the GH booster recommended by Tom (Seachem Equilibrium) comes with a huge dose of K as well which is why Tom says that K2SO4 is not needed if you dose both KNO3 and GH booster.
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The entire PO4 dosing thing started when I(who had high PO4 in the tap) and another person did not, and then dosed and saw dramatic results.
So tap water needs to be considered as a source, good feeding and fish loads also can add a reasonable amount. ADA's tap water has 0.5ppm in it and they do large weekly water changes, seem to have low light, so that's likely enough, there's another thread and an article about GSA in ADA's tanks, I do not have any GSA issues and have not since we started dosing higher amounts of PO4 and made sure the CO2 is in good shape back maybe in the late 1990's.
GSA likes "good conditions", eg low nutrient levels.
I always considered it a good indicator of a well run system before I got into plants.
You can slow the growth rates down by reducing light, or reducing CO2 or reducing PO4.
I prefer less light since it cost less and is more stable and easier to control/test for etc than the other 2. And the demand for CO2/PO4 from plants is reduced. But a strong PO4 limitation will slow growth down a fair amount and cut your CO2 demand by a large amount(say 50% with low light).
At higher light, it's more of an issue. Few folks actively measure light with comparable units(PAR).
Ferts are only a small part of things, the light is what drives the growth of both algae and plants. Then this causes CO2 demand, which in turn drives N and P uptake and so on down the line.
That's how a plant works and grows. Same for algae.
Algae have many sexual stages and are bit like annual plants vs perennials.
They respond to cues and when conditions are right, they germinate.
Plants?
We add cuttings. They have higher demand for nutrients.
So focus on their needs and you generally will not have any algae issues.
If so, do a water change, clean, prune, check CO2, dose thereafter, clean filter etc, basic stuff. You can raise or reduce the light also etc till things are okay.
I've yet to find any excess nutrients that lead to algae other than NH4 and then only in higher light tanks and there are only a few species I was able to induce. If I uproot a lot, I'll get more species, otherwise, limitations seem to cause more algae like PO4 and NO3, (GSA and BGA). NH4 only induced GW, but high fish loading induced GW(30 hours) + staghorn(3 days), BBA in about 1-2 weeks.
If you dramatically uproot the tank in an ADA tank with the aqua soil, you get a similar result also. The spores are brougth up to the water column as well as a fair amount of organic matter and more nutrients.
If you uproot a smaller section, do a large water change aftrwards etc then you do not get this, and if you have less light, the results will be less intense also.
So less light, good maintenance, good eye on things, good CO2, good water changes etc, play huge roles, not just ferts, those are very easy to add and to maintain(water changes can reset any issues you might think are present).
EI and ADA do the same thing there. ADA adds a large source of nutrients, the sediments, EI does not care and works either way, but you cannot measure and test the nutrients lock in sediments is all, the total amount of nutrients are likely still pretty much the same.
I have ADA AS and dose EI, some what light since I have a large fish load.
I also have higher light than any ADA light system(about 2-3x as much according to measurements) and get appropriate growth rates differences comparatively.
I can simply raise the lights up to reduce the rates of growth when I leave for trips etc for a week, slow things down when I'm busy etc. Ot grow things fast when I want to garden more. I dose a bit less when Islow things down, but I do not need them and have a good feel for what provides non limiting nutrients.
Just because you cannot measure them or do not dose them all the time, does not mean they are not there like with the sediment sources.
Sediment makes a nice back up if you do not dose the water column or keep it leaner.
I actively suggest ADA aqua soil.
Good stuff and makes the water column dosing work better, easier etc and the eI lets the ADA As last longer by reducing the draw of nutrients.
This way you get the most out each method.
A full ADA system really does not need that much nutrients since the light is much less than many think, so the leaner dosing works well, but that's due to low light, which also makes the CO2 targeting easier and CO2 is about 95% of algae related issues, not the ferts
Ferts are easy, you can also dose the EI daily, make them into liquids in wate etc, use a ADA like 1ml pump dispenser etc and use less, or more to suit your taste.
Sometimes folks miss the common sense part and think the dosing has to be strick and is the root of their algae issues. Most folks feed fish daily, so dosing daily works well for many.
Simple consistent care, good CO2, lower light, good water changes, filter cleanings etc. Amazing what that can do. But we get lost with the other smaller details(they are important, but less so that we think most times) very often as hobbyist.
Regards,
Tom Barr
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