I'm interested in using an algae scrubber to supplement filtration provided by freshwater aquatic plants and eliminate water changes. I'm planning to add C02. I understand that algae and plants use the same resources . I'm assuming a few things. 1) Plants typically do not use enough fish waste to keep nitrate levels close to zero and typically need water changes for that reason. 2) Algae consumes ammonia more readily than most other plants. I've heard plants don't thrive on ammonia(too harsh) and feed better on nitrite/nitrate. 3) Algae responds much quicker to spikes in ammonia/nitrite creating a buffer in case of fish death or accidental overfeeding. 4) The plants will receive a large portion of their nutrient needs from the substrate/root system. (Although, I am curious about the long-term replenishing of nutrients to the soil) Are these close to correct?
So I'm going for a balance and therefore I do not see the typical rules of thumb working. Do we know the relationships between the three independent variables of light intensity, area, and flow versus filtering capacity? I've noticed that the general rules of thumb are assumed to perform linearly for larger and larger tanks. Any Ideas of how to easily change the filtering capacity of the ATS to allow for empirical testing? Would you change lighting, flow, or surface area?
I have not seen any examples of a planted freshwater tank with fish using an algae scrubber. So maybe this is a fools errand, but I'd like to see for myself. Any Ideas for how to calculate typical nutrient production from fish/ excess food minus nutrient absorption from plants. I'd like to make an educated guess about the size of the ATS to zero the equation.
Thanks for the help