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[Dale]

A comment over on R.C. sparked my interest and I thought it might make for a good discussion here.

A lot of times reef keepers advocate the aggressive removal of nutrients from the water column - to prevent nitrate spikes and nuisance algae blooms. This is generally true for SPS set ups but what about those soft coral / general filter feeder oriented reefs?

I know that with my own tank, I am regularly dosing the water column with various combinations of mysis, cyclopeeze, rotifers and phytoplankton in order to feed various polyps, GSP's, mushrooms, coco worms and feather dusters, pipe organs, toadstools etc... only to turn around and attempt to skim it all back out some hours later! So far, my experience has been a fairly constant elevation in nitrate levels with very modest nuisance algae - kept in check by hermits snails and a lawn mower blenny worth his weight in gold. For nutrient conversion/export I combine skimming, carbon, P.W.C.'s, various macro algae crops and a R.D.S.B. (the jury's still out on that one though).

What experiences have other soft coral / general filter feeder oriented reef keepers had? What are your feeding strategies and how do you cope with your tanks accumulated nutrient load? Is this just salt water bulimia in disguise and/or should one simply chuck in the towel and go for the anorexic hard coral look???

Inquiring minds want to know.
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juggalos