This is one of those things that, when you see it/read it, you say, "Of course!" I can't help but think my own feeding habits of my reef tanks have in the past been on a schedule, a sort of holdover from my days of fresh water tank keeping, something ingrained in me by my parents and older brothers with phrases like, "did you feed the fish today?" back when I was 5.
Wondering how many of us were suprised to see the nitrates to go down during the period of observation with that "over feeding" in the methods section. I guess the nitrates are being assimilated into the worms, pods, and microfauna biomass. There must be a tipping point though, right? I mean, once the large closed sysstem maxes out it's ability to support any additional life, the balance will show a gradual return to nutrient excess, no? If not, then let's place bets on who will write the article on hair algae control by feeding more!
Technically, it is about as easy as a Kalk reactor, and with people spending money on Deltec skimmers and CO2 injection systems, this wouldn't be that much of an initial outlay...except that your previous budget of "two packs of Formula 2, two packs of nori from the asian grocer" will turn into big money within the first two hours of continuous feeding. Not to mention every 15 minutes for 5 seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days/year.
Mike