New tank, starting to see clumps of red algae, having a hard time finding info

[DarthRevan]

Hey everyone, I just got a 40 breeder set up and it is my first tank. I set it up this Saturday 8/14 and I’m starting to see some red clumps of algae in my Java moss. 
 

This tank is not fully cycled, it’s a long story but I’m basically doing a fish in cycle by necessity (I’ll try to link my other post on that if I can figure it out).

 

I started with a few plants and now have a ton. I added some easy green but I’m not sure that was the right thing to do right away, I was just worried about losing plants. Now I'm starting to see these red clumps all over my Java moss directly under the lights. I have a Finnex Stingray 2.0 and run it on a timer for 10 hours a day (I have scarlet temple and Monte Carlo so I wanted as much light as possible). My main concern is I’ve never seen or heard of this type of algae, and I'm hoping it’s not toxic. My otos either haven’t noticed it yet or won’t eat it. From my Google research I found it may be a form of black beard algae (Rhy something species) but I just want to make sure it’s not going to be a huge problem. Once my tank is established and cycled I’m getting some amano shrimp in addition to the otos so hopefully they can keep it in check. 
 

[Guppysnail]

I have poor eyesight so if I’m way off base I apologize. I feed red flakes and if a piece gets missed and sits a day it looks like that. 

[DarthRevan]

On 8/18/2021 at 6:59 PM, Guppysnail said:

I have poor eyesight so if I’m way off base I apologize. I feed red flakes and if a piece gets missed and sits a day it looks like that. 

I thought that at first too but the only flakes I feed are Xtreme Community and the red flakes I’ve seen sitting at the bottom were washed out. But it’s possible there’s like a clearer algae that attached itself to the flakes that got caught in the moss making it look like the whole blob is an algae mass lol. I may also just be overreacting because so far everything that can go wrong has gone wrong with this setup 😂

[DarthRevan]

So this is definitely some kind of red algae clump. I was trimming some plants and I tried getting it off thinking it was some krill flakes but it’s solidly attached to the the plants. I cut my light from 10 to 8 hours a day and I’m gonna hold off on dosing Easy Green unless my plants really start looking terrible. I’m still not sure what it is but based on Google I’m pretty sure it’s a red variant of black beard/brush algae. 
 

So far my otos and platies won’t touch it, so after my tank is cycled and stable I’m gonna get some amano shrimp. 
 

 

[Mmiller2001]

Drop light duration to 8 hours. What is your ammonia testing?

[DarthRevan]

On 8/20/2021 at 12:05 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Drop light duration to 8 hours. What is your ammonia testing?

Yep I updated my light schedule yesterday! Ammonia is still sitting between .25 and .5 as of this morning, 0 nitrite, nitrates are around 10ppm naturally in our tap water here. It’s slowly creeping towards .5ppm ammonia based on the last few days, I just set the tank up Saturday and have been dosing Prime. I also dosed Easy Green a few days ago which I will not be doing again until it’s cycled lol

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/20/2021 at 1:38 PM, DarthRevan said:

Yep I updated my light schedule yesterday! Ammonia is still sitting between .25 and .5 as of this morning, 0 nitrite, nitrates are around 10ppm naturally in our tap water here. It’s slowly creeping towards .5ppm ammonia based on the last few days, I just set the tank up Saturday and have been dosing Prime. I also dosed Easy Green a few days ago which I will not be doing again until it’s cycled lol

I would dose easy green, just use at 1/4 dose. 

What is your substrate?

[Bev C]

@DarthRevan

Hi i went through allot of the same problem as you i had red and green algae i had to lower my light time to 6 -7 hours  a day a break.in the middle 3 hours day 3-4hours at night  and  plus i have A Finnex 24/7/ ALC planted light .. i had to reduce light intensity allot   i had to reduce mine down 30-40 % for low light plants  i  using 30 percent used 30 red 30 white  i am not sure of of the Finnex Stinray but along lowering your time i would lower the intensity to keep lowering it till you see a difference  .. Java moss and anubias and java fern hates me still  but that helped me allot 

 

here is my algae problem   thread  ( link below)  my last post is what worked for me   best wishes 

https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/7031-plants-have-algae/?tab=comments#comment-127005

Edited August 21, 2021 by Bev C

[DarthRevan]

On 8/20/2021 at 12:55 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I would dose easy green, just use at 1/4 dose. 

What is your substrate?

I’ll try that! 
 

Substrate is a 1:1:1 mix of sand, gravel, and Fluval Stratum capped with more sand (Caribsea Super Naturals). And in the middle I have a kind of river splitting up both sides with just some regular Petco brand coarse sand. 

On 8/21/2021 at 4:08 PM, Bev C said:

@DarthRevan

Hi i went through allot of the same problem as you i had red and green algae i had to lower my light time to 6 -7 hours  a day a break.in the middle 3 hours day 3-4hours at night  and  plus i have A Finnex 24/7/ ALC planted light .. i had to reduce light intensity allot   i had to reduce mine down 30-40 % for low light plants  i  using 30 percent used 30 red 30 white  i am not sure of of the Finnex Stinray but along lowering your time i would lower the intensity to keep lowering it till you see a difference  .. Java moss and anubias and java fern hates me still  but that helped me allot 

 

here is my algae problem   thread  ( link below)  my last post is what worked for me   best wishes 

https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/7031-plants-have-algae/?tab=comments#comment-127005

I will check out the thread, thanks! I don’t have control over intensity with a Stingray 2.0 unfortunately so I just have to limit the time the light is on.  

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/21/2021 at 6:32 PM, DarthRevan said:

Substrate is a 1:1:1 mix of sand, gravel, and Fluval Stratum capped with more sand (Caribsea Super Naturals). And in the middle I have a kind of river splitting up both sides with just some regular Petco brand coarse sand

I would definitely dose, keep it lean for a bit and gradually increase if need be. Plants still need the P, K and Micros.