There is a vast difference between knowing how to do something or what to do…and knowing why it works. This channel builds learning and understanding in a way that I have yet to see anywhere else. Having an understanding of why things work is crucial when things don’t go to plan. Bravo and keep up the great dissemination of knowledge.
Thank you. I feel the same exact way about how we should share knowledge. I honestly wish more channels were like that, because id like to watch them myself hah
You do a superior job researching and analyzing. Your easy and positive personality is also a welcome and refreshing aspect of your content. I’m confused (but not surprised) at some of the comments. You’ve basically done all the difficult work clearing up (in the most respectful way) the main difference between how you run tanks versus FF. We are all in the same boat fighting on the same side. There’s no cause for complaining and competitive attitudes. Be grateful for this kind of content. I’m 52. When I started there was zero information like yours and FF. In 1984, when I started, it was trial and ERROR. Thanks Alex!
Learned alot from Father Fish. I set up my first ever planted/dirted tank. Now my Plakat betta is thriving in a 5gallon with 5 different species of plants. Ive seen organisms grow in my tank and even found snails. Through his lessons ive learned to leave algea alone. Now that the tank has stabalised the algea is slowly dissapating. His method works. You just gotta be willing to keep an open mind.
I understand what FF is saying about scooping out stuff in a pond or creek but I’m not putting that in my tank. The parasites/worms/plants indigenous to that pond probably make sense for that pond/ creek but not in my tank. Nature keeps itself in check. I have to keep my tank in check by being careful. Plus I put my hands in my tank. I don’t want to run the risk of infecting myself with something.
I agree... i do it with selectively cultured microfauna but some locations have cyanobacteria, leeches, tape worms. ameobas and even worse. I have an old livestream called "can i get sick from my aquarium?" ...and it's shocking how many things *could* be in there haha
@Slawsers correct, I'm reffering to ff. And I do realize that the issue might not be only the creators content but how the consumer processes, perceives and applies the info given. We hear what we understand, what is to difficult to comprehend falls on deaf ears. It is a very small percentage of consumers that really have interest in knowing more, most just want a easy way out. In my opinion, 90% of ff viewers only knows about him because of "stop doing water changes" and that is where their interest and research stopped aswell.
You right my firts tank i made it father fish way . And my plants not grow but is helty . My other tank i build it only soil almos 3 inch in my plants groing more then father fish method🎉 . And my tanks plants they look so green and helty and the growing fast
One thing is sure in this hobby. Different methods work for different people. The way I feel about it is if it works for you then it works. I think that's why it's a good idea and FF has recommended this to observe the "resurrection jar" watch it develop so you have a better idea of what's in there. That said I found what looked to be a tapeworm crawling out of my substrate and the only thing I had used was store bought soil, store bought peat moss, and store bought sand! I picked it out with tweezers and miraculously it seems to have been the only one . There is always a risk of introducing something undesirable while building a natural tank even from store bought materials.
Actually his method has different phases. You can quickly set the aquarium up, and it totally works. The microfauna and microflora and water parameters settle more as years pass! That's a different story!
Some people want crystal clear water with no live plants, massive filtration, no gravel, no fake plants, no decorations. I prefer a variety of life forms in mine, with tinted water from all the stuff growing and living. Sure it looks kind of messy and sloppy, but everything keeps everything healthy for me.
I have 3 of my tanks running on the Father Fish method (or as close as I can get to that in South Africa where I can't order his supplements). Dirt layer is comprised of 2 parts peat, one part compost, one part potting soil, a sprinkling of bone meal and a pinch of Epsom salts. Capped with sand with a 1mm grain size (not as fine as play sand but not quite gravel either). No particular reason, just what I had handy and a little nervous because of all the horror stories you hear about fine sand compacting. My filtration is more than Father Fish generally runs, there are power filters in addition to the air driven sponge filters. What I can say is that these tanks (after an initial break in/ugly phase) are far more stable and less maintenance than the traditional gravel/sand-and-root tabs tanks I have had in the past. One is heading towards 3 years and is an absolute jungle so I know it lasts at least that long.
Totally. I think if you include either filtration from a HOB or canister/ powerhead for o2 or flow...OR do water changes, its a really good system. I mostly just disagree on nitrates with him and co2 gas being helpful for delicate plants
@@Fishtory I do a 50% water change on all my tanks every 6 weeks, have stretched it to 8 weeks before. Even then my nitrates are rarely over 5ppm so that is not the reason I do it. More for peace of mind to get anything else that I do not test for, like hormones, excess liquid ferts (just a all in one, once a week type in my case for the epiphytes) or whatever else can build up out of there. I used to be very big on water changes before I tried his method, so old habits die hard. But very glad it is no longer a weekly thing.
Exactly, F.F., at first never defined what kind of dirt as he said to "get it anywhere " , I started out with a bag of dirt with some manure... which started out good, but then blew big bubbles out to the surface which was bad. I decided to re-do the tank and when dumping out the soil, it was foul . I noticed that now, he is more careful to say potting mix which is inert. My daughter is struggling keeping a healthy fish tank and has many losses under her belt which I hope she can learn from. She always wants to start a tank quickly which could be detrimental . I love your natural approach to a healthy eco-system . I know you are an expert on Neocaradina shrimp whom I adore and have been keeping for a year now. I have had many grown-up red shrimp die from the dreaded " white-ring-of-death". I use shrimp essentials in the water and have chunks of sunken cuttlefish , but what else can I do to prevent this death?? You are so detailed in your information which is awesome. Thank you for your expertise.
Thanks for saying so. Sometimes the ring of death can come from too much calcium as well, if they dont have enough collagen from eating fatty little microorganisms or protein foods from fatty plants with pectin... they lose the flexing aspect of their shell, and get trapped at that "shoulder" ring of death. So make sure you are feeding some leaves and or a good diet.. but if you can check the TDS .... also if the ph is over 7.5 or so the water has no acidity to soften the old exoskeletons. So yeah check if kh and gh are between 4 and 12 at highest... tds likely 150-300 ppm is ideal and ph 6.6 to 7.4 ideally...even though they often survive way beyond those limits
Hello. I got into the hobby when I saw my brothers father fish tank. I was into bonsai and have a little understanding on plants. I did my soil rich in nutrients so I had to cycle for about a month. Had amonia of 32 (API test was blue not green, took 1/4 water and the rest destiled water and still had 8ppm). One thing you say you don't agree with FF is the 2" cap. With dirted tanks 2" seem to be good specially if you do them rich on nutrients. I am surprised with the beautiful growth on my plants. I have hard water and did noticed the need to add potassium. But like you said what do I know been doing this for 4 months. Thanks for diving deep into research. I appreciate and value your input. I have had luck with the FF so far just sharing my experience.
I grew plants just fine for many decades using just plain old aquarium gravel. Certainly nothing exotic, swords, jungle val with 3-4 foot leaves, crypts, aponogeton (which flowered), hornwort, cabomba...using a florescent shop light, in ultra hard water. Long before water parameter testing, beneficial bacteria knowledge and the use of fertilizers. Knowing me, I likely overfed and overstocked, so lots of fish poop in the gravel. Left the hobby for five or so years, and when I came back in, fell 'prey' to the aquascaping videos. Now, my tanks range from plain gravel, sand, dirted with a sand cap, to aquasoil only, and using root tabs and all in one fertilizer. Fluval 3.0/Hygger/JC&p lights. Plants are growing well in all tanks. Bottom line, KISS to George Farmer choices all work, with obviously some plants working better in some systems.
Love your "compassion is it's own sort of religion" comment ❤ Great discussion too. I'm only just hitting the one year mark in the hobby and dabbled with the Father Fish methods. I put a couple of my guppies into a wild caught tadpole grow-out tank for my young son. A month or two after all the frogs were released and the guppies were returned to their tank, I started losing fish one after another. Parasites are no joke. I only managed to save 4 platies from that entire tank. Lesson learned, but my poor fish paid for it.
Thanks Alex! Just found you today. Great content. As an aquarist for 35 years. At one time I had a dozen tanks going. I moved to a different state and let go of the hobby. Came back to my home town (New Orleans) after Katrina and had a 29g that was gifted to me for the last 15 years. Now retired I grabbed a deal on a 55g and it looks like I'm hooked again! I totally agree with your methods for the most part. I watched a ton of FF video's and even ordered some plants to test the waters dealing with him. Horrible experience for me. Waited almost a month for 12 scraggly plants. So that's over. He does have some method to his madness though. I do as much research as I can while using the knowledge I've gained over the years. I just go with what works. I'm now up to 4 tanks and growing. This will leave me plenty of room to experiment. Looking forward to watching more of your video's. Good luck with your autoimmune issues. I've been battling cancer but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Take care and Thanks again!
Sorry to hear about the cancer! I wish you the very best! Also, welcome to the community here. We are tight-knit, experience+ science + curiousity is the order of the day. There's no one right way...but a few wrong ways haha. So what works for you. Dont hesitate to asm questions if you have any. The hobby and science has changed tremendously in the last 25 years or so, and some things nature will always do best
@Fishtory You're among The Best in responding to viewers questions/comments. Some are conscientious about it in the beginning, but you've remained true to the appreciated effort. Actually, you're among The Best overall. 👌
I started my first ever tank 1yr ago. I must have watched a 1000 videos getting ready. I did a 10gal Father Fish dirted and sand capped tank. I loaded it with a ton of plants from Dustin's and Africa Frog Bit. The tank is stocked with 1 Betta, 10 Cardinal Tetras, 4 Clooley Loaches. I lost 2 of 6 Cooleys in the first two days they went in. A year latter and my tank is thriving and no other fish have died. No algae issues. Just a lot of tiny snails. I top off with fresh water once a week and a 25% water change once a month. IDK, whatever I'm doing is definitely working. I'm stepping up to a 55gal next.
im in the exact same situation but i waited like 6 months for my 20 gal to cycle before adding anything, lost 1 fish, but since then its been going aight
I only watch and learn from you !!! I respect you !!! I couldn’t continue watching your pod cast with him . I just thought you were a kind respectful ! I couldn’t stomach that guy .
That was a Fair assessment, What seems to draw hobbyists in is the low cost 💲 of setting up a FF tank. Not only does he give you information and sources to set it up. He helps with cultivating live foods to use in a food web. Much like videos you have discussed in the past. Perhaps someday I’ll get to experience setups like yours where I can grow robust plants using CO2. If so, Hopefully with little trouble. For the long term I firmly believe in FF style tanks. Not many folks can boast about their 22 year old natural aquarium that has fish thriving and healthy.
Very true. I have a tank similar thats about 16 years old...but ive moved and so i count that as a reboot, and i added more sand...in the same spirit, he moved from florida 2 years ago and moved his tanks as well. But thats super nit picky lol
So I WAS going to set up a enviro small tank using the father 2:00 fish guy method. Now I am totally confused. Should I do a substrate or just pull a few stones out out of my fountain
I have an undergravel filter. Do I place the mud, then sand and gravel ON TOP OF the half-inch plenum or do I place the plenum on top of the mud and then the sand on top of the plenum?
I will say this about the Father Fish method, and putting aside some of the options and ideas he has presented such as adding mud from a water body or introducing microfauna, etc, etc..........his basic concept, even if you were to just throw in some potting soil capped with some sand and adding some live plants is a method that will more than likely lead the new guy to some success. Father fish as I think you mentioned Alex is going to say some provocative things, but at the end of the day, if you analyze what he's doing, it's always going to go back to the same thing, steer the newcomers away from the marketing blitz and guide them into a basic natural setup that will keep fish alive minus all the $$$ and chemicals. That's a WIN for the hobby Whoever wants to go gun-ho and risk introducing some super predator or parasite that will wipe out your school of cardinal tetras because you scooped up some random mud from some pond, is I guess free to do so, but I would suggest that FF should include a disclaimer that introducing foreign elements could result in issues, as I'm with you on the opinion that it may not be such a good idea to just scoop up whatever and/or the ability of a home aquarium to take care of itself or counter whatever was introduced. Things happen very fast in a small water body and the elements that would "Take care" of a particular element may or may not exist or exist in sufficient quantity to take care of or balance things out. FF is going to get some backlash IMO because he has a no holds barred approach to techniques that could get some people in trouble, but overall, he has more experience in number of years than most of us have been alive, his methods work and while in recent times everyone on youtube was making videos about their new $500 filter, their 50th tank, etc FF provided some real meat and potatoes knowledge that has helped many out. Excellent video as usual Alex.
Thanks and i agree..although i hear him mentioning hiring 6 people to sell and ship his soil and plants, which are grown wholesale and not via him....and his membership fees, and i did have some concerns on the direction the brand was taking...and also i asked him about it face to face on our first chat stream. Im meeting a lot of people paying him 25 to 50 a month, plus 150 or 200 to get tanks going, and seeing the business side that he used to rail agains and rant about. I dunno, my memberships will always be 1.99 im trying to put my money where my mouth is and hopefully stay true to how i started. The temptation of offers you get after the 50k subs mark is very insidious however. In the end, i feel as long as there is true transparency, then its up to each person.
As a newbie, I follow FF also. I was shocked to hear you can just go down to the lake/creek & fill your tank. But I learn from him, as well as I did here in Alex vid. Thx Alex.
@@FishtoryHi, Alex. I like you both, but am leaning somewhat toward your suggestions (ie I'm apprehensive now of the resurrection jar). You're braver than I! You do use a diplomatic approach, but state your opinion (when given the chance). I, on the other hand, would talk softly and rather than carrying a big stick - would run! LoL. I was somewhat surprised when I noticed that capitalism seems to be rearing its "ugly head" in some of his actions now. Oh dear. lmao 😂
PS Thx for noting that the plants are bought wholesale. That's good to know as I thought they were home grown. They still seem to be a good price, but I do prefer to be able to order what I want specifically so I haven't ordered any yet. I do order from Cory, but it seems even his prices shot up as he became more successful. Must be something in the water these days! 😊
Ff stule is a place to start, and I appreciate how it introduced me to encouraging microfauna in my tank. I really appreciate all the knowledge you share with your channel! I've learned that there's a style for everyone, and it's important to understand what your goals are for your tank, and what you enjoy. Then you find the processes that support it.
Great video, thanks for posting it. I've heard you mention in this video that plants convert startches to sugars. I also remember someone say that many plants you buy are soaked in a "Sugary Substances" in the gels for tissue cultures or in rock wool of plants to keep them well nourished. Well, I've never once heard of folks trying to use that same "sugary substances" added to base layer of substrates or even right below thin sand cap to help feed plant while it transitions. I just assumed they added typical plant fertilizers like ammonia, nitrates in their gels or rock wool. Maybe I'll try sprinkling some white sugar, honey or Molasses into deeper substrate under sand or cosmetic surface materials. What's your thoughts on that & if you ever tried it before.
You'll get a bacterial bloom doing that, personally I wouldn't do it. Sugars in large amount aren't common in nature so you'll get an unnatural proliferation of things you don't really want.
Hello! I love ur videos. To keep ur cat in the yard???? Use that orange netting you see on the side of the road they use for a barrier. It's about 4ft wide X 50, or 100 ft. Cats have to jump onto, then off. If they think the barrier won't support them or is flimsy, they won't, can't jump over it!!!!! My friend contained rescue cats on one half of the back yard that way. It works great. Looks .....well....you can get in green! Lowe's
I love your videos , I've been bing watching and learning about tanks fish and so on. And the father fish thing you and I are on the same page. But combination of advice and learning and adjusting to what my needs are is really helpful. Thank you so much for posting your videos.
When learning, having a plethora of sources to fall back on is a beautiful thing. If I need to fix something on my truck that I've never done before, I watch 12 different people do it on yt. I never put all my faith into one source of information. This channel and FF are both excellent sources of info to have in your arsenal imo.
yes he has a method most successful and old school and the new wave of fish keepers follow and do its tried and tested since the dawn of aquariums with a few new additions
Yeah its fine i enjoy it, and keep 2 tanks that way...ive built probably 10 total since ive been friends with Lou for 6 years now, but recently im kind of fusing a little of everything together that i personally enjoy
Have listened to father fish.but I still feel we need good filters lights .Some leaves have tannins.ok for some fish that like that water,but community tank better of with cycle,I have gravel ,plants in own glasses easier to clean and plants been happier,learnt this my self,landscaping x plant better care.lighting important, at night I turn off lights,when we go to bed etc.Have 3 filters change one by rotating as keeps better biomme.I don't have deep substrates.have live plants and like good charcoal to clean toxic in gravel and under sand in glasses.Keep better health.take a food multi vit.also blend up black berries and hope your health improves greatly.My mum had it and it's painful,comes from toxins in the body and a run down system.Cut down sugars and proceesed foods.You have lots of Great bio tanks been watching your sites quite awhile.Did help me.thanks❤.
Great video! I am setting up a 125 gallon comunity planted tank for my son. What do you feel would be the best but also cost effective substrate to use?
I’m shoked! The FF substrate under the sand cap is supposed to provide all the nutrients the plants need very quickly, not in a matter of months, and the light is on 24/7 the first days (not months like someone said, and only so that the roots develop quickly to reach the substrate, not the dirt layer on the bottom). I’m joking of course, but I feel a bit lost now...
Ive watched his method evolve a lot the last 5 or 6 years... mostly in the last 3. But i dont know the point of 24/7 light for the first week or when that was added. It must be in the last year or so.
@@Fishtory he himself leaves the light on all the time but it is not mendatory, personaly I wouldn't, simply because it would be too expensive, and it's not very ecological anyways. I'm not sure he uses DEL lights. Lately he changed the system of the resurection jar, no more mud and a shorter exposure to the sun because it fouls the water. Hence the necessity to follow closely for the context and to realy listen.
Good video so far! I agree with your points. We all run tanks different at the end of the day. I prefer top soil as it’s organic and it dont mess with the water quality when moving plants like mud can. I like father fish myself but i like to experiment. It seems we have a lot of the same point of views in these topics pretty interesting to hear!
@@Fishtory easy for you to say☺ I have a 60gal gravel, plastic plants, w/ HOB filter. I want to start a 30gal soil/sand(?) substrate planted tank. But sooo many recipes that I'm having a hard time deciding which is best (for a beginner) to start with ... W/0 learning by wiping out fish/plant stock😰 🤗
@@Fauntazee get a easy aqua soil like eco complete add sand and run that for few years till you understand soil better. Eco complete pretty cheap but also very good. Father fish method its kinda like science if your not knowledgeable in soil you may have a tough time!
Hello Alex, could possibly make a video (or maybe you already have one) where you outline how to set up your version of the deep substrate system for your jungle tanks that you mentioned where there is a base layer of lava rock and then aquasoil/sand?
Sure please feel free. Im going to show it hopefully, when i build my next 40 breeder setup in a few weeks too. But id love it if you want to share the info or use any clips that you find useful. Cheers
There's more than one way to maintain a tank. Clearly your goals and those of Father Fish are different. And that's fine. I want to grow a tank full of plants and have it as low tech as possible. And I'm willing to let it take a while. The Father Fish method is something that appeals to me because it appears to work, and it doesn't need CO2. So, I'm going to give it a shot in a 29 gallon tank and see how it goes.
Nice video. I look at so many fish tank people, and though I’m also a fan of ff. I’m also your fan. I think you do a good low effort tank, and it’s a quick set up.
My 5 gallon with Fluval Bio Stratum does well with plants. In this 5 gallon I keep live plants, spider wood, with red cherry shrimp and 1 male betta in this tank. I have a very low flow foam/sponge filter with bio-balls in the tank. No CO2, so the plants don't grow that fast. Most my other tanks only have sand and gravel and the plants do ok but not that great. I do want to try fertilized soil with sand cap sometime like Father Fish does though. I started with only gravel tanks and eventually capped them with sand from Father Fish advice and it worked well to help with keeping nitrates lower. Agree on the taking dead fish out instead of burying in the tank.
At the end of your videos you have asked to leave a comment on video ideas. I would love to see a video on aquarium plant Wars, what plants will actually kill other plants in your aquarium with their biological processes. Like you mentioned Val and duckweed. Happy holidays
I'm putting together a 125 gallon with a 40 gallon sump. I'm doing a mix of dirt and aqua soils and kind of a mix of what father fish does and lasagna like what you were talking about. I'm planning on doing quite a lot of plants and I've got some rocks marinating in my 5 year old aquarium. I have 9000lm 6500k flood lights picked out. I want to move my 7 rainbows and a few tetras over pretty fast. I am going to cap with sand to prevent ammonia leaching. With that volume of water do you think they can be moved quickly? I don't have a lot of room in my house to keep my 55 gallon next to the 125.
Thanks Alex for another excellent video. I love how you are always dropping knowledge. I like to understand what is going on in the tank for experiments. I have to figure out why I’m not getting notifications for your live streams.
Actually Father Fish and Walstad method have different phases. You can quickly set the aquarium up, and it totally works. The microfauna and microflora and water parameters settle quickly and be more permanent as years pass!
Most chemical based, sterile aquarium systems, do not allow nature do its work and they are not nature based. I am saying this, as a long years environmentalist.
This got me thinking a lot. So I capped my p gravel after learning about the FF method. However my tank was only 2 months old. But I didn’t want to do an entire tear down because I had small shrimp. So I have a layer of p gravel and a 2” layer of sand. Heavily planted tank. Here’s what this got me to thinking. Maybe I buy some aqua soil and freeze it into say a 3” disk and then try and place it into my p gravel layer. Thoughts?
Newbie here... Understanding you want to now add soil, yet From my reading/listening, I thought plants can't very much thrive in gravel/sand substrate🤔
Hi, I was considering doing a Father Fish tank, but after listening to this video, I will rethink the tank because I don't know enough. I'd like to get advice from you, I am currently keeping angelfish, with well water, I've got a fear with plants but the more I listen and because I believe my fish need plants I'm trying to figure out how to build a tank that they can live with out stress and be happy. I'd love to get your advice on what and how to set up a 29 gallon aquarium? I just bought plants from you and need to figure it out before your plants arrive. I'd like to set up a tank that I don't have to do frequent water changes, do you have any recommendations for me?
That... or just get some fluval stratum 2 or 3 inches of it, and root tabs ( it's about like a gravel set up, but fish poo filters to the bottom and slowly turns to soil for the plants). The plants then protect the fish from any spike in ammonia ...if the filter were to crash or something odd like that...beyond that, plants comfort the fish and provide extra oxygen all day!
I still experiment after 50 years. My next tank, I plan on 1/2'' floor dry then 1/2'' soil then 3'' sand, plants a plenty. I'm hoping no stink. I feed daphnia that I culture and very little commercial targeted foods. I also want a cabinet with plants above watered by the fish tank. I might incorporate a praying mantis. This goal seams lofty to me. This hobby can be addicting.
Alex, what do you think about using basalt as substrate? To me It works very well. It's good to grow roots and It's rich in minerals such as iron, magnesium, potassium and calcium. t's also used in agriculture here in Brazil.
I am using basalt scoria (frothy lava) as a substrate over granular clay…will likely top the basalt with coarse sand. Don’t know how all of this will work…but hopeful. EcoComplete is essentially basalt lava that has been rounded in a river or mechanically…with a packet of starter culture. I don’t know about using crushed basalt that has no vesicles…but seems it would work like any largely inert gravel, like quartz.
@donpettit7107 yeah it depends if it has any schist or silica / Feldspar. Most aquasoil pellets are low ph stone/clay with a ph 6.0- 6.5 due to those minerals/rock, and i think its key to the super fertile volcanic soil regions, whereas the porous explosive type igneous that make "lava rock"...can product akaline clay all the way up in the 9.0 range!
@@Fishtory The basalt scoria lying atop the weathered basalt clay layer has resulted in a consistent pH of about 6.8. The GH/KH was so low as to not register anything on the API test kit. I added a big bag of fossil calcium carbonate marketed as aragonite (I’m not up on limestone terms)…but you can see the whorled shells in it. Hoping this provides some calcium to build plants cell walls a bit…as this water is a close to RO as one can get from tap.
Totally agree with the danger of unbalanced ecosystems! Also, took me months and multiple rounds of meds to treat swordtails from Petco, so parasites are no joke.
My God another video! I have so much work to do but I will going to turn up the volume on my TV! 😄 I will watch it again this night.I have to water all my Plants today so that around a few 1000 Plants. I love your video's!
Oh shes got 2 bells lol she is a monster...she learned to hold them in her mouth until she pounces...shes so damn smart...i finally tightened it so she cant do that. But birds still come a few days a week...it used to be 2 a day
What substrate and nutrient /supplement mix would you suggest for a tank with extremely hard water? We live in the SW Missouri Ozarks on limestone/dolomite and we are doing a natural tank with native fish and plants from our area.
Oh if they're native fish... dont worry. But for tropical fish in the jungle like tetras... lots of plants and or add distilled, rain or RO water to the tank. Its a bummer with hard water all you can do is add wood and leaves to break down into acids ...co2 gas does that too. But then the water is still "hard" just the ph lowers. So really other than RO filters there's no magic way to remove disolved solids... water softeners arent good for the fish...itll dilute their electrolytes and blood minerals content.
@@Fishtory Thanks for responding! It really is a bummer having extremely hard water--for many reasons more than just not being able to keep certain fish and plants! On the other hand, we have beautiful clear streams here in the Ozarks and an abundance of wildlife that is hard to find elsewhere. (We actually live about 3 miles from the place where the The Tumbling Creek cave snail (Antrobia culveri) is located. It is known only from that one locality. We have tons of amphipods and isopods in the springs and fens on our property so we keep hoping to find one of those snails here as well someday.) Currently we are keeping Fathead minnows in the tank but hope to collect a few native snails and small glass shrimp to help make a natural ecosystem. Many people look at minnows with disdain, but we find them interesting.
Currently in Iowa, with very very hard alkaline water. Im just starting out and wanted to do a community amazon tank (soft water) went to a local fish store, not box, and asked about the water parameters and all of their classically soft water fish had acclimated to the hard water. All that to say, if you're wanting to do those kinds of fish, check out local suppliers who have their fish acclimated to the conditions you already have.
Likely cyanobacteria... add 1 packet per 20 gallons of water of erythromycin ( API brand is most common..or Maracyn)... it is a gram possitive antibiotic and will Kill all cyanobacteria in 2 or 3 days. But many cyanobacteria have cyanotoxins... it may be harmless, but if it's growing ON TOP of the sand, that's generally a bad species.
Ok listened to the whole thing - question: so it's sand on the bottom, lava rock, then what goes on top of the lava rock??? if i listened you said you put sand on bottom for cushion, then lava rock (i own lava rock am new aquarist), then im confused bc i dont know if sand goes on top of the lava rock, or aqua soil, and then sand.
So I just sprinkle a little sand, so the bottom doesn't have any pressure points of large decorative stones pressing down touching the bottom glass. But beyond that, it's gravel or lava rock... then aquasoil and any additives like root tabs or fertilizers you may add, as well as any other organic materials ( some folks like leaf litter or wood for black water tanks etc)... then the layer of sand on top of the soil/aquasoil/organic layer ... and if you want to keep it exposed instead of using sand, you can make sure to get nitrogen free aka "non-active" or "not hot" aquasoil like brightwell or fluval aquasoils.
i keep a no substrate no filter 40g breeder with only floating plants and relatively low stocking level,(1 giant betta4 paradise males 2 corys 2 otos and a handful of endlers).it was a little touch and go until the plants took off,once they did though no measurable nitrate = no need to change water, add about a gallon and a half of poland spring a week for evap.. theres a million ways to do it and none are wrong but this is my favorite p.s. i overfeed on the regular as well! and i have no idea why,but, i dont have aggression issues,
I can advise the probable best content to create for fishkeeping. The thing is it will only attract new people. After that everything is commonality. We all group up into common groups. What I like you may not. It would be unlikely we have the same group. However we can share a passion for a breed. a pet, a cause and be in the same group. To commune together is to find common ground. In our feild it is aquatic lifestyles. Most of the fishkeepers have a passion for the responsibility. Maybe that is the content needed for better community. The responsibility of fishkeeping. The accountability of fishkeeping. You can't go around telling people what to do or how to do it. But you can go around all day everyday, showing people how you do it. Odd as it may sound. Solid in concept.
I built a cattery off the kitchen, but my kitty still rescues earthworms. She was very good at catching sparrows but only 1 was injured beyond releasing.
I like what FF says about substrates but I would say my style mimics yours. I layer my substrate with sand, sand pebbles, various soil mixtures and capped with sand or gravel depending on the tank. I insert osmocote plus into substrate once every six months. I do water changes as needed which means I test weekly. I let enough algae grow for my nerites and otos to eat in between the food I feed them as well as my fish and snails every other day. I stopped dosing liquid ferts cause it was growing hair, staghorn and black beard algae and I didn’t see where it was encouraging growth.
I have no substrate. Just 2 goldfish tanks. When I had substrate, it had worms in it, after it was many years old. For about 20 yrs. no substrate. My fantail goldfish live to be over 10. I have had mistakes. One got stuck behind an intake tube and died. I use media in filters to hold the bio load. I seems to work for me. All my goldfish are treated for parasites as soon as I buy them.
Hey whatever works! Especially goldfish. They're so very prone to parasites, and digging in the substrate or eating waste materials...i understand having no substrate for sure. Just gotta keep up on water changes and or filtration :)
I prefer low tech tanks for my lifestyle. And I live in Michigan. There’s always the probability of a power outage that can last days. I keep fish that do well with temps in the 70s. First power outage after setting up my tanks, water temp dropped over 3 days to the mid 50s. I was shocked I lost no fish without heat or circulation. I’m assuming the plants saved the fish as well as things I tried to oxygenate the water suggested by fishkeepers online.
Right on. Yeah if you can put a warm water bottle or anything warm...even hand warmers against tanks itll help. Usually 48 hours they do okay but if longer sometimes they hit trouble. But much less than high tech tanks do
Hey Alex. Father of fish I watched one and a lot of things he said I disagree like you said you don't have to feed yourfish one mouth that's only I just needed to say that to let you know I like your videos
Father fish is like your grumpy grandpa. You might not agree with him. You might think he's kindda extreme. But there's a lot to learn from him when it comes to deep substrate. But I agree with Alex on lagsagna substrates to be the best when dealing with medium to high light...
I've started a tank with 2 inch layers of aquasoil (wish i knew about your suggestion of using pummice at the bottom ages ago as ive got buckets of pummice and akadama for bonsai haha), 1 inch layer of fine aqua soil degraded and mixed with fine sand, and capped with 2 inch layer of fine sand. I've got about 40% of the aquarium covered in plants, but also have various non aquatic plants growing above the surface with a hydroponics kind of set up where the roots are submerged beneath the surface (e.g. monsterras, lucky bamboos, spider plants, zebrina inchplants, etc). On top of that i have several large sea shells placed in the aquarium, as well as driftwood and seiryu stone, plus almond leaves scattered throughout the surface. Ive had this set up for 6 months so far and ive changed the water probably once or twice. Originally started off with shrimp, but gradually added snails and different community fish like danios, white clouds, medakas, etc. Everything seems to be ticking along smoothly for now but what cons do you think this set up has, and anything I should look out for?
My betta recently became very sick, almost developed into full blown dropsy. She was in a heavily planted 10 gallon with pristine water parameters. Wasn’t doing regular water changes. She’s still recovering in a hospital tank. In hindsight I highly suspect there wasn’t enough water movement and some stagnate areas of the tank where potentially harmful bacteria or fungus grew. Going onwards I’m increasing the water flow and will do water changes more regularly.
Its possible there were annoxic pockets. Whenever ive done filterless tanks, i use high light so the plants make lots of oxygen daily, and try and have a species of fish like danios that move the water around a bit also. Im glad you caught it ik time at least!
PS The reason I asked is because my Betta's in a 20 gal tank of his own, heavily planted. He's been doing fine, but I want to keep him fine. Now I'm concerned. Thx. Sorry, my kitty was helping me on the key board. 😊
Hi Alexander- long time subscriber and thank you for your excellent content always so well presented! I hope you see this comment as I know how busy you are. I’ve listened to this and a few other of your videos but something in one struck me. FF said that his method works in up to 55 gallon aquariums. What are your thoughts on 2.5” Stratum with a 2” sand cap in a 75 gallon? Should I change the volume of any of the substrates? Put gravel underneath? I have old gravel sitting around but I wouldn’t call it “fine”. Planning on lots of crypts and swords, h siamensis B,some Anubias and assorted stem plants from other tanks. Duckweed and water lettuce on top. Lightly stocked with red tail shark and 20 or so tiger barbs. I took in the shark as a rehome and he’s not nice to my other fish in my 55 so I’m upgrading his living quarters and moving him out! Thanks for any insight, and all the wealth of info you share.
Here in Canberra (Australia) we now have suburbs where cats are not allowed outside, because of the devastation they cause to native wildlife. when I set up my first tank I followed the father fish method and it has worked so far. But it is not scaped its just a jungle!
Congrats on the tank! I also enjoy his tanks, just not for all my setups. As for the cat, If we had any endangered or even threatened song birds around id be more concerned...shes mostly catching starlings and robins, of which both were introduced from europe coincidentally lol. She did kill a sapsucking wood pecker female this summer and i was really upset, just due to the rarity of those near me.
I think the community and pr crew of father fish is more strict than father fish himself. I asked a few questions on their discord server and they are responding like a religious cult would respond. But listening to interviews of father fish you can see that he himself is not claiming to be the one true way of aquariums.
I think your statement is highly subjective, not everyone has experienced that. Most of the comments are very positive towards the community. What exactly was the reason for their negative responses?
Bingo. I wanted people to understand that. Ive known Lou a while and its his newer editors that have made him very popular on the algorithm...but they also make things sound bombastic or too good to be true with clicky titles and snippets
@@Fishtory His videos had a big role in fueling my interest to the hobby and I really appreciate that. But his videos cater to the algorithm like you said and these videos leave many loose ends information wise, these could lead to many misunderstandings about the hobby and narrow peoples perspectives. Even truth can be misleading if you are not careful. BTW I'm making my own videos about the philosophy of aquariums but it's in Turkish. I would really want to show them to you
@@genesis1_20 I asked about how a body of water under the substrate would effect the system and anaerobic activities (caused by hollow bricks under substrate to raise it) They are definitely very helpful and positive but they are not open to discussion. If the answer to your question is not in the holy text they act like it's an inappropriate question to ask. They of course don't want to give wrong information and that is very thoughtful. As individuals they all mean well but as a community they block out discussion and free thinking. This can be observed everywhere and is normal human behavior so I'm not trying to demonize them. But this is also how communities evolve into cults
Those snippets were meant funny, and might well be used to attract new people to their Channel / algorithms. It worked but caused distress to some. 🎉 I agree on so many comments here, cant even reply to all of them.
You've got alot of good advice..The chap said don't listen to advice...Not good advice I would say.any way look ,observe and watch all sorts of videos and do your own research..❤❤❤
I am interesting in the experiment of jars from local spot. For the fun of observing it. But I am way too anxious as a person to add it in my tank. Each time I see a new little creature in my tank, I panic at first. I watch for hydra, planaria, with my magnifier all the time. But I like how ff is not nervous 😅 his style dont attract me much, it play too much on emotion, and I don't find my answers most of the time. But I like to get multiple sources and then verifying infos.
Lol..we may be doing weekly pop ups on one anothers channels...i just wanted to draw a line for the record. I still learn a lot and keep an open mind until i see evidence to prove otherwise
Yea you guys make a good stream Duo, we learn a lot as viewers... I follow Loos methods, but his water is a little foggy, the only difference is I have carbon filters I swap out once a month on my hang on back filters, just to keep that cristal clear planted tank, is there any negatives to doing that?@@Fishtory
In the Aquatic hobbies there will always be ways that everyone likes to do it and not do it. It is about taking the knowledge given and incorporating it in your way, trial and error are ways to learn. As a person in the hobby I do not belive in use of Chem or bare bottom tanks ( unless has a sump). I have had great failure and many success over the years. It is a learning experience for many of us.
It turns to silt or mulm and compacts or you could gravel vac it up. It lasts 2.5 to 6 years depending on how much you fiddle with the plants and hardscape
FF layed some important foundational work for a better aquarium for all living things, however he shoots from the hip sometimes and it frustrates us who can't read minds. I know the book might be an answer, but the cost of starting this first tank is enough! I love his method, but I'd also like a more narrow approach I can follow. Yours are great but also involved beyond what someone beginning in the hobby is able to do without months of prep. Somewhere between FF and you likely lies the perfect tank for anyone beginner or expert.
It's the only systems I run there are 5 that actually work I'm glad I listen to my master always putting that man down for the real tanks he makes unbelievable
Deep subtrate Water live stock Lights And food web father fish is the best he's the only person who I know who personally has all the answers and has Tru love for nature every single person does these tanks wrong why when that man spent his whole life exploring testing all these things to corrupt that fish tank and you all still to this Day want to argue and question that man's beliefs when he knows what he's doing trust that I have not had no problems since doing that dep subtrate and learning to create a sourceful food web I have a Tru established tank I have added serious problems to my tank 9 times if not more and mother nature does not allow for over take of my system you need all that bad in there why do a water change your destroying these tanks feeding all these foods your corrupting it i know the secrets you all n very much any to inform the consumer I have a tank that has been up for a yr and every single day it's stronger and stronger I haven't had a single issue no problems cause mother nature is what provides for my system I just bring leaf litter in and provide bacteria to break down
That's the food web everybody doesn't understand I was there I'm not better than anybody I just have a better understanding of what happens in my fish home it's a legit ecosystem
You don't need to go to college or anything just have love for what you do and you will find everything you need to know it's sad you will doubt father fish it's sad this hobby is failing cause of all these chemicals and water changes and feeding well guess what let me tell you it's a scam it causes you to go back and get this for that for this water change it's sad your killing the fish faster these fish should live for a long long time not just for a few months
I don't stand by anything you do I'm sorry I have a real system thanks to father fish and my system will run for a long long time father fish is the best he knows what he's doing and giving information out the right way not just corrupting everybody to do this to do that
I like father fish but I dont think no water changes at all are a good idea. I do infrequent water changes in my 15 year old tank, but not none at all. The water changes arent to lower nitrates, I dont have nitrates in that tank, theyre to replenish trace elements and minerals that get depleted by the plants, fish and bacterial processes. Equally I like Tom Barr and when I was heavily into aquascaping I used to read his report and mess with all the more high tech stuff (also a member of the planted tank forum for a long time) but high tech is so much harder to maintain and if you miss water changes, dosing, or the CO2 system fails you get algae and issues almost immediately. Im now back to low tech and I love it. Set and walk away and then watch it grow and evolve over time.
TDS every tap water supports your local money each there own the water of change is all your option learning curve. So my out of tap faucet is 350 tds on average plants and wood first lighting and substrate all put to a timer on lights. So research your tap water options because water changes become fun. Back to topic and focus nothing is labeled its a flow to be recalled?
Went to fish shop to get some tropical fish for big tank...The chap wasn't happy when I said I use spring water.Said no,.So we went to another fish shop all good fish happy I'm happy.Moral to this is everyone does something different.Get good helpfuladvice ,Nature is better.Ive tried chemicals tap water all fish died.So it's nutrient and cycle top ups filter rotation and movement across water..Less is best.❤❤❤
Excellent video, especially the nitrate and water change part. I very much support the natural aquarium approach and have been using natural materials in my tanks for decades. But personally I don’t think the FF method is the way to go, certainly not for beginners. And FF’s claims that high nitrate levels do no harm and you shouldn’t change your water is simply wrong. To be clear, it has been scientifically proven that keeping fish in water with high nitrate levels over longer periods of time, is detrimental to their health. Nitrate levels above 50ppm cause higher Methemoglobin concentrations in their blood which causes problems with oxygen absorption. It’s wrong to ignore let alone deny this. Believe science.
@@MedievalMind There are numerous studies but I’ll give you a few links. Nitrate is the end product of a cycle and basically non-toxic, if not present in excessive high concentrations. But the problem is the exposure to higher nitrate levels (say 50 to 100ppm +) over longer periods of time. It’s a bit like smoking, it won’t kill you instantly and some people may live to be a 100 smoking every day but we all know it’s not healthy. Same for high nitrate levels. Most of the fish we keep in our hobby come from very soft, slightly acidic waters with very little dissolved substances. I know many fish that we can buy in shops are commercially bred and are used to water parameters more akin to average tap water, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give them ideal living conditions. I simply don’t agree with the FF style of telling viewers, very often beginners in the hobby, not to test their water and not to change their water and high nitrate levels are fine and more of that stuff. It’s too simplistic and lacking nuance. There are better ways to educate newcomers in this hobby. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6977012/ www.researchgate.net/publication/267377185_Nitrate_Toxicity_A_Potential_Problem_of_Recirculating_Systems
@@aquaracer65 Most of the fish may originate in those waters, but that is not where they have been bred for the last 50 years. With few exceptions, most fish in the hobby are bred in hard, alkaline water now. Origins have little to do with the care of most of the fish we keep now. Your assessment of FF's instructions are also simplistic. He does not simply say "do not change water" and "do not test". While video titles may contain those lines, he always goes on to explain in depth, and it is not that simplistic. He also performs water changes every few months for his own peace of mind. The system he teaches (and I use for everything from Saltwater to Discus) rarely reaches a level of nitrate over 100. I will review the links provided.
I couldn’t disagree more to be honest. Even commercially bred cardinals will do better when you acclimate them to softer water. Many of those fish will also show better colors if you provide them natural conditions. 50 years of commercial breeding can not compete with millions of years of evolution (but the father will probably not agree on that one). Origins has everything to do with care. I’ve watched several FF videos and haven’t seen one yet where he explains in depth as you say. I’ve heard too many claims to which I not agree. I am not saying everything is wrong what he does and I know the Walstad method can work to a certain extent but I’m just not a fan of his way of ‘teaching’. It’s almost like a cult by now. But if you are happy with his methods and your tanks are doing good, that is wonderful. But to me, a 100ppm of nitrate doesn’t sound very healthy! And I’ve been keeping fish for over 40 years…
@@aquaracer65 You are free to disagree, but the majority of commercially bred freshwater aquarium fish (with some specific exceptions) are bred in Florida in hard, alkaline water.
He says that you don't need water changes and that in nature, water changes are not made. But I think that water in the wild is indeed exchanged and that the water volume ratio to livestock is incomparable to what you have in any aquarium. I questioned him about this. He asserts that one needn't do water changes. When I had an aquarium in the USA in the 70s, no one changed water. Yellow water or fish water was considered healthy water. Probably because fish suffered when water finally would be changed, resulting in shocking the fish.
@@Fishtory I wasn't clear: I know that water changes are good. Again, yellow water was falsely considered "healthy" because when FINALLY changed, say at an aquarium scrub down, bad things would happen supposedly due to fresh non-fishy water. Gouramies do not like water changes? That's interesting and good to know. Do you have more information about this?
Ponds tend to use more due to the sun being so intense...and also you can have it in the ground water or subsoil... but some fishkeepers...especially rare plant growers, do indeed check it
![[LIVE] Why Angelfish Can Be So Hard To Keep! Plus A Fish Q&A!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4pzTR5u-Kuw/mqdefault.jpg)
Shortened form with no glitches or waiting ( 30 minutes long):
th-cam.com/video/X7C64qFUK9c/w-d-xo.html
There is a vast difference between knowing how to do something or what to do…and knowing why it works.
This channel builds learning and understanding in a way that I have yet to see anywhere else. Having an understanding of why things work is crucial when things don’t go to plan.
Bravo and keep up the great dissemination of knowledge.
Thank you. I feel the same exact way about how we should share knowledge. I honestly wish more channels were like that, because id like to watch them myself hah
You do a superior job researching and analyzing. Your easy and positive personality is also a welcome and refreshing aspect of your content. I’m confused (but not surprised) at some of the comments. You’ve basically done all the difficult work clearing up (in the most respectful way) the main difference between how you run tanks versus FF. We are all in the same boat fighting on the same side. There’s no cause for complaining and competitive attitudes. Be grateful for this kind of content. I’m 52. When I started there was zero information like yours and FF. In 1984, when I started, it was trial and ERROR. Thanks Alex!
Learned alot from Father Fish. I set up my first ever planted/dirted tank. Now my Plakat betta is thriving in a 5gallon with 5 different species of plants. Ive seen organisms grow in my tank and even found snails. Through his lessons ive learned to leave algea alone. Now that the tank has stabalised the algea is slowly dissapating. His method works. You just gotta be willing to keep an open mind.
Time and patience
Goldfish pond indoors and then what?
@@Fishtory👍
I understand what FF is saying about scooping out stuff in a pond or creek but I’m not putting that in my tank. The parasites/worms/plants indigenous to that pond probably make sense for that pond/ creek but not in my tank. Nature keeps itself in check. I have to keep my tank in check by being careful. Plus I put my hands in my tank. I don’t want to run the risk of infecting myself with something.
I did it
As an experiment 🥼 and my fish were healthier then in my tanks that I did not do it
Coinsurance 🤷 maybe :)
I agree... i do it with selectively cultured microfauna but some locations have cyanobacteria, leeches, tape worms. ameobas and even worse. I have an old livestream called "can i get sick from my aquarium?" ...and it's shocking how many things *could* be in there haha
@@Fishtory I would imagine a healthy lake is going to be better than the swamp Lake? :)👍
Do you only swim in chlorinated water??
@@H3774ND yes
Fact- not everyone with great knowledge is a great teacher.
True. I dont know if this is a reference to ff, me both or others... but its a good life motto lol 😆
@slawser ..neither am i lol i suck at shorts
@Slawsers correct, I'm reffering to ff. And I do realize that the issue might not be only the creators content but how the consumer processes, perceives and applies the info given. We hear what we understand, what is to difficult to comprehend falls on deaf ears. It is a very small percentage of consumers that really have interest in knowing more, most just want a easy way out. In my opinion, 90% of ff viewers only knows about him because of "stop doing water changes" and that is where their interest and research stopped aswell.
@@Fishtory don't worry Alex, you're still one of my favorites 🤣
Alex does seem to draw a lot of haters for some reason...
You right my firts tank i made it father fish way . And my plants not grow but is helty . My other tank i build it only soil almos 3 inch in my plants groing more then father fish method🎉 . And my tanks plants they look so green and helty and the growing fast
I say do what works for you 😉
One thing is sure in this hobby. Different methods work for different people. The way I feel about it is if it works for you then it works. I think that's why it's a good idea and FF has recommended this to observe the "resurrection jar" watch it develop so you have a better idea of what's in there. That said I found what looked to be a tapeworm crawling out of my substrate and the only thing I had used was store bought soil, store bought peat moss, and store bought sand! I picked it out with tweezers and miraculously it seems to have been the only one . There is always a risk of introducing something undesirable while building a natural tank even from store bought materials.
Actually his method has different phases. You can quickly set the aquarium up, and it totally works. The microfauna and microflora and water parameters settle more as years pass! That's a different story!
Some people want crystal clear water with no live plants, massive filtration, no gravel, no fake plants, no decorations.
I prefer a variety of life forms in mine, with tinted water from all the stuff growing and living. Sure it looks kind of messy and sloppy, but everything keeps everything healthy for me.
I have 3 of my tanks running on the Father Fish method (or as close as I can get to that in South Africa where I can't order his supplements). Dirt layer is comprised of 2 parts peat, one part compost, one part potting soil, a sprinkling of bone meal and a pinch of Epsom salts. Capped with sand with a 1mm grain size (not as fine as play sand but not quite gravel either). No particular reason, just what I had handy and a little nervous because of all the horror stories you hear about fine sand compacting. My filtration is more than Father Fish generally runs, there are power filters in addition to the air driven sponge filters. What I can say is that these tanks (after an initial break in/ugly phase) are far more stable and less maintenance than the traditional gravel/sand-and-root tabs tanks I have had in the past. One is heading towards 3 years and is an absolute jungle so I know it lasts at least that long.
Totally. I think if you include either filtration from a HOB or canister/ powerhead for o2 or flow...OR do water changes, its a really good system. I mostly just disagree on nitrates with him and co2 gas being helpful for delicate plants
@@Fishtory I do a 50% water change on all my tanks every 6 weeks, have stretched it to 8 weeks before. Even then my nitrates are rarely over 5ppm so that is not the reason I do it. More for peace of mind to get anything else that I do not test for, like hormones, excess liquid ferts (just a all in one, once a week type in my case for the epiphytes) or whatever else can build up out of there. I used to be very big on water changes before I tried his method, so old habits die hard. But very glad it is no longer a weekly thing.
@@Fishtoryin what you disagree on nitrates with him ?
1 mm is not fine sand.
Kevin Novak speaks about 1-3 mm for substrate. So 1mm is good not to have compacting.
Exactly, F.F., at first never defined what kind of dirt as he said to "get it anywhere " , I started out with a bag of dirt with some manure... which started out good, but then blew big bubbles out to the surface which was bad. I decided to re-do the tank and when dumping out the soil, it was foul . I noticed that now, he is more careful to say potting mix which is inert. My daughter is struggling keeping a healthy fish tank and has many losses under her belt which I hope she can learn from. She always wants to start a tank quickly which could be detrimental . I love your natural approach to a healthy eco-system . I know you are an expert on Neocaradina shrimp whom I adore and have been keeping for a year now. I have had many grown-up red shrimp die from the dreaded " white-ring-of-death". I use shrimp essentials in the water and have chunks of sunken cuttlefish , but what else can I do to prevent this death?? You are so detailed in your information which is awesome. Thank you for your expertise.
Thanks for saying so. Sometimes the ring of death can come from too much calcium as well, if they dont have enough collagen from eating fatty little microorganisms or protein foods from fatty plants with pectin... they lose the flexing aspect of their shell, and get trapped at that "shoulder" ring of death. So make sure you are feeding some leaves and or a good diet.. but if you can check the TDS .... also if the ph is over 7.5 or so the water has no acidity to soften the old exoskeletons. So yeah check if kh and gh are between 4 and 12 at highest... tds likely 150-300 ppm is ideal and ph 6.6 to 7.4 ideally...even though they often survive way beyond those limits
Hello. I got into the hobby when I saw my brothers father fish tank. I was into bonsai and have a little understanding on plants. I did my soil rich in nutrients so I had to cycle for about a month. Had amonia of 32 (API test was blue not green, took 1/4 water and the rest destiled water and still had 8ppm).
One thing you say you don't agree with FF is the 2" cap. With dirted tanks 2" seem to be good specially if you do them rich on nutrients. I am surprised with the beautiful growth on my plants. I have hard water and did noticed the need to add potassium. But like you said what do I know been doing this for 4 months.
Thanks for diving deep into research. I appreciate and value your input. I have had luck with the FF so far just sharing my experience.
I have my own version of both you and father fish. I don't do jack for water changes and my fish are happy and healthy. Thanks for you guidance.
Nice!
I grew plants just fine for many decades using just plain old aquarium gravel. Certainly nothing exotic, swords, jungle val with 3-4 foot leaves, crypts, aponogeton (which flowered), hornwort, cabomba...using a florescent shop light, in ultra hard water. Long before water parameter testing, beneficial bacteria knowledge and the use of fertilizers. Knowing me, I likely overfed and overstocked, so lots of fish poop in the gravel. Left the hobby for five or so years, and when I came back in, fell 'prey' to the aquascaping videos. Now, my tanks range from plain gravel, sand, dirted with a sand cap, to aquasoil only, and using root tabs and all in one fertilizer. Fluval 3.0/Hygger/JC&p lights. Plants are growing well in all tanks. Bottom line, KISS to George Farmer choices all work, with obviously some plants working better in some systems.
Right on! George is a good dude
Love your "compassion is it's own sort of religion" comment ❤
Great discussion too. I'm only just hitting the one year mark in the hobby and dabbled with the Father Fish methods. I put a couple of my guppies into a wild caught tadpole grow-out tank for my young son. A month or two after all the frogs were released and the guppies were returned to their tank, I started losing fish one after another. Parasites are no joke. I only managed to save 4 platies from that entire tank. Lesson learned, but my poor fish paid for it.
Yeah its why i don't mix pond water without heavy quarantine too
@@Fishtory Makes sense
You can turn your porch into a catio so the kitty can still go outside and watch the birds. I prefer that method most
Thanks Alex! Just found you today. Great content. As an aquarist for 35 years. At one time I had a dozen tanks going. I moved to a different state and let go of the hobby. Came back to my home town (New Orleans) after Katrina and had a 29g that was gifted to me for the last 15 years. Now retired I grabbed a deal on a 55g and it looks like I'm hooked again! I totally agree with your methods for the most part. I watched a ton of FF video's and even ordered some plants to test the waters dealing with him. Horrible experience for me. Waited almost a month for 12 scraggly plants. So that's over. He does have some method to his madness though. I do as much research as I can while using the knowledge I've gained over the years. I just go with what works. I'm now up to 4 tanks and growing. This will leave me plenty of room to experiment. Looking forward to watching more of your video's. Good luck with your autoimmune issues. I've been battling cancer but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Take care and Thanks again!
Sorry to hear about the cancer! I wish you the very best! Also, welcome to the community here. We are tight-knit, experience+ science + curiousity is the order of the day. There's no one right way...but a few wrong ways haha. So what works for you. Dont hesitate to asm questions if you have any. The hobby and science has changed tremendously in the last 25 years or so, and some things nature will always do best
@Fishtory You're among The Best in responding to viewers questions/comments.
Some are conscientious about it in the beginning, but you've remained true to the appreciated effort. Actually, you're among The Best overall. 👌
Praying for your health. Auto immune diseases are no joke. Been watching your videos for the past 2 months. Great content.
I started my first ever tank 1yr ago. I must have watched a 1000 videos getting ready. I did a 10gal Father Fish dirted and sand capped tank. I loaded it with a ton of plants from Dustin's and Africa Frog Bit.
The tank is stocked with 1 Betta, 10 Cardinal Tetras, 4 Clooley Loaches.
I lost 2 of 6 Cooleys in the first two days they went in. A year latter and my tank is thriving and no other fish have died. No algae issues. Just a lot of tiny snails. I top off with fresh water once a week and a 25% water change once a month.
IDK, whatever I'm doing is definitely working.
I'm stepping up to a 55gal next.
Right on! So glad to hear it
im in the exact same situation but i waited like 6 months for my 20 gal to cycle before adding anything, lost 1 fish, but since then its been going aight
I only watch and learn from you !!!
I respect you !!! I couldn’t continue watching your pod cast with him . I just thought you were a kind respectful ! I couldn’t stomach that guy .
Understandable...we butt heads but remain friends to try and keep the hobby united/civil.
That was a Fair assessment, What seems to draw hobbyists in is the low cost 💲 of setting up a FF tank. Not only does he give you information and sources to set it up. He helps with cultivating live foods to use in a food web. Much like videos you have discussed in the past. Perhaps someday I’ll get to experience setups like yours where I can grow robust plants using CO2. If so, Hopefully with little trouble. For the long term I firmly believe in FF style tanks. Not many folks can boast about their 22 year old natural aquarium that has fish thriving and healthy.
Very true. I have a tank similar thats about 16 years old...but ive moved and so i count that as a reboot, and i added more sand...in the same spirit, he moved from florida 2 years ago and moved his tanks as well. But thats super nit picky lol
So I WAS going to set up a enviro small tank using the father 2:00 fish guy method. Now I am totally confused. Should I do a substrate or just pull a few stones out out of my fountain
Up to you. Do you want a 5 to 10 year setup...father fish. If you want a tank for 1 to 3 years.... you can just do stone and or gravel and sand
I have an undergravel filter. Do I place the mud, then sand and gravel ON TOP OF the half-inch plenum or do I place the plenum on top of the mud and then the sand on top of the plenum?
I will say this about the Father Fish method, and putting aside some of the options and ideas he has presented such as adding mud from a water body or introducing microfauna, etc, etc..........his basic concept, even if you were to just throw in some potting soil capped with some sand and adding some live plants is a method that will more than likely lead the new guy to some success. Father fish as I think you mentioned Alex is going to say some provocative things, but at the end of the day, if you analyze what he's doing, it's always going to go back to the same thing, steer the newcomers away from the marketing blitz and guide them into a basic natural setup that will keep fish alive minus all the $$$ and chemicals. That's a WIN for the hobby Whoever wants to go gun-ho and risk introducing some super predator or parasite that will wipe out your school of cardinal tetras because you scooped up some random mud from some pond, is I guess free to do so, but I would suggest that FF should include a disclaimer that introducing foreign elements could result in issues, as I'm with you on the opinion that it may not be such a good idea to just scoop up whatever and/or the ability of a home aquarium to take care of itself or counter whatever was introduced. Things happen very fast in a small water body and the elements that would "Take care" of a particular element may or may not exist or exist in sufficient quantity to take care of or balance things out. FF is going to get some backlash IMO because he has a no holds barred approach to techniques that could get some people in trouble, but overall, he has more experience in number of years than most of us have been alive, his methods work and while in recent times everyone on youtube was making videos about their new $500 filter, their 50th tank, etc FF provided some real meat and potatoes knowledge that has helped many out. Excellent video as usual Alex.
Thanks and i agree..although i hear him mentioning hiring 6 people to sell and ship his soil and plants, which are grown wholesale and not via him....and his membership fees, and i did have some concerns on the direction the brand was taking...and also i asked him about it face to face on our first chat stream.
Im meeting a lot of people paying him 25 to 50 a month, plus 150 or 200 to get tanks going, and seeing the business side that he used to rail agains and rant about.
I dunno, my memberships will always be 1.99 im trying to put my money where my mouth is and hopefully stay true to how i started. The temptation of offers you get after the 50k subs mark is very insidious however.
In the end, i feel as long as there is true transparency, then its up to each person.
As a newbie, I follow FF also. I was shocked to hear you can just go down to the lake/creek & fill your tank. But I learn from him, as well as I did here in Alex vid. Thx Alex.
@@FishtoryHi, Alex. I like you both, but am leaning somewhat toward your suggestions (ie I'm apprehensive now of the resurrection jar). You're braver than I! You do use a diplomatic approach, but state your opinion (when given the chance). I, on the other hand, would talk softly and rather than carrying a big stick - would run! LoL. I was somewhat surprised when I noticed that capitalism seems to be rearing its "ugly head" in some of his actions now. Oh dear. lmao 😂
PS Thx for noting that the plants are bought wholesale. That's good to know as I thought they were home grown. They still seem to be a good price, but I do prefer to be able to order what I want specifically so I haven't ordered any yet. I do order from Cory, but it seems even his prices shot up as he became more successful. Must be something in the water these days! 😊
Ff stule is a place to start, and I appreciate how it introduced me to encouraging microfauna in my tank. I really appreciate all the knowledge you share with your channel! I've learned that there's a style for everyone, and it's important to understand what your goals are for your tank, and what you enjoy. Then you find the processes that support it.
Glad to help, thanks for your support and input
Great video, thanks for posting it.
I've heard you mention in this video that plants convert startches to sugars.
I also remember someone say that many plants you buy are soaked in a "Sugary Substances" in the gels for tissue cultures or in rock wool of plants to keep them well nourished.
Well, I've never once heard of folks trying to use that same "sugary substances" added to base layer of substrates or even right below thin sand cap to help feed plant while it transitions.
I just assumed they added typical plant fertilizers like ammonia, nitrates in their gels or rock wool.
Maybe I'll try sprinkling some white sugar, honey or Molasses into deeper substrate under sand or cosmetic surface materials.
What's your thoughts on that & if you ever tried it before.
You'll get a bacterial bloom doing that, personally I wouldn't do it. Sugars in large amount aren't common in nature so you'll get an unnatural proliferation of things you don't really want.
Bingo
Hello! I love ur videos. To keep ur cat in the yard???? Use that orange netting you see on the side of the road they use for a barrier. It's about 4ft wide X 50, or 100 ft. Cats have to jump onto, then off. If they think the barrier won't support them or is flimsy, they won't, can't jump over it!!!!! My friend contained rescue cats on one half of the back yard that way. It works great. Looks .....well....you can get in green! Lowe's
I love your videos , I've been bing watching and learning about tanks fish and so on. And the father fish thing you and I are on the same page. But combination of advice and learning and adjusting to what my needs are is really helpful. Thank you so much for posting your videos.
Glad you like the content. Cheers, friend
When learning, having a plethora of sources to fall back on is a beautiful thing. If I need to fix something on my truck that I've never done before, I watch 12 different people do it on yt. I never put all my faith into one source of information. This channel and FF are both excellent sources of info to have in your arsenal imo.
yes he has a method most successful and old school and the new wave of fish keepers follow and do its tried and tested since the dawn of aquariums with a few new additions
Yeah its fine i enjoy it, and keep 2 tanks that way...ive built probably 10 total since ive been friends with Lou for 6 years now, but recently im kind of fusing a little of everything together that i personally enjoy
Have listened to father fish.but I still feel we need good filters lights .Some leaves have tannins.ok for some fish that like that water,but community tank better of with cycle,I have gravel ,plants in own glasses easier to clean and plants been happier,learnt this my self,landscaping x plant better care.lighting important, at night I turn off lights,when we go to bed etc.Have 3 filters change one by rotating as keeps better biomme.I don't have deep substrates.have live plants and like good charcoal to clean toxic in gravel and under sand in glasses.Keep better health.take a food multi vit.also blend up black berries and hope your health improves greatly.My mum had it and it's painful,comes from toxins in the body and a run down system.Cut down sugars and proceesed foods.You have lots of Great bio tanks been watching your sites quite awhile.Did help me.thanks❤.
Thanks. I agree that your methods are one of several excellent ways to keep happy fish. It really depends on the species at the end of the day
Great video! I am setting up a 125 gallon comunity planted tank for my son. What do you feel would be the best but also cost effective substrate to use?
I’m shoked! The FF substrate under the sand cap is supposed to provide all the nutrients the plants need very quickly, not in a matter of months, and the light is on 24/7 the first days (not months like someone said, and only so that the roots develop quickly to reach the substrate, not the dirt layer on the bottom).
I’m joking of course, but I feel a bit lost now...
Ive watched his method evolve a lot the last 5 or 6 years... mostly in the last 3. But i dont know the point of 24/7 light for the first week or when that was added. It must be in the last year or so.
@@Fishtory he himself leaves the light on all the time but it is not mendatory, personaly I wouldn't, simply because it would be too expensive, and it's not very ecological anyways.
I'm not sure he uses DEL lights.
Lately he changed the system of the resurection jar, no more mud and a shorter exposure to the sun because it fouls the water.
Hence the necessity to follow closely for the context and to realy listen.
Good video so far! I agree with your points. We all run tanks different at the end of the day. I prefer top soil as it’s organic and it dont mess with the water quality when moving plants like mud can. I like father fish myself but i like to experiment.
It seems we have a lot of the same point of views in these topics pretty interesting to hear!
So true. I have 5 tanks and they are all set up in slightly if not totally different ways. All work great. It’s part of the fun imo 😊
Thanks for sharing. I think you should keep fish and plants however works best for you!
@@Fishtory easy for you to say☺ I have a 60gal gravel, plastic plants, w/ HOB filter. I want to start a 30gal soil/sand(?) substrate planted tank. But sooo many recipes that I'm having a hard time deciding which is best (for a beginner) to start with ... W/0 learning by wiping out fish/plant stock😰
🤗
@@Fauntazee get a easy aqua soil like eco complete add sand and run that for few years till you understand soil better. Eco complete pretty cheap but also very good. Father fish method its kinda like science if your not knowledgeable in soil you may have a tough time!
Hello Alex, could possibly make a video (or maybe you already have one) where you outline how to set up your version of the deep substrate system for your jungle tanks that you mentioned where there is a base layer of lava rock and then aquasoil/sand?
Sure please feel free. Im going to show it hopefully, when i build my next 40 breeder setup in a few weeks too. But id love it if you want to share the info or use any clips that you find useful. Cheers
There's more than one way to maintain a tank. Clearly your goals and those of Father Fish are different. And that's fine. I want to grow a tank full of plants and have it as low tech as possible. And I'm willing to let it take a while. The Father Fish method is something that appeals to me because it appears to work, and it doesn't need CO2. So, I'm going to give it a shot in a 29 gallon tank and see how it goes.
Go for it! I wanted a similar goal i just do things slightly differently
Great video. I'm just getting back into my aquariums. My last setup had florescent lighting.im investing in leds now thanks for the info.
Good luck!
Nice video. I look at so many fish tank people, and though I’m also a fan of ff. I’m also your fan. I think you do a good low effort tank, and it’s a quick set up.
I appreciate that!
❤ you are the reason why i started a second tank aqua soil subtrate emersed plant growth does well in aqua soil rather than any inert subtrate
Glad to hear it! Do what works for you! Cheers
Thanks for that input. Did put sand on top f the aqua substrate?
My 5 gallon with Fluval Bio Stratum does well with plants. In this 5 gallon I keep live plants, spider wood, with red cherry shrimp and 1 male betta in this tank. I have a very low flow foam/sponge filter with bio-balls in the tank. No CO2, so the plants don't grow that fast. Most my other tanks only have sand and gravel and the plants do ok but not that great. I do want to try fertilized soil with sand cap sometime like Father Fish does though. I started with only gravel tanks and eventually capped them with sand from Father Fish advice and it worked well to help with keeping nitrates lower.
Agree on the taking dead fish out instead of burying in the tank.
Oh definitely. And after a year, that deep sand is great for a lot of plants, and nitrate control.
At the end of your videos you have asked to leave a comment on video ideas. I would love to see a video on aquarium plant Wars, what plants will actually kill other plants in your aquarium with their biological processes. Like you mentioned Val and duckweed. Happy holidays
Yeah im trying to find more examples... the research is so limited sadly. But that's a video i want to make for sure
I'm putting together a 125 gallon with a 40 gallon sump. I'm doing a mix of dirt and aqua soils and kind of a mix of what father fish does and lasagna like what you were talking about. I'm planning on doing quite a lot of plants and I've got some rocks marinating in my 5 year old aquarium. I have 9000lm 6500k flood lights picked out. I want to move my 7 rainbows and a few tetras over pretty fast. I am going to cap with sand to prevent ammonia leaching. With that volume of water do you think they can be moved quickly? I don't have a lot of room in my house to keep my 55 gallon next to the 125.
Yeah as soon as the ammonia tests 0... you can move em! Sounds like a nice setup
@@Fishtory Is there somewhere to post pictures when it's done? It's been a long time coming.
Thanks Alex for another excellent video. I love how you are always dropping knowledge. I like to understand what is going on in the tank for experiments. I have to figure out why I’m not getting notifications for your live streams.
My pleasure! And yes youtube seems out to hide my channel lately lol uhg
Merry Christmas to you and your wife and family Alex! 🌟
Same to you! Thank you kindly!
Actually Father Fish and Walstad method have different phases. You can quickly set the aquarium up, and it totally works. The microfauna and microflora and water parameters settle quickly and be more permanent as years pass!
Definitely. Any system will start to stabilize if you let nature find it's equilibrium.
Most chemical based, sterile aquarium systems, do not allow nature do its work and they are not nature based. I am saying this, as a long years environmentalist.
This got me thinking a lot. So I capped my p gravel after learning about the FF method. However my tank was only 2 months old. But I didn’t want to do an entire tear down because I had small shrimp. So I have a layer of p gravel and a 2” layer of sand. Heavily planted tank. Here’s what this got me to thinking. Maybe I buy some aqua soil and freeze it into say a 3” disk and then try and place it into my p gravel layer. Thoughts?
Newbie here... Understanding you want to now add soil, yet From my reading/listening, I thought plants can't very much thrive in gravel/sand substrate🤔
That is awesome! Good thinking...ive done it, and seen it done as well :)
Hi, I was considering doing a Father Fish tank, but after listening to this video, I will rethink the tank because I don't know enough. I'd like to get advice from you, I am currently keeping angelfish, with well water, I've got a fear with plants but the more I listen and because I believe my fish need plants I'm trying to figure out how to build a tank that they can live with out stress and be happy. I'd love to get your advice on what and how to set up a 29 gallon aquarium? I just bought plants from you and need to figure it out before your plants arrive. I'd like to set up a tank that I don't have to do frequent water changes, do you have any recommendations for me?
Check out either one of my videos from last month on "lasagna tanks" or lasagna method. That would be perfect!
That... or just get some fluval stratum 2 or 3 inches of it, and root tabs ( it's about like a gravel set up, but fish poo filters to the bottom and slowly turns to soil for the plants). The plants then protect the fish from any spike in ammonia ...if the filter were to crash or something odd like that...beyond that, plants comfort the fish and provide extra oxygen all day!
I still experiment after 50 years. My next tank, I plan on 1/2'' floor dry then 1/2'' soil then 3'' sand, plants a plenty. I'm hoping no stink. I feed daphnia that I culture and very little commercial targeted foods. I also want a cabinet with plants above watered by the fish tank. I might incorporate a praying mantis. This goal seams lofty to me. This hobby can be addicting.
Alex, what do you think about using basalt as substrate? To me It works very well. It's good to grow roots and It's rich in minerals such as iron, magnesium, potassium and calcium. t's also used in agriculture here in Brazil.
If you have quality basalt access, go for it! Its just not common up here in the USA
I am using basalt scoria (frothy lava) as a substrate over granular clay…will likely top the basalt with coarse sand. Don’t know how all of this will work…but hopeful.
EcoComplete is essentially basalt lava that has been rounded in a river or mechanically…with a packet of starter culture.
I don’t know about using crushed basalt that has no vesicles…but seems it would work like any largely inert gravel, like quartz.
@donpettit7107 yeah it depends if it has any schist or silica / Feldspar. Most aquasoil pellets are low ph stone/clay with a ph 6.0- 6.5 due to those minerals/rock, and i think its key to the super fertile volcanic soil regions, whereas the porous explosive type igneous that make "lava rock"...can product akaline clay all the way up in the 9.0 range!
@@Fishtory The basalt scoria lying atop the weathered basalt clay layer has resulted in a consistent pH of about 6.8. The GH/KH was so low as to not register anything on the API test kit.
I added a big bag of fossil calcium carbonate marketed as aragonite (I’m not up on limestone terms)…but you can see the whorled shells in it.
Hoping this provides some calcium to build plants cell walls a bit…as this water is a close to RO as one can get from tap.
Totally agree with the danger of unbalanced ecosystems! Also, took me months and multiple rounds of meds to treat swordtails from Petco, so parasites are no joke.
That was really interesting...i love hearing people different views...
I believe thats how you learn..
Nice one Alex...🙏
Glad to hear it. Thats what i was hoping would happen in the process.
My God another video! I have so much work to do but I will going to turn up the volume on my TV! 😄
I will watch it again this night.I have to water all my Plants today so that around a few 1000 Plants. I love your video's!
Enjoy! And thank you
She needs a bell,so the birds hear her coming
Oh shes got 2 bells lol she is a monster...she learned to hold them in her mouth until she pounces...shes so damn smart...i finally tightened it so she cant do that. But birds still come a few days a week...it used to be 2 a day
What substrate and nutrient /supplement mix would you suggest for a tank with extremely hard water? We live in the SW Missouri Ozarks on limestone/dolomite and we are doing a natural tank with native fish and plants from our area.
Oh if they're native fish... dont worry. But for tropical fish in the jungle like tetras... lots of plants and or add distilled, rain or RO water to the tank. Its a bummer with hard water all you can do is add wood and leaves to break down into acids ...co2 gas does that too. But then the water is still "hard" just the ph lowers. So really other than RO filters there's no magic way to remove disolved solids... water softeners arent good for the fish...itll dilute their electrolytes and blood minerals content.
@@Fishtory Thanks for responding! It really is a bummer having extremely hard water--for many reasons more than just not being able to keep certain fish and plants! On the other hand, we have beautiful clear streams here in the Ozarks and an abundance of wildlife that is hard to find elsewhere. (We actually live about 3 miles from the place where the The Tumbling Creek cave snail (Antrobia culveri) is located. It is known only from that one locality. We have tons of amphipods and isopods in the springs and fens on our property so we keep hoping to find one of those snails here as well someday.) Currently we are keeping Fathead minnows in the tank but hope to collect a few native snails and small glass shrimp to help make a natural ecosystem. Many people look at minnows with disdain, but we find them interesting.
Currently in Iowa, with very very hard alkaline water. Im just starting out and wanted to do a community amazon tank (soft water) went to a local fish store, not box, and asked about the water parameters and all of their classically soft water fish had acclimated to the hard water. All that to say, if you're wanting to do those kinds of fish, check out local suppliers who have their fish acclimated to the conditions you already have.
I have teal algae growing on the white sand . Is it toxic to shrimp, fish , snails ?
Likely cyanobacteria... add 1 packet per 20 gallons of water of erythromycin ( API brand is most common..or Maracyn)... it is a gram possitive antibiotic and will Kill all cyanobacteria in 2 or 3 days. But many cyanobacteria have cyanotoxins... it may be harmless, but if it's growing ON TOP of the sand, that's generally a bad species.
Ok listened to the whole thing - question: so it's sand on the bottom, lava rock, then what goes on top of the lava rock??? if i listened you said you put sand on bottom for cushion, then lava rock (i own lava rock am new aquarist), then im confused bc i dont know if sand goes on top of the lava rock, or aqua soil, and then sand.
So I just sprinkle a little sand, so the bottom doesn't have any pressure points of large decorative stones pressing down touching the bottom glass. But beyond that, it's gravel or lava rock... then aquasoil and any additives like root tabs or fertilizers you may add, as well as any other organic materials ( some folks like leaf litter or wood for black water tanks etc)... then the layer of sand on top of the soil/aquasoil/organic layer ... and if you want to keep it exposed instead of using sand, you can make sure to get nitrogen free aka "non-active" or "not hot" aquasoil like brightwell or fluval aquasoils.
i keep a no substrate no filter 40g breeder with only floating plants and relatively low stocking level,(1 giant betta4 paradise males 2 corys 2 otos and a handful of endlers).it was a little touch and go until the plants took off,once they did though no measurable nitrate = no need to change water, add about a gallon and a half of poland spring a week for evap.. theres a million ways to do it and none are wrong but this is my favorite p.s. i overfeed on the regular as well! and i have no idea why,but, i dont have aggression issues,
Sounds lovely!
Yes was really annoyed at Chap at aquarium shop.Oh well that's his way.Ive learnt for years now,and still learning.lol😢❤
Great video.
I didn't know you knew this much.
I didn't want the video to end.
Glad you enjoyed it!. There are 1900 other videos If you really want to go wild on my channel lol. Welcome!
yes, because if you did rice fish you need paramecium for fry, so you could single those out in a jar. I think.. I was thinking of getting a few
I can advise the probable best content to create for fishkeeping. The thing is it will only attract new people. After that everything is commonality. We all group up into common groups. What I like you may not. It would be unlikely we have the same group. However we can share a passion for a breed. a pet, a cause and be in the same group. To commune together is to find common ground. In our feild it is aquatic lifestyles. Most of the fishkeepers have a passion for the responsibility. Maybe that is the content needed for better community. The responsibility of fishkeeping. The accountability of fishkeeping. You can't go around telling people what to do or how to do it. But you can go around all day everyday, showing people how you do it. Odd as it may sound. Solid in concept.
Red cinder? I got piles of that. Could I put plants in that?
Cedar? Do not use any evergreen
I built a cattery off the kitchen, but my kitty still rescues earthworms. She was very good at catching sparrows but only 1 was injured beyond releasing.
I like what FF says about substrates but I would say my style mimics yours. I layer my substrate with sand, sand pebbles, various soil mixtures and capped with sand or gravel depending on the tank. I insert osmocote plus into substrate once every six months. I do water changes as needed which means I test weekly. I let enough algae grow for my nerites and otos to eat in between the food I feed them as well as my fish and snails every other day. I stopped dosing liquid ferts cause it was growing hair, staghorn and black beard algae and I didn’t see where it was encouraging growth.
Right on! Sounds like you and i think very alike :)
@@Fishtory We do! Your mind is science driven which is why I get so much out of your videos. Keep up the excellent work.
I have no substrate. Just 2 goldfish tanks. When I had substrate, it had worms in it, after it was many years old. For about 20 yrs. no substrate. My fantail goldfish live to be over 10. I have had mistakes. One got stuck behind an intake tube and died. I use media in filters to hold the bio load. I seems to work for me. All my goldfish are treated for parasites as soon as I buy them.
Hey whatever works! Especially goldfish. They're so very prone to parasites, and digging in the substrate or eating waste materials...i understand having no substrate for sure. Just gotta keep up on water changes and or filtration :)
I prefer low tech tanks for my lifestyle. And I live in Michigan. There’s always the probability of a power outage that can last days. I keep fish that do well with temps in the 70s. First power outage after setting up my tanks, water temp dropped over 3 days to the mid 50s. I was shocked I lost no fish without heat or circulation. I’m assuming the plants saved the fish as well as things I tried to oxygenate the water suggested by fishkeepers online.
What fish do you have which survived mid 50sF ?
Right on. Yeah if you can put a warm water bottle or anything warm...even hand warmers against tanks itll help. Usually 48 hours they do okay but if longer sometimes they hit trouble. But much less than high tech tanks do
Hey Alex. Father of fish I watched one and a lot of things he said I disagree like you said you don't have to feed yourfish one mouth that's only I just needed to say that to let you know I like your videos
Father fish is like your grumpy grandpa. You might not agree with him. You might think he's kindda extreme. But there's a lot to learn from him when it comes to deep substrate. But I agree with Alex on lagsagna substrates to be the best when dealing with medium to high light...
Hehe agreed
I've started a tank with 2 inch layers of aquasoil (wish i knew about your suggestion of using pummice at the bottom ages ago as ive got buckets of pummice and akadama for bonsai haha), 1 inch layer of fine aqua soil degraded and mixed with fine sand, and capped with 2 inch layer of fine sand. I've got about 40% of the aquarium covered in plants, but also have various non aquatic plants growing above the surface with a hydroponics kind of set up where the roots are submerged beneath the surface (e.g. monsterras, lucky bamboos, spider plants, zebrina inchplants, etc). On top of that i have several large sea shells placed in the aquarium, as well as driftwood and seiryu stone, plus almond leaves scattered throughout the surface. Ive had this set up for 6 months so far and ive changed the water probably once or twice. Originally started off with shrimp, but gradually added snails and different community fish like danios, white clouds, medakas, etc. Everything seems to be ticking along smoothly for now but what cons do you think this set up has, and anything I should look out for?
Test the water often and pH is consistently about 7.2 and all other parameters are looking healthy too
My betta recently became very sick, almost developed into full blown dropsy. She was in a heavily planted 10 gallon with pristine water parameters. Wasn’t doing regular water changes. She’s still recovering in a hospital tank.
In hindsight I highly suspect there wasn’t enough water movement and some stagnate areas of the tank where potentially harmful bacteria or fungus grew.
Going onwards I’m increasing the water flow and will do water changes more regularly.
Its possible there were annoxic pockets. Whenever ive done filterless tanks, i use high light so the plants make lots of oxygen daily, and try and have a species of fish like danios that move the water around a bit also. Im glad you caught it ik time at least!
We're you using a sponge filter?
PS The reason I asked is because my Betta's in a 20 gal tank of his own, heavily planted. He's been doing fine, but I want to keep him fine. Now I'm concerned. Thx.
Sorry, my kitty was helping me on the key board. 😊
Hi Alexander- long time subscriber and thank you for your excellent content always so well presented! I hope you see this comment as I know how busy you are.
I’ve listened to this and a few other of your videos but something in one struck me. FF said that his method works in up to 55 gallon aquariums. What are your thoughts on 2.5” Stratum with a 2” sand cap in a 75 gallon? Should I change the volume of any of the substrates? Put gravel underneath? I have old gravel sitting around but I wouldn’t call it “fine”.
Planning on lots of crypts and swords, h siamensis B,some Anubias and assorted stem plants from other tanks. Duckweed and water lettuce on top. Lightly stocked with red tail shark and 20 or so tiger barbs. I took in the shark as a rehome and he’s not nice to my other fish in my 55 so I’m upgrading his living quarters and moving him out!
Thanks for any insight, and all the wealth of info you share.
Sorry I see you talk about egg crate and lava rock in a bigger tank at 24 minutes. I should pay more attention!
Here in Canberra (Australia) we now have suburbs where cats are not allowed outside, because of the devastation they cause to native wildlife. when I set up my first tank I followed the father fish method and it has worked so far. But it is not scaped its just a jungle!
Congrats on the tank! I also enjoy his tanks, just not for all my setups.
As for the cat, If we had any endangered or even threatened song birds around id be more concerned...shes mostly catching starlings and robins, of which both were introduced from europe coincidentally lol.
She did kill a sapsucking wood pecker female this summer and i was really upset, just due to the rarity of those near me.
I think the community and pr crew of father fish is more strict than father fish himself. I asked a few questions on their discord server and they are responding like a religious cult would respond. But listening to interviews of father fish you can see that he himself is not claiming to be the one true way of aquariums.
I think your statement is highly subjective, not everyone has experienced that. Most of the comments are very positive towards the community. What exactly was the reason for their negative responses?
Bingo. I wanted people to understand that. Ive known Lou a while and its his newer editors that have made him very popular on the algorithm...but they also make things sound bombastic or too good to be true with clicky titles and snippets
@@Fishtory His videos had a big role in fueling my interest to the hobby and I really appreciate that. But his videos cater to the algorithm like you said and these videos leave many loose ends information wise, these could lead to many misunderstandings about the hobby and narrow peoples perspectives. Even truth can be misleading if you are not careful.
BTW I'm making my own videos about the philosophy of aquariums but it's in Turkish. I would really want to show them to you
@@genesis1_20 I asked about how a body of water under the substrate would effect the system and anaerobic activities (caused by hollow bricks under substrate to raise it)
They are definitely very helpful and positive but they are not open to discussion. If the answer to your question is not in the holy text they act like it's an inappropriate question to ask. They of course don't want to give wrong information and that is very thoughtful. As individuals they all mean well but as a community they block out discussion and free thinking. This can be observed everywhere and is normal human behavior so I'm not trying to demonize them. But this is also how communities evolve into cults
Those snippets were meant funny, and might well be used to attract new people to their Channel / algorithms.
It worked but caused distress to some. 🎉
I agree on so many comments here, cant even reply to all of them.
Alex do you put a plastic liner in those beer barrel ponds
I have sometimes, but it doesnt seem needed honestly
Crazy how that cat hates you and loves you at the same time 😂
He’s like”i hate that i love this human”
Is there a condensed version
Yes! th-cam.com/video/X7C64qFUK9c/w-d-xo.html
The tank in this video where you used two home depot spot light bulbs, "did you use C02" with diffuser on that tank?
No just light, mostly live and frozen food...heavy fish loads and aquasoil
You've got alot of good advice..The chap said don't listen to advice...Not good advice I would say.any way look ,observe and watch all sorts of videos and do your own research..❤❤❤
Yes do your own research then decide what advice is needed or actually helpful haha
Lol Alex I use the cleaning piles out of the goat barn. It has everything you could need.
Oh i bet
I am interesting in the experiment of jars from local spot. For the fun of observing it. But I am way too anxious as a person to add it in my tank. Each time I see a new little creature in my tank, I panic at first. I watch for hydra, planaria, with my magnifier all the time. But I like how ff is not nervous 😅 his style dont attract me much, it play too much on emotion, and I don't find my answers most of the time. But I like to get multiple sources and then verifying infos.
I dont blame you. Keep the crazy wild creatures out of the tank lol.
Was not expecting the Bill O'Reilly reference, but much appreciated meme in the video substrate. 32:48
shots fired at Father Fish, hes gonna pull up on you in Seattle and throw hands 😂😂😂😂😂😂jk, good video, you had the agree to disagree approach.
Lol..we may be doing weekly pop ups on one anothers channels...i just wanted to draw a line for the record. I still learn a lot and keep an open mind until i see evidence to prove otherwise
Yea you guys make a good stream Duo, we learn a lot as viewers... I follow Loos methods, but his water is a little foggy, the only difference is I have carbon filters I swap out once a month on my hang on back filters, just to keep that cristal clear planted tank, is there any negatives to doing that?@@Fishtory
Alex is going to turn father fish into father golden gloves! 😂😂😂
I wonder what fish eat or how thy live in the wild
Can you recommend high quality food? Other than livefood of course
I like Xtreme foods and fluval but bites.... they both have mixes for all sorts of species
In the Aquatic hobbies there will always be ways that everyone likes to do it and not do it.
It is about taking the knowledge given and incorporating it in your way, trial and error are ways to learn.
As a person in the hobby I do not belive in use of Chem or bare bottom tanks ( unless has a sump). I have had great failure and many success over the years. It is a learning experience for many of us.
Amen
i'm interested to know what happens when that aquasoil starts to break down
It turns to silt or mulm and compacts or you could gravel vac it up. It lasts 2.5 to 6 years depending on how much you fiddle with the plants and hardscape
@Fishtory I guess I meant to the process that occurs in its compressed state and the impact in the tank of this disappearing
FF layed some important foundational work for a better aquarium for all living things, however he shoots from the hip sometimes and it frustrates us who can't read minds. I know the book might be an answer, but the cost of starting this first tank is enough! I love his method, but I'd also like a more narrow approach I can follow. Yours are great but also involved beyond what someone beginning in the hobby is able to do without months of prep. Somewhere between FF and you likely lies the perfect tank for anyone beginner or expert.
I should probably do a " the things you must do to have a successful planted tank" GUIDE video haha thanks
It's the only systems I run there are 5 that actually work I'm glad I listen to my master always putting that man down for the real tanks he makes unbelievable
What? Me thinks me confused 😕
Deep subtrate
Water live stock
Lights
And food web father fish is the best he's the only person who I know who personally has all the answers and has Tru love for nature every single person does these tanks wrong why when that man spent his whole life exploring testing all these things to corrupt that fish tank and you all still to this Day want to argue and question that man's beliefs when he knows what he's doing trust that I have not had no problems since doing that dep subtrate and learning to create a sourceful food web I have a Tru established tank I have added serious problems to my tank 9 times if not more and mother nature does not allow for over take of my system you need all that bad in there why do a water change your destroying these tanks feeding all these foods your corrupting it i know the secrets you all n very much any to inform the consumer I have a tank that has been up for a yr and every single day it's stronger and stronger I haven't had a single issue no problems cause mother nature is what provides for my system I just bring leaf litter in and provide bacteria to break down
That's the food web everybody doesn't understand I was there I'm not better than anybody I just have a better understanding of what happens in my fish home it's a legit ecosystem
You don't need to go to college or anything just have love for what you do and you will find everything you need to know it's sad you will doubt father fish it's sad this hobby is failing cause of all these chemicals and water changes and feeding well guess what let me tell you it's a scam it causes you to go back and get this for that for this water change it's sad your killing the fish faster these fish should live for a long long time not just for a few months
I don't stand by anything you do I'm sorry I have a real system thanks to father fish and my system will run for a long long time father fish is the best he knows what he's doing and giving information out the right way not just corrupting everybody to do this to do that
I like father fish but I dont think no water changes at all are a good idea. I do infrequent water changes in my 15 year old tank, but not none at all.
The water changes arent to lower nitrates, I dont have nitrates in that tank, theyre to replenish trace elements and minerals that get depleted by the plants, fish and bacterial processes.
Equally I like Tom Barr and when I was heavily into aquascaping I used to read his report and mess with all the more high tech stuff (also a member of the planted tank forum for a long time) but high tech is so much harder to maintain and if you miss water changes, dosing, or the CO2 system fails you get algae and issues almost immediately.
Im now back to low tech and I love it. Set and walk away and then watch it grow and evolve over time.
Agreed 👍
TDS every tap water supports your local money each there own the water of change is all your option learning curve. So my out of tap faucet is 350 tds on average plants and wood first lighting and substrate all put to a timer on lights. So research your tap water options because water changes become fun. Back to topic and focus nothing is labeled its a flow to be recalled?
Went to fish shop to get some tropical fish for big tank...The chap wasn't happy when I said I use spring water.Said no,.So we went to another fish shop all good fish happy I'm happy.Moral to this is everyone does something different.Get good helpfuladvice ,Nature is better.Ive tried chemicals tap water all fish died.So it's nutrient and cycle top ups filter rotation and movement across water..Less is best.❤❤❤
Huh? What's wrong with spring water??
Excellent video, especially the nitrate and water change part. I very much support the natural aquarium approach and have been using natural materials in my tanks for decades. But personally I don’t think the FF method is the way to go, certainly not for beginners. And FF’s claims that high nitrate levels do no harm and you shouldn’t change your water is simply wrong. To be clear, it has been scientifically proven that keeping fish in water with high nitrate levels over longer periods of time, is detrimental to their health. Nitrate levels above 50ppm cause higher Methemoglobin concentrations in their blood which causes problems with oxygen absorption. It’s wrong to ignore let alone deny this. Believe science.
Can you provide the specific studies that "prove" this?
@@MedievalMind There are numerous studies but I’ll give you a few links. Nitrate is the end product of a cycle and basically non-toxic, if not present in excessive high concentrations. But the problem is the exposure to higher nitrate levels (say 50 to 100ppm +) over longer periods of time. It’s a bit like smoking, it won’t kill you instantly and some people may live to be a 100 smoking every day but we all know it’s not healthy. Same for high nitrate levels. Most of the fish we keep in our hobby come from very soft, slightly acidic waters with very little dissolved substances. I know many fish that we can buy in shops are commercially bred and are used to water parameters more akin to average tap water, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give them ideal living conditions.
I simply don’t agree with the FF style of telling viewers, very often beginners in the hobby, not to test their water and not to change their water and high nitrate levels are fine and more of that stuff. It’s too simplistic and lacking nuance. There are better ways to educate newcomers in this hobby.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6977012/
www.researchgate.net/publication/267377185_Nitrate_Toxicity_A_Potential_Problem_of_Recirculating_Systems
@@aquaracer65 Most of the fish may originate in those waters, but that is not where they have been bred for the last 50 years. With few exceptions, most fish in the hobby are bred in hard, alkaline water now. Origins have little to do with the care of most of the fish we keep now.
Your assessment of FF's instructions are also simplistic. He does not simply say "do not change water" and "do not test". While video titles may contain those lines, he always goes on to explain in depth, and it is not that simplistic. He also performs water changes every few months for his own peace of mind. The system he teaches (and I use for everything from Saltwater to Discus) rarely reaches a level of nitrate over 100.
I will review the links provided.
I couldn’t disagree more to be honest. Even commercially bred cardinals will do better when you acclimate them to softer water. Many of those fish will also show better colors if you provide them natural conditions. 50 years of commercial breeding can not compete with millions of years of evolution (but the father will probably not agree on that one). Origins has everything to do with care.
I’ve watched several FF videos and haven’t seen one yet where he explains in depth as you say. I’ve heard too many claims to which I not agree. I am not saying everything is wrong what he does and I know the Walstad method can work to a certain extent but I’m just not a fan of his way of ‘teaching’. It’s almost like a cult by now. But if you are happy with his methods and your tanks are doing good, that is wonderful. But to me, a 100ppm of nitrate doesn’t sound very healthy! And I’ve been keeping fish for over 40 years…
@@aquaracer65 You are free to disagree, but the majority of commercially bred freshwater aquarium fish (with some specific exceptions) are bred in Florida in hard, alkaline water.
Week aqua is quite nice for high light for the price.
What if you never put fish in the tank? Will the tank stink?
Depending on if the plants rot. If you change water and let micro organisms eat debris from plants, then it shouldn't ever stink.
ARGH! Missed another one. Not getting notifications is killing me.
Wwellll...sorry. but thanks for joining us!
He says that you don't need water changes and that in nature, water changes are not made. But I think that water in the wild is indeed exchanged and that the water volume ratio to livestock is incomparable to what you have in any aquarium. I questioned him about this. He asserts that one needn't do water changes. When I had an aquarium in the USA in the 70s, no one changed water. Yellow water or fish water was considered healthy water. Probably because fish suffered when water finally would be changed, resulting in shocking the fish.
Yes i agree with your assertions... but i have to say, all fish seem to just enjoy a water change.. save for labyrinth fish
@@Fishtory I wasn't clear: I know that water changes are good. Again, yellow water was falsely considered "healthy" because when FINALLY changed, say at an aquarium scrub down, bad things would happen supposedly due to fresh non-fishy water. Gouramies do not like water changes? That's interesting and good to know. Do you have more information about this?
how can i pay with IDEAL?
Will black worms multiply in my tank ?
If fish don't eat them all, yes!
@@Fishtory Thank you 🥰
Why do you test for phosphate in ponds but not aquariums?
Ponds tend to use more due to the sun being so intense...and also you can have it in the ground water or subsoil... but some fishkeepers...especially rare plant growers, do indeed check it
One needs to modernize & use a plenum. Or better try some PCP baskets, typo, theyre called BCB baskets
The cat was just following it's instinct
the worst part about FF's is it takes so much of the bottom of the tank and you cant have Geophagus or Oscars for example. I love my dirt tank though.