All I know about algae control is in this post. Some of it is likely wrong.
Algae needs three major things to thrive:
Nitrogen (nitrates)
Phosphorus (phosphates)
Light
Control your nitrates by reducing bio-load or feeding (amonia sources) so that your system can process them naturally and by water changes.
Phosphates can be introduced in source water (tap water sometimes has elevated phosphate levels), in foods and meds (some, but not all preparations contain phosphates). They can be controlled by water changes (or water-source changes) and products like phosban or rowaphos, which adsorb or bind the phosphates into unusable forms.
Light is necessary for coral growth, so you don't want to control (limit) that unless things get wildly out of control.
Beneficial algae, like chaeto, is a very hardy competitor for these nutrients and can draw down the levels for unwanted varieties, and then the nitrates can be directly exported by pruning the stuff out.
I spend a bit of time every week with a small siphon with a rigid tip digging out unwanted algae. My wife and I are the best members of our aquarium's cleaning crew. The rest of the critters are comparitively lazy. I do this just to keep ahead of any potential problems.
Snails, some fish (mostly for largish setups) and as mentioned, sea hares can use the algae as food, but food leads to amonia, so unless you've got some auxiliary controls... lather, rinse, repeat.
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