Lucky me!!! A sympathetic soul!!! It all depends on your degree of knowledge I suppose and understanding of what you do and what it implies. Of course there allways will be a niche for public aquaria and sterile immaculate systems, it's in the nature of things so to speak. However I do not possess this macho attitude of comparing who has the most money or the biggest skimmer or the most expensive lighting systems (for one, heat is the main problem with HO and all lighting). I would define myself as a pragmatic aquarist : my only concern being the quality of life I can offer to my specimens. Alternative routes are many and as confusing as the High Tech approach, I do not wish to elaborate on comparisons as I am not into (if you'll excuse the french canadian expression) pissing contests.
I do however believe, my own experience backing the claim, that this Biological Approach will offer a fascinating experience and tangible results as far as Soft Corals, Fish, ZOAS and other easier animals are concerned. On the other hand it offers an exclusive alternative for the maintenance of extremely difficult specimens that simply can not be kept in the typical Modern American Reef Tank!!
Let me explain briefly the philosophy behind it with one example: The Sea Apple (red Philippines or/and Tricolor Australia). These beauties are CONTINUOUS Phytoplankton feeders EXCLUSIVELY and not any type. They feed on plankton that is between 40 and 60 Mu's of size otherwise they will starve after a period varying between 6 to 20 months... Imagine the effect in a typical reef tank considering the Sea Apples are highly Toxic... So when I see a Tricolor Sea Apple in a typical reef tank I am filled with laughter (It's better than weeping). Ideally you could set a small 25 gallon tank with an improved undergravel filter plugged to an external canister filter with the return water flow trough a perforated tube at surface level. The gentle circular motion Back to Front to Bottom would have the Micro Plankton in a motion favourable to the feeding activity. Anyway it's easy to know if your apple is feeding since it will bring it's tentacles to it's mouth every minute or so. The main problem here being not aquarium technology .. but rather the appropriate grinding size for the appropriate Phytoplankton. Get my point Smitty ?