FOWLR's Algae

Guys, want to run something by you.....I understand that a FOWLR is a fish only with live rock tank (no corals) and that the live rock is used to help with the filtration because of all the beneficial bacteria that grows in the rock. Now, I have seen a lot of pics of FOWLR tanks and there is really pretty algae growing (and not out of control) on the rock (rock only some how).....my question is I hear that people want to keep algae out of their tanks so they use phosphate removers, so what keeps the "good" algae alive and the bad algae out and what is the good and what is the bad algae.

Thanks for helping a newb!

 

Even though we strive to have readings of 0 on N03 and P04 and our test kits tell us that is the case they are still present but undetectable by hobby grade tests. The way I understand it is that "0" is the balance we shoot for but without some nutrient in the system some corals and most or all macro's would die. It's when we overload the nutrients thru overfeeding, poor maintenance/water quality etc. that there is enough to be picked up by our kits, the good stuff can't use it all and nuisance algae blooms.

 

I think I started to ramble and my question was lost int he ramblings....lol

Basically what is "good" and "pretty" algae that I want growing on my live rock and what is "bad" algae that I want to keep out of my tank?

 

Good algae would be Coraline. It can be pink purple green and maybe a few other colors not sure. Its a calcium based algae and is somewhat hard to the touch. Bad algae would be to many to list but cyano and bryopsis would be a few I've dealt with so far. Check out this link for a good list of bad algae. http://www.3reef.com/forums/algae/ultimate-nuisance-algae-thread-58657.html

 

Very cool......thanks for the link Ultraner.