh salt water. I have been doing this a love this tool. Got the idea from a member here. Stainless steel straw 1/4" inside a 1/2" hose, use a rubber band for seal. Just keep this up until your tank matures, don't add any chemicals yet. You can also use a smaller diameter straw if you prefer.

 

[anthonygf]

Also post your water parameters as suggested. Will help us help you.

 

[Biddence]

+1 on cyano, it’s a imbalance. Usually higher phosphate and low or zero nitrates are the cause.