There are any number of threads here by those with years more experience than I have. So, what I offer certainly can not be considered gospel. That said, here is a brief overview of my experience with PPS-Classic.
It works for me. I have been literally harvesting plants from this tank about once a week. The first few weeks there were wide swings in the dosing quantities. I followed the recommended amounts called out on the Excel sheet for dosing after entering the measured test results. Once things settled and natural cycles came into line, the parameters stayed on the money.
I followed the prescribed methods in the PPS-Classic documentation to the letter. The most enlightening experience was checking the test kit’s color charts against standardized solutions that I mixed. PPM for nitrates were off by a factor of two. For phosphates they were one half or needed to be divided by two. The standard solutions were mixed very carefully with a calibrated scale. I was really surprised by the results.
If what you want is a system of adding know quantities of fertilizers to the water column of your tank and observing the depletion rate for the macro elements and compounds, in a measured way PPS will provide that. As far as begin a foolproof method for creating unprecedented plant growth, I don’t think that is a fair expectation. So many parameters are constantly varying outside of what PPS provides, that only good management of all these things will lead to success. PPS provides a systematic process for fertilizer addition that follows known good practice. For me it has been a foundation or starting point to build my understanding of planted aquarium needs. I think I am off to a good start.
