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[Chad]

My soft corals in my SPS barebottom have ceased to grow. Surely a testament to the effect of lacking nutrients.

[Rikko]

Back in the day when I worked in my first pet store, the fish "wiz" at the time didn't believe in water changes.. As a result, the solitary saltwater display tank had nitrates around 900ppm (I measured this after she had left, and had to dilute the water with tapwater to get a reading with the test kit).. Let me tell you, the mushrooms in there grew like stink.
I'd say they reproduced in a couple of months what mine at home have in 2 years - and my water is far from pristine...

The only thing I don't dig about a high nutrient tank is having to deal with nuisance algae.

[TheReefGeek]

The way to have a high nutrient tank that is algae-free is to run a refugium and grow the algae there, use a variety of macro algaes that are fast growing and they will out-compete algae in the display tank for the nutrients.

I use chaeto, bubble, halimeda, and there is a bit of hair in there. All the algae in my tank is gone, and if there are any patches my foxface and tang clean it up in no time. I feed them with algae from the fuge actually, because there is so little algae in my display.

[Ruth]

Originally Posted by TheReefGeek

All the algae in my tank is gone, and if there are any patches my foxface and tang clean it up in no time. I feed them with algae from the fuge actually, because there is so little algae in my display.

Then where are the pictures you keep saying you will post when your algae is gone - looks like it is!

[StirCrazy]

I think everyone is missing the point, it doesn't take a higher nutrient level in the water to grow softies, I have grown them at high rates of growth in very nutrient lacking water, it takes high light, good water quality, and food, just like any other coral.

Now there are two ways to get the food, 1 have a high level of nutrients in your water and fight with algae unless you can find the perfect level of nutrients that the softies can have just enuf but it isn't enuf for algae.

Or you can set up a nutrient free system with higher flow and aggressive skimming. Now this is the part where most people get confused, just having a skimmer doesn't cut this set up, you need to be able to severally over skim. the idea behind this one is that you feed your corals a lot and your skimmer can remove the un eaten food before it breaks down and turns into algae fuel. another part of this is water flow, you have to have enuf so that you have now dead spots in the tank, and that it will keep all the junk suspended so the skimmer can remove it, unfortunately this usually means having to have a bare bottom tank.

Almost all of us operate somewhere between these two ideals, therefor we have algae and other problems. I have been moving to-wards the latter set up for about two years now, increasing tank flow, removing the sand bed, increasing flow again, and finally building my new skimmer which should be able to handle a tank 10X bigger than whats it is going to be used on.

so in my mind anyone who says you need nutrient rich water for softies, or that they do better under lower lighting, either honestly doesn't know any better or doesn't want to spend the money to upgrade lighting/equipment

Steve

[TheReefGeek]

I still think a higher nutrient tank will grow softies faster. Yes you can get them to grow well by feeding lots, and skimming lots, but I think they would grow faster if you fed lots, and skimmed less.

I feed a LOT, but because of my refugium and really heavy skimming, the softies don't get a chance to feed all the time like they did when my tank crashed an there was lots of nutrients available.

[Reefer Rob]

Is it just my tank or doesn't high nutrient + low light = brown corals. My softies look much better under high light with nitrates near 0 than they did at 20 ppm. IMO softies grow like weeds anyway.

Rob

[Dale]

Ahhh, nuisance algae.

Probably the one thing I look for the most in my tank. I am currently working on a theory that, like FW, higher forms of flora and fauna will out compete the simpler forms of algae for nutrients but, that is probably just wishful thinking . My LMB really is my hero! (hey, Rory slipped his post in before me!)

I don't know if there is a thread about this on R.C. per se. The topic came up in a loopy thread debating the benefits of macro algae refugiums vs A.T.S.'s. In all the hubbub about 0 nitrate levels one poster chipped in that the inhabitants of his tank would be dead if that were the case - It got me laughing, and thinking.

Sometimes we speak in generalities with regards to "what is the best" yet so much of our hobby is based on specific circumstances dependent on livestock choices. Low nutrient load, high nutrient load, compact fluorescents, T-5's, halides etc...
I used to feel a little sheepish about my nutrient load (nitrates 20 - 40) around all the 0 nitrate talk until I understood the nature of my tank a little better - thus this thread. Hopefully others will also benefit and some folks can share their nutrient dosing/removal techniques.
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