[Edward]

Originally Posted by Left C

Hum....I was really asking for some #'s.

These are Tom Barr's old parameters. Is your system leaner than this?
pH 6.5 to 7.0
KH 3-6 degrees
GH 2-8 degrees
Nitrate (NO3) 5ppm-10ppm
Phosphate (PO4) 0.2ppm to 0.5ppm
Potassium(K+) 20-30ppm
Iron (Fe) 0.2ppm to 0.7ppm+

He wants you to dose by spoons and maintain 5 – 10 ppm NO3 and 0.2 – 0.5 ppm PO4. How hopeless it must be, comical data…


Anyway, Average good levels:
pH 5 – 6.8, (4 – 8
KH 0-3 dKH (3+ for fewer plants)
GH 2 – 3dGH by Ca (3+ ok)
NO3 5 – 20 ppm
PO4 0.1 – 1 ppm
K dosed at 1.33 : 1.00 of NO3 in ppm
Iron impossible to test

Mg 0.1 – 5 ppm by –SO4
CO2 3 – 20 ppm with water surface movement (0 for fewer plants, 20+ difficult and no improvement)


These are PPS-Classic system questions where some weekly testing is necessary. This system produces very fast growth. The maximum growth plants can handle.

With PPS-Pro no testing necessary. It was designed for aquascaping where plant quality is the main objective.