Algae or fungi on rocks in tank.

Question
o.k.  i have not kept fish for to long and i have been going off of wher the fish stores tell me about what to put in to my tank.  i sure multi-purpose aquarium water conditioner and bio-=clean tout usage (organic waste digester.) oh and also a live bacteria stuff.  now here it is.  i have electric blues.  and i have in the tank some pores rocks (2) and there is a dark brown-black algae or fungi on the rocks.  my fish seem fine and happy.   i have a friend that is a science teacher  and said they can and will eat that.  i just need to know if that is true or wether i have a prob on my hans.
thanks for your time.
ina

Answer
Hi Ian,
 Algae is perfectly fine in a fish tank.  And yes, the fish will eat it.  I clean the algae off the front glass of my tanks but that is only so I can see the fish.  They don't mind the algae at all.  I generally leave the algae on the sides and back of the tank.  Too often people try to create sterile fish tanks and fish don't do well in that kind of environment. Natural fish environments all have tons of algae in them.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>