How clean is “clean enough”?

[Formulator]

We were just joking with a fellow reefer over on the algae ID forums about their “problem” that really isn’t much to be overly concerned about and that many of us have small patches of algae that ebb and flow, and we just put up with it as part of a healthy ecosystem. On the other side of the coin are the Reef Magazine Cover Photo-Ready tanks with rock work so clean you could eat off of. At the end of a day, I think it is really personal preference what level of algae we are willing to tolerate.

So how clean is “clean enough” for your tank? This isn’t what you wish your tank was, but what you have come to accept as good reef/life balance…

 

[KrisReef]

Algae is part of the ecosystem of a healthy reef. I prefer when the only algae visible is the zooxanthellae inside the coral but that’s not usually the case.

 

[Formulator]

Algae is part of the ecosystem of a healthy reef. I prefer when the only algae visible is the zooxanthellae inside the coral but that’s not usually the case.

I guess we just need to fill our tanks with more coral to make that happen!