I think there's a difference from a mature tank, and a new tank.
Most of the "NSW" (ULNS) systems that are old and mature are stable. This could be from years of food breaking down in the sand, it could be from heavy fish loads, or specifically from large fish (Pound for Pound, some fish poop more than others). But what I've noticed time and time again, are new people to the hobby having the SAME problems, over, and over again.
Browning and Paling: Lots of people say this is due to too many nutrients, that's a *half* truth -- A high nutrient tank with moderate lighting may show brown corals. While the same tank with high lighting will allow corals to flourish. There is a line where Lighting and Nutrients cross, going too far one ways means brown corals -- too far the other means bleached corals. I've seen this over and over, and while it may be anecdotal, a whole plethora of people had encountered the same results.
So looking ahead, you see more people trying to run these ultra clean tanks and they begin running into the following issues:
- Stunted Growth
-
Paling
- Loss of PE
- STN/RTN (more Slow Tissue Necrosis in my observations/experience)
The corals all seem to start withering away --
Now lets jump back to that "Mature tanks are better for SPS" thing -- Firstly, though not definable or testable to our knowledge, I will heartily agree there
is something different about a mature tank, versus a new tank. It's true. It's been noted all over. The same parameters, and growth in one tank will not garner the same result in another brand new tank, even with the same gear. No, I do not have any studies for this in controlled environments. Just read waaay too many posts over the years to not see this (anecdotal) trend. So many people subscribe to this theory, yet they disappear when an argument comes out.
Dry rock is bad for SPS tanks -- Again, I disagree. I have personally met *many* people who've set up brand new tanks and had zero issues with dry rock doing performing any curses or hexes on our tanks. No research has been done on this. I've just met way too many people that have
never had an issue with dry rock to believe this.
Nitrates and Phosphates make Algae -- To me, this is a half truth. YES, I am really going to argue that n03 and p04 do not make algae
alone. There are a lot of processes going on in our tanks. Having kept what many would consider "high nutrients" (no3 @25, po4 @0.08+) for an SPS tank for the last 2 years, I can tell you never have my nutrients caused algae issue. But like
@2Wheelsonly, my tank had an algae issue when I forced my tank down to ULNS standards.
This is what allowed algae to take over. Contrary to popular beliefs, getting my po4 up actually seemed to stop growth -- Why, is a total mystery. But I am not the only person to report this. I have found that some people have higher nutrients with ZERO issue of algae, others have massive algae issues with even a hint of nutrients. This is the difference in systems. Each one may be unique, and some tanks may handle nutrients well while others will not.
This is why I stress that blindly telling people "you need ultra low nutrients" is bad form. I had zero issues until i went ULNS, which allowed more simple algae species to take over. When I quit ULNS, the problems disappeared. There have been far too many extremely knowledgeable people who've had zero issues with higher nutrients to completely discredit them. And as I've stated, I do not think keeping lower nutrients is wrong. I just believe it's Improper in new aquariums, and bad advice for new aquarists.
What are all these processes you're talking about? -- Frankly, we don't know the vast majority of them. But here's an interesting tidbit for you:
VAST UNKNOWN: A liter of seawater collected near the Galapagos Islands contains at least 10 billion microbes and 100 billion viruses—the vast majority of which remain unidentified and uncharacterized.© ALEXIS ROSENFELD/SCIENCE SOURCE Link: An ocean of Viruses
Why do viruses matter? -- Because they all
do something. They don't just sit around, they have one purpose in life, and that is to replicate their DNA by injection into living cells. A few virus have been noted to infect algae DNA, causing the cell to replicate virus clones by way of DNA replication -- DNA replication is the basis of how all life works on our earth, Viruses attach to healthy cells, and inject their DNA into the host cell. The viral DNA cuts the DNA and replaces it with it's own strand of DNA -- The host cell then replicates the corrupted DNA, creating copies of the virus. The host cell eventually bursts, and the viral pathogens find their way to a new host. This is how all viral pathogens work, be it in nature with animals, plants, or our own bodies. In the ocean many viral pathogens naturally cull various types of algae -- That's right. Viruses are holding algae back growth.
Now whats my point here after that silly science lesson? That our tanks are probably pretty darn devoid of these algae eating pathogens. So in our tank, nutrients
can play a larger role. Of course as I stated, that is not a guarantee either. Simply a possability.
This is a never-ending conversation -- There are many other factors, many other concepts, many other idea's, and frankly not nearly enough time to do a single one of them justice.
I think in our day and age, with the knowledge and understanding that we have, we should not ever stick to finite solutions or methods. I personally stick with what I've seen be the most practical, and most expected outcomes.
Question everything. Think outside the box. Do things differently. Treat your reef like an experiment..
And for pete's sake, go out and buy a biology textbook instead of another "fish book".
