[greenbean36191]

On a similar note. Compare what most popular media sources (including hobby reference books) claim about cleaner organisms like fish and shrimp to what the scientific literature says. They only eat a few types of parasites and there isn't much strong evidence that they provide any significant health benefit to the fish.
Here are just a few:
Losey, G.S. 1972. The Ecological Importance of Cleaning Symbiosis.
Copeia. 4: 820-833.

Bunkley-Williams, L. and E.H. Williams. 1998. Ability of Pederson Cleaner Shrimp To Remove Juveniles of the Parasitic Cymothoid Isopod, Anilocra Haemuli, From the Host. 8: 862-869.

Sikkel, P.C., C.A. Fuller, and W. Hunte. 2000. Habitat/sex differences in time at cleaning stations and ectoparasite loads in a Caribbean reef fish. MEPS. 193: 191-199.


You could do the same thing with effectiveness of UV sterilizers. People in the hobby swear by them, but the scientific literature is pretty much unanimous in the conclusion that they don't work on recirculating systems like ours.

Spotte, S. and Adams, G. 1981. Pathogen Reduction in Closed Aquaculture Systems by UV Radiation: Fact or Artifact? MEPS 6: 295-298.

Herald, E. S., Dempster, R. P, Hunt. M. 1970. Ultraviolet sterilization of aquarium water. In: Hayen, W. (ed.) Aquarium design criteria (Spec ed.), Drum and Croaker, U S Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. 57-71

Bullock. G. L.. Stuckey, H. M. 1977. Ultraviolet treatment of water for destruction of five gram-negative bacteria pathogenic to fishes. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 34: 1244-1249

Spotte, S., Buck, J. D. 1981. The efficacy of UV irradiation in the microbial disinfection of marine mammal water J. Wildl. Dis. 17: 11-16

Spanier, E. 1978. Preliminary trials with an ultraviolet liquid sterilizer. Aquaculture 14: 75-84

Gratzek, J.B., Gilbert, J.P., Lohr, A.L., Shotts, E.B. Jr., Brown, J. 1983. Ultraviolet light control of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (Fouquet) in a closed fish culture recirculation system. J. Fish. Dis. 6:2 145-153.


Finally, probably the biggest question in reef ecology at the moment- What do increased nutrients do to the reef? Here are just a handful of literally hundreds of articles on the subject.

Koop, K. et al. 2001. ENCORE: the effect of nutrient enrichment on coral reefs. Synthesis of results and conclusions. Mar Pollut Bull 42(2): 91-120.

Tomascik, T. and F. Sanders. 1987. Effects of eutrophication on reef-building corals. Marine Biology 94: 53-74.

LaPointe, B.E. and M.W. Clark. 1992. Nutrient Inputs from the Watershed and Coastal Eutrophication in the Florida Keys. Estuaries 15: 465-476.

Meye, J.L., E.T. Schultz, and G.S. Helfman. 1983. Fish schools: an asset to corals. Science 220:1047-1048.