I personally feel that it is biological balance that has to be achieved. If you start with dead rock and let it sit for years without introducing beneficial bacteria strains through dosing or real live rock I think you are going to have issues While the tank naturally builds up those "good" bacteria populations through fish/invert/coral introductions.
As a personal anecdote, in 2010 I started a 150 gallon tank with all bleached and acid bathed dead rock. Started dosing MB7 from day one and was putting fish in in less than a month, and SPS in in three months. That tank thrived. I had one hair algae outbreak that lasted about a month and resolved pretty much on its own, but SPS not only survived, they grew significantly with in the first few months on starting the tank.
when I started up my current tank I once again used all dead rock that had been cured in saltwater for 6+ months before the tank started. Other than having some starter bacteria thrown at them I didn't consistently dose bacteria. For over a year I couldn't keep SPS alive and was fighting random algae issues constantly. Finally started dosing MB7 and corals that had been STNing started to recover within weeks. I still have some algae in the tank, but never seems to get out of control.
I am not saying that just dosing a bacteria product like MB7, zeo, or probido is a magic pill, Just that it has worked for me. I do also dose a bit of vodka, but for my system volume it is very little.
So I have ordered another pump online. However, it will not be here until the 7th.
