Hey Pauli,
The small reactor in the back right of the picture is my kalkwasser stirrer, the plastic squares in the way back are media trays where I put in carbon or phosphate remover as needed, and the hanging drip gizmos are how I add B-Ionic slowly when needed. Lately I found I was adding more than usual alkalinity supplement and at first I thought it might be "abiotic precipitation", but then Randy Holmes-Farley suggested I check my calcium reactor to make sure it was still running at the correct pH and sure enough it wasn't so we'll see if that makes a difference.
As to why the system seems so healthy, I've thought a lot about that myself in recent months. I'm no scientist, nor do I have conclusive proof, but I think my system has two enormous benefits going for it both a direct result of the large size: stability and available surface area. In terms of stability, I really work hard to lock my salinity at 35 ppt and my pH at 8.1. I find that locking in the pH generally implies a locked in alkalinity and calcium level. After that I keep an eye on magnesium as well. Bad things seem to happen when I let it fall below 1250 and the system seems happy with a slightly elevated level above 1400 ppm. In addition to the size making it easier to maintain stable mineral levels, I also think I have an unusually large amount of surface area available for bacteria to culture on. My sump has 200 lbs of LR which I rinse periodically to keep them in tip top shape. All that water (700 gallons or more) plus the added rock help support a large bioload which in turn feeds the coral. Since my nitrates and phosphates are always zero, the system obviously is able to keep up with waste removal, of course the skimmer and water changes play a role as well, but really I think the size is key to allowing the extreme density of life in the display, and no no refugium or macro algae other than the nuisance algae that grow in my frag tank :headache:
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