Algae grows just fine at high or low levels of macro nutrients except NH4.
DON and DOP are another matter completely.
Organic forms are much easier for algae to use and these levels can be far below any detection testing method you have available just about anywhere in the USA, Asia or Europe. Periphyton matts can grow quite healthy when a Lamott test kit say 0.0ppm.
This is not something I've seen, or speculate, this is fact and we have seen this in the Everglades with mountains of research and field testing to support it.
Big water changes are not a bad thing. They remove this Organically bound component.
As far as the worm castings giving you issues: the boiling should oxidize most of the NH4, which is the only real component that might cause any problems.
After all, I can add everything else, NO3, PO4, K, traces, CO2, light etc far beyond limiting conditions and no algae.
What does worm castings have that soil or dirt does not as far as minerals and nutrients
Nothing.
I got a wooden nickle says boiled dirt will do the same thing.
Or most any other compost material with high NPK.
Plants all use the same stuff, folks.
There's no secreat method about that.
You can remove the NH4 a number of ways, but eventually you will need to add some N, P, K, etc to the substrate. We also don't seem to know the water quality of their tap water either................
I had high PO4, a friend in Demark had high NO3/PO4. Not knowing that might lead us to conclude we don't need any N and/or P etc.....
I used RFUG with nothing in the substrate and made nice tanks also, so is it a method or is it the aquarist?
Keep these ideas in mind when you consider other methods or have problems with yours.
Otherwise you'll end chasing some method every few weeks/month/year and not work on the basics of plant metabolism, all plants need these nutrients to grow. That does not change.
Where you want to put them is up to you.
Regards,
Tom Barr |