Ways You control Nuisance Algae

[JRF]

Hi,
I feel that most Marine aquarium keepers have some sort of trouble with nuisance algae at some point in time. Yet the battle is won ( if ever really won for some )by the methodology in which it is controlled. So I was hoping that many would answer this post by listing the ways in which he/she controlls nuisance algae. Which ways didn't work, did work, and for how long, etc.
Thanks for your time!
JRF

 

[gazpep]

I think 2poor2reef has summed it up beautifully. You have to settle upon a combination that suits your particular set up.

As far as a choice of herbevores is concerned, I have found that the collector Urchin, Tripneustes gratilla, is a very fine consumer of algae from rocks and aquarium glass. I have one and it's the only herbevore in my 120 gal reef set up.

 

[2poor2reef]

Well, since keeping spores out of your system is practically impossible there are basically two ways to control nusiance algae: starve it or eat it. To starve it most folks either limit their nutrient import or use a macroalgae or other competitor to compete with it and then harvest the competitor to take the nutrients out of the system. Many things will eat microalgae such as snails, crabs, some urchins and herbivorous fish. Each time a small portion of the nutrients contained in the algae are incorporated into animal flesh or expended as energy and your filtration gets another shot at the remainder. That's the extent of my experience anyway.