Hi there, first time poster 
I dove into reefing last year for the first time with an EVO 13.5. I've been through a couple of mini-crashes and have battled what seems to be the 3 main pests - green hair algae, Cyano, and Dinos. I've upgraded my display to a 75G and added a frag tank, and each have a small Zebrasoma Tang (one yellow, one purple). I can't believe how good a job these Tangs do at keeping green hair algae at bay. I battled it for months in my EVO, and came to the conclusion that it would be my job, like FOREVER, to yank the rocks out once a month and scrub them down. All I could do was slow its growth once it took hold. After upgrading I put the rocks from my EVO in my frag tank and watched the Purple Tang eat the shorter hair algae in like a day, then the (limited) stuff that was like an inch long, he just tore it off for fun it seemed. Just awesome.
Anyway, it made me think that I'll never go back to nanos and life without at least one Tang. It seems to me like what was once your worst enemy (Green Hair Algae) has now become free, natural fish food - and that keeping a nano is a form of self punishment. I do think nano reefs are kinda cool still though. My question is, I suppose, **is it realistic to keep an algae-free tank long term (3-5 years say) without Tangs and without having to resort to manual algae removal?**
I dove into reefing last year for the first time with an EVO 13.5. I've been through a couple of mini-crashes and have battled what seems to be the 3 main pests - green hair algae, Cyano, and Dinos. I've upgraded my display to a 75G and added a frag tank, and each have a small Zebrasoma Tang (one yellow, one purple). I can't believe how good a job these Tangs do at keeping green hair algae at bay. I battled it for months in my EVO, and came to the conclusion that it would be my job, like FOREVER, to yank the rocks out once a month and scrub them down. All I could do was slow its growth once it took hold. After upgrading I put the rocks from my EVO in my frag tank and watched the Purple Tang eat the shorter hair algae in like a day, then the (limited) stuff that was like an inch long, he just tore it off for fun it seemed. Just awesome.Anyway, it made me think that I'll never go back to nanos and life without at least one Tang. It seems to me like what was once your worst enemy (Green Hair Algae) has now become free, natural fish food - and that keeping a nano is a form of self punishment. I do think nano reefs are kinda cool still though. My question is, I suppose, **is it realistic to keep an algae-free tank long term (3-5 years say) without Tangs and without having to resort to manual algae removal?**
