Red Algae

I have been fighting this stuff for a long time.  Now it is growing on one side of the tank only????  It looks like I have a line exactly down the middle.  One side stays clean and the other side slimes up as soon as the lights go on and goes away when I turn the lights off.  This is only a 40 gallon tank so I don't understand how conditions can be different on one side.  Any ideas?

 

I have t5 over the entire length of the tank. The flow is probably a bit different. The overflow is on the side where the algae grows and the return is on the other but I have the flow directed towards the "bad" side. Otherwise I have a Koralia on each side directed towards each other. I am in the process of putting together a new fuge and can move the flow from that to the algae side to see if that improves anything. It is larger so will have more flow from it.

 

I set this up on March 1st.  All the rock came from the same place but looking at it I put most of the really coraline covered rock on one side and the less colorful on the side that has algae (I just moved more of the colored stuff to the bad side.).  I can't seem to keep my hands out of the tank so that could be a problem I will have to deal with.  I can't post pics but can email some if you want to pm me the address.  I am running a phosban reactor and skimmer constantly and a uv sporadically (dont want to kill off good bacteria).  I have halides but my few corals quit opening so went back to the t5's and they are all open and happy again.

 

No bubbles.  On the sand it looks rust colored but it is red whre it clings to the rock.

 

i had this problem for the longest time and water changes really beat it for me. i would also scoop up as much as i could from the sand, and i woudl take a tooth brush to the slime on my rock and glass! Good luck! It claimed my GSP!!

 

I do not have a TDS meter.  Next on my list I guess.  I have to buy my RO at Hy-Vee.  Its the only game in town so whatever it is I have to live with it anyway.  I live in an apartment and they pay for water so can't really run my own.  Interesting to think about though.  I moved some of the rock around and changed the water flow some and it has helped a bit today.  Set up this larger fuge but can't change the pumps on it until I get a different hose for the prefilter so once that  done I will have even more flow through the system and maybe that will finally knock it out.