Algae is always present in a reef tank. Whether you have Diatoms, Red Algae, Green Hair Algae, or something else. ....
I don't have any "algae". Really. You can tell by looking at the pictures I posted on profile.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Algae is always present in a reef tank. Whether you have Diatoms, Red Algae, Green Hair Algae, or something else. ....
Anyones methods may not work in anyone else's tank. Some people feed dry foods and some fresh clams, some use NSW (as I do) and some use fake sea water. Some have 3-2" fish in a 300 gallon tank and some have 18 groupers fish in a nano. There are just to many variables not to mention (as this thread shows) That some people feel algae is a harbinger of doom. It is not.
Algae grows on every healthy reef in the sea and if you SCUBA dive you will see that.
Remote Island in the South Pacific
When the herbivores disappear from the reef for whatever cause, algae takes over.
Normally there are millions of surgeonfish cruising over a reef which cut the algae very short, then urchins, snails, chitens etc, eat the rest.
Most of the oceans contain no fish as it is to dark and deep. We see a lot of fish because we only can see relatively shallow water but the ocean is 7 miles deep in some places.
Hawaii, rocks covered in urchins so no algae.
Urchins and a CUC won't work well in a home tank because they are not eliminating the algae, just recycling the nutrients back in the water so it grows again. A means to eliminate the nutrients like an algae scrubber is key.
So we want algae but we also want to limit it so it doesn't cover the corals. If a tank has absolutely no algae, it isn't a healthy reef. There is algae in the tissues of the corals which is needed by the corals to live.
I have quite a bit of algae in my tank which I view as a sign or health and which allows me to keep and spawn many types of fish because in that algae is the beginning of the food chain and is loaded with pods and all sorts of tiny worms and creatures which is the reason I can keep many dragonettes, pipefish and other small fish for their normal lifespan and have them spawn and never buy pods.