Red Algae?

I have a few red spots in and around the tank in various spots, I think it's algae but I am not sure, is this a bad thing or a good thing, if bad how do I make an issue of the past?

Can you describe the red spots a little better or even post a pic of what you're seeing. It sounds like it may be Cyano which is bad.
If you research Cyano - it's caused by a combination of 3 things:

-Too Little Flow (at least in the areas where the cyano was developing)
-Excess Nutrients (over feeding / feeding the wrong foods)
-Lighting Spectrum Shift (ie. old bulbs)

here are a few pics of the problem



sorry about the aquality of the pics they are form my blackberry curve the black dots are a problem with the camera not the tank, the only other thing I can think of they may be the problem is invert food, I have sinking pellets mixed in with the food that I do feed my tank which consists of:

Dried bloodworms
dried earthworms
sinking pellets
dried brine shrimp
flake food like 50% flake and small amounts of the others i mix everything into a large container then I distribute the large container into 3 smaller containers for each tank.

I feed in the morning and at night

the bulbs are T5 18,000k and a actinic light where where brand new in April.

I empy the skimmer cup o nasty each day as it's usually 80% full by the time I get home from work

the lights are on 8:15am to 8:15pm at night I have 6 13,000MCD 170 degree blue LED's that come on at night and are gorgeous

funny: my wife thought my cleaner shrimp died today but he just shed his exo skeleton like skin.

Not 100% sure due to the picture quality but it certainly looks like cyanobacteria (red slime). Main causes are excess nutrients, high nitrates, wrong light spectrum, dead spots/poor flow.
Lighting does not seem to be the problem based on the info you provided. Are your nitrates up (>10)? If so increase water change frequency. Also try re-directing powerheads for a better water flow pattern. Cyano hates rapid water movement. Slow down on the feeding as well. Let the inverts work for their supper! They won't starve, honest
A little more information can be found in the Identify Me section of this forum.

Matt

I agree with Matt on the steps you should take to start getting rid of the Cyanobacteria. You'll be amazed at how fast you can end up with a thick red slime covering large area's of your tanks substrate and rocks if you dont take action now.

I guess I will try replying again, page keeps dying on me. I put the K3 in the middle back of the tank and a smaller PH on the right side of the tank closer to the bottom of the tank. Also I will go down to 1 feeding per day and do another water change this weekend. I also want to add 1 more cleaner shrimp and a lemon peel angel this weekend. PH is 8.5, nitrates at .05 ammonia is at .05 SG level is at 1.020, just added some more RO water to top the tank off. It seems as thou with the changes I made last night, some of the cyano it is gone already...is this possible.

Yes it's possible and it's also possible that it will be back again in force tomorrow. Keep an eye on it and do you're water change as planned.
Why is you're SG level at 1.020? That is really on the low side.

That ammonia level is something to worry about and steps should be taken to correct it asap. I would rather run nitrate levels >50ppm in my tank than have a detectable ammonia level. Something is decaying in your tank (probably excess food) to cause this ammonia issue (or you have a faulty test kit).
Consider expediting those water changes, and when you do feed tank inhabitants feed only 1/2 of what you think you should feed in a serving until that ammonia disappears.