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I have also been attempting to read The coral reef aquarium vol. 1 by Charles Delbeek and Julian Sprung. I was wondering if you had tried some of the other filtration systems the book talks about and what you thought about each one of them.

No I have not tried them. I am fairly sure that they have merit and would love to set up a couple of tanks to experiment with those principals, however In the past couple of years I haven't had time.

In particular, I was interested in the Lee Chin Eng's (or Natural) system

Yes the Lee Chin seems to be the least technical and may work well for a very lightly stocked tank. As pointed out in TRA oxygen is probably the most essential element in the tank and I would question how much could really be added with just an airpump.

and the Dr.'s Adey's System.

Adeys uses the turf scrubber and surge device. That system is probably the most difficult to run properly, and you have the significant extra cost of lighting not only in operating (electricity) but the replacement costs of bulbs. (this one I'm less in a hurry to experiment with) <grin> Also the algae has to be carefully managed. I am sure the system would work well but I see it as being a bit complex.

I'm curious since I don't have that much room for my 55 gallon tank and the natural system doesn't require extra sumps and things.

Out of all the systems the 2 most popular are the Berlin and Jaubert. Quite a few people who do run a Jaubert also use a skimmer and that is called believe a NNR system. I hear allot about algae problems associated with plenums over a period of time and It has happened to me. My recommended system is the Berlin and using eggcrate and the spraybar makes it a "Glorified Berlin" It works extremely well and of course I highly recommend it. It seems to me as a general observation that because these systems never really caught on that there must be a reason for it. *Most* hobbyists are economical and if a less expensive system would work it would be more widely used. I guess that's the basis or your question, I wish I could be more help and in the future (once the dust starts to settle) I may do some experiments with these systems

I do have a question about my Colt coral- it dislodged from the rocks and wound up in the bottom of the powerhead! I do not recommend powerheads in the tank just for this reason, among others.

Part of the ends were torn.Is there anything that I can do or it is a wait and see game? I would recommend a wait and see. Make sure the base of the coral is either attached with a *light* (not too tight) rubber band or firmly wedged in between the rocks where it can begin to feel secure and attempt to re attach to some base rock. The colt is a very hardy beautiful, species and I would venture a guess that it will be ok.

Also, I have a green star polyp that is about two weeks old. It has not come out since my last water change, about one week ago. Is there a problem here?

when you did the WC