First, I have been running a fairly successful ATS now for quite a while, and am a bit of an advocate.
I have a reef tank, with fish and softies, but no SPS yet.
I have been discussing various ATS strategies with some local experts as I migrate toward an SPS dominated reef tank.
And some of what they said, and some scientific papers they pointed out, make me worry.
(These are not alarmist ats-haters. It is a real concern)
The premise is this: Algae produce various substances that
crank up microbial activity, causing problems in SPS corals, especially Acropora.
On key study was where they placed quite a bit of algae next to a coral, separated by a fine mesh.
No algae - coral was fine.
With algae - coral died off.
With algae and antibiotics - coral was fine
Not sure what type of algae it was.
Enclosed is a quick graph from one paper showing the effect of algae.
In particular, note the turf one.
It is clear from what I have read that SOME algae can really hurt SPS coral, and that turf algae is probably one of those.
It is not clear about hair algae, which is what vertical scrubbers grow.
And of course, these studies were not about ATS systems, but more general coral bleaching.
It does seem that carbon can eliminate the issue, as would big water changes.
SO:
Anyone out there know more details on this?
Anyone out there have an ATS, and a decent amount of Acropora (not softies), and NOT run carbon?