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.