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Re: PO4 dosing



I can dose 2ppm of PO4 a week etc or I can maintain a specific level. A water
change will remove the excess that the plants did not uptake at the end of the
week. So I can add 3ppm per week etc and still have a 1-2ppm level in the
tank.
But it's flexible. If there's excess nutrients, then as long as there's not so
much as to destablize things, it's not going to hurt most plants etc. 

I might let the PO4 start at 1ppm and drop to zero by week's end. I can
maintain 2ppm or 1ppm within a .4ppm range by dosing every 2-3 days.

Does it matter?

Not a whole lot for most plants especially with PO4. NO3 and CO2 are less
forgiving. Those drop off for long and the tank goes sour fast. 

As long as the plants are getting enough and are not N or P limited for more
than 1-2 days, then generally the plants will do well.

Dosing is "broad range" and is fairly flexible.
Saying that a nutrient should be "1.0ppm" etc is simply too rigid and
difficult to maintain for most aquarist. 

There might be some plants that do better with more, some with less.

We cannot discount that.

But comparing notes with soft and hard waters is a good idea. That solved a
number of issues and also paved the way for not using RO for plants etc.

Regards, 
Tom Barr