You know I have tried avoiding commenting on that article, as Eric is a friend. But man if you really read it, there are some things to shake your head at.
Looking at the skimming part for example.
Yes, you can. Far too many works have dealt with various aspects of protein skimming. I still feel there is too little information on exactly what, how much, and how effectively foam fractionation affects various components of the water column of reef aquaria.
In one breathe he says that you can skim to much, and in the same breathe says he doesnt know enough about it and that it is an unkown????
Then
For the most part, protein skimmers are employed as water quality control devices to maintain low levels of organic and some inorganic materials, notably compounds containing nitrogen and phosphorous commonly linked to degraded water quality not conducive to the growth of many reef species such as corals
Ok works for me but then
My point is that once nutrient levels are low and conducive to a healthy aquarium, and until other secondarily important aspects of protein skimming are experimentally validated and quantified, any skimming over that required to maintain low levels of organic and inorganic pollutants is overskimming. Why? Because if the water is cleared of those things that are detrimental, it is also likely to be equally cleared of things that are beneficial
I hate this stuff. What are the acceptable levels he is refering to????? He states that secondary aspects should not be looked at until scientific study is done, but throws a blanket staement out like "it is also LIKELY". for me you live with the sword you die by it. If you're scientific for one then lets see the scientific for the other.
There is no advantage to a constantly stripped water column in all but a very few specialized situations.
well I have alot of equipment on my reef, and the likelyhood that I could even come close to totally low nutrient levels as the reefs in the wild are is a snow balls chance in hell, so how can anyone achieve stripped water. Oh and if you have figured it out let me know I would love to give that a go.
And the last statement when he offers his solution he states
(I think this likely, especially if activated carbon is employed).
So ditch the skimmer and use carbon in its place. Thats not even ...well I wont say that.
If you carefully read all of the articles you will see that they are designed to stay in line with the overall concepts of his stuff, and are written in such a manner that allows a lot of excape holes if he is caught or wants to change direction. Not much else to really say about the article beyond "I guess he couldnt just write an article that says use a large skimmer and be done with it"
Anyway my two cents, for what thier worth.
Mike
