Well, you can pick up a text book, but the issue is then how to apply all that to our specific area of interest.
That's quite another matter.
I had a lot of issues looking things up and then trying to locate and apply these things to our specific application. I know what to look for and where these days, back then I did not.

There's very little done in the research in this context, aquatic horticulture of submersed plants for ornamental growth inside our homes.

I try to synthesize the practical stuff, add enough science to allow for some more learning/stretching of the mind and leave some room for folks to look at the broader picture hopefully.

No one writes anything about aquatic plants like that, just some of the same old mumbo anyone can pull off any plant site. Nothing new or interesting ideas about how to test for/resolve questions, new areas that might warrant more attention and play a larger role than we might have considered.

Just getting aquarist to question the accuracy of those 5$ cheapo test kits and to calibrate them is a huge task. Most assume those are accurate and infallible.

For the 10 gallon tank:

I'd add
1/8 teaspoon KNO3 3x a week
1/32nd(about a BB's worth) of KH2PO4 3x a week
GH booster, about 1/4 teaspoon after the water change
3 mls 3x a week of a trace mix like Tropica Master Grow(TMG)
Weekly 50-60% water change etc.

That it.

I'd buy some Amano shrimp(4-6).
These will do better for algae etc.
Most find them more interesting than the Ghost shrimp.

Since you like the microbes, you will find this article on nitrifying bacteria illuminating.

This one is particularly good and shows even old stuff that most aquarist even 1 decade later still cling too.

Tim is good at this and has a good job in his field with Aquaria Inc.
I also went to UCSB like Tim but did an BS in Aquatic Biology.

http://www.marineland.com/science/pe...s/Hovanec1.pdf

http://www.marineland.com/science/pe.../AEM_Dec01.pdf

http://www.marineland.com/science/pe.../McDevitt4.pdf

And this one points out some of the major issues with the myths most aquarist still to this day assume about Nitrogen filter bacteria:

http://www.marineland.com/science/pe...s/hovanec2.pdf

All about bacteria and somewhat and ecological molecular approach to bacteria.
Should be easy reading for you, after doing plant molecular work for a year, it makes a lot more sense today

But I also heard Tim speak at a club meeting on this topic and he made it very understandable for the lay aquarist. Most of them wondered off amazed and somewhat disconcerted about their long views being shattered to small little pieces. Tim did good work, saw it, went after it and was easily able to say something meaningful to the hobby that advanced the knowledge a good deal on the basic fundamental things.

You might also consider reading the BarrReport news letters(there's 25-almost 26. about 10 pages each) which are sort of general review papers on each topic.

Give them a read and see.
No rush, they will take time but they are good reading and you will learn a lot from it.

Regards,
Tom Barr