Not all algae is bad. The purple coralline algae is extremely beneficial to your tank in helping with the natural biological filtration process. However, most reefers consider green algae a nuisance and don’t want in their tank. So how do you get rid of Unwanted Green Algae? Unfortunately, there is no one simple answer as there are many different types of algae which cause many types of problems. Many types of algae react differently to different treatments, so there is no silver bullet for algae.
hair algae
Let’s look at some Green Hair Algae. Oh, that does not look nice. Here we see the algae is growing wildly on the live rock . We want it off? What do we do?
Algae is a crafty foe, so we must do all that we can to defeat it. Instead of doing one thing, we are going to do three. First, we are going to pull some of it off the live rock with our hands and a toothbrush. This does three things. First, it looks a little better right away, which makes us feel like we are doing something. Next, it cuts down the competition with the protein skimmer for the waste nutrients that it lives on. Third, it cuts down the reproduction of algae, as algae begets more algae.
Next, we are going to feed the fish and corals in the tank a little less. The Algae use the fish waste and decaying uneaten fish food as food for itself. So in this step we are looking to starve the algae, or at least not allow it the food to grow.
Hair algae is also photosynthetic, as light helps it grow. So we are going to cut back a little on the hours the lights are on in the tank.
Lettuce Nudibranch
Finally, “Release The Hounds”. This is the fun part as now you get to buy something. That is always how we like to fix things – just buy something to take care of it.
What should you buy? Inverts. Snails, crabs, shrimp. The Reef Aquarium DVD, A Set Up & Maintenance Guide has a whole section devoted to The Clean Up Crew, as some inverts we like much better than others. Here is a picture of a Lettuce Nudibranch. These guys love to eat algae and I have found will often graze on a large patch of hair algae.
These guys are Nerite Snails.
Nerite Snails
They eat all types of algae, but our experience show that they like the top of the tank . A few of them like to go very high so that they are even partially above the waterline .
Most dealers will put together cleaner packs – some Nerite Snail, some Nassarius Snail, a few Emerald Crabs, a few Hermit Crabs, and you have yourself a ready made aglea eating army. We just tried out Reef Scavengers.com and were happy with the quality, price and service. They also have a great deal with shipping: free with any order over $99.
Scarlet Reef Hermit
How do they do that? Well it is two day shipping, but as most of these inverts are not as delicate as fish, so they are fine for the longer trip.
Good luck if you have an algae problem. Remember, it took a long while for the algea to grow, and it will take a long time to get rid of it. Nothing good happens quickly in a fish tank. So if you want your algae to go away, keep working at it.
Posted by Reef Man 
Posted by Reef Man 