"Simon O'Keeffe" wrote in message
...

It come back to conditions. The conditions in the algae grow area are
preferd by algae so it grows there, there is also a lack of competition.
So when the main tank is grazed the nutrients end up in the algae filter
instead of back in the main tank.
Every tank with LR has hair algae spores, almost every surface in your
tank will have hair algae on it already. If your tank is healthy and
your grazers are keeping up you'll never see any hair algae on your
rocks, but this does not mean it's not there. My Algae filter strips the
nutrients from the water, in such an efficient manner that there is not
enough nutrients left to grow a visible amount pf algae in the main
tank. Lighting times spectrum and intensity are your weapons, and if
used correctly the hair algae is your best friend in the tank, I can't
believe experienced reefers are still scared of hair algae.
If you have a decent algae filter there is no way that the hair algae
could over take the main tank as there are just too few nutrients left,
for decent growth.
In one of my 4x2x2 tanks I run a 1000w MH (14k corallights) and there is
only a single hermit in the tank for grazing, there is very little
visible algae in the tank, and yet I still pull heaps out of the ATS
every fortnight. The other 4x2x2 I run 2 x 400w MH and this tank has
only a collector urchin for grazing. There is no visible algae in this
tank, only really strong coraline growth.
Also GHA is not a macro algae, micro- algae covers algae with no
vascular system AFAIK.
Most of the varietys are single cells but strands of cells are also in
this group.
Learn to use algae and dont be afraid of it, once you can grow it where
you want life is just too easy.
Well over 5 years later and I'm still very happy with my decision to go
with micro algae.
I'll never run a tank without some kind of micro algae filter.

Simon

Yeap, this should be the way how it work. Using natural way to remove
nutrient. Experience Reefer should not be scared of algae but know how to
use it to reefer advantage.

CapFusion,....