Well, because we all make mistakes with a given method, we all do.............
that can lead some to assume and blame the method, yet we also know, that someone is still doing pretty decent with it, whether it be Diana Walsatd, her mentor/s, my mentors, Amano's, whoever you want to pick..........

But the real wise person will know that they failed if things did not work out, not the method, you must assume that a level of success means that the method works fairly well, even if you cannot get it based on your own abilities.

Do not worry, your abilities and skills do get better through time.

Still, you should realize that learning about why and how a method works, why plants grow, why algae gtrfow are far far more fundamental.

It's not about who you listen to, it's not about bad mouthing anyone, it's not about "well, I do not know why that method works", it's about seeking answers and trying things to rule out things like in order to have a nice ADA style/like garden, you must have high light.

It does not matter what mistakes you make, you still know based on the above picture, it can and has been done.

So you can try until you get it right.
You learn where you go wrong, you learn what you over looked etc.

You get better.

Pool sand is fine, but it has trade offs vs ADA AS.
ADA AS has trade offs that sand does not as well.

Rather than merely accepting this 5 answer baloney and having folks howl about their opinions...............ad nauseum.............we should really think about what goals are achieved by each, what do we have to do to get good results and what options can make the trade offs more manageable.

Then we are more prepared to give a fair answer for Pool sand, ADA AS, EC, Black flourite, SMS, Kitty litter, Soil, river sediment, Clays etc.

One without agenda, with experience and answers that more sense than "Well, I used it and it causes algae, I use this and everything worked out great"

That does not tell why it works for them, nor how.
It really has little informational value at all. Just what happened to them.

I started doing the test myself because of the poor test and reliance more on observations rather than simply testing it yourself to see.

Poor controls and test seemed rampant, many feel this way about the plant hobby. However, the aquatic plant research field is not nearly as confused.

Such basic things like controls are fairly obvious to them but entirely misplaced/missed/not even considered by many hobbyist.

Some seem to assume they can based their entire conclusion on their bad luck, and their observations alone can/does support what they say. Arguing with me, some feel, is fruitless, but I do not view anything remotely close to that.

The "argument" is really just a path to get to the bottom of their methods to figure out where they went wrong,m then next time, they can better figure things out for themselves.

Many get mad and think you should get a simple easy answer in one post......not hardly.........it can take many post, some never quite get there

You rule things out as best you can step by step(that way, you are that much closer and better to nirvana), but failures are never the method's fault you know works, even if you failed with it, you cannot assume I or Amano is to blame for it.................we have photo after photo showing it does, and many folks have stated it for decades now...........nonetheless, some folks will say such things.

Some folks are not interested in really learning, they are frustrated, or whatever.......they just want the tank to look nice and whatever does it, will become their method.

EI became popular for a few reasons, cheap, easy, simple, and I promoted it and helped folks. They are all fairly similar however, as much as folks claim they are so different and point out "how".

Every method has someone that suggest and helps folks get there.

All methods however, must address the fundamentals of aquatic plant and algae growth. You cannot get away from that. That's where the science really can help and comes in.

Science, or common sense, or an open mind and realize you are pretty likely to mess things up, these are traits/tools that can really help you AND NOT USING SUCH TOOLS WOULD BE LIMITING YOURSELF.


I think overall, non CO2 methods give the most success for most newbies. But few folks support that method curiously.

Regards,
Tom Barr