Subscriber and member are two different things.
Subscribers have full access, not members.
So some part of the site is free, some is subscription based.
About 30 articles, each about 10-15pages long is why the site was created to ebgin with, not just to start a forum.

Information vs a place meet and talk like all the other forums out there. I'm not interested in gabbing with everyone, rather, focusing more on ideas concepts etc.

As far as your tank, I've factored in the max uptake for the light you are using, to reduce any build up and also to ensure that nothing runs out, the range I gave you ought to work super.

EI is tweaked, for each tank, it not to be used continuously like a sledge hammer. You make adjustments. All it gives is a non limiting starting point. It is not (and the articles says this plainly) to be followed rigidly.

Things, especially biological ones, are more flexible and variable than that.
Still, a simply doing large weekly water changes+ dosing frequently will target any range you might seek.

If you combine say ADA's Aqua soil with EI, and go slightly lean with EI, then you have a very nice method, one that allows plants 2 sources, one you dose and one that's always there(the ADA AS).

So you can reduce the water column dosing if you wish, especially with low light and still get close to the same growth rate.

If you have only 1.5 W gal etc, then you really can get away with very little dosing, especially with a large fish load.

These are just some of the interactions.
Just take a deep breath and realize that there are other things that govern uptake, therefore dosing.

So while some may claim they add nothing, others claim they have to add a lot, finding what drives the uptake rate, is critical in explaining things.

If you do not know what drives uptake, growth etc, plant physiology basics, then you really have a poor understanding about how all these methods work.
It takes time to see this also.

So be patient, you have many years to learn.

Regards,
Tom Barr

I do know a thing or two about plants and how they grow as I'm obtaining a masters in horticulture. I will definitely agree that I still have a lot to learn about growing aquatic plants though!

I don't want to beat the bush too much more on this issue, but I'm not sure I ever mentioned what type of lighting I have so here goes.... My 55 gallon has 4 2x overdriven t8 bulbs (6500k daylight from lowes). So I have about 4 watts a gallon. My 29 is similar but it has 2 65 watt compact fluorescents. I should also mention that the tanks are both jam packed with plants, have eco-complete and pressurized CO2. From what I know, this seems to be pretty intense lighting.


As a side note...I just went through a 3 week "do nothing to my tank glass" to try to get eradicate my green dust algae problem. Three days later...I think its back! I have heard it may take a few attempts for this method to work. I'm not sure I want to go through another three weeks of separating my plants and fish from me with ALGAE.