I went the ultra carbon dosing method last year with the Hiatt. 10lbs of carbon dosing to be exact. Too many problems IMHO. Trying to keep large populations of bacteria seemed to cause more problems than it solved. Sure, my nitrates were near zero, but the corals didn't look right, and I had problems with algae too. I know I'm not the only one that has this problem either. I've seen many people complain about pale corals when using pellets and zeo products.

I don't have any science to back it up, but it seems if you interrupt your tank's natural nutrient progression, then the corals react abnormally to their abnormal environment. I don't know if it's an interruption in the food chain starting at a bacterial level, but something seems to go amiss when you use hyper bacteria filters.

I've had more luck using a sulfur nitrate reactor than pellets. Since no3 is the end result of feeding your tank, it seems to make more sense to clean up the leftovers then interrupting the meal in mid-course.

I have been really pleased dosing probidio's biodigest. I dump a vial in every few months. I mainly use it to keep biodiversity in my bacteria cultures. The skimmer produces a foul sludge and corals don't seem have a problem with it.