Probably not the best spot to debate this, but I'll reply with my thoughts and how it may apply to reefmutt's current situation. No offense taken on my end, this is based on my personal experience.
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Originally Posted by mhucasey
The all-in-one pellets utilize a chemical phosphate remover(may be a form of GFO actually) and will lower the phosphates slowly on their own, they just need time to work. I have heard the "Phosphate swing" theory quite a lot, it is one of the big mantras from the Zeovit folks. In one time period I had a bunch of STN and the experts kept saying it was from "drastic changes" in parameters - lowered too fast, raised too fast, etc. In my tank at the time the phosphate value was largely unchanged.
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My understanding is quite different regarding pellets, as I understand it they are much more proficient at removing nitrates over phosphates, and their is no chemical removing going on... that is why I suggested some GFO over pellets, as his nitrates aren't that elevated really, but probably could come down a bit.
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Originally Posted by mhucasey
If parameter swings are so dangerous then why do Acros not immediately die when placed in customer's tanks? Going from the dealer's water to the customer's water represents drastic swings in Alkalinity, Calcium, Phosphate, and Nitrate. Yet in many cases the acros do better switching. I am currently saving a portion of a table coral that was dissolving in my dealers tank but stopped immediately upon going into mine. Food for thought.
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They die all the time. How many people come home from the LFS with wild and aquacultured SPS and have 100% success? Zero. You're much likely to have success with frags from another established SPS tank where the parameters are dialed in and similar to what we already have in our captive systems. Obviously many acros are more tolerant than others, so the specific species is going to have an impact.
In terms of your dealers tank lol, maybe his nutrients are way too high, and yours are lower, hence the recovery. May be the flow, lighting, etc. etc. etc. Could be any number of factors.
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Originally Posted by mhucasey
I do, however think that the real cause for a lot of these issues is excess Iron. People overdo the GFO or add GFO to Zeovit for example and both give off Iron. Iron is limiting nutrient for bacteria and algae and adding a bunch of it at once can trigger blooms of bacteria that already live on the corals surface. These blooms turn against the host coral. I have inadvertently done this myself by overdosing Iron, and have seen the same thing happen with additions of too much GFO or overuse of Zeovit stones. In some cases I was able to stop the STN using antibiotics.
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I think excess iron should be about the farthest thing from reefmutts mind at the moment. He is having a significant algae bloom and isn't even running GFO, so not sure how you explain what is going on in his system. I agree alot of people overdue GFO and cause a drastic change in nutrient levels which SPS don't like (speaking from experience). That is why I suggested he start with a small amount of GFO and not go crazy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhucasey
Just give one method time to work, the system needs a chance to balance out.
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You say this at the end, but in the same sense say not to worry about drastic nutrient/parameter levels, as corals can tolerate this all the time? If your theories are correct, then why do you need to wait for things to "balance out". This contradicts most of what you say. That said, I agree it is the right approach.