I believe the persons tank you are recommending, is the person you are talking to.. PB_Smith and his bio states 40 years in the hobby...
On the other note, I just always keep my sandbed turning to prevent any crashes from it. Simple as that.
I wish that was my setup. LOL.
But I did set up my first salt tank in 1979
I still am a little baffled as to why UG filters have fallen so out of vogue.
Any problems concerning them are easily handled by proper maintenance, like any filtration system.
When I helped manage a LFS in the early 80's, our salt set-up was all reverse flow UG's.
I'm thinking of doing the same on mine, going reverse flow. It makes logical sense, you still have the benefit of a huge surface area for BB to flourish, no worry about "dead spots" that turn black, and they tend to keep water pretty clear once well established. Plus with using a reverse flow, the substrate won't get "clogged" with detritus nearly as much/fast. Sounds like it can go 25 years between cleanings, LOL.
The only thing/difference between utilizing an UG set-up and live rock is that with live rock you also have the tiny nooks and crannies for anaerobic bacteria to thrive for nitrate conversion but without danger of poisoning the tank.
So maybe a slow reverse flow UG with live rock and a sump setup and refugium would be the ultimate way to go??
Sounds good to me, I think I'm going to work on setting up a reverse flow system.
If anyone can provide really good info/research into why UG filters are not used, I would be greatly interested because I honestly can't think of solid reasons why.
plus I can make a good UG filter for about $10