What is unsightly algae?

Sorry for this rookie question.
What is unsightly algae?

 

Unsightly just means that it makes your tank look bad. Most algae is just that...makes your tank look bad but doesn't really hurt anything.

 

Good question!

Algae, like weeds are different things to different people. Some folks freak out when they see the first sign that they have algae, and others grow it on objects in special tanks then place them in their tanks to feed their algae eaters.......

Yesterday I transferred a rock from one tank where I have no algae eaters to a tank with 4 otoes and 2 bristlenose plecoes, just to watch them have a feast! I know a little algae isn't going to "overrun" my tank, because every tank except my fry tank has at least three different kinds of cleanup critters to help keep things in balance. I have MTS 'snails', cory cats, at least one kind of pleco, and otoes. Even if you get quite a start of algae, with this approach soon you will have to be "feeding" them something besides what naturally grows in the tank.

Fish in the Frozen North

 

unsightly is when it looks like kermit the frog exploded in the tank. .. really, it's just the point where you look at the algae and know you have GOT to do something about it.

 

I like some of it...I like when it grows on my ordaments it makes them look more natural

 

Thanks a lot!