the bio component is really just the lavarock cultivating beneficial bacteria, nuthing to do with nutes or anything
Without the lavarock and it's comfy little bubbles it would be homeless bacteria, so even if micro introduces these bacteria (which I dont think it does) it would not sustain them in solution (I look at it like coral with a lot more o2)
I came across this aspect of hydro when MrGS sent me a few links about the waterfall method so I could learn from the source and it seemed to me that THAT was the kicker about the system, more so than the waterfall aeration alone...
now ymmv cuz he also said that the lavarock should pile up over the waterline in order to work, somethng about aerobic bacteria needing air, but that caused algae or fungus (?) in one of their systems but that may be temp related...
I didn't read anything like that while looking into this about the waterline so I just dumped a shitload of lavarock into the root zone and so far so good
according to lucas the formula has everything a plants needs, no extras = no imbalances and so far that's what I am seeing in the IMgreen machine, just massive lush green development on both strains
AND when I compare my first hydro exp with many others, I see a flawless execution in my grows and many problems elsewhere (root damage, fungus, slime, algae, etc)
I dont have any of that - all I use is the floranova bloom and some ph up&down, dont even have hygrozome
* I dont mean to sound like such a know it all already, I don't have enough experience yet I am just following directions and the machine is doing it's job very well is what I really mean...
but it aint luck, it's design and simplicity - the fewer the variables the better