[Witfull]

no, he did not fail. if he had why do we still talk about him. he was a pioneer and helped bring reefing to the world.

Lee Chin Eng is probably the most frequently mentioned of these early pioneers of a "natural" methodology. In the early 1960's, Mr. Eng was living in Indonesia and maintaining successful reef aquaria using live rock, live sand, natural sunlight, regularly replaced natural seawater, and gentle water movement provided by air pumps.6 Widespread recognition of Mr. Eng's method was delayed, largely because widespread success was not possible at the time with this method unless the aquarist lived near the ocean. Many hobbyists around the world who lived near the sea and collected local rocks and algae, as well as used natural seawater for their aquaria, had similar success.

We also see methods we overlooked that have added to our success today such as those of Lee Chin Eng.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

Advocates of natural methodologies have been around since the 1960s, when the first "reefkeeper," Lee Chin Eng, initiated many of the concepts and techniques that are fundamental to successful reefkeeping. Mr. Eng lived near the ocean in Indonesia and used many of the materials that were readily available to him from this source. "Living stones," which have come to be known as live rock, were used in his systems as the main source of biological filtration. He also used natural seawater and changed it on a regular basis.

http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/backtonature.html

Originally Posted by Witfull

im not trying to discourage you, but as the others letting you know what you are up against and the challenges facing you. there is a reason this type of tank is not done by more people.