[Michael Hoaster]

I've read some of those as well. I'll look for the other ones, thanks!

What's the common name of your expensive fish?

No target feeding. I know I'm too lazy to keep up with that. Ask my old sun coral! I'll just direct the outflow of the reactor into my gyre flow in the tank.

With carbon dosing, as I understand it, a carbon source, like a biopellet reactor (or vinegar or vodka dosing) is combined WITH heavy skimming, which exports the extra bacteria. So it's a carbon source AND skimmer. My theory is to try to replace the skimmer with living sponges. See what I mean?

I think your refugium idea will work well. For actual nutrient export you can remove algae, prune macroalgae (such as chaeto) and, as most do, protein skim. I guess removing fish would count as well. Almost forgot, water changes, yay!

I do have a few sources of plankton I'm considering, but I'll check out Seahorse Source. Gracias!

So, you're heading to college, congrats! I had a tank in school-a 20 gallon FW tank with tiger barbs and plastic plants! You're waaaaaay ahead of the game!

It sounds like you have a lot of great ideas to play with in the future! My advice would be to also focus on making your tanks as easy to work on as possible. Easy access to the whole tank for cleaning, easy automated water changes, evaporation top-off, etc. If a chore is not easy, it won't get done. Even the most dedicated hobbyist gets lazy!