[APD] why add PO4 and NO3?

["Jared Morris" <jmorris at infostations_com>]

The manager at the LFS I work at has been in the aquarium hobby/business for over 20 years, and has had quite a few successful long-term planted aquariums (even a marine tank with 20+ species of macro algae!).  In his experience, PO4 is plentiful enough (sometime too much) in a moderately to heavily fish stocked plant tank with regular feeding.  Of course, he has always been a proponent of CO2 injected, high light (one of his larger tanks once had 6 watts/gal halide/VHO!), Fluorite substrate, and heavy fish loads though.

I also wonder why, if nitrate is the inevitable end product of the (in)famous nitrogen cycle, won't the 5 ppm NO3 we need be produced by a moderate fish load, regular feeding, and a good bio-filter?

Thanks, I hope I wasn't too long winded or clueless,
Jared

"With great power, Comes great responsibility"

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thenaturalisticvivarium/
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