The most successful tanks always have the same thing in common. Good random flow, good quality light of the correct spectrum , and lots of nutrient input with enough nutrient removal to keep the system balanced. On the last point is where everyone argues, even in this thread. The best tanks, Zeo, berlin, aquaforest, triton, red sea, simple method all have one thing in common. They have food available to the coral when it needs it. You can put in just enough, have little removal methods and low levels of residuals, you can pour in a ton of food, have huge removal methods and have low levels of residual nutrients , something in between, even zeovit is the same, you strip everything out then add back in all the necessary nutrients. This is how the ocean really works. It is NOT low nutrient on a reef as some state, it IS low residual nutrient. In other words, the organisms will take advantage of every scrap of food to survive and grow. If there is a nutrient excess anywhere then something will come along and exploit it leaving "low" residual nutrients in the end. Everything in the ocean creates food for something else as well as eats other things to survive. In our little glass boxes we do not have all that life so we do our best. All that matters is that the corals have all the food/nutrients/elements they need when they need them. Each tank is different in nutrients, micro fauna, planktonic life, bacterial life, etc.. That's why the argument, because no two tanks are the same. You have to read YOUR biotope and respond to it's needs. That is what experience gives you, the knowledge to respond , or not to respond sometimes, just let things settle out. There is no one method that is "right". They are ALL "right" so long as your animals thrive. My personal choice is high nutrient import with high export so at the end of the day I have little measurable "waste" in the water column. But that's just my choice.
