MasRobert9,

Thanks for all the information. As far as hard water goes I have got it. Almost off the scale for gh and kh usually.

Could you elaborate on the micro and macro side of the fertilizers. This is the first time for me going with live plants and I am still learning.

I have always thought that a tank can be balanced between fish load and plant to create a system that the fish produce the CO2 and the plants replenish the O2 without having to fertilize. I am hoping to find that balance. The problem I see is fish type. If the fish are not using the plants for carbon intake(food) I must feed them which introduces more carbons that the plants will use to grow. I suppose the only solution is to remove carbon from the system by pruning and removing plant matter.

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