Are We Too Clean.

[BigC]

Are we keeping our tanks too clean.....
Recently I have been laid up with back problems (we'll not get into that again)
I have let my usual religious maintenance regime lapse for two whole weeks.
No skimmer cleaned, no phosphate remover or carbon changed, no glass cleaned just got a family member to top up every now and then with RO.
The front pane is pretty mucky, a bit of algae here and there.
The corals are going great guns especially my zoanthids. The SPS have suffered a little which was to be expected.
So I beg the question do we keep or strive to keep our tanks to pristine.
Just a thought.

BigC

 

[TigerIssey]

I think sometimes we do.

However if your tank was not as pristine in the first place, would it still be doing so well now??

What I am trying to say I suppose is that by keeping our tanks as pristine as possible, are we allowing ourselves that margin for error in case the worst does happen??

 

[BigC]

Good point T

BigC

 

[Trod]

Yes, I think sometimes we do go a little over the top, probably more for the aesthetics than anything else.
So maybe the little lapse is quite a good thing

 

[ben1987]

some LPS and softies like a 'dirtier' tank though dont they. I guess it would effect different things in different ways

 

[garybuk]

Ohh this is the same with me ,with my knee cant do much, left my tank ,green all over the frount but corals are blooming!!!

 

[SkiFletch]

Depends what you mean about "clean". If you mean having no algae, then yes I agree, we sometimes keep our tanks too clean. For all it's poor aesthetics, algae does have a place in keeping nutrients low. And we can all agree that low nutrients IS the type of cleanliness we're trying to achieve

 

[Buddyboy67]

Ben was rite..lots of softies and lps prefer a nutrient level to thrive...for example xenia can be used in a sump, when lit, to absorb and remove nitrate from a system.......Wont admit to how few water changes my tank gets, nano not so neglected, and i have to thin out my xenia at least once a month !!!!
Rics split and show off best colour when tank is ignored as well.
Agree with SkiFletch too....I intentionally leave one side of my tank covered in algae..good grazing and works as an in tank algae scrubber for nutrient absorbtion

 

[ben1987]

goniapora also tend to do better in tanks like this, although not so great in tanks full stop