Weird red algae??

[Rycko_427]

Hi everyone,

So I've been out of town a couple weeks and my mom took care of my tank for me and when I came back the tank was pretty much infested with this weird red algae that I hadn't seen before. I'm not sure if its some kind of like hair algae or not because its over large areas and it looks kinda smooth/silky. Also some of my softies had died off I'm guessing it has something to do with the water parameters but I havnt been able to test it yet, I'll test it later tonight. Does anyone know what it is, why its showing up and what I can do to get rid of it?? Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

 

[Rothany]

Pictures?

 

[Darthv247]

if its slimy its cyanobacteria. but i have seen some redish colored hairy algae that herbivores wont eat too. idk what it is or if its a tank raised mutation lol. If it covered most of the tank in that short of a timeframe im 99% sure its cyanobacteria.

 

[Peppie]

+1 on the cyno

 

[Somethings Fishy]

i agree with cyno without seeing any pictures...

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

+1 on the cyno again.

But yeah, pictures are invaluable. Google image it if you have to...

 

[donrando]

whatever it is, do a large water change soon, if you had softies die, then something in our water is way off and needs to be fixed, or everything else will soon meet its own demise

 

[Fishnewbie]

I have similar red algae too.

 

[Krish]

Get us some pics if you can. On a side note, if it is cyno bacteria try increasing the flow to the affected areas and see if it disappears from there. If it does, that's usually a clear sign that you are dealing with cyno.