[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks, Whiterabbitrage for the encouragement! As soon as I have something to show, I'll post pics. As I'm still in the planning/dreaming phase, it'll probably be a while. In the meantime, there's much to discuss!

I do want to try and savor every step in the process, rather than rush through to get to the final result. I must say, I'm really enjoying this part - so many ideas swirling about! Now that I'm getting older and more experienced, I hope I have the patience to do this thing right.

As I've been compiling Caribbean wish lists of flora and fauna, I'm also thinking about the species of 'me'. I think a lot of us fail to consider ourselves in the equation. What are my characteristics as a mesocosm-keeper? I have to admit I'm kinda lazy! I like to use my big 'ol brain to figure out ways to save on labor. My favorite labor-saving device is NATURAL PROCESSES.

Does anyone out there remember reading Charles Mathews M.D.'s column, 'Reef Science', in "Freshwater and Marine Aquarium" magazine? His catchphrase was "Less technology, more Biology". He was all about using natural processes rather than gadgets. He also set up experimental aquariums to test all kinds of theories. I found this fascinating!

One of the things I was thinking about as I read through the "old favorites" in the Invert and Plant Forums, was the 'Nitrate to Phosphate Ratio'. Planted tanks with fish in them get plenty of phosphate through feeding and fish waste, so they tend to be nitrate-limited, right? Of course there's carbon and iron and other trace elements to consider as well, but for now I just want to focus on the N to P ratio. So the solution is to dose nitrate, right?

So I went to "the krib" website to check out their Poor Man's Dosing Drops formula. As I looked for that formula, I came across an article dated Sept. 1995, by Charley Bay, called "Nitrate Factories are Stupid". This article (rant) pretty much summed up the thought that started the move away from trickle filters back in the day.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

As I see it, I have two choices here: I can go to town and find all the ingredients for the PMDD, mix it up and start adding daily dosages to my tank, OR, I can go up in the attic and dust off the "'Ol Nitrate Factory". Yep, I'm seriously considering putting my trickle filter back into service! And IF it turns out to work, I'm going to write an article titled "Nitrate Factories are Freaking Brilliant".

One unfavorable comparison I can think of is the fact that with dosing, you can adjust the N ratio pretty easily to suite your tank's needs. I suppose I could adjust the number of bioballs in the trickle tower to raise or lower the amount of nitrate produced in "the factory". Hmm…

OK, so am I missing something? Please, someone, shoot this theory down before I make a fool of myself!