Red Algae Non Planted Tank

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Alexp08

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I have a 35gal cichlid tnak that is starting to be over taken by algae, I always had some brown algae that id remove from the glass about once a month but now i have red algae everywhere. How do i take care of this? It is a non planted tank with tufa rocks in it.
 
What do i do to get rid of it?
 
Algae is unavoidable in non-planted tanks, generally speaking.  The light and nutrients will be used by algae in the absence of higher plants.  The more nutrients the more algae.  Water changes as mentioned by bluesword will help, along with a good vacuum into the substrate.
 
Byron.
 
I do weekly 20% water changes and do vacuum the substrate. The algae on the walls, yes. But as mentioned it is a cichlid tank so i have about 10 tufa rocks, when it attaches to that i cant scrub it off. ive never had red algae before so this is kind of new to me.  
 
Can you post any photos?  I'm interested to know which red algae.  From your comments I'm thinking it may be a form of brush algae.  This is very common, and you cannot avoid it.  When it attaches to rock and wood, I find it natural and attractive.
 
Byron.
 

 

 
Its not that bad on the rocks right now because i flipped the rock over in the last water change.  
 
The fuzz on the fake plant leaves is brush algae.  The different angle of the photo showing the rock is a bit hard to see (for me anyway) but we can assume it is the same algae.
 
So, back to your initial question, you cannot really get rid of this as it is going to appear so long as you have nutrients (from the fish, from ther source water) and light.  However, increasing your water change volume to half the tank will help, but not to the extent you may prefer.  Reducing the light period can also help.  You don't have live plants to fuss over with light, so you could have the tank light on a timer and only have it on when you are normally around to view the fish.
 
On the light, a timer so this is consistent is best for the fish.  Fish, like all animals, have a circadian rhythm that is governed by light.  We humans mainly perceive light with our eyes, though to some degree our cells pick it up too; in fish this is much higher, through their cells and their eyes.  And like us, their internal physiological processes are managed by this light.  So it is important not to be turning the tank light on and off, but maintain a consistent period of light and dark every 24 hours.  And because fish do not have eyelids to adjust the light, It takes about half an hour or slightly longer for fish to adjust each time the light comes on or goes off, so the more this occurs, the more stress will be inflicted on the fish.
 
Any idea what the nitrates are?  I would expect them to be high, by which I mean higher than say 20 ppm.  I will assume the GH is high (for the African rift lake fish) and the pH too.  The harder water ironically helps algae, but here you can't do anything about that.
 
Byron.
 
I meant to post this in a different thread-sorry. I deleted it and put it where it belongs
 

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