Hey RickP - welcome to FTF!
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let it cycle a week before I added fish
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How did you cycle your tank? I ask because it sounds like there might be more to cycling than you think. You can find a better explaination on cycling by clicking
HERE. For the record....
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Went to the LFS (not petco,petsmart,etc) these guys mainly deal in fish. they said I was ready to add some fish
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...the reason your LFS told you that your water was good is probably due to the fact that no fish have been there to pollute it. Also....
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Added 3 black mollies, 3 mickey mouse tetras, and three tiger barbs.
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....you probably shouldn't add this many fish at one time; especially in a new tank, but even in established tanks.
Do you have any test kits? If so, what do you have and what are the results?
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All the fish are fine and although the tiger barbs are fin nippers, there have been no conflicts
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This
might become more noticable as your tigers mature. You can usually curb this behavior by keeping 6 or more of these fish in the tank together.
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I recently noticed red spots on a ceramic decoration and a fake plant. It resembles rust spots. Do I have red algae?
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This is most likely diatoms, not algae. They typically show up when there are a semi-specific set of conditions, but may be more common in new tanks. They are harmless to your fish but unsightly. Testing you water, and knowing the results can help you figure out what might be allowing diatoms to thrive.
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can i just get a siamese algae eater
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IMHO, it is not always good to be stocking an aquarium based upon fish which will help you address problems - unless you really want to have that fish/invert in the first place. The problem is that not all algae eaters eat every type of algae (or diatoms and cyanobacteria) and many of them starve if we don't suppliment their diet.
If you do want to get an SAE, I am pretty sure that there is another fish that looks nearly the same...the flying fox. To add to that confusion, many people will call an SAE a Siameese Flying Fox. I believe that the flying fox is not an algae eater, or not nearly as an effective algae eater.
I think the Otocinclus catfish may eat diatoms. They are small fish and should be kept in a group of three or more.
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If its very bad to have red algae I would like to nip it in the bud before it gets out of control, if it hasn't already.
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I wouldn't say that having this algae is "really bad" exactly, and you can have a large impact on it in quite a few ways besides adding an algae eater. Don't panic now though, I am willing to bet that you will be back to discuss some other issues pretty soon. Your situation is amazingly common though and I have a strong feeling that your LFS has misled you to some degree.
Again, welcome to the forum!
) They told me that I'm where I should be at with ammonia at 0 and nitrite at 1ppm. (fish have been in tank for 3 weeks) Although I have tested the water myself, I like taking it there once a week to get their results. (i think theirs is more precise.) 
