When I first started keeping fish I was only given the tank. All my gravel, rocks, Driftwood, snails and fish came from the creek near my house. I made a DIY filter using a little fountain pump and some bottles and sponge, and I had a Led rope light on top for a little light to see into the tank. I couldn't go to the pet store because my family couldn't afford it. I never had any issues with my first wild tanks. But now when I bought the stuff from the pet store I'm constantly having a hard time with my fish getting sick and dying. I have to start over again from the basics.
Hey Father Fish, I followed your methods and set up a 55-gallon tank for my carnival goldfish, I had him in a regular tank for four years then put him in the natural tank, I put plants in that are suitable for goldfish, between the dirt, sand , leaves and acorn caps, my goldfish has never looked better and is very active and healthy, he has been in the new tank for one year now, thanks for all the research and knowledge you share. 🐟🐠🐬
I have three tanks at the moment and they all have something caught on a river on pond near my house. Dont be afraid of nature. Best regards Father Fish.
FF..if they gave out Academy Awards for TH-cam videos....this video of yours would WIN the Academy Award for Best TH-cam video for aquarium enthusiasts!!! Congratulations!!! You are amazing and so inspiring🐠🐟
Thank you father fish :) I started my first tank last week with this method. So far so good! I had a bioactove terrarium already, using isopods to break down leaf litter ect. I barely have to touch it and my plants are so happy. A lot of the same principals seem to apply, biodiversity and life in balance is so beautiful.
@@FatherFish You have made me a believer in doing this to the pond I'm building for a friend at his place, just by listening to how you have explained it in detail how it all works together in nature.
Father Fish, I wish I found your channel a year ago. I feel better about my tank moving forward and yesterday I brought in some strawberry runners and a few spoonfuls of dirt. I’m working up the courage to pull everyone out and fix my foundation but baby steps
Just do it. I just made my first aquarium with soil, compost, play sand, manzanita branch, rocks, aqua plants, and a few pieces of muck from the pond and creek up from my cabin. It's only day 2 but my pure white betta is absolutely loving it.
Not sure how I found your channel sir but I'm very glad I did. Currently trying to convince my girlfriend that your way is the right way and the look on her face was priceless 🤣. I told her she can keep her tanks how she wants but I'm gonna switch over to your methods as soon as we move to our new place!
When I was a young little girl, I won a goldfish at the fair. Named him George (after the first president!). Had him for about 5 yrs, in a 29 gallon aquarium. He was big!!! BUT, as I didn't know any better, I brought a river minnow home, threw that minnow in that tank & the next day, they were both dead... broke my little heart... I was so mad my goldfish died... things we learn over the years. ❤
I think that the more people see and hear consistent positive results from those of us keeping a truly natural, biodiverse fish tanks, the more familiar they will get the idea and be willing to pursue it themselves. All you need to do , Father Fish, is keep teaching and practicing what you teach! …..In my opinion .
@@FatherFish If I was to use composted leaves for dirt would that work or would I have to add other stuff to it ? like organic potting soil If so then what else would I need.
The funny thing is after playing for the first time with the plenum/undergravel filter method, I realized the sponges I'd laid at the bottom of two of mine probably function somewhat the same way
True. They do. Removing water flow through the substrate and adding a layer of sand on top of the gravel creates a perfectly natural environment capable of cycling the entire system.
Back in the dark ages we used to just go dn to the local pond and pull 5 gallon+ of the muck from the bottom and a gallon or two of the surface of the bottom of the pond( sticks, leaves and algae). Drop the 5 gallons in to a tank, throw a layer of the old clay kitty litter, Then add the 2 gallons of bottom surface muck to sand and add to the tank top off w/ leaf litter and sticks algae. Hard scape and add plants and your done....Never had to water changes....
As kids we are fascinated by creepy crawlies. Our parents say yuk, don't play with that, not nice. And so some parents ruin that connection with nature.
Thank you, I'm not a chemicals person in my lawn, in my house, and I have a place i can get some good pond water and fixins'. Going to start setting up my tank Saturday.
I tried his method with creek water in my turtles tank. my tank is clear as hell. Currently just running a small filter. In my 40 gallon tank. Creek mud, and plants in my 90 gallon tank next. Great info in his vids
Oh Papa Fish, I made a couple of your aquariums and now I've made a third but I made them off of a video that just talked about the 1 inch of soil the 2 inches of sand and adding plants. The 2 tanks have done well. One has some glass shrimp ottocinclus catfish and 9 Rummynose tetras in it currently. 1 has some kuhli loaches 4 or 5 ottocinclus and 6 pufferfish. The newest currently has 2 angelfish and 2 coridorias that one is brand new...well...4 days now I think, The others have been going for nearly 3 years and ...somewhere around 2 ...2.5 years. I havn't watched your stuff in awhile not because I didn't think it was good I know it is I have it...at least partially. Recently I have been going through some upheaval in jobs...not different places of work just different jobs within the company I work for and my time has been limited. That is no excuse for neglecting tanks but the Father fish tanks have done well whereas the others are showing the neglect much more clearly. Recently I've stabalized into a position and now that I am more comfortable in it, I find that I want to pay greater attention to my hobbies most of all fish keeping so I've come back to the web started watching your videos and learned of the Food web. Well...I am in Minnesota and its cold here now...lower to mid 30s during the day sometimes down as low as the teens at night. But the bodies of water are not completely frozen over yet. I went out to a nearby pond....or maybe more accurately a slough with a large water area in it, got some leaves detritus and yes a bit of mud, its only been a couple days since I did that for a "resurrection jar" but I fear that the cold temperatures have sent most of the creatures deeper, the only thing that thus far has emerged I can see is a damsel fly larva. I know I am to let it sit for 30 day and see what I get, but I admit I am a bit disheartened I had hoped to see cyclops or scuds or ...something like that but alas alas. Maybe things will show up in time...maybe I will beable to see a cloud of amoebas but currently all that I can find no matter how I look at it is the one damsel fly larva. Ohwell wish me luck, maybe in a month in the warmth of the house it will be teaming..I hope so, it would be a true resurrection jar at that point me thinks. as other than the damsel fly it appears to be devoid of life. If it fails I will try again in the spring/early summer I am sure I will have success then. It acually reminds me of the my first foray into fish keeping ...around 20 years ago...perhaps 22 or 23 when I got a plant out of a lake I was proud of the plant which now I cant even really remember what it was but what really interested me after awhile was the life that came with it. Cyclops and Hydra is what I remember. Anyway I digress, I will tell you in a month how this jar turned out...atm it is looking rather abysmal. But hope is not lost!
FF please educate me as to how much leaves from the creek and or dried dead leaves to start a food web for my 55 gallon tank :) ......and when to add more. Thank you!
I like to use a serving bowl. Like you might have mashed potatoes in. I turn on the hose not so its blasting but just so that its ....I don't know....filling the end of the nozzle, I guess. the water goes in nice and smoothly nothing is disturbed and it doesn't seem to be very cloudy at all. Sometimes there is a little scum of something on the surface. You can do away with that if you find it by placing paper towels on the water surface....that at least is what I have done and its worked really well. You don't disturb anything let the water gently fill the tank and you are in great shape.
I recently bought the food web live culture leaf kit and split it between two jars with a handful of the dried leaves and spring water with the proper cover and light. It's been 10 days now and so far I see nothing growing in either jar. Not sure what went wrong here.
FF brand new subscriber after binging on about 15 of your videos in a row. I've been really struggling to create a healthy environment for my cherry red neocaradina shrimps. I've had so many failures following advice that's the opposite of this. Natural is the answer? Why is that so scary for me to face? It really shouldn't be but I'm going to start a resurrection jar tomorrow. Thank you for the wonderfully honest information. I'll put a picture in the discord in a month!
I have a beautiful setup Coldwater tank (beautiful to me as its lovely overgrown.) I bought a larger tank and want to transfer everyone and everything into the new tank and create a warm water tank for my betta and his community fish because the 37litre are too small. I really procrastinate and hate to destroy the cold water system.
I wouldn't throw anything away, no no.But I have to take all plants out which go into the bigger tank. I got gravel in the old one as it was my first tank so I will take decoration and plants out and add a 5 cm layer of soil on top of the gravel.(I use Flora Combo which is nice.)
You have the kind of wisdom that can't be found elsewhere. I have a red ear slider that I'm keeping in a tank,any advice on keeping it clean without filtration?
@@FatherFish okay. Right now i have a decorative filter in his tank with biomedia and carbon filters with sponges at the intakes. Would it be a good idea to change to filterless setup for a turtle? He poops a lot
Im curious to try this. My tank is chugging along alright with the pet store approved methods. I have access to native New Zealand rainforest nearby-ish, i'm not sure how much our biodiversity might differ from your area, but I suppose the jar experiment would be a safe option just to see what happens. Should I find a body of water that has fish living in it? Or will any non polluted body of water be suitable?
I had to mix gravel with the top Inch of sand to keep the pleco from digging down to the dirt. If it doesn't clear up in a day it's ur fish kicking sand around.
I really appreciate and admire your time sir. The time you’ve put towards these videos. And also the strength and vindictiveness that you carry throughout. Wisdom from experience…in it’s entirety. I like how you teach. Educating out of sheer enjoyment. 🙌🏼
I have recently discovered your channel and you have completely convinced me of the benefits a making a dirted tank. I just have a single tank, 4ft wide, 1 foot deep. It currently has a very small amount of gravel substrate, mostly in a pot, and about 20 mixed barbs and tetras. I wonder if you have ever done any videos on how to convert an existing tank to a different substrate? Am I best to get everything out into a tub, add dirt and sand, and then put the fish etc back in, or is is possibly to put the dirt into the tank gradually without removing everything already in there?
You could just treat the gravel as a false bottom in a terrarium and add dirt and sand on top of it, but water will need to come out. plants will have to be replanted to ensure they dont suffocate, some of them have parts that cannot be buried, like anubias. You can house your fish in the bucket you drain the water into along with your tank gear like pump and heater while you work, they can stay there for a good while, just look at all the breeders keeping their colonies in plastic bins from the dollar store.
For the most part, my tanks are synthetic. I like the way my tanks look. I agree, "natural" is not always the same thing as aesthetically pleasing to the human mind.
Reminds me of the mulm covered flourishing tank java ferns (at twice the size and half the price as the jarred sterile ones) at my PetSmart, mulm washes off lol
This is a funny comment. I'd like to see a photo of your plastic fish environment and entertain the idea that it is possible for that to be esthetically pleasing.
Thank you for your valuable suggestions. In nature river, pond etc are exposed to UV rays. So do we also need to run UV lamp or UV filter in aquarium too?
Light is the missing ingredient for our tanks. I try to run mine for as long as possible to allow plants maximum opportunity to benefit. We cannot replicate the sun. Certainly a sun lit tank is superior.
Hi there! I've got a 20 gallon planted substrate tank and have cone a cross something confusing. However the cover photo for your video is the what thing ive noticed in my tank. Small whitefish bugs o my wood that comes put of the water. I was wondering if you could tell me what they are and if they are good or bad for my fish.
Quick question about sand depth. I've gone deeper with each tank the last one being 4in in a 15 gallon. How much does depth factor in when you have Malaysian trumpet snails turning the substrate?
What an amazing video, thanks heaps!! Only if I knew this a couple weeks ago ahaha. I currently got a 10G with 1.5 inch fluval soil. Unfortunately I cannot have 3 inches of substrate as that won't leave much room for the fish (or just the look). Would you still recommend adding plants and water from my local pond into my aquarium? Thanks a lot 😃
@@FatherFish Thanks for the feedback. If you can show on your channel that this works also for discus that would be a real game changer compared to the two times 50% water change approch that is common in the hobby. Chris
Dear Sir, recently I had upgraded my tank from 3 feet to 4 feet , In the 3 feet ( old tank ) I had one inch of old gravel and on top 3 inch sand for 2 years, tank was nice, plants were growing fine , when upgrading to 4 feet , I moved the old gravel and sand in the 4 feet which got mix up and I top it up with more sand to get 3 inch, and I put old leaf litre from the pond on top of the sand of new tank (4 feet ) . Have I done any error ?? Do I need to do something more ?.
It should be fine. A layer of dirt on the very bottom would have been good but your old sand and gravel has a lot of biology and nutrients. I will be fine, I am sure. The leaf littler from your pond is excellent.
If you're setting up a new tank would it be possible to run a HOB filter and carbon for a few days to soak up contaminants? I might hesitate to add something like that to an established tank, unless it came from my yard.
@@FatherFish I wouldn't hesitate if the source is my yard. I only use neem and dawn soap for pesticide in the orchard. The problem I face is that I live in a very ag oriented area. They treat everything, even the grass throughout the year. Before I moved down here I had to contend with mining run off. When I say hesitate I really mean "take some time and read the Department of Ecology reports" before collecting.
Is there a minimum volume for NATURAL fish aquarium? We know, things change if scales (dimensions) change. Subatomic particles oppose general relativity. 🤔
You no father fish is old schooler because he’ll spit on a bunch of seeds throw them in your back yard , and boom next year your squeezing fresh lemons lol 😂
Humans seem to love monocultures. Easier to understand. Easier to control. Diversity scares some of us. We are more comfortable with what we can control.
I'd love to do this and stars using certain things. Been trying and failing and trying again. Since I was a boy of 7. Now I'm 32. But I have a major problem when it come to bringing in my biodiversity. It's illegal in Alberta Canada to remove anything from a natural body of water of any kind to use in your home aquatic Hobby. To remove any fish, crustaceans, plants, dirt. Or anything with live in it is illegal to do and if caught doing so can face anywhere from a 10k fine to 100k fine. I don't live in the country. I live in Calgary so I actually don't have many options to choose from where I could just go grab it from nature. Im stuck with what's in my yard. I do have a pond but I made it a year ago. Its 1500 gl. But there is nothing in there that I don't already have in my tanks. And also should I leave hydra colonies alone. There's about 100 of them in my 45gl female guppy colony.i have separate breeding tanks and set up so I'm not worried about them eating fry. I see it as population control. But never have I ever had to deal with them in my 25 years. I'd very much love for you to do a video on them.
I do not believe the draconian anti nature laws in Australia are as Byzantine as those you describe in Calgary. I might consider mucking around in boots in a creek and emptying my boots after I arrived home. Your pond is your best bet. Add leaves and what ever elose you can to improve the diversity in it.
Fishing is legal as long as ur indigenous or have a fishing license. I enjoy fishing might have to put my hipwheighers on and duck tap my legs over my boots. lol. I'll just have to strip down in a rubber maid when I get home lol. Once again your knowledge has been noted down and is greatly appreciated. One thing about Canadian government. They say they love it but they can't stand natural diversity. If Im found in possession of a live Pursian carp here in Alberta it's an automatic law they will kill it immediately and charge me and give me a 100grand fine for not reporting it to fish and wild life. To release any aquatic animals into the natural system here is also extremely illegal. Most aquatic hobby fish can be invasive under the right condition. Or so the gov would have you believe. And yet trap fishing and baiting is also highly illegal. Dammed if u do or if you don't type deal. Cause certain fish store employees around my local area. Won't say names. Take unwanted store fish and think there doing the fish a favor by throwing it in the park pond. So now in the bow River and south Saskatchewan you can find all kinds of aquatic hobbyist fish that are not native. Like Molly's guppies koi carp snails of all kinds Cichlids. Etc. And here is where the damned if u do comes in. It's illegal for me to fish them out once they are there. I have to leave them call fish and wild life report the findings. They come in mark study and then eradicate the species. I've personally seen them do it. Never again have I ever reported another species I've come across to the government. Cause instead of letting guys like me fish and trap the species they choose to chemically wipe them out. Which in turn kills so many other species. They chemically treated my favorite park pond due to finding Pursian carp in it. There was all manner of life in it. All kinds of fish. Snails. bug. Diversity. They wiped it all out. Now there is nothing but rocks and water. And a broken heart for reporting it.
@@FatherFish No joke, I had a friend 20 years ago bleach out her whole tank. This was before I knew anything or had any fish but I told her it was a bad idea for obvious reasons. She killed all her goldfish.
When I first started keeping fish I was only given the tank. All my gravel, rocks, Driftwood, snails and fish came from the creek near my house. I made a DIY filter using a little fountain pump and some bottles and sponge, and I had a Led rope light on top for a little light to see into the tank. I couldn't go to the pet store because my family couldn't afford it. I never had any issues with my first wild tanks. But now when I bought the stuff from the pet store I'm constantly having a hard time with my fish getting sick and dying. I have to start over again from the basics.
Nature knows best Vanissa. Back to basics. Your childhood memories can guide you back to the joy you experienced cherishing the natural world.
Sounds right, fish aquarium just need basic stuff. The more basic, the more easier it is to run.
That sounds so cool! I want to get some local species but the really interesting ones are endangered and protected. Would be illegal to collect them.
@@FatherFish😂 your the greatest
A few months ago I started to incorporate some wild rocks and driftwood and yesterday some dirt
Hey Father Fish, I followed your methods and set up a 55-gallon tank for my carnival goldfish, I had him in a regular tank for four years then put him in the natural tank, I put plants in that are suitable for goldfish, between the dirt, sand , leaves and acorn caps, my goldfish has never looked better and is very active and healthy, he has been in the new tank for one year now, thanks for all the research and knowledge you share. 🐟🐠🐬
Nice Gary. Congrats.
I have three tanks at the moment and they all have something caught on a river on pond near my house. Dont be afraid of nature. Best regards Father Fish.
Love this guy. What a wealth of real life knowledge.
Thank you Dan
FF..if they gave out Academy Awards for TH-cam videos....this video of yours would WIN the Academy Award for Best TH-cam video for aquarium enthusiasts!!!
Congratulations!!! You are amazing and so inspiring🐠🐟
Wow, thank you! Kathleen. What a delightul note!!!
Nothing stranger than people. People have been running away from nature for thousands of years. Keep happy FF, 🍀
Nature, God, peace, bringing it all back together.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤.
Thank you father fish :) I started my first tank last week with this method. So far so good! I had a bioactove terrarium already, using isopods to break down leaf litter ect. I barely have to touch it and my plants are so happy. A lot of the same principals seem to apply, biodiversity and life in balance is so beautiful.
That is awesome Artemias! Good job. Keep us posted on DISCORD.
@@FatherFish You have made me a believer in doing this to the
pond I'm building for a friend at his place, just by listening to how
you have explained it in detail how it all works together in nature.
Father Fish, I wish I found your channel a year ago. I feel better about my tank moving forward and yesterday I brought in some strawberry runners and a few spoonfuls of dirt. I’m working up the courage to pull everyone out and fix my foundation but baby steps
Just do it. I just made my first aquarium with soil, compost, play sand, manzanita branch, rocks, aqua plants, and a few pieces of muck from the pond and creek up from my cabin.
It's only day 2 but my pure white betta is absolutely loving it.
Not sure how I found your channel sir but I'm very glad I did. Currently trying to convince my girlfriend that your way is the right way and the look on her face was priceless 🤣. I told her she can keep her tanks how she wants but I'm gonna switch over to your methods as soon as we move to our new place!
You go Jay. Join us on DISCORD. You will never be alone again.
When I was a young little girl, I won a goldfish at the fair. Named him George (after the first president!). Had him for about 5 yrs, in a 29 gallon aquarium. He was big!!! BUT, as I didn't know any better, I brought a river minnow home, threw that minnow in that tank & the next day, they were both dead... broke my little heart... I was so mad my goldfish died... things we learn over the years. ❤
I would have done the same thing and probably gotten the same result
Why would a minnow cause it to die?
GLAD I FOUND THIS CHANNEL! THANK YOU! I HAVE 3- 6 INCH IRRIDESENT SHARKS IM ABOUT TO PUT 3 BROWNS LEAVES I FOUND BY A TREE IN THE PARK!
I think that the more people see and hear consistent positive results from those of us keeping a truly natural, biodiverse fish tanks, the more familiar they will get the idea and be willing to pursue it themselves. All you need to do , Father Fish, is keep teaching and practicing what you teach! …..In my opinion .
I appreciate your confidence Plant Life. I think so too. It is people like you who are making the difference..
@@FatherFish I left a reference to you on a fish for thought/girl talks fish mashup today, for someone starting a 29
@@FatherFish If I was to use composted leaves for dirt
would that work or would I have to add other stuff to it ?
like organic potting soil If so then what else would I need.
@@raisinggoldfishonabudget7058 potting soil is perfect. You need soil.
I wish I'd known of your channel before setting up my deep substrate tanks, but instinct as a gardener brought me that far, at least!
The funny thing is after playing for the first time with the plenum/undergravel filter method, I realized the sponges I'd laid at the bottom of two of mine probably function somewhat the same way
Understanding nature is the foundation of gardening, whether in the back yard, the field, or the aquarium. Thank you for the insight.
True. They do. Removing water flow through the substrate and adding a layer of sand on top of the gravel creates a perfectly natural environment capable of cycling the entire system.
This is such a classic ,Love this ! Thank you !
Back in the dark ages we used to just go dn to the local pond and pull 5 gallon+ of the muck from the bottom and a gallon or two of the surface of the bottom of the pond( sticks, leaves and algae). Drop the 5 gallons in to a tank, throw a layer of the old clay kitty litter, Then add the 2 gallons of bottom surface muck to sand and add to the tank top off w/ leaf litter and sticks algae. Hard scape and add plants and your done....Never had to water changes....
AH! THOSE were the daze!!
As kids we are fascinated by creepy crawlies. Our parents say yuk, don't play with that, not nice. And so some parents ruin that connection with nature.
Thank you, I'm not a chemicals person in my lawn, in my house, and I have a place i can get some good pond water and fixins'. Going to start setting up my tank Saturday.
Go for it! Share the journey at Father Fish Shoal: discord.gg/vQJvcQge
You’re so cute when you’re worked up
That is the most seductive thing a woman can say to a man.
It's probably bcz I excel at keeping houseplants that I never thought twice about trying a dirted aquarium. There's serious power in soil.😊
I tried his method with creek water in my turtles tank. my tank is clear as hell. Currently just running a small filter. In my 40 gallon tank. Creek mud, and plants in my 90 gallon tank next. Great info in his vids
I could listen too you all day long. You are a wealth of information!
Wow, thank you Sue!
Oh Papa Fish, I made a couple of your aquariums and now I've made a third but I made them off of a video that just talked about the 1 inch of soil the 2 inches of sand and adding plants. The 2 tanks have done well. One has some glass shrimp ottocinclus catfish and 9 Rummynose tetras in it currently. 1 has some kuhli loaches 4 or 5 ottocinclus and 6 pufferfish. The newest currently has 2 angelfish and 2 coridorias that one is brand new...well...4 days now I think, The others have been going for nearly 3 years and ...somewhere around 2 ...2.5 years. I havn't watched your stuff in awhile not because I didn't think it was good I know it is I have it...at least partially. Recently I have been going through some upheaval in jobs...not different places of work just different jobs within the company I work for and my time has been limited. That is no excuse for neglecting tanks but the Father fish tanks have done well whereas the others are showing the neglect much more clearly. Recently I've stabalized into a position and now that I am more comfortable in it, I find that I want to pay greater attention to my hobbies most of all fish keeping so I've come back to the web started watching your videos and learned of the Food web. Well...I am in Minnesota and its cold here now...lower to mid 30s during the day sometimes down as low as the teens at night. But the bodies of water are not completely frozen over yet. I went out to a nearby pond....or maybe more accurately a slough with a large water area in it, got some leaves detritus and yes a bit of mud, its only been a couple days since I did that for a "resurrection jar" but I fear that the cold temperatures have sent most of the creatures deeper, the only thing that thus far has emerged I can see is a damsel fly larva. I know I am to let it sit for 30 day and see what I get, but I admit I am a bit disheartened I had hoped to see cyclops or scuds or ...something like that but alas alas. Maybe things will show up in time...maybe I will beable to see a cloud of amoebas but currently all that I can find no matter how I look at it is the one damsel fly larva. Ohwell wish me luck, maybe in a month in the warmth of the house it will be teaming..I hope so, it would be a true resurrection jar at that point me thinks. as other than the damsel fly it appears to be devoid of life. If it fails I will try again in the spring/early summer I am sure I will have success then. It acually reminds me of the my first foray into fish keeping ...around 20 years ago...perhaps 22 or 23 when I got a plant out of a lake I was proud of the plant which now I cant even really remember what it was but what really interested me after awhile was the life that came with it. Cyclops and Hydra is what I remember. Anyway I digress, I will tell you in a month how this jar turned out...atm it is looking rather abysmal. But hope is not lost!
All will be well. Join us in the Shoal for more chat friendly folk. discord.gg/father-fish-shoal
That resurrection jar is awesome! I was truely impressed with what i saw.
A very cool project for everyone.
FF please educate me as to how much leaves from the creek and or dried dead leaves to start a food web for my 55 gallon tank :) ......and when to add more. Thank you!
I have at least 50 videos on that topic., The education iis there if you will use it.
I like to use a serving bowl. Like you might have mashed potatoes in. I turn on the hose not so its blasting but just so that its ....I don't know....filling the end of the nozzle, I guess. the water goes in nice and smoothly nothing is disturbed and it doesn't seem to be very cloudy at all. Sometimes there is a little scum of something on the surface. You can do away with that if you find it by placing paper towels on the water surface....that at least is what I have done and its worked really well. You don't disturb anything let the water gently fill the tank and you are in great shape.
PERFECT!
I finally found a video by Father Fish that I have not seen yet.😊😮
I recently bought the food web live culture leaf kit and split it between two jars with a handful of the dried leaves and spring water with the proper cover and light. It's been 10 days now and so far I see nothing growing in either jar. Not sure what went wrong here.
It is difficult to ship live culture. Try collecting some locally from a ditch or creek.
FF brand new subscriber after binging on about 15 of your videos in a row. I've been really struggling to create a healthy environment for my cherry red neocaradina shrimps. I've had so many failures following advice that's the opposite of this. Natural is the answer? Why is that so scary for me to face? It really shouldn't be but I'm going to start a resurrection jar tomorrow. Thank you for the wonderfully honest information. I'll put a picture in the discord in a month!
I have a beautiful setup Coldwater tank (beautiful to me as its lovely overgrown.)
I bought a larger tank and want to transfer everyone and everything into the new tank and create a warm water tank for my betta and his community fish because the 37litre are too small. I really procrastinate and hate to destroy the cold water system.
Do not destroy the old one. Create a new one. You can share some of the plants but the substrate needs to be new.
I wouldn't throw anything away, no no.But I have to take all plants out which go into the bigger tank. I got gravel in the old one as it was my first tank so I will take decoration and plants out and add a 5 cm layer of soil on top of the gravel.(I use Flora Combo which is nice.)
@@corinnakl Be sure to cap the soil with 2" of sand. Sounds terrific. Can;t wait to see your handiwork.
You have the kind of wisdom that can't be found elsewhere. I have a red ear slider that I'm keeping in a tank,any advice on keeping it clean without filtration?
feed it very tinly amounts of food.
@@FatherFish okay. Right now i have a decorative filter in his tank with biomedia and carbon filters with sponges at the intakes. Would it be a good idea to change to filterless setup for a turtle? He poops a lot
@@ForProfit-x100 No. The filter will help maintain the detritus level made worse by the turtle.
Im curious to try this.
My tank is chugging along alright with the pet store approved methods. I have access to native New Zealand rainforest nearby-ish, i'm not sure how much our biodiversity might differ from your area, but I suppose the jar experiment would be a safe option just to see what happens. Should I find a body of water that has fish living in it? Or will any non polluted body of water be suitable?
Any clean water source is fine. With fish is preferable. Your environment should be very interesting. microfauna are global.
I love you so simple and easy also the only way I can have fish and work. My little piece of nature keeps from losing it when I cant be outside.
Love you too Christina. This is the way to be one with you little aquarium.
Keep going father fish. Soon everyones fish tanks will be completely filled to the brim with dirt.
That's the plan James!
And dead fish and invertebrates.
I had to mix gravel with the top Inch of sand to keep the pleco from digging down to the dirt. If it doesn't clear up in a day it's ur fish kicking sand around.
Plecos will only dig an inch or so, unless, of course you have a giant pleco that loves to make tunnels.
Full size bristle nose. About 10in.
I really appreciate and admire your time sir. The time you’ve put towards these videos. And also the strength and vindictiveness that you carry throughout. Wisdom from experience…in it’s entirety. I like how you teach. Educating out of sheer enjoyment. 🙌🏼
Thank you Dillon. Look up the meaning of the word vindictiveness. lol
‘And vindication’ there lol
@@FatherFishHahahahaha this is great! "please don't compliment my vindictiveness"
can I add any leaf like I pluck,dry them and use them ?
absolutely NOT! They contain fouling sugars. Select leaves that have fallen.
Would it beneficial to have a thicker sand layer ? 3" perhaps ?
Yes. Absolutely.
Looking dapper !
TY Zimon.
I have recently discovered your channel and you have completely convinced me of the benefits a making a dirted tank. I just have a single tank, 4ft wide, 1 foot deep. It currently has a very small amount of gravel substrate, mostly in a pot, and about 20 mixed barbs and tetras. I wonder if you have ever done any videos on how to convert an existing tank to a different substrate? Am I best to get everything out into a tub, add dirt and sand, and then put the fish etc back in, or is is possibly to put the dirt into the tank gradually without removing everything already in there?
You could just treat the gravel as a false bottom in a terrarium and add dirt and sand on top of it, but water will need to come out. plants will have to be replanted to ensure they dont suffocate, some of them have parts that cannot be buried, like anubias. You can house your fish in the bucket you drain the water into along with your tank gear like pump and heater while you work, they can stay there for a good while, just look at all the breeders keeping their colonies in plastic bins from the dollar store.
For the most part, my tanks are synthetic. I like the way my tanks look. I agree, "natural" is not always the same thing as aesthetically pleasing to the human mind.
Hi JonSua. Nice to see you.
Reminds me of the mulm covered flourishing tank java ferns (at twice the size and half the price as the jarred sterile ones) at my PetSmart, mulm washes off lol
This is a funny comment. I'd like to see a photo of your plastic fish environment and entertain the idea that it is possible for that to be esthetically pleasing.
amazing!
delightful!
I've had a case of anchor worms once from wild collected materials in a tank.
Thank you for your valuable suggestions. In nature river, pond etc are exposed to UV rays. So do we also need to run UV lamp or UV filter in aquarium too?
Light is the missing ingredient for our tanks. I try to run mine for as long as possible to allow plants maximum opportunity to benefit. We cannot replicate the sun. Certainly a sun lit tank is superior.
Hi there! I've got a 20 gallon planted substrate tank and have cone a cross something confusing. However the cover photo for your video is the what thing ive noticed in my tank. Small whitefish bugs o my wood that comes put of the water. I was wondering if you could tell me what they are and if they are good or bad for my fish.
They are natural food for your fish.
Quick question about sand depth. I've gone deeper with each tank the last one being 4in in a 15 gallon. How much does depth factor in when you have Malaysian trumpet snails turning the substrate?
I believe the sand can never be too deep. In a creek it mat be a foot or more. 2" is my recommended absolute minimum.
So I harvest mosquito larvae in feed to my fish can fry but have always been concerned about internal parasites? What's your thoughts Father Fish
There are none you are ver likely to find. CK out my vid on Parasites. A wow vid.
th-cam.com/video/ZTIRwvLLTu0/w-d-xo.html
What an amazing video, thanks heaps!! Only if I knew this a couple weeks ago ahaha. I currently got a 10G with 1.5 inch fluval soil. Unfortunately I cannot have 3 inches of substrate as that won't leave much room for the fish (or just the look).
Would you still recommend adding plants and water from my local pond into my aquarium?
Thanks a lot 😃
Add one inch of sand, that will work. If still too much remove 1/2" of fluval.
Leaches? What happens if those or similar get in?
They get eaten by the fish. Yummy
I feed pond snails to my pea puffer fish inside! 👌
That is awesome!
Have you ever had an outbreak of callumanus worms? If so, how did you deal with it?
Yes. I isolated every fish that was affected until no more were affected in the tank.
Hi father fish, does this approach also work for discus? Even for wild caught? Thanks for your feedback! Chris
Absolutely. It replicates natural biotopes. I am working on customizing for different natural environments.
@@FatherFish Thanks for the feedback. If you can show on your channel that this works also for discus that would be a real game changer compared to the two times 50% water change approch that is common in the hobby. Chris
Dear Sir, recently I had upgraded my tank from 3 feet to 4 feet , In the 3 feet ( old tank ) I had one inch of old gravel and on top 3 inch sand for 2 years, tank was nice, plants were growing fine , when upgrading to 4 feet , I moved the old gravel and sand in the 4 feet which got mix up and I top it up with more sand to get 3 inch, and I put old leaf litre from the pond on top of the sand of new tank (4 feet ) . Have I done any error ?? Do I need to do something more ?.
It should be fine. A layer of dirt on the very bottom would have been good but your old sand and gravel has a lot of biology and nutrients. I will be fine, I am sure. The leaf littler from your pond is excellent.
@@FatherFish thank you Sir, I try to put more leaf liter
Great video, succint but packed with info that's really accessible for novices. On with the campaign!
Thank you Thomasin.
Cool content father fish. Recently added more sand to my tank. Thanks for the advice
Glad to help Mr Aquatic.
Greatest advice! 😃
Glad you think so Amit. Nice to hear from you.
[thank, you father fish for you're videos and you're helpful info]👍
Bringing in a dragonfly nymph with the pond mud would not be good!
My main concern is pesticide being on the leaves and other outdoor items that could kill fish.
Unless they hav e been sprayed in the last month there are no pesticides that last longer.
@@FatherFish OK.
If you're setting up a new tank would it be possible to run a HOB filter and carbon for a few days to soak up contaminants?
I might hesitate to add something like that to an established tank, unless it came from my yard.
@@fritzthecat9451 In a new tank there are no contaminants.
What would you hesitate to add to an established tank, leaves?
@@FatherFish I wouldn't hesitate if the source is my yard. I only use neem and dawn soap for pesticide in the orchard. The problem I face is that I live in a very ag oriented area. They treat everything, even the grass throughout the year. Before I moved down here I had to contend with mining run off. When I say hesitate I really mean "take some time and read the Department of Ecology reports" before collecting.
Cool!
YES!
Is there a minimum volume for NATURAL fish aquarium? We know, things change if scales (dimensions) change. Subatomic particles oppose general relativity. 🤔
Try a resurrection jar. Put a scoop of mud in a jar with water and put it on your window ledge. Watch what happens.
Lol father I gave 5 years ago !!! Your Going to drive yourself crazy my man lol 😂 come join team #detritus my man
You got it Fish Tropic!!
You no father fish is old schooler because he’ll spit on a bunch of seeds throw them in your back yard , and boom next year your squeezing fresh lemons lol 😂
Humans seem to love monocultures. Easier to understand. Easier to control. Diversity scares some of us. We are more comfortable with what we can control.
Or think we can. It is always the monoculture that gets out of control.
I'd love to do this and stars using certain things. Been trying and failing and trying again. Since I was a boy of 7. Now I'm 32. But I have a major problem when it come to bringing in my biodiversity. It's illegal in Alberta Canada to remove anything from a natural body of water of any kind to use in your home aquatic Hobby. To remove any fish, crustaceans, plants, dirt. Or anything with live in it is illegal to do and if caught doing so can face anywhere from a 10k fine to 100k fine. I don't live in the country. I live in Calgary so I actually don't have many options to choose from where I could just go grab it from nature. Im stuck with what's in my yard. I do have a pond but I made it a year ago. Its 1500 gl. But there is nothing in there that I don't already have in my tanks. And also should I leave hydra colonies alone. There's about 100 of them in my 45gl female guppy colony.i have separate breeding tanks and set up so I'm not worried about them eating fry. I see it as population control. But never have I ever had to deal with them in my 25 years. I'd very much love for you to do a video on them.
I do not believe the draconian anti nature laws in Australia are as Byzantine as those you describe in Calgary. I might consider mucking around in boots in a creek and emptying my boots after I arrived home.
Your pond is your best bet. Add leaves and what ever elose you can to improve the diversity in it.
Fishing is legal as long as ur indigenous or have a fishing license. I enjoy fishing might have to put my hipwheighers on and duck tap my legs over my boots. lol. I'll just have to strip down in a rubber maid when I get home lol. Once again your knowledge has been noted down and is greatly appreciated. One thing about Canadian government. They say they love it but they can't stand natural diversity. If Im found in possession of a live Pursian carp here in Alberta it's an automatic law they will kill it immediately and charge me and give me a 100grand fine for not reporting it to fish and wild life. To release any aquatic animals into the natural system here is also extremely illegal. Most aquatic hobby fish can be invasive under the right condition. Or so the gov would have you believe. And yet trap fishing and baiting is also highly illegal. Dammed if u do or if you don't type deal. Cause certain fish store employees around my local area. Won't say names. Take unwanted store fish and think there doing the fish a favor by throwing it in the park pond. So now in the bow River and south Saskatchewan you can find all kinds of aquatic hobbyist fish that are not native. Like Molly's guppies koi carp snails of all kinds Cichlids. Etc. And here is where the damned if u do comes in. It's illegal for me to fish them out once they are there. I have to leave them call fish and wild life report the findings. They come in mark study and then eradicate the species. I've personally seen them do it. Never again have I ever reported another species I've come across to the government. Cause instead of letting guys like me fish and trap the species they choose to chemically wipe them out. Which in turn kills so many other species. They chemically treated my favorite park pond due to finding Pursian carp in it. There was all manner of life in it. All kinds of fish. Snails. bug. Diversity. They wiped it all out. Now there is nothing but rocks and water. And a broken heart for reporting it.
@@stanleydoran2584 I don't understand this..
I almost introduced a leech by mistake!
What about the anaerobic timebomb dr. Novak is talking about ?
Exists in his tanks, not mine.
Everything in my tanks are from the wild.
BRAVO ABC!!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤.
Bleach the leaves first; 🤣
gotta keep it clean. lol
@@FatherFish No joke, I had a friend 20 years ago bleach out her whole tank. This was before I knew anything or had any fish but I told her it was a bad idea for obvious reasons. She killed all her goldfish.
Tranquilo you again .