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I was previously also of the opinion that one can simply aim for the better balance and not work with addatives. I have since accepted that, although possible on paper, it doesn't seem to work in reality (not for me, anyway
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Hi Jamie,
I've been able to manipulate my system from very low starving to high nuturent levels & back without commercial additives. The more livestock you have outside of the SPS themselves makes it more of a challenge but doable. And with each variable you add it becomes more daunting, but the fact of the mattter is we see many TOTM's doing it many different ways.
It's all about a balance between import/export.......it's that simple. The bacteria will equalize whatever that imprt/export level is & that is what we see in algae, coral growth, ect. There are data points all along there & when the system sways too far one way or the other that is what we see visaully in the corals. If you change the bacteria populations by skewing that balance then certain results will follow.........continue to skew those populations a certain way(by contnually adding certain bacteria to shift the balance) & you can starve the system.
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I do not see zeolith systems as abusive to the purchaser. (cash cows) Certainly, any developer/manufacturer must make a profit, but I do not see much room for calculation of the market.
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That's fine, but I'm not naive about the industry. Just look at the price of some of those products. I'm definately not sigaling out Zeo, this happens across the industry whether we're talking about skimmers, additives, ect. You may have talked to some of those developers but you probably haven't talked to their marketing & financial people. Zeo is just the tip of the iceberg. They aren't doing anything that any manufacturing company wouldn't do. For example, why does every manufacturer now sell amino acids? Did we all of a sudden realize we "need" them? The anwser is easy...........no.
The pet industry is notorious for trying to sell people specialized products that are used in other areas everyday. Like the special dog food bin that cost $20, but I can buy at Home Depot for $5 as a grabage can. The only difference is the shape & name. The tropical/ marine industry are the worst abusers imo.
I don't want to get off topic here, but when the thread starts becoming a subtle advertisment for these biological commercial systems as "the" way to do it, I say bunk. I'll leave it that, as I don't want to throw the thread off track.