I was listening to two people in the chat room today and they were talking about large bio-loads for a tank. what was the number one problem with people that came into a store up north i worked at for a year.........FOOD management.

Food management must be thought of in perspective of Bio-load(All biological matter in a space and weighed in mass). Fish,crabs, pods, bristleworms, bacteria are all bio mass, waste(poop) is not it is bio-waste.

A Refugium(base word refuge) is the most common way to increase bio-load and protect that bio-load of the small invert and plant kind, is a second tank usually below the main system that provides this space. IT MUST BE FED DAILY TOOIf you plan to have a "packed" system you should plan for such a load. the Inverts clean detritus and uneaten for while the plants of choice soak up Nutrients that algae would use, and also provide a home for millions of pods.
Foods that should be considered detritus, reef snow, zoa plankton, plankton, biofuel by brightwell, and or vodka. this will feed every thing from sponges to bacteria to developing pods.
ALL IMPORTANT IN ORDER TO PACK A SYSTEM with lots of fish or coral or crabs or shrimp.



basically it just like math if you want to add to one side you must add to both side other wise it wont add up, so if you have a fish that craps you need to process that and a large bio load or packed tank needs more.


i hope some of you find this helpful in understanding why things are done the way they are.