Hello everyone,

I wonder what you think of the best fertilizer system for freshwater aquariums today. There are various methods such as commercial fertilizers, pmdd, estimative index and others. What is the best concept in your experience?

There is no the best one.
Plants can grow well with many variations of fertilizer combinations and techniques. It basically comes to what fits your lifestyle and believes.

Agree with above.

I have seen beautiful tanks using a wide variety of dosing methodologies.

The best one is that one that works in your tank, with your source water, with your mix of plants, and helps you achieve your goals.

And keep in mind dosing is only one piece of the pie. Most successful tanks have lots in common, but it's not necessarily dosing. Attention to detail with lighting, CO2, and tank maintenance are equally important.

I ask because as a beginner I want to choose a concept that is functional and proven.

Almost nothing in this hobby is proven.

If you are looking for a "recipe" that is foolproof, well.....I haven't seen one yet.

In the end, all that any of us know for sure is what happens in our own tanks. And even then we are probably wrong half the time.

If you are a beginner, I would start by looking through the journal section here to find tanks for inspiration. There are so many variations of planted tanks that the first thing you need to do is figure out what you want your tank to be.

From there research the methods folks use to manage those tanks, such as light level, CO2 injection, plant selection, maintenance routines, and yes fert dosing too.

Let's face it. If the key to success was selecting the right dosing plan, there wouldn't be a need for this site. There is a lot more to it than that.

Good luck and look forward to hearing more about your plans.

Show us what you want to have and what your source water KH is and we can help you to get there.

Agreed source water parameters particularly KH/GH and substrate too.

Both can make a significant difference as to how to proceed.

Well, thank you for your suggestions. Now I have algae problems and I'm looking for the right way to solve it. I will prepare a description and put a question in the right section. Thanks.

This is the right sub-forum to solve algae problems.

Mine is the best one
...for my tank
...until I can make it better.

Perfectly said.

If you looking to solve an algae issue for a particular setup, you'll have to look into a host of things. These mentioned would be key:

IMO most significant algae issues are not related to the dosing method we choose. If the tank is new, light is usually the culprit, but nothing works in a vacuum, everything is connected.

The 'best' fertilizer in your aquarium changes with plant mass. At the beginning its prudent to start more lean and at some point you may need to increase dosage esecially if your plants show deficiency.

Its an interative process and a moving target which can be quite frustrating at times.

I do not understand your approach because it does not matter what plant mass you have unless you are not doing water changes and trying to maintain water column nutrient concentrations. Nothing wrong with that but I don’t think that is your goal right now.

So it does not matter what plant mass you have, just supply nutrients and flush the rest, then refill. This way you will give your plants what they need. I think, … you are overthinking it.

I agree.

There is a world of difference between a new sparsely planted tank and a mature tank loaded with established fast growing stems. The rate of nutrient uptake is quite different, and so is optimal dosing.

Plant mass matters.

And that also means controlling plant mass once things take off.

@hunti, if you really want some help, you should post as many parameters as you can about your tank, along with some pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words.

In reality, most times an algae issue has little to do with dosing.