Hey Steve
Green is what a
want , All herbivore Cichlids have evolved In a A way and have A complex set of muscles that allows the upper and lower pharyngeal bones to be used as a second set of jaws for processing food e.g. Eat algae of rocks.
Green water will be my friend as it will absorb Excess phosphates and nitrate, Not that it will matter because I water change 50% once a week..And it only gets 2 hours of sun during sunrise. Sun Spectrum and radiation stimulates and promote good colour in the fish and to be honest I don't really care about the clarity of the water, biologically safe water with excellent water parameters is what I want: Look at the Amazon, the water is "dirty" full of leaves and all sorts yet supports a diverse selection of fish, due to having biologically safe water. E.g. no ammonia, 0 Nitrite, <10 ppm Nitrate.
In short, algae is more beneficial in my case but if I had a planted tank or Koi pond...I would kill all the algae.
Did I mention I have a 18W UV on my 3ft....Overkill, but they were going cheap.
Skip to 2:17 to see what a mean:
http://www.youtube.c...feature=relatedAdded 15, 4cm Electric yellows today, Fascinating the watch them school around and do Laps of the pond.