wiste

In an earlier article in TFH there was more specific guidance on CO2.
Amano indicates assuming an original PH of 7.0 if water becomes slightly acidic 6.8 to 6.6 with CO2 injection while plants are vigorously photosynthesizing you can consider the CO2 level is adequate. If CO2 is depleted then the PH will rise and CO2 is inadequate.

In the Nature Aquarium, it is indicated that fertilization should be adjusted based on plant volume.
Also, N and P are not dosed but if there are signs of deficiency that they should be dosed.
This system assumes that you are ‘in tune’ with your aquarium.

longhornxtreme

I'm quite partial to the look of ADA's style tanks and will eventually run an open top rimless tank at some point. On the other hand, the difficulty of finding out what are in the bottles and the soil irks me. My biology background won't be satisfied without knowing 'why' ADA's super lean water columns with magic substrate grow fantastic plants. Some day I'll break the bank and try the ADA plan of attack, but for now, my fert regime kind of mimics PPS-Classic with a little less testing.

I.e. I test for phosphate levels, test for nitrate levels, and adjust accordingly with dry ferts mixed in DI water. Micros come from fluorish or CSM-B, depending on whether I'm up to fighting the mold in CSM that month I keep a bottle of Fluorish Iron around in case I need to increase my iron dosage and I dose Excel every few days for a little algae prevention. I see much better results with a water column that mimics the recommended values in the fertilator, or the recommended levels by Tom Barr. Granted, my substrate is pretty much nutritionless ecocomplete. Yet, I grow fabulous crypts, and suffer only GDA and occasional GSA if I don't dose enough.

I guess the point I'm trying to make in support of Hoppy, is that I 'understand' why my method is working for me. I 'understand' when I need to change something or I at least know where to start tweaking. I understand that for the price of my eco, I could very well have bought Aquasoil, but I was scared of hitting fish with ammonia and I also didn't like the idea of the substrate breaking down over time. If something went wrong fert wise with the ADA products, I'd have no objective idea of what to do. I think of testing my water as dentist taking an x-ray, sure he can see a cavity, but how deep does it go?

I'm not intending ANY of this as flamebait, just trying to show why some people would choose their own method of growing plants for their personal enjoyment.

gotcheaprice

I'm sure wheeler has a decent argument behind him, but he comes off as waaaayyy to aggressive. He also believes Amano is a god o_o

He's one of those uptight people who don't do stuff for fun, but for self improvement, as he said so himself. IMO, if I water changed constantly, not for myself, it wouldn't be fun. If it was for me, I'd have fun, since I just like taking care of animals in general(though my mom hates another other animals!).

And woo, year old topic

longhornxtreme

I always wonder if Amano has taken the allelochemical approach (to reduce algae) combined with nutritious soil that maintains macro equilibrium with water at very low mg/L concentrations.

I FULLY understand the benefit of it leeching ammonia in the beginning, it lets you start a brand new tank outright and get it cycling, while provide the best nitrogen source for your new scape.

What we need is someone to send a chem grad student, with access to a GC/MS machine, samples of the ADA fert line, so we can understand if it's more the ferts or more the soil.

Squawkbert

Didn't read all, but here's my initial reaction to the OP & questions about what constitutes "a little" higher/lower etc.

1) Method mentioned assumes that a solenoid is in use or that tank is heavily planted enough that O2 from plant respiration will displace CO2 in the water column.

2) Change in pH due to a fixed amount of CO2 being in the water will be a function of the water's buffering capacity. If GH is high, expect a modest to trivial change in pH. If GH is low, you *might* see a difference in pH (depending on KH level). This explains the lack of answers as to what "a little" is.

3) If you're adding CO2 during the photoperiod and pH actually goes up, your combination of gas exchange (due to surface agitation) and plant usage *is* exceeding the amount of CO2 you're adding (or something else happened to introduce something basic to the water).

IMHO - a drop checker is a better way to do it.