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newbie nutrient issues



Hello,

    I am a relative newbie to aquatic gardening.  I have had a few plants
growing haphazardly in my 75 gallon for about a year but decided to recently
take it to the next level with compressed CO2.  I have good lighting and
good CO2 content as measured by the pH versus KH chart.  My current
challenge involves nutrient levels.  I have read literally multiple hundreds
of messages and web pages about nutrients and fertilization in the planted
aquarium in the last month.  However, I am not able to determine exactly
what is occurring in my aquarium and there are some issues that I do not
understand.
    My symptom is that plant growth is currently stunted.  The first week or
two after I added CO2 plant growth took off.  Now it has resumed a more
slower pace and some algae is forming on my wisteria.  My theory, based upon
my reading, is that my aquarium is nutrient limited.  I am now ready to
start adding nutrients.  The problem is that I am not certain exactly what
to add in my particular situation.
    A fews days ago I ran a myriad of tests to try to determine what
nutrient was limited.  My iron test indicated that no iron was present.  My
phosphate test indicated that no phosphate was present.  My nitrate test
indicated 15 ppm.  I have a medium-high fish load.  I have Hagen Plant-Gro
and Seachem Flourish.  I added 1mL of Flourish.  It is my understanding that
nutrient levels are tested by testing for the presence of iron.  The next
day I tested for iron and it was again not measurable.  I have hair algae
which would indicate from what I have read that iron is indeed present.  At
this point I am somewhat confused.  I add Plant-Gro as indicated on the
label.  The next day I measure for iron and I now have .25 mg/L .  Hair
algae has increased.  The plants are starting to get a little of that brown
algae on them, so I suspect the iron may have been too much itself and that
there is still another nutrient deficiency.  Phosphate is still
non-detectable.
    At this point, I assume I have too much iron.  Plant growth is not
occurring, though.  If iron is the metric by which the presence of other
nutrients is measured, how does that work if I added iron via both Flourish
and Plant-Gro?  To get the appropriate iron level, should I be adding
Flourish until that level is reached, or Plant-Gro, or just straight iron,
or something else?  My research leads me to believe that I can add potassium
without any fear, so I will get some this weekend and try adding that.  The
addition of phosphorus, of which I apparently have none, seems to be a taboo
item, however, and I am not confident as to what steps I should take there
either.  Should I be dosing everything at once in only the PMDD ratio or
should I be trying to add particular nutrients as the plants dictate?
    Any help is appreciated.


Thanks for your time,
Jeff