[inwall75]

WOW!!!

OK, lets all be honest with ourselves here. Every choice we make regarding our reef tanks has consequences. Reef boards help people learn a lot of the pros/cons of every choice.

For instance, most NSW mixes that are low in P are high in N
Radium lamps give a lot of coloration but are much lower in PAR
6500K lamps give out tons of PAR but look very yellow to our eyes
Protein skimmers remove tons of waste but also removes some Ca and Magnesium and some trace elements
Aluminum P removers remove P but really tick off many softies...especially leathers. If left in too long, it will re-release the adsorbed P.
Iron P removers work much better at removing P and don't re-release the P, but introduce additional Iron into the tank and certain species of SPS don't respond well to the additional Iron. Additionally, going from a lot of P to hardly no P overnight can kill some corals and it can swing your pH a lot.
Some cheaper water moving equipment can move water well but introduce a lot of heat. Some more expensive water moving equipment is efficient with flow and heat but obviously it's expensive.
DSB's can give you a source of NNR and can house some interesting critters but set up improperly can cause problems.
BB tanks without enough flow will cause an increase in Nitrates and the work you need to do on a weekly basis. Some people don't like the looks.
Not curing rock long enough will come with some additional work in your tank when problem algae arrive. Curing rock too long will result in bleached coralline algae.
Refugiums will remove P and Ammonium but the same openness of the thallus that allows the algae to absorb these compounds will allow a lot of them to leak right back out. Sometimes with additional Gelbstoff and in some cases secondary metabolites that some corals don't get along with.
You often need Carbon to remove the above gelbstoff but some Carbons release P when put into the system and some carbon is not effective in saltwater.


It's all about choices. Get some background information on all of your choices. Learn the major pros/cons of what you want to do. Once you've decided, learn the nitty-gritty details of what you've chosen to maximize your reefing experience.

That's my 2 cents.