maybe it's wasted breath because he's got more water volume in his house than all of us combined? Have you checked out the live cams on his web site? Looks to me like he probably knows what he is doing.
aggression happens all the time, not just because of stocking levels. In fact, some believe that highly stocked tanks diffuse aggression. I have been careful about my fish selection but more based on wanting to keep certain types of corals long-term, and many fish tend to look at the reef as a giant buffet.
I still have 11 tangs in my tank and occassionally I see slight aggression, like between the "hippos", and there have been issues where I have had to pull a fish out a couple of times, but it happens in any size tank with any amount of stockig levels, unless you just have one fish.
My maroon clown is extremely aggressive with certain types of corals, the sand bed, a fairy wrasse, and a sebae clown. All the other fish she has no problem with and I have in fact seen the foxface cruise right through one of her GBTAs without even a blink of an eye from the maroon.
I have been careful but still have three similar body shaped wrasses in my tank, and they get along fine. Once in a while one might chase the other, but what the hell else do they have to do all day?
It all depends on the aquarimu keeper's goals. Some are more interested in the interaction of fish, some want to grow spectacular corals, and others enjoy symbiotic or species tanks.
I give Chuck high marks for his love of the hobby and his pushing the envelope.
