I recently, found out about anoxic systems for the aquarium and the search took me right to some of your older content. I have found it very useful and informative. Glad that you started making videos once more.
@Kevin Novak Ph.D. , I use a variation of your method for placing the air line into the uplift tube. I drilled a hole in the side of my uplift tube below the substrate and the air line enters there. The air line is then burried in the substrate and ran up the back corner of tank. If the back glass is painted black and the air line is also black, the air line blends in nicely and not as noticeable. Thank you for your videos.
Great video =) Thank you for answering my questions about sand and plants =) I'm now even more motivated to redo my 55 gallon with a plenum and sand... =)
Hi Dr Novak, you are great! I have to say I really love your approach. Thank you for the great videos. I'm switching over to plenam and anoxic filters. I use an HOB and UG on most of my tanks.
If a plenum is there without lift tube, will it still work as anoxic or will it become anaerobic? Also, if the plenum is made with say a custom mesh like structure without 'locking' slits for pre-made lift tubes, how to make and fit a lift tube in that?
I use a soldering iron to do my tube holes. But this is so informative. Thinking of creating a vase plenum for clown killifish. Going to use a round under gravel filter.
Good evening Dr Novak . Thank you very much for this video. It really is very interesting . How ever I only found it after I made my plenum yesterday. I have a NICREW UFO Aquarium Air Pump . It says the air flow capacity is 4 Cubic Feet per minute. I have just cut the tube to 3 inches and put my air stone into the tube so the air stone sits on top of the plenum. The uplift does not have a cap on it. I have not put any fish in the tank yet as I am a first time fish owner and I am trying to be a thoughtful fish owner. Do I have to try and find a cap and set it up the way you have ? I don't own a drill. Also I have a bio sponge filter run with an air pump motor. It is a second hand tank . The original filter I just put inside some filter sponge and I have a 5 bar thingy on top of the water. The tank is 80 litres. I hope that you have the time to help me . Much obliged. Thank you 😀
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I have done that. I also made my plenum out of plastic plenums of different heights as I needed smaller ones to fit around the edge of my tank . The gap in height was maybe 1/8 th inch and no gravel could fall down. Then I topped off with gravel and fancy gravel on top about another 2 inches. I hope this will be ok I spent 2 days building it but it was quite exciting really. 😁
Hello Dr. Novak, I liked your idea and went looking at Home Depot and Ace Hardware store in my city and they don’t have the caps. Could you in the description next time put the name of the product, and any other identifying information that could help in the future? Thank you
How deep should the DIY plenum be for a 25 gallon tank ? How thick should the substrate be for coarse gravel ? How many l/pm or g/pm should the air pump be in order to be classified as low flow for the tank in question ? Thank u very much
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I just made a plenum using and undergravel filter.. layered the base on top of the ugf with plastic mesh used fine and medium coarse gravel then used another mesh and layered large coarse gravel to top it off as I have goldfish.. used the airlift method it looks almost exactly like ur vintage tank Overall pleased with the outcome although still getting used to the thicker layer of gravel and that I wont see the desired effects anytime soon..I hope this works because I just did a whooole lot of work lol.
It helps keep the air bubbles quiet or should I say not as loud if no diffusion was used. However, a CO2 diffuser would really cosmetically be hidden , it would hide the diffuser perfectly. 👍
I have a if filter in an established tank. Do I need to break down the aquarium to change it to anoxic filter?y established tank is 40 high with 3 lift tubes. My substrate is 3 to 5 inches it is low in middle and high in back and sides
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums thank you for the response, you know you can use pool strainer baskets to make the anoxic filter. That’s what we were gonna use for our sump on a 210 gal. Can find them for around $10-$20.
Put a screen in-between the substrate so the Geophagus can only dig so deep until they hit the screen. one of those plastic black craft screens will do just right.
Dr, where do you find the black plastic caps that you drilled out, I’ve looked all over at the big box stores? Can you point me to the department? Thanks.
Hello, I want to ask you a question. The video where you said to put ground cover fabric over the under gravel filter, do I put insert the uptake tube while the fabric is still underneath the tube? Or do I cut out a hole in the fabric then insert the tube with no ground cover underneath the uplift tube? ( I have never ever used an under gravel filter before so please excuse my ignorance) Thank you in advance.
Yes plenum for all tanks, or go with very thin only substrate of no more than 1/4- 3/8” deep without a plenum. Try to stay away from sand base substrate unless it will constantly be turned over. If not then 1/4” max on sand and very fine substrates.
When you have anaerobic bacteria it converts nitrates back into ammonia. Hobbyists are scare of the word “anaerobic”! I have read on the Internet hobbyists saying: “They want nothing to do with anything that has anything to do with the word “anaerobic” in their Koi Ponds’s or their aquariums ”. You would think by now hobbyist would get over this lack of the understanding of this word and would embrace it as they do other words like Cholesterol. We all know that there is good cholesterol (HDL) and there is bad cholesterol (LDL). Just like, there are good anaerobic bacteria like facultative anaerobic bacteria: This is like good cholesterol that is correlated with reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and keeps us healthy. Do you notice the similarity between the two? In addition too bad cholesterol that is like obligated anaerobic bacteria that turns Nitrates into Ammonia, it also creates under specialized conditions Hydrogen Sulfide, Methane gas, and the most deadly of all Hydrogen Cyanide, which can leach back into solution. Not a gas like element (N2 ) most hobbyist think, this is called; Assimilatory Denitrification.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums pardon my ignorance dr Novak but you telling me an aquarium with anaerobic conditions will failed at some point and can become toxic?
@@ilovegirls69style yes it has a very high probability to do so. You can see this happen in dirt tanks and sand filled tanks. If you have more ammonia producers than users, you will have a collapse in the system.
Hi Dr Novak, I am glad you are keeping well. I am currently running my 850litre tank using one Basket 30cm x 30cm x 20 cm high. I am delighted with the results, Nitrate at 5ppm now. I am designing a 20m3 tank that I hope to build next year using a settlement section with a drain, 30 baskets and an two air lifts, each air lift reported to do 15m3 per hour. I have a few questions for you if you don’t mind. 1) is there a maximum water velocity around the basket ? This will help me match the anoxic filter section to the basket numbers and to the flow rate. 2) In the event of a power failure, there will be no ammonia ‘feeding’ the baskets, how long approximately can the bacteria live in these conditions? Thanks again
To good question question. one, the faster the water moves around the baskets the better it seems to work. Since each basket works off of collecting ions the faster you can get the ions to the basket it acts like a magnet, the more it will pull the ions out of the water. Question two pertains to if the power goes out. That’s something you really don’t have to worry about, the bacteria will utilize other sources for their food stuff and oxygen needs than just ammonia. They have the ability to use oxygen from other ions or live in a non-oxygen environment. Even if your filter is shut down a week it won’t even bother it in the least bit. And that has been confirmed by Harvard chemist.
Wow, that’s fantastic, I thought the bacteria would be dead within a few hours. I am not sure if you realise how what you have done impacts our hobby. This filter means it is possible for me to build a 20m3 tank in concrete and to waterproof it with epoxy, total cost about €3000. The filter will be built inside the tank, so there is no risk of it ever leaking like what happened to joey ( king of DIY) If I had to buy a filter for this tank it would have to be one of the pond setups, and that could run to 15k !!! But the biggest issue is the water changes, I want to keep fish that get to 2-3 foot long, that’s massive nitrate, so I would be looking at changing 4-6 m3 a week, and that has to be heated from 10C to 26C ! That’s just crazy. But with your filter, I will have three air pumps, two duty and one standby, and a settlement tank with a submerged pump to clean it, and that’s it!! It’s so simple! When I see videos of large tanks like this online they have plantrooms and computers to control them. Thank you so much for sharing your amazing invention, it has had and will continue to have a big impact on this hobby and on my enjoyment of it.
Gareth Baker At one time I had a 1200 gallon pond for almost 32 years and for about 10 years of that time I had 17 Koi in that pond. Three of the Koi were 28 inches long another three 24 inches long and the rest were bigger than 16 inches long. Used the anoxic filtration system and it worked just fine even though we have some very cold winters where we don’t feed the fish from about the end of October until the end of March. At the end of March I would start re-feeding the fish about once every three days and the filter just took over without reinoculated it or anything else. other hobbiest filters at the end of March are dead and have to be reinoculate with new bacteria. The anoxic filter carried on and took care of the fish without any ammonia spikes.
Kevin Novak Ph.D. it’s such a shame that more people are not aware of this system. I saw Ohio Fish Rescue building a huge pond last week on their channel. They were talking about using a wetland filter, which is a good filter, but takes up huge space. I told them about your filter and to look at the paper by Manky Sanky. They said they would, but I don’t think they did. They have a huge following, it would only take one large channel like there’s to get the word out. I tried lots of times to get The King of DIY to look at it, after all it is a DIY filter, but he gets so many comments I don’t think he even saw it. I think I will write him a letter because he does seem to read his post. It’s mad to think that you were able support all those Koi in just 1200 gal, and at the same time avoid the terrible ammonia spikes in spring. It shows the great potential for this. I am only 12 weeks since I built my first basket and it has already shocked me with how good my water is and how happy and hungry my fish are. Thanks again
Gareth - I wonder if you made contact with Josh @ OFR (instead of Big Rich) - but I think they kind of follow the pond building guys advice - so maybe it's the pond builder that would be the fellow to turn on to this method? But yeah I totally agree that this method would be great for them.
I am wanting to set up a similar system in a 10g tank I have, but I am wondering about the anaerobic issue. I have seen several videos about creating dirted tanks with 2 or 4 inches of dirt and then another 2 inches of sand on top. This obviously results in an anaerobic area below the sand, and does NOT include a plenum. I dont understand why anaerobic areas are bad for plants. In my understanding of the video, you are saying that plants die off (or at least dont thrive) if they get into an anaerobic area with their roots. But I have heard that roots actually CREATE THEIR OWN anaerobic areas immediately around their root systems. What am I missing? You obviously grow good plants, and the videos I have seen show tons of plant growth too, so I am clearly missing some piece of the puzzle. I dont mean to be contentious, I am just trying to understand the two systems, and which is better for my use case. (Again this is a 10g guppy growout tank, so lots of bioload, and lots of nitrates.
Quote: "Plants do not create an anaerobic area around their roots system. They create oxygen around their roots at least if they are heathy plants that is. At the same time , they prevent the build-up of marsh gas in the substrate, and also prevent it from becoming black. Plant growth in black substrate is not possible." As quoted from Kaspar Horst & Horst Kipper The Optimum Aquarium
By the time I finished watching all your videos I will become a chemist!
Nicely done
Love your Chinese music playing in the background!
Me too.
I recently, found out about anoxic systems for the aquarium and the search took me right to some of your older content. I have found it very useful and informative. Glad that you started making videos once more.
Thank you Dr. Novak. I will be following these exact directions this weekend and will take pics!
Wonderful!
@Kevin Novak Ph.D. , I use a variation of your method for placing the air line into the uplift tube. I drilled a hole in the side of my uplift tube below the substrate and the air line enters there. The air line is then burried in the substrate and ran up the back corner of tank. If the back glass is painted black and the air line is also black, the air line blends in nicely and not as noticeable.
Thank you for your videos.
Kevin, I just finished doing this to my setup. Looks much better and cost me a whole $1. Thanks.
Excellent! one dollar...WOW!
Great video =) Thank you for answering my questions about sand and plants =) I'm now even more motivated to redo my 55 gallon with a plenum and sand... =)
Let me know how it comes out, okay.
Hi Dr Novak, you are great! I have to say I really love your approach. Thank you for the great videos. I'm switching over to plenam and anoxic filters. I use an HOB and UG on most of my tanks.
Wonderful!
If a plenum is there without lift tube, will it still work as anoxic or will it become anaerobic?
Also, if the plenum is made with say a custom mesh like structure without 'locking' slits for pre-made lift tubes, how to make and fit a lift tube in that?
Yes and yes
I use a soldering iron to do my tube holes. But this is so informative. Thinking of creating a vase plenum for clown killifish. Going to use a round under gravel filter.
I have a question. Can I use kitty litter and aquasoil layered to save money too?
yes you can
Wondering do i need auxiliary filtration with the plenum thank you si
Great narration Kevin.......glad to see you doing well :)
Thanks, like your videos keep them coming.
Do you still need a mechanical filter and do gravel-vac with the Plenum plus cat litter substrate set up?
Would you still only use 1 uplift tube on a 6foot long 125?
Thought of making a Plenum plus Anoxic in my 45x29x30 cm tank. It's going to be atleast 4 inch substrate for the Anoxic filtraton.
Do i really need laterite on ugf plenum or is it ok only to use my aquasoil? Will use fine mesh to prevent my substrate from seeping under the filter.
Aquasoil will be just fine. I use the Fluval substrate in my 90-gal and it is doing fine.
What would cause the need for a check valve? Something would have to cause water to rise up above the water line within the tube
You need a check valve as if the power goes out it can siphon back to the pump and make a huge mess.
Would you run the bubbles 247 if not using co2. Also this is probably a dumb question but you don't need a filter if using your method
Good evening Dr Novak . Thank you very much for this video. It really is very interesting . How ever I only found it after I made my plenum yesterday.
I have a NICREW UFO Aquarium Air Pump . It says the air flow capacity is 4 Cubic Feet per minute. I have just cut the tube to 3 inches and put my air stone into the tube so the air stone sits on top of the plenum. The uplift does not have a cap on it. I have not put any fish in the tank yet as I am a first time fish owner and I am trying to be a thoughtful fish owner. Do I have to try and find a cap and set it up the way you have ? I don't own a drill. Also I have a bio sponge filter run with an air pump motor. It is a second hand tank . The original filter I just put inside some filter sponge and I have a 5 bar thingy on top of the water. The tank is 80 litres. I hope that you have the time to help me . Much obliged. Thank you 😀
yes slow it down with less air by your pump bleed-off valve.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I have done that. I also made my plenum out of plastic plenums of different heights as I needed smaller ones to fit around the edge of my tank . The gap in height was maybe 1/8 th inch and no gravel could fall down. Then I topped off with gravel and fancy gravel on top about another 2 inches. I hope this will be ok I spent 2 days building it but it was quite exciting really. 😁
Hello Dr. Novak, I liked your idea and went looking at Home Depot and Ace Hardware store in my city and they don’t have the caps. Could you in the description next time put the name of the product, and any other identifying information that could help in the future? Thank you
The black cap is actually from a large spice plastic container that you buy at any grocery store.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums thank you. just found some on Amazon, going to try it out
@@HisValor what size cap did you have to get?
Fantastic I’m going to go out and find caps 👍
Good luck!
How deep should the DIY plenum be for a 25 gallon tank ? How thick should the substrate be for coarse gravel ? How many l/pm or g/pm should the air pump be in order to be classified as low flow for the tank in question ?
Thank u very much
1.5 " or more will do it. That is how deep mine is in my 20-gal aquarium.
Thanks a lot for your swift reply
Decided on just buying an undergravel filter although there's going to be 3" of space on either side. Hope it works 🤷♂️
@@muhammadbadat7042 yes it will work don’t worry about it I get a new aquarium next week sometime and I’ll be doing videos on setting up such.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I just made a plenum using and undergravel filter.. layered the base on top of the ugf with plastic mesh used fine and medium coarse gravel then used another mesh and layered large coarse gravel to top it off as I have goldfish.. used the airlift method it looks almost exactly like ur vintage tank
Overall pleased with the outcome although still getting used to the thicker layer of gravel and that I wont see the desired effects anytime soon..I hope this works because I just did a whooole lot of work lol.
Is it fine if we use bubble stone that gives out fine bubble?
Could you stick a 13mm CO2 diffuser in the lift tube?
It helps keep the air bubbles quiet or should I say not as loud if no diffusion was used. However, a CO2 diffuser would really cosmetically be hidden , it would hide the diffuser perfectly. 👍
Dr Novak, I started a second tank with the plenum, is the airstone necessary or can the plenum be run without the airstone with the air line only?
My next video is going to be just on that subject. But I can be run with an airline bubbler only you don’t need an air stone that’s optional.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums thanks Dr Novak. Also thanks for the note on the step drill bits I have needed to get them for some time
I have a if filter in an established tank. Do I need to break down the aquarium to change it to anoxic filter?y established tank is 40 high with 3 lift tubes. My substrate is 3 to 5 inches it is low in middle and high in back and sides
No, just slow down the water movement in the UGF that's all.
Could you have the plenum with no uplift tubes? Just have the void. Would that still be better than no plenum?
Yes
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums thank you for the response, you know you can use pool strainer baskets to make the anoxic filter. That’s what we were gonna use for our sump on a 210 gal. Can find them for around $10-$20.
@@Baddeal yes I saw them at Lowe’s very cheap. Thanks . I think I will use them myself. 👍
Dr. very good video. I do have a question: I have Geophagus which love to dig. How can I add a plenum in this type of tank?
Put a screen in-between the substrate so the Geophagus can only dig so deep until they hit the screen. one of those plastic black craft screens will do just right.
Can you use other paint than fusion if you can’t find fusion paint ✌️🇨🇦
@@gk9417 if it will not peel when exposed to water. I stick with a paint that’s designed for plastic only.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums thanks 👍
Dr, where do you find the black plastic caps that you drilled out, I’ve looked all over at the big box stores? Can you point me to the department? Thanks.
Lowe’s, Home-depot any hardware store Ace...
Plumbing, electrical, ?? Thanks
It’s were they keep the nuts and bolts. They are black hole caps.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums got it!! Select Ace Hardware stores in Colorado have them. Not Home Depot or Lowe’s. Thanks again
@@chrism4673 I knew one of them would have it . Got mine at Lowe’s. 👍
Hello, I want to ask you a question. The video where you said to put ground cover fabric over the under gravel filter, do I put insert the uptake tube while the fabric is still underneath the tube? Or do I cut out a hole in the fabric then insert the tube with no ground cover underneath the uplift tube? ( I have never ever used an under gravel filter before so please excuse my ignorance) Thank you in advance.
Cut a hole in fabric but if it will fit then no. However, make sure it is a close fit as not to let any small particles get through if you cut it.
Hi,
How would you go about this if this would be 180-220 gallons tank ? Would you still do plenum ? Thank you
Yes plenum for all tanks, or go with very thin only substrate of no more than 1/4- 3/8” deep without a plenum. Try to stay away from sand base substrate unless it will constantly be turned over. If not then 1/4” max on sand and very fine substrates.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums thank u
What’s wrong with having anaerobic in the ecosystem (aquarium )if they stay where they belong and doing what their suppose to do ?
When you have anaerobic bacteria it converts nitrates back into ammonia.
Hobbyists are scare of the word “anaerobic”! I have read on the Internet hobbyists saying: “They want nothing to do with anything that has anything to do with the word “anaerobic” in their Koi Ponds’s or their aquariums ”. You would think by now hobbyist would get over this lack of the understanding of this word and would embrace it as they do other words like Cholesterol. We all know that there is good cholesterol (HDL) and there is bad cholesterol (LDL). Just like, there are good anaerobic bacteria like facultative anaerobic bacteria: This is like good cholesterol that is correlated with reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and keeps us healthy. Do you notice the similarity between the two? In addition too bad cholesterol that is like obligated anaerobic bacteria that turns Nitrates into Ammonia, it also creates under specialized conditions Hydrogen Sulfide, Methane gas, and the most deadly of all Hydrogen Cyanide, which can leach back into solution. Not a gas like element (N2 ) most hobbyist think, this is called; Assimilatory Denitrification.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums pardon my ignorance dr Novak but you telling me an aquarium with anaerobic conditions will failed at some point and can become toxic?
@@ilovegirls69style yes it has a very high probability to do so. You can see this happen in dirt tanks and sand filled tanks. If you have more ammonia producers than users, you will have a collapse in the system.
Hi Dr Novak, I am glad you are keeping well.
I am currently running my 850litre tank using one Basket 30cm x 30cm x 20 cm high. I am delighted with the results, Nitrate at 5ppm now.
I am designing a 20m3 tank that I hope to build next year using a settlement section with a drain, 30 baskets and an two air lifts, each air lift reported to do 15m3 per hour.
I have a few questions for you if you don’t mind.
1) is there a maximum water velocity around the basket ? This will help me match the anoxic filter section to the basket numbers and to the flow rate.
2) In the event of a power failure, there will be no ammonia ‘feeding’ the baskets, how long approximately can the bacteria live in these conditions?
Thanks again
To good question question. one, the faster the water moves around the baskets the better it seems to work. Since each basket works off of collecting ions the faster you can get the ions to the basket it acts like a magnet, the more it will pull the ions out of the water.
Question two pertains to if the power goes out. That’s something you really don’t have to worry about, the bacteria will utilize other sources for their food stuff and oxygen needs than just ammonia. They have the ability to use oxygen from other ions or live in a non-oxygen environment. Even if your filter is shut down a week it won’t even bother it in the least bit. And that has been confirmed by Harvard chemist.
Wow, that’s fantastic, I thought the bacteria would be dead within a few hours.
I am not sure if you realise how what you have done impacts our hobby. This filter means it is possible for me to build a 20m3 tank in concrete and to waterproof it with epoxy, total cost about €3000. The filter will be built inside the tank, so there is no risk of it ever leaking like what happened to joey ( king of DIY)
If I had to buy a filter for this tank it would have to be one of the pond setups, and that could run to 15k !!!
But the biggest issue is the water changes, I want to keep fish that get to 2-3 foot long, that’s massive nitrate, so I would be looking at changing 4-6 m3 a week, and that has to be heated from 10C to 26C ! That’s just crazy.
But with your filter, I will have three air pumps, two duty and one standby, and a settlement tank with a submerged pump to clean it, and that’s it!! It’s so simple! When I see videos of large tanks like this online they have plantrooms and computers to control them.
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing invention, it has had and will continue to have a big impact on this hobby and on my enjoyment of it.
Gareth Baker At one time I had a 1200 gallon pond for almost 32 years and for about 10 years of that time I had 17 Koi in that pond. Three of the Koi were 28 inches long another three 24 inches long and the rest were bigger than 16 inches long. Used the anoxic filtration system and it worked just fine even though we have some very cold winters where we don’t feed the fish from about the end of October until the end of March. At the end of March I would start re-feeding the fish about once every three days and the filter just took over without reinoculated it or anything else. other hobbiest filters at the end of March are dead and have to be reinoculate with new bacteria. The anoxic filter carried on and took care of the fish without any ammonia spikes.
Kevin Novak Ph.D.
it’s such a shame that more people are not aware of this system. I saw Ohio Fish Rescue building a huge pond last week on their channel. They were talking about using a wetland filter, which is a good filter, but takes up huge space. I told them about your filter and to look at the paper by Manky Sanky. They said they would, but I don’t think they did. They have a huge following, it would only take one large channel like there’s to get the word out. I tried lots of times to get The King of DIY to look at it, after all it is a DIY filter, but he gets so many comments I don’t think he even saw it. I think I will write him a letter because he does seem to read his post.
It’s mad to think that you were able support all those Koi in just 1200 gal, and at the same time avoid the terrible ammonia spikes in spring. It shows the great potential for this. I am only 12 weeks since I built my first basket and it has already shocked me with how good my water is and how happy and hungry my fish are. Thanks again
Gareth - I wonder if you made contact with Josh @ OFR (instead of Big Rich) - but I think they kind of follow the pond building guys advice - so maybe it's the pond builder that would be the fellow to turn on to this method? But yeah I totally agree that this method would be great for them.
Hillman Nylon Hole Plug 1" Cap - I can only find Black 0.875" in
Why is the tube near the top of the substrate? Why is it not recommended high tube?
updraft, shorter the tube less updraft.
The smallest airpump I can get is a 20g/ph flow rate ..I hope it works !
that will do just fine.
I am wanting to set up a similar system in a 10g tank I have, but I am wondering about the anaerobic issue.
I have seen several videos about creating dirted tanks with 2 or 4 inches of dirt and then another 2 inches of sand on top. This obviously results in an anaerobic area below the sand, and does NOT include a plenum.
I dont understand why anaerobic areas are bad for plants. In my understanding of the video, you are saying that plants die off (or at least dont thrive) if they get into an anaerobic area with their roots. But I have heard that roots actually CREATE THEIR OWN anaerobic areas immediately around their root systems.
What am I missing? You obviously grow good plants, and the videos I have seen show tons of plant growth too, so I am clearly missing some piece of the puzzle.
I dont mean to be contentious, I am just trying to understand the two systems, and which is better for my use case.
(Again this is a 10g guppy growout tank, so lots of bioload, and lots of nitrates.
Quote: "Plants do not create an anaerobic area around their roots system. They create oxygen around their roots at least if they are heathy plants that is. At the same time , they prevent the build-up of marsh gas in the substrate, and also prevent it from becoming black. Plant growth in black substrate is not possible." As quoted from Kaspar Horst & Horst Kipper The Optimum Aquarium