Re: Limiting Nutrients -- A limited view?

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Lee Boon Chuan asked why I try to keep my "PO4 to about 0.7
ppm or at least not more than about 1.  I don't want it to
be unlimited."

His "opinion is that if nutrients limitation is not the key
 to  algae control, why is there a need to limit nutrients
like PO4 to a certain level?
 
His PO4 "is now 40ppm" without any apparent bad results. 

He asked: 

"Is there still any other reason for one to keep nutrient
level to some numbers?  Why can't we dose in excess so that
we are sure that the plants are not lacking anything? "

Excellent question and I will leave it to the nutrient
experts to advise.  But for my own situation, I have found
troubled waters when the PO4 or NO3 were either too high or
out of proportion relatively to each other.  I target my
nutrient levels according to some recommendations from Tom
Barr.  Of course, I might have gotten him wrong so don't
quote me, search the archives for his words.

I am curious why more nutrients tend to prevent algae while
allowing plants to flourish while more than that seems to
tend to reverse that balance.  There are reasons for
thinking it is not a merely a situation of competing for
food, but what other mechanism could be at play?

I would expect that too much of anything has bad results of
some kind, and too much food seems to be problematic for
all life forms, in one way or another.  

Now I have to get back to my stationary bike ;-)

Scott H.

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