Thanks so much for all your videos and info. For me personally, it's like Diana Walstadt and Father Fish laid down the basics of keeping fish more naturally and mimicking ecosystems, but you really go over it all with a fine tooth comb and bring so much to the table! I love your biology focused videos like this, and the in depth fish history videos. I've never seen anyone cover aquariums so well on youtube. You're easily my favorite aquarium youtuber.
Had to count the rummy's out of habit of counting mine every morning like a maniac to make sure nothing died. Am I the only one who counts fish all the time?
In January my first dirt/sand planted tank will be one year old. I have learned so much, and I freaked out about some things along the way, but you helped me several times. I agree about fusing different things from different fishkeepers. There were times I was really sure I knew something, but turned out I really didn't have the whole picture (I mean, I still don't, but I think I am getting better! lol). I remember thinking that my tank getting more acidic was a bad thing, because a bunch of my shrimp failed to molt, and I blamed it on the ph and not calcium depletion. I really appreciate your videos explaining all of this. You have helped make my journey less stressful and more enjoyable. I think a big part of learning to keep fish is gaining confidence, and good information helps that happen.
So glad to hear that! Im just learning daily also..but i have the benfit of doing aquarium research at my liesure all day for several years now. If i don't understand a process i love learning why its occuring.... then i run and make a video about it lol
i have boyu 86 liters tanks and 10w light. I have one inch of soil and 2 inch of sand cap. But my plants no longer growing and stagnated.Leaves turned to brown and some plants stems are rotten.Could you pleas advice on this
Thank you Alex! Im new to youtube and doing lots of research before i buy my first tank in over 20 years. I did okay back in the day but after going down the rabbit hole I have found that I know nothing. You have bridged the gap between my favorite aquascapers and hard to understand science. You are my fishy hero!
I have been using 2 to 3 inches of soil with 2 inches of sand. Heavy planted and lots of floating plants for years. My plants grow like crazy and I do not do water changes. I have had many tanks like this and never had problems. I currently have 3 set up like this. I have to remove a couple of lbs of vegetable material a month from them as the plants grow so well. The fish are healthy and happy. I use a simple sponge filter. The moment I went to sand a dirt all my problems keeping fish and plants vanished.
Have 3 deep substrate planted tanks (FF method). I'm 3 months in and they're doing great! I truly appreciate you giving some of the science behind this. You educate deep science and history in such a relatable way. You are a treasure!!
That is very kind of you to say. I'm glad you find it useful info. I just love learning new aspects of the hobby, and if you do as well...we stay curious in this community hahaha
As a teen in the 80's I was really into my 40 gallon aquarium. I had a large hang on back filter with about 2 inches of gravel. Initially I thought that once the filter media got dirty enough (after about 2 months) that it needed to be changed (one aquarium shop owner at the time told me this). I liked live plants and wanted to have them in my tank. I quickly found that most of the coolest plants would not survive long in my setup (plants like anacharis grew well though). I then met a good aquarium shop owner that explained the nitrogen cycle to me. So I stopped cleaning my filter so often and let detritus build in the gravel and although that worked really good for several months, it did not last (I think due to the limit of relatively thin gravel substrate which I did not understand at the time). So my aquarium had some extreme up and down cycles no matter how careful I was. Of course, back then there was not much available for substrate compared to today (I did not know then at ages 13-16 that play sand was clean enough for aquarium use). Now with all this data on the internet and the availability of better lights (for plants) and better substrate I plan on getting an aquarium set up again. Just a 20 L but with an inch of aqua soil and a 2 inch sand cap because I have always wanted the natural look of sand in an aquarium. I will run a hang on back filter at low volume for flow and to insure the balance is kept. I will also plant many plants for the jungle look that I also appreciate. Thanks for doing good informative videos.
Thank you. I really appreciate your doing the in depth research and weighing the risks and benefits in using the various methods. Your honestly pursuing informed, experienced, and science-based knowledge really helps everyone else save the time and disappointment from having to try and navigate learning all the variables involved in good aquarium-keeping. I appreciate you 👍
Good video Alex. I definitely agree that nature works on a different time scale to most of us lol. I know from my tanks that deep undisturbed substrates become more fertile with every year that passes. They just keep getting better and better, to the degree that I’m not sure they ever stop evolving and improving. Simply fascinating to observe :)
Gas release from vacuuming frightened me. Then I worried the loaches might disturb pockets. I just dont like the appearance of his substrates. Different aesthetic. Pool sand with soil made such a messy look in my tank. I did have incredible growth, but it isn't my preference. Was never able to grow the maiden hairgrass:( I'm sure I made some mistakes but I had an experienced mentor...
Understand your point, my preference is to have fine gravel or sand without any soil for the two inches back from the front glass, I have had good success with leaving two inches free of soil round the sides and front. The front substrate and front glass can then be periodically cleaned with an old credit card and kept aesthetically acceptable in a living area in the home. If you keep the area plant free, the Corydoras catfish will filter the plant free sand and keep it fairly mulm free. It means they have a free swimming area and we can enjoy them 'winking' at us and watch them draw the sand into their mouths and out their gills. @@wrmlm37
Great video Alex I'm six months in with an inch of organic compost, and a 3 inch layer of small gravel in my planted tank. It's the first soil deep bed substrate I've ever done and the best success with plants and very low nitrates that I've ever had. No going back from a deep bed for me now !
You’re always a wealth of information, thank you! Been watching your channel for years. I got the honor to meet FF since his store was in driving distance before he moved to Maryland. Both of you are great! Stay safe
Thanks Alex! If you've got the time and energy, could you do an in-depth video on potential ingredients to the soil lasagna, and how to tweak it for your specific circumstances?
Hi Cheryl. Not yet. I don't even have a tank yet😢 I saw someone made a comment in Novak's video that did one that I was going to ask but I lost it😢. I may try to find it again. I was hoping Alex would chime in if the two systems are compatible.. I'm thinking plenum , gravel, cat litter, iron supplement, cat litter, dirt supplement -substrate, and lastly 2 in sand cap. LMK your thoughts. 🤔
This is the first vid I have run into that explains the different color layers and what they represent. Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing these layers develop. I just launched my first two deep substrate planted aquaria. Thanks again for your efforts and knowledge transfer.
Finally had time to relax and watch Shisho's latest videos! And it's a doozy of literal fishstory!! Fish and history brought to you by Shisho is the best flipping way to pass a lazy Sunday!!
I like your process the best Alex. I found out about deep beds the hard way. Father Fish said "Betta fish are better in a confined space because they can't swim." Mine can, so I give them a big tank to cruise around in
I saw that video and was like... uhhhh , WTF? yes some have crazy fins... which get infected and torn easily in high flow or tanks where they can get scared easily...but thats not at all common....and most betta i see are half moon or less in finage. Especially the aliens, plakats and giants/wild species. The even odder part of all that to mez was idea that he skipped the fact that betta mostly live in tiny flooded pools, then claim a territory to defend to the death in some cases.... thats why they like, warm shalllow, still water in tannc tanks as a general rule. Also humans created many lines to strictly be mean fighting fish... but most in the hobby are from the royal lines started in the 1770s or later...for beauty...not the super old fighting lines
@@Fishtory yeah. I think he missed the mark on that one. I have plakats and giants and I could hardly believe what he said, since they max out the space in very large tanks. I think the cruelty is letting a sentient being be cramped its whole life. Imagine us being only being able to go about in something the size of our kitchen. You could live in a mansion and you'd still want to go out.
So I have a question for you. What if you use an undergravel filter with a weed barrier covering play the soil mixture down and then the sand layer on top of it. That would make it completely aerobic and non anaerobic. What would be better. I know that in septic systems that have an aeration tool in it the waist breaks down quicker
So it will break it down quicker and create more nitrates... plants under water will consume ammonia or nitrates, so it works fine...but you wont store up ammonia in the oxygen depleated layer creating a layer of "root tabs" essentially...but also you wont risk an ammonia leech into the water if it gets churned up. So i think either way works well
One of my tanks has aqua soil under gravel and a cap of sand on top of it. I started that tank befote knlwing about FF so I had to add the sand after setting the tank up and having fish in it. After some months it's working really well and plants are growing really fast. Befote having sand my tank had algae blooms all the time and now I haven't changed the water since that time. The only issue I see is that when You wqnt to movie some plays it's hard to do it because their roots get in the gravel, pulling up some of it when You take the plant out.
Very timely video since I was wondering what was up with all the different colors in my layered substrate. Started my first deep sand substrate in a 55, after trusting the process and letting the green water come and go I got a great looking tank.
Absolutely love your channel. Fully agree with everything you say. I wish I could find something I disagreed with but you are just so good at our hobby as a fellow fish fam. member unlike anyone else I can just never find anything I disagree with regarding your approaches of what you encourage people to do to try to keep our fish as healthy as possible during their lives.
@@Fishtory I love your personality man. You’re such a survivor. You’re so tough & funny. You have a great outlook on life. You always have such hardships but you just manage to deal with i them where most people just can’t. With the kind of suffering that you’ve gone through from little hints & bits & pieces I’ve picked up since I started watching you a few years ago. Not in a creepy stalker way but because of my Autism I have to study people’s faces extra hard so I can tell what’s happening in their personal lives. You have been kind enough to share with total fan’s like everyone else & myself. The thing I’ve seen that hurts you the most in my opinion is when you lost the ability to conceive children. When I saw your face when you were kind enough to share this with people it made me cry even though I’m lucky enough to have 3 Daughters. I just have so much other shit happening that it all comes out. I see my Daughter’s overnight on weekends now. I’ve never, gambled smoked, or drank, & I’ve never been violent. Just always Mr. Mom, raising my Daughters & building the house with Pons, everywhere deep underground, heavily reinforced. We had frogs 🐸, , & stuff, you only fine and nature reserves everywhere. I have the ADHD like you, but I also have Autism. No one ever cared about my OCD . I did not know what Autism was a few years ago but my ex got rid of me because she got a boyfriend a few months before she got rid of me. She got rid of me as soon as my youngest player to 1st grade. I didn’t get a penny from the house or any of that shit. Anyway man, you’re a great guy. Keep up the good work. Trust me, children have any age or variety all grow up & move out & you’re no better off than you were before. just keep doing what you’re doing because you’re really the best I don’t even waste my time following any other channels except father fish because of course he’s good but you’re the best mother to be fair. As long as I ignore his personal I do appreciate his knowledge regarding our hobbies in ways that encourages a small ecosystem.
Great video Alex! I am thankful that you shared the term, "brownian motion," at the end of the video. I have been trying to learn more of the principles related to how substrate moves and settles. I've made observations and hypotheses about how substrate materials settle over time in relation to one another, but I want to learn more about the physics behind it. If I keep substrate materials layered in a clearly defined way, they usually stay that way. When materials are mixed together or loosely layered, I have rocks and aquatic soil pellets eventually float above my sand layer, especially if there is a current in the water from a filter. I am guessing that movement of particles from the current (and perhaps brownian motion) cause more buoyant materials to float to the top, while heavier ones sink, but I can't help but wonder if there is more to it than that. Maybe the size of the particles/materials matters in determining where it will eventually settle too? I would love to learn more about the laws of physics that govern how substrate materials settle in relation to one another. Thanks for all that you do!
Right on. Im fascinated by this as well! Im pretty sure you and i...and maybe 20 others would watch something that niche and nerdy haha.. but ill definitely add it to my to do list :)
Great info. Although I haven't had the courage to cap soil with sand due to fear of compaction, I have used it with fine gravel and crushed lava rock cap (eco complete). The tank with the eco complete cap is doing amazing. Plant growth is awesome, roots are super healthy, and parameters are steady as you'd ever want them to be. I do have fairly hard water, which definitely helps. I set up a 2nd tank with a clay based substrate (oil dri and akadama), and can attest to the KH drop. It took the PH down to 6.5 and has held it there for over 6 months. Plant growth has been decent, since I seeded it with a good amount of Osmocote, but it'll be interesting to see how it matures. One nice benefit of the clay is that moving plants is way less messy than in a soil tank!
Its mostly extremely fine sand like playsand that causes the compaction. Its better to use fine gravel or poolfilter sand or any sand that is generally more coarse so that roots can reach down and get the nutrients they need. Additionally, animals like worms and snails are able to sift through and aerate the sand to prevent that much compacting.
@@valleymykel-mq7gw Thank you for the tip! I decided to give the "Father Fish Method" a try with some HTH Pool filter sand (pools are pretty rare in the Pacific NW where I live, but a local Wilco store had it). It looks fantastic, and I'm hoping it works well.
Great video, thanks. Most of my tanks are 3 inch dirted substrates now, capped with 1 mm grain size sand. I find that after it settles (a month or two) the nitrates keep going down. I only do water changes now every 6 weeks (and that is not because of nitrate that stays well under 10ppm, usually around 5) just to replenish whatever untested for stuff might get depleted or build up. I have found the same thing with aquasoil and I have one tank running a slow moving plenum, same thing there as well, the nitrates stay almost undetectable once the system is mature.
If you are doing sand only, i have had some success with using corys to get organic material down into it. I just plop in a seemingly appropriate amount and feed them lots. After a few months, plants will start growing.
Big comprehensive explanation of the variables.. these little things make a big difference… always learning lots here.. thanks for the science and history ..
Great video, thanks Question. I've tried half a dozen Dirted tanks using organic potting soil & called with playsand. Thanks 4 the Tip of not fixing roots all the way down into dirt but instead plant into the sand layer only. My problem is after 2-3 weeks I notice black areas in substrate in front of glass I can visually see. I see surface of substrate areas that turn black. I move a rock and under that is now black & noonher white sand. I noticed many rooted plants aren't growing & are wilting away. I pulled one out and noticed all roots are black & smells like rotten eggs. How does one prevent this in next tank? How does Father fish get 4-6" deep substrate and not have roots turn black upon planting? A y suggestions would be great.
Well i use larger grain sand and only an inch or two.... his method is " different". Perhaps hard vs soft water plays a role but also buy pants already well rooted under water if possible.
Im glad you pointed out how every tiny thing you do can change your tank from someone else's. You could have the 100% exact tank as someone else, but say your substrates are both 5", but one person replansts their exact stem cuttings into their substrate with super thin tweezers down about 3/4s of an inch, and the other takes that exact same trimming and plants them 3 inches deep with their ginger, you will get 2 different results over time. Well said sir!
Hey Alex - I'm seriously impressed by the quality of this work. Perhaps this may be an elementery question, but I was wondering - when you were saying around 17:55 that digging into a monolithic layer of sand or soil could lead to a bunch of ammonia and phosphorus being released (obviously bad for the fish), and the solution is plants (which feed on ammonia, if I understand correctly), would this solution require a lot of plants? I'm asking because I want to do a tank in the future with seagrass (specifically Zostera marina and Ruppia maritima), but I don't want them to be the main focus. I want them, but not as much as some marine invertebrates. Thank you so much!!
You need quite a bit, or fast metabolizers and quick growing plants, ideally. But if its capped and trapped or cycled aerobically...either way itll be safe for the fish. When trapped and capped...it may be strong enough to cause health issues or death, if that layer is badly disturned and exposed
@@Fishtory Okay, thanks so much. I know that macroalgae doesn't have the same roots as seagrass or freshwater plants, but could that help (because it also photosynthesizes) in case of disturbance, if you know?
@alviobarbaretta8863 so mosy macroalgae are saltwater ... freshwater tend to be more small cells in big colonies, as a general rule. But be it "green water" (single cell algae blooms).... or theoretically, some kind of freshwater kelp... they both feed from the water, disolved gases and atmospheric gases in water, and the sunshine... and they do not feed from roots at all, nor do they store carbohydrates for extended dark or dry or nutrient poor stretches. They live fast, grow fast and die fast if things change. So while algae certainly helps keep your aquarium safe for fish, and oxygenated, its essentially the same be it micro or macro algae... they dont really specialize vasculature or more than a few basic types of tissues...unlike plants which have stems, leaves, flowers, roots etc etc
Right on. Glad to hear! And yes... with patience...theyre great 1 to 2 years in and from then on to around 10 years! But i can understand if someone wants to hurry a tank for kids or whatnot. But i think patience has greater rewards too
I use FF method in all my tanks (4 tanks so far) and I have noticed that even the "easy" plants don't grow as good as I'd expect them to (as compared to my control tank, where there is no sand, only a built up mulm on top of the soil). Some thrive, some don't. I suspect that the sand is too dense, limiting the amount of oxygen to the roots. If I was to re-do the tank, I'd probably do a dirt layer, then a gravel layer, then cap it all with a sand layer. The gravel would probably allow the substrate to be more open and aerated. Just my hypothesis though. I could be completely wrong lol.
@Alexnguyen, I am having similar problems with sand. As this video says ‘sand cannot nourish plants’ on its own. I love sand, it is so cool, so I will not give up. I think the key to the sand capped tank is it favours deep-rooted stem plants. Grasses seem to struggle which is odd because even they do over time extend deep roots into a substrate. At least that is my experience. I am thinking deep-rooted stem plants work well with sand caps. I have noticed that FF in his own tanks tends to have large plants that are root feeders. My experience is that without the capping, my plants tend to grow unrestrained. I think the problem is that sand and gravel are basically rocks and plant roots prefer mud. Trouble is mud and dirt (uncapped) is messy and potentially to much in contact with the water column (nutrient rich water - algae). So I completely understand why FF goes for capping. I do not feel that sand is too dense or lack of oxygen. I think it is the reverse. Mud is much denser and less oxygen. Plants seem to prefer that imo.
@@thesolaraquarium I used to think that mud didn't have much oxygen but one guy who specializes in collecting hillstream fish told me that mud is very well-oxygenated, which is why a bunch of critters live in them after all. Critters don't seek oxygen-depleted zones, quite the opposite.
I loved the growth! (Plant substrate beneath pool sand) Everything was so happy! We made a co2 unit with a juice bottle, drop counter...but I love a clean looking floor and it made the pool sand a mess...I maybe should have done more with grasses, but then I got a snail invasion...supposed to not multiply in your tank, but I didn't KNOW I wasn't getting the correct species...maybe I'll try in my new 29 tall... The more planted, the better, but they do require constant pruning:) hoping my slider will eat it as a snack:)
Would like to know your opinion in set aquasoil inside net bags, over the dirt , and under the sand cap, in order to not mess too much when moving plants.
You totally can. But any messy bits... like dust or muddiness... will still occur to some degree over time... that and the roots need to be able to get through the bag...so mesh media bags work best...nothing waterproof
I loved every word of this video. Most of the stuff I now do automatically. I keep my aquariums exactly the way you do recently I had a terrible tank crash. I only put maximum 1 inch formula, soil father fish style with 2 inch sand cap, but I’ve had to put another half inch of sand on top of that. The problem is they are all nano tanks not even 10 gallons so I don’t have enough space to just keep filling up the aquarium to be half substrate. Plants are extremely expensive for me because I’m a permanent property level extreme low income but I would never ever give up no matter what so I’m just making things work. Tonight, I just got the idea that even though it took three years to build up the pots with the bottoms, cut off on my balcony because my daughters and my place is the type of a skyscraper 🏙️ instead what I’m going to do is slowly remove all of those pots which is extremely difficult & get into the fish tubs on the tiny balcony so there is some configuration of tubs, even though the balcony is extremely tiny, so I am extremely limited to see the least like maybe one tub or maybe 2 tubs maybe even 4 small ones but the problem is the smaller they get the shorter they go because they don’t really make “tall tubs” because the size would buckle & crack & break. I’m so excited about this. My life is truly enriched displays the extreme financial & time burden my childhood Hobby & rekindled spirits are pure joy is causing. Should I do a dirted formulated father fish method for my tiny balcony tubs because eventually I want to not have to change any water. How’s the systems stabilise & only do Justin top off’s? This is so exciting. Imagine a couple tubs on a tiny balcony at the top of a skyscraper with some cold water white cloud minnows with goldfish or whatever just some cold water fish with plants bursting out of the tops of the buckets like maybe I can put some potted plants, even just like one pot on top of my buckets and the roots can grow through the bottom into the highly nutritious tubs. How does all this sound Alex? I’m so honoured whenever you respond, I love your knowledge & you’re a passion for life. I share your passions my friend. The fish make me forget my problems too (even if for just a moment, it is a joy I can not begin to describe). Yes I eat fish that are only wildcat in the open ocean sustainably so they have a good life First, but I also have the pet fish. We have carnivorous teeth for a reason to eat both plants & animals. I’m basically almost a Pescatarian. Once every few months I’ll have some chicken & once every several months or basically just once or twice a year, maximum I’ll have some lean red meat. I’m getting back into my organics to like all my Foods Organic.
Right on! That sounds good. If you can afford it... aquasoil is fine on its own for tubs, but if you decide to do water changes (depending on water costs) you can choose many substrate styles... but if it isnt sand capped or pure aquasoil, youll need to do many water changes to keep nitrates down over time...depending on plant load and the light it gets.. id recommend lots of floating plants that grow fast...hornwart, guppy grass, avoid anubias or java fern...or slow growing plants that dont clean the water fast. Sounds exciting though! Best of luck on the remodeling!
Fantastic video very knowledgable, but I got to the end not really knowing what to do. I've just put a layer of sand from pets at home. I've not got any soil, but have a few plants in the sand. Should I use layers of sand and soil or not, I still don't know.
Check out my other Substrate videos. There's plus and minuses. I don't like telling folks a right or wrong way...if both ways work fine. But look at my "lasagna" method videos for my personal favorite nature tank base style
Great channel man. I've been watching quite a few videos of yours, father fish, etc and your intro perfectly captured what I'm going through. I'm wanting to redo my 29gal tank for good plant growth and leaning towards something like the Fourite Black or Fluval Bio stratum 2" deep with a 1" layer of Caribsea torpedo beach sand on top. I already have the sand and had originally bought it to put on top of the AquaNatural gold pearl gravel substrate I've been using already but when I started researching substrates, I fell down this wild rabbit hole. Would you recommend Stratum or Flourite Black or another product for the 2" base layer? Or could I maybe save some money and mix half and half stratum and flourite black and then top with sand?
I have a 10 gallon and a 5 gallon that are less than a month old. But in the 10 gallon I have a bottom layer of a fine black biosand, and a top layer of samurai sand (small clay balls). In the shrimp tank (5 gal) I just have 2 bags of gravel. Am I doing my substrates incorrectly? I have them loaded with live plants and some root tabs but I’m worried that if I dig into the substrate that it will release something and kill all my fish and shrimp.
What you have going on will work okay. You are correct that root tabs in gravel, can spike and dissolve too fast for your tank..especially if disturbed at all. But my only comment would be ..."do you have enough minerals in your tap water for your shrimp?" Neocaridina Shrimp need some kh and gh buffer and calcium for their exoskeleton. Some people have hard tap water with a high TDS ph and kh gh. But if your water is soft, you may want to add a small bag of brightwell shrimp friendly substrate.
lately i've been using just sand, liquid ferts for the first month with a high initial plant load. i add root tabs in time if i notice nutrient deficiencies in plants. i also do high filtration and high stocking. my 20 long full of crypts, swords, and vallisneria is a jungle now after 6 months, i've had some algae battles but it is balancing now. i have corys and assassin snails to stir the surface layer constantly, which helps work the nutrients down deeper as well as into the sponge filters.
I have this durt and sand set up almost for a year now and it works well, apart from some plants died. Maybe the snails eat them up, not sure 🙂 Are you saying I need to add some fertilizer tablets to the soil from time to time? I thought the residual waste would be enough for the plants. Thanks for a great video, keep up the good work!
So fish food, fish poop and plant debris will provide some carbon and nitrogen or basic minerals like iron or Sulphur but may be missing some trace minerals or nutrients over a year to 2 years depending on your soil quality initially... but unless plants are newly dying or newly yellowing/pinholes/or browning and losing leaves, you shouldn't have to add much very often...I start with root tabs every 3 to 4 inches spaced like a checkerboard or chess board. With weekly dosing liquid fertilizers and then if that isn't enough, daily liquid fertilizers, co2 and root tabs for max growth ( oh and of course strong light if you do all that stuff).
I will follow your advice. I still have questions about the lighting. Do you have a post on this subject? What type of lighting do you recommend? how many hours per day? Should you avoid sunlight?
Starting out it's best to avoid windows... but once you understand your tank, you can play with that. But I suggest starting with 8 hours of medium to strong light a day for a month or two, if algae isn't a problem then increase lighting a half hour every 2 weeks up to 12 or 13 hours ...with 13 being for people with lots of stem plants or floating plants. I recommend fluval planted plus 3.0 Hands down the best light for new and seasoned planted tank owners
I so appreciate you showing us the different substrates youve tried yet another video i needed 😅❤ much love speaking of caps my corys and sand sifters keep eposing my new crypt roots those dastardly jerks 😅❤
Thanks that make me feel better as i just set up deep bed with tropica substrate and sand on top.but some people say sand is not good.The so called science man.
Sand is fine... its all a matter of preference basically. Sand alone is not going to grow plants...its the water doing the work until fish waste and other debris turns to soil in the sand bed...then after a year or so it starts a whole new cycle where the bed is "charged" with nutrients and acts as a dividing wall
Alex, if you could set up only one tank (29 gallon) what would you go for to maximise enjoyment from the hobby? Interested in your take. I can only have two tanks due to space. Have already got a 20g and am setting up the 29 now. Want to do so many things but have to make a decision.🙏
Sounds like my situation ❤ I started with just gravel let it get mulmly and then capped with sand per father fish so far so good my Cory's and rams ( sand sifters) love it and it keeps all the stuff collected in the gravel out of the water column ❤
I have 3 29s. One is currently stocked with: black neon tetras, bronze cories, glowlight tetras, and some of my larger guppy fry, one has neons and a female betta (severe jumping coverage)- the last is getting a reimagining, I'm thinking angels, diamond tetras, and cory trilineatus. Few of these were my original stockings, these are the ones that thrived. Keep that in mind- your best ideas may disappear in one night during a tank crash and you find yourself starting from scratch. I miss my ember tetras and cpds and laser corys, but I haven't taken out a second mortgage to replace them, ya know?
I've only just discovered Father Fish, but a lot of what he says makes sense. Tanks run like his aren't going to win any scaping contests, but not everyone is interested or has the time to do a fantastically scaped tank. His method is ideal for those of us who prefer a more natural look, or don't have the time to trim plants, and want to let our tanks work with waste the natural way, rather than always hoovering gravel and adding fertilizer. Once again, it's more about what you prefer. If you're interested in doing his method from the get-go, he has a video for that. It's entitled, "The Three Most Important Things to Understand About Your New Aquarium". If you're more interested in going with a highly scaped centrepiece of the room tank, Check out MD Fish Tank, and watch his videos. It's a whole different way of keeping fish which presents you with some real eye candy once it's going, but what he's doing is very time consuming. There are a lot of other people on TH-cam which have other equally good methods. You can find them by doing searches. Some of them are presenting things which, though interesting, could end up costing you a heap of money, while others offer inexpensive ways to keep fish alive and healthy. The two I've mentioned above are the two I've tried thus far. I'm sure I'll try the others at some point or another if I don't die first. Nothing is better though, than watching these people and what they do, so that you can decide what you want your tank to look like, and how much time and money you have to put toward doing it. I promise you, there will be a technique which will fit what you want to do. Alex is much more of an authority on this than I am, so if he contradicts anything I've said, follow his advice, not mine. I've learned a metric dump truck load from him in just the few months that I've been watching him. I hope he'll reply here, but if he doesn't, it's probably because he didn't see it. Keep asking, and maybe ask in one of his live chats if you can make it. I am very familiar with the situation you find yourself in; namely not enough room. I also have only two tanks, but if I had a whole warehouse to do what I wanted with, that would likely still not be enough room. For starters, I'd want to turn it into one giant tank, and then I'd have to get a new warehouse to put other things in. But no one has that, so we are compelled to live with what we have. Would you be willing to share what you would like to do, and and what the decisions you have to make are? I'd be happy to be a sounding board for you, and give you my opinions on what you could do, as well as point you toward any videos that I know of which would help in the decisions you are making. Best of luck to you in setting up that big ol' 29 (almost 30!) gallon!
@@voluntaryismistheanswer So sad for you! All of those are really nice fish. I'm madly in love with my CPD's, and the others are so cool I can only imagine having them. On the good side, in the aquarium hobby you don't have to get everything all at once. You can add those little by little if you want to get back to that. What happened if I may ask? I dread having a tank crash, and anything I can learn brings me (and everyone else who reads this) one step closer to avoiding that (maybe). Sometimes it seems like the aquarium gods just have it in for us and something goes wrong no matter what we're doing. Anyway, may you never have another crash again! I will sacrifice a rainbow trout on the pyre of the god of aquarium crashes in hopes that he will never again plague you with another aquarium crash. There are only a few things in life which can push you into a deeper depression and a sense of hopelessness than an an aquarium crash.
I also have room for only two 29s. One is a long one with over 50 corys (I always stock at least 10 per species, and I have julii, normal panda + long finn variety, white, black) on the bottom, also have 4 SAE, and 4 bristlenose pleco for algae control. For the midlle I have 8 Buenos Aires tetras, great fish, they will grow too, I plan to get 10 more. In general, my long tank, is the "race track" tank, for fish that enjoy strong current. The second one is a tall one, there I have a wall of Vallisneria in the back, with room to swim in front, with an white Angel as a center piece fish, recent addition, a real water puppy, always begging for food, plus an 4 years old male pearl gourami. As dither fish have a group of rummy and rasbora (I would add some neon tetra, but my water is really hard, so they don't fare well), and on the bottom, have 8 duplicareus cory (must have corys 🤪). Also, have an army of apple snails, as scavenger crew, as I overfeed to make sure corys get food. The tall tank is a low current tank, for fish that enjoy that. Also, since is autumn, I've turn it in a black water tank with leaf litter.
Planning to have a deep substrate. First layer at the bottom would be pumice stones, 2nd organic soil, 3 lava rocks with sand then at the top would be aquasoil. What you think?
Is there a limit to the depth of the substrate? Like if I start building a plywood aquarium and in the proces make space for 25 cm (10”) of substrate. Which size of grains would be the best?
So Dr. Barr's work suggests that the standard pellets are still ideal at any depth, since only 3 or 4 inches of soil will remain airated for long before silt seals it into anerobic teritory over a year of so. Anything deeper will be annerobic and even if larger spheres of aquasoil were out there, they would have volumes exponentially related to surface area and the center becomes anoxic or annerobic in dense pellets... so might as well use the small or medium sized soil. ...now you could run pvc drilled full of holes, and burry it about 6 inches down and keep it connected to the water collumn in a few "man holes". That would expose more oxygenated surface areas and allow gas exchange...similar to a plenum or under gravel filter does
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. Keep up the great work! I have some questions about using root tabs vs. Father Fish supplement. What are your thoughts about freezing the Father Fish dirt mix and inserting it under the sand vs. using root tabs? I've seen a few videos about it and would love to read your thoughts.
Nothing wrong with asking questions, but why would you want to pay $20 to jump through hoops to use FF's 11 unspecified ingredients rather than use a product (e.g. root tabs) designed for being inserted into an already running aquarium?
father fish has done several videos on what he puts into his supplement. He also shows you how much of each supplement to add if you are doing this yourself.
Yes, absolutely you can do that. I will just say that i have not added new soil or root tabs to that first tank in over 2 years... i started reading food labels and feeding for my plant needs more than my fish needs lol...the fish eat most stuff, so i have been trying to work out a wholistic diet to recommend for plant nutrients in a food web. But honestly father fishes fertz are great...theyre designed to last a number of years though...planning for bacteria to break free nutrients like iron and magnesium, calcium etc over a long long time...root tabs are like a shot of steroids, they work great for faster growing stem plants
Great video! On the point of pool filtration sand: Inert capping substrate is more important than it may seem. Many tanks set along the lines of FF method have the issue with increasing water hardness, esp. if they don't follow the method to a T. Something in my deep substrate tanks is increasing hardness and pH (up to 8). In one of those tanks I have a layer of aqua soil and it truly pushes pH down, but the water is even harder than in older tank with no aqua soil. I didn't add any aragonit, crushed coral... but I reused older sand-gravel and soft gravel substrates as part of it. So I suspect old snail shells, overlooked limestone pebbles and I also used cheap crushed lava rock. Not every lava rock is truly inert. Quick test strip show the hardness should be well above 300 ppm, sometimes even 375 ppm (limit), TDS meter would go crazy (1000+ ppm), yet fish don't seem to care.
Brilliant point... and excellent observations! I only started noticing this and sorting it out ( same conclusions as you), recently. Thanks for such a great comment!
This is the reason for sudden fish death like discus where the water gradually increases it's hardness and the fish scratch and dash and die suddenly, bare bottom tanks are so much easier and lively..
Just want to put out that I have black diamond blasting sand in all of my tanks, and the batch I got (~10 bags from at least 2 months of shipments to the local Tractor Supply) is NOT inert. My pH rises from about 7.2-7.4 (well water) to as high as 8.8 and just wants to sit there. I'm controlling it with water changes while I figure out how to deal with this. I isolated the different things in my tanks and over the course of several weeks and without doubt determined it is the blasting sand causing it. I have both medium and fine grain and the fine causes it to rise faster but both are altering the pH up. I would absolutely love your input as to low-time possible solutions. I'm scheduled for a wrist surgery in a month and can't do a full tank teardown x5, especially approaching the Christmas holiday.
blasting sand is supposed to be inert. However blasting sand AKA coal slag also often has a dusting of other materials that can contain Silicon dioxide, Iron oxide, Aluminum oxide, Calcium oxide, Magnesium oxide, and Potassium Oxide. With the last 3 being the ones that could alter ph and all involving your TDS Those trace elements could be what is messing with your PH, and may vary from batch to batch or brand to brand. However, the usual recommendation of washing the sand until it runs clear of silt and or cloudy residuals, has always eliminated that issue for me, and ive heard from others as well. Because fluval or ADA or even flourite can also screw with things if its been broken up into dust that will disolve or suspend into the water collumn. You Could take some out and do a test with some water in a cup vs the same water in a cup with some sand , and gravel or nothing in it - see if it alters the PH? Id recommend at that point adding some botanicals... or doing some water changes with rain water or R.O. / Distilled water. Usually the botanicals will drop that ph ...or any wood will also help. Sorry to hear of your troubles, but hopefully you can add some leaves and wood and then do small water changes when the time comes, so as not to crash or shock the ph levels? I appreciate you sharing your observations, because that shift is WAY WAY larger than any ive heard of from blasting sand. Usually it's like 7.5 jumps to 7.7 or 7.8 at worst. So thats pretty scary if just the blasting sand is responsible
@@Fishtory yeah so in my tanks I have two with medium and fine grain that was thoroughly rinsed, and two with medium and fine that was not rinsed. All of it is altering my pH in the tanks. I have isolated buckets and a control bucket. 7.0pH water in all buckets, some with my soil, some with fine, some with medium, some with nothing else (control). Control and soil are staying at 7.0pH, soil is actually a little below. Fine is above 8.6, medium is about 8.0. I haven't checked in a few days since I was out of town so that is probably old news. But the sand itself is causing the pH change, not anything that came with it.
I think that seeing people grow plants in simple kitty-litter (Dr Novak) which is just pure-clay (no nutrients at all) has really made me think about how plants grow. Seems to prove that a substrate is simply a medium for plant roots to enable them to process nutrients (ie a home for bacteria). And that is what all these succesful methods have in common - Walstad, Father Fish, Novak. Great video and explanations here. The pure clay (no nutrients) substrate works - that was the most shocking part for me. I have not personally done it, but I have seen enough videos to believe it. Makes you start to think where plant nutrients come from.
Well some plants water feed, all root feed and some do both. But other than that... yeah the nutrients are from fish food, fish poo that was fish food, or lla f debris
I play the long game and let the sand substrate stratify over time. In my blackwater tanks it starts to hit the sweet spot at about 9 months, I think the breakdown of the botanicals helps a lot.
Hi really loving the content.i have a question.just done the change from gravel to a soil and sand substrate.i keep polar parrots and they keep digging in the sand and im worried that they are going into the soil layer.can i stop them from doing this or do i need to keep different fish that dont dig for this setup.tia
They sadly just do that since they naturally eat worms and stuff. You can add a total of 3 inches but usually if you relevel the low spots every few days, it helps. Also try hidding frozen blood worms like half an inch ...under the surface, so they learn they dont need to dig... they still will if spawning though, where they make nests
Great vid, i have a question though, during the summer i put dried dead leaves from my garden into my aquarium, as far as i know we definitely should not put wet leaves into the aquarium but its winter now and raining a lot. Can i collect wet dead leaves, let them naturally dry out and then put them into my aquarium? ❤️🇬🇧
Yes. Id probably dunk em in boiling water just to kill any mold or bad algae/bacterias on them. But once theyre boiled and cooled...or dried totally, theyre fine. Just dont add green leaves ..or it can melt other plants sometimes
Hey Alex , thanks for the video. What to do for ppl like me, just learn method of yours and father fish’s, but already run fish tank in the modern$ way…. Say, now I have gravel (8cm deep) as substrate, and plants and fish for half year( rookie is me), how to turn my foundation to the soil plus sand one without stressing and killing my fish? Could I simple relocate all water and fish for Half day, replace the current gravel by that? Kindly advise if u can Tks
I am trying to do more a Walstad method. I have 5 tanks now, and I’ve only been into the hobby a little over 9 months. But I think I’m all over the board… I’m so new to this fish hobby. Lol I go into the Freaking Fish stores and buy everything, Usually stuff I don’t need!! Lol But I just bought Seachem fluorite clay. I was going to put it as a 2nd layer on top sand only where the my rocks are, to fill in surface areas. I wasn’t gonna do the whole tank. This is for a new 20 gallon African dwarf frog tank. Have lots of plants to include. But this tank is 100% empty now. What are your thoughts here?! Thanks for any information. I sure appreciate your channel. Hugs to all.❤️🌱
So if you want to grow plants youll need aquasoil or dirt ...then cap it with sand or clay/silt to prevent it from mucking up the water collumn with ammonia and nitrates over time. Id honestly skip thr flourite unless you just want it to look nice. In that case just add an inch of flourite, so your plants can still grow through the flourite layer and reach either root tabs, months or mulm built up or an aquasoil layer. When plants grow in gravel or flourite, theyre actually getting most their nutrients from the water anyhow
Okay so I revamped my 35 gallon, gravel substrate, tank according to a father fish video where he said if I have a gravel substrate tank, all I need to do is to cap it with 2 inches of pool sand and let it go. So I did that a few days ago while I have my betta in his hospital tank trying to heal him from fin rot. He was alone in that 35 gallon with some neurite snails for the last 6 months probably. I had other fish in there before that but I gave them all away because they kept dying. My question; Is it too late to dig up the sand and add soil now? Or will that just make a huge mess? Will I be able to grow root plants with just the gravel and the sand? So far I have only been able to grow anubias and Java fern. My tank has been running for close to two years. It was super dirty in the gravel even though my water parameters were always good when I would test it. Yet my betta ended up with fin rot. So anyway, I vacuumed the substrate some before adding the sand. I didn't do it perfectly but the water was black in the bucket. Probably shouldn't have done that? Please tell me and tell me what you recommend? Also, as directed by Father Fish, my betta has been in his 5.5 gallon hospital tank for a week now, with nothing but a heater, bubble stone and a betta leaf, no food, just plain tap water with 5 tablespoons of aquarium salt and Prime. I have done three 25% water changes on the hopital tank so far. His ammonia is 0ppm but the nitrites are 0.50ppm so I keep adding the Prime. Father Fish said not to let there be any bacteria in there accept what is on the fish already so he can heal. How long should I leave him in there and should I add more salt and if so how much? Please help. I haven't been able to get Father Fish to answer me about these things. 😩 Thank you so much! PS, I still think you could be Leonardo Dicaprio's brother. 🙂
I have a deep sand substrate with dirt in the bottom and aquasoil on its top. I also use a massive fluval fx 6. I have a massive planted tank with malawa shrimps and alot of nanofish. I rarely do water changes. My system is in equilibrium with no fish deaths for a looong loong time. Btw, I also inject CO2. I only feed ny tank once in every 2 days. I aint got time for more maintenance. Sometimes I trim the tank, but normally I let it grow every 2 months. I love ny system. Is a fusion between you and father fish and aome other guys. Since I changed my filter to the fluval fx, I noticed a massive growth in all my plants. They grow even faster. Oh and my light is a chihiros wrgb pro. In my tank, water flow is the most important for plant growth, after that lights and nutrition. Water flow is key 😊 Thanks! PS. I rarely use ferts. Only once in a month maybe. I have so many fish I dont need more ferts than that XD PS2. I never had an algae issue.
Not always. But in most tanks 2 years or older have bacteria that actually stores ammonia and feeds it to plant roots...so if it gets exposed and mixed into the water you can have nitrate and ammonia spikes
I'm considering a dirt tank but not decided yet. It's a 20L and is sitting there with just a plenum, covered by landscape fabric anchored with gravel, until I make up my mind. As for aesthetics, I've built my first 3 tanks with a "wall" of nice gravel all around the glass edge with whatever substrate I use being layered behind it and capped with a layer of the gravel. That way it has a clean uniform look along the glass. I like gravel caps for ease of vacuuming when it's needed. My latest, most successful tank, has now gone for 9 months with heavy bioload of poopy Platys, but only needed vacuuming twice and water changes 3 times. The water chemistry has been perfect the whole time and I've only scraped algae off the glass 4 times! I used Novak's system of a plenum with the Walmart clay cat litter, layer of iron, one inch of an aqua soil, and half inch of a nice gravel. I seeded the tank with Dr. Tim's bacteria system to get it going with a strong start, and used lava rocks as the central hardscape decor to house them and the kuhli loach. This time I'm thinking of trying a mashup of Novak and FF's systems. I want a lake look of just large rocks, a piece of driftwood, and a variety of grasses/vals for the fish to swim in and out of.
Thanks for the deep dive. Currently have a bunch of tanks setup with soil + sand, aquasoil + sand, just plain aquasoil, and sand with just roottabs added. Curious to see which of the tanks do the best. BTW what's that tall grassy looking plant on the left/middle side of the tank at 2:14 ? I found a very similar plant while swimming in northern florida once, brought it back home with me and unfortunately I killed it, never seen anything like it in the shops around
Dont use an active substrate unless it cycles for about 2 months...itll leech ammonia if they dig...but with time water and plants reduce it to safer levels
Okay but I’m currently using fluval external filter, that’s been cycled for 4 years. I was gonna remove fish, put them in a tub and then empty water out and add the substrate let it sit for an hour once I’d put a small amount of tank water to mix. Let it sit like that for maybe an hour, then add sand , plants , and fill back up, and put fish back in? Maybe do 10% water changes every week to start with? I’m feed up losing fancy goldfish with the current method. Pam
Great Video, its really nice to See this Hobby Develop over time :) Your Tanks are so beautiful! How do you get rid of the Calcium rim on the water surface? I Always gotta use a Lid to hide it.
So my substrate, leaves and live plants, make the water acidic...which disolves the calcium and carbon...and then plants and fish, snails and shrimp use it for nutrition instead.... 6.5-6.8 ph range
Comment#3, so I need Aragonite or crushed coral etc for the calcium for my shrimp n snails. My water is really low ph and horribly lacking in calcium and other minerals. Should I be adding phosphates or maybe all in one ferts? Most of my plants are really healthy but I do use a ton of ambient light, so I do battle hair algae. Would I maybe not have such a big problem with the algae if I use ferts? All I use now are root tabs in mostly aquasoil tanks, I have a couple of sand capped nanos and they seem to be more prone to other algae, I am battling a weird staghorn type that only grows on the tips of the leaves of my plants (wtheck)!?!
Phosphates usually come in fish food as a preservative, so if you feed dry food at all... you're probably fine. Its crucial but you only need a tiny amount
Correct with fertz...sometimes your plants will out compete the algae growth by using up the nutrients..but you need fast growing plants or floating plants for that to work...because you can also make the algae worse if the plants dont eat up all those nutrients
How do you go about adding the iron and sulfur to your substrate? Is it added when you build the substrate layers or does sulfur and iron naturally settle in the lowest layers?
So in naturally forms... potash, charcoal or bio/ aquachar and iron rich ground stone. Plus sometimes ive toyed with potting nutrients and buying individual fertz for E.I. dosing... then use them under a second sand cap...deep deep locked under the aquasoils. Also ive added it later by freezing it in water, and then burying it super quickly and cover back up.
You and father fish make a great team lol FF is great at getting the idea out there ( it works ..trust me ) And you are amazing at breaking down the Why ? 👍✅ Wow I was wondering what that 'no oxygen' layer was in my 55g , thanks
Thank you. And yes, i just love watching nature work... sometimes we dont know why, and look to a completely seperate process or science and boom! We learn what was going on due to gut bacteria or septic tanks lol. Cheers
Can you comment on using fine sand and lava rock in the refugium compartment of a freshwater sump? I have recently added fine CaribSea sand (very dense-not argonite- but dense much like a river) in my refugium. I topped it with some eco complete that was in there previously (cycled) and then large lava rock. It’s on a 120 gallon that has larger plant eating fish so I can’t plant the tank, but I have a mix of houseplants growing crazy in two aquaclear 110s on the back and pathos and monstera in the sump refugium. I am hoping the refugium will eventually one day develop anaerobic bacteria under this sand. Thoughts?
Yup you nailed it. Thats whatll happen until the aerobic bacteria coat surfaces so thick that the internal voids fill with anoxic bacteria... then you end up with essentially little ammonia root tabs waiting in each o2 free void...and micro filters on the surface area. Just watch the ph from getting too high if you're using crushed calcium carbonates as your media.... remeber 1part per million of ammonia at 7 ph equals 10 parts at 8ph...and only by 8.5 ph the ammonia is almost equal to 50ppm toxicity to fish and shrimp.
Can someone post of the link how exactly Alex sets up his way of doing substrate? I mean what are the layers, their size and components. I have gone through several of his videos but unable to determine how exactly he has been setting up! TIA
Hey Alex thanks for this video ! What kind of dirt will u recommend pls? ( planning to replace my pebbles/ gravel by dirt at bottom with sand on top ), ps: seems potting soil I can find in Australia didn’t say they are fertilised or not.. all says Mix… thanks 🙏
If you can spend the money... 50/50 amazonia aquasoil by ADA and 50% fluval stratum ... it lasts 3 to 5 years growing stunningly beautiful plants without making all the mud of potting soils
@@Fishtory hey Alex thanks for replying and answering . To clarify: u mean to layer them or to mix them with 1:1 ratio ? The other thing is, using ur “recipe”, do I get sand on the top still or not ? Promise it’s the last question for 2023 😬
Thanks I'll watch for them. Are you familiar with Mycorrhizae which are symbiotic beneficial fungus that live in terrestrial plant laden soils and interconnect nutrients with plant uptake of them. years ago mycorrhizae was released for the Bonsai market and as years passed they learned that they are species specific. Obviously aquarium folks will take mature substrate and add it to a new tank along with a dirty filter pad... Growing a colony of the mycorrhizae for potential use in inoculating new tanks could be promising. Doubt it's very shelf stable...
Stem plants ... buy like 5 or 6 .... you can double those by cutting them in half every week or two. Theyre usually 3 to 6 bucks a species for common ones, and usually you get 3 to 9 stems in a little bunch. But local fish clubs are an amazing resource...just asking for trimings or buying on the cheap, then there is always learning to id local marsh and or aquatic plants...sometimes that works, sometimes they dont like tropical tanks...but i have over a dozen that worked out even up here in wet and cold Seattle
I'm getting rid of my tanks and want to get just one simple tank with thriving plants; stems, crypts and bulbs. I've never layered substrates before. But from the information I've gathered, does this sound correct? First a layer of sand from one of the other tanks, then a mixture of two different aqua soils like fluval stratum including some from another tank, or should they be layered instead of mixed? And then a mixture of lava rock for its porosity and some sort of small gravel to use as the cap. Or should the lava rock maybe be on the aqua soil layer? I was thinking maybe best on the cap layer as the bacteria will form on that layer faster I'm guessing? Although maybe not because I'd be using some substrate from other tanks that will have beneficial bacteria. But also using driftwood, plants and probably filters from other tanks that will obviously be seeded. And will add neocaridina shrimp and ramshorn snails from other tanks to add to the cycling process. Thank you.
It seems like I'm too deep into watching this video, because I've just picked up this hobby. So I don't really understand it yet, but this is great for those who are already in this community.
Nice to see a video on tank substrates as I just setup a 20gal and have a 29gal to setup this week lol. Atm I'm going with a fairly thin layer of organic soil then about an inch to two of sand, though for these since ik some plants can struggle to dig through sand and, quite frankly, I was getting bored of my plain sand caps from last year, these two are being setup with a mix of sand and gravel on top and I'm going with if it reorganizes itself to separate out into different respective layers then however it chooses to, that's the new look I'm going with. Smaller gravel does give it a bit better look imo so first one setup (the 20gal) is white sand and standard size gravel that I rinsed and reused from the 29gal, the 29gal is going with sunset color sand that's kinda light brown/orange-ish and fine gravel that's pretty small and blends into the fine sand a bit better. Hopefully this will solve my issues with getting vallisneria to root and thrive with a nutrient layer and more uneven substrate to hopefully give rooting plants some easier path options around the larger substrate pieces so they don't have to wait as long on the feast I hid for them. Also hoping to get back into fish breeding with these new setups and try a couple new species now that I've experimented a bit and think this is currently my best option for only a smaller amount of algae and more viable plant options then water column feeders and wood/decor clingers like my java ferns- of which I have both the standard and windlove(?) that has stayed small for me for the past three years so I see the latter as a nice nano tank option
Nice. And yes i think the val is either a sunstrate grain size issue...since the roots are pretty slender. But be aware that duckweed and val put out chemicals to kill one another... so try not to have a bunch of duckweed if you want lots of val 😉
Please make a video about the bubbles coming up after doing Father Fish kind of deep substrate with lots of organic matter and how to deal with them. This is an underrated subject. But if you can, please tell me something about it. Does it decrease over time? It’s been 1 week and that is producing big bubbles. Should I worry and re-do the tank?
Its natural. Its mostly carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen and sulfur compounds... very very little evidence shows that the amount in an aquarium is ever going to be harmful to fish. However in large marshes and lakes, miles and miles of bubbles under rare conditions have killed people in Africa and India. ( google lake gassing Africa) ...i think 1983 or 86? Several thousand people died at night. But in your tank youd need the volume of 2/3rds the water displaced to cause the same issue for the fish...or tremendous boiling levels of co2 specifically ...but you likely have a mix of all the decomposition produced gasses. Cheers. Check out my video "my does my fish tank stink" for more info
Could you possibly explain why plant roots grow straight up, even when the plant is doing well? I’m not sure if it’s the dwarf sag or the pink flamingo, but those are the only two in an area where the roots are growing up from the substrate.
Im not sure i know what you're asking. Im sorry. But roots grow from the stem down and crawl like hungry worms looking for nutrients. They also always take the shortest and most direct route to nutrients... so when the substrate is all equally nutrient rich. So if possible, they like to stablelize with a taproot to also anchor the plant
Great content :) I have a question if i may. I have 2 south american cichlid tanks set up i want to try add plants. I currently have about 3 inches of sand on the bottom of the tank both tanks about 6 months old. My question is if i want to add plants do i empty the tanks take out the sand add soil then put my old sand on top and add plants ? or do i just leave it as it is and then add plants and root tabs i want to have the tanks as natural as possible but i did not know about the soil and deep substrate at the time i set them up. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated :)
At this point id just do the root tab method, otherwise youll get a big ammonia spike most likely, when you disturb the mulm and debris in the substrate
Thanks would you maybe suggest adding a layer of sand and just cap it with sand like the lasagna method you mentioned? thanks so much for your wisdom and advice.@@Fishtory
Always enjoy your videos as I feel like I am always learning something. Do you have a video on plants that adjust well to underwater life that were grown emersed? Man, melt is so disheartening. Yeah, things come back eventually but it is a slow process. Unless it is Val., that stuff melts back and regrows in 2-3 weeks even in a low-tech tank. I can't wait to get to the point where I can pull plants from one tank to add to another but that is going to be a slow process, lol.
Thanks so much for all your videos and info. For me personally, it's like Diana Walstadt and Father Fish laid down the basics of keeping fish more naturally and mimicking ecosystems, but you really go over it all with a fine tooth comb and bring so much to the table! I love your biology focused videos like this, and the in depth fish history videos. I've never seen anyone cover aquariums so well on youtube. You're easily my favorite aquarium youtuber.
Thank you. Im glad you find it useful! Im just a big ol nerd 🤓
Great video. Between you and father fish I'm learning so much and I've had aquariums for years. This helps a great deal.
Great to hear!
You can tell homie consumes the natural plants/fungi the planet has to offer.
Me?.... only when I'm awake
@@Fishtory helps you appreciate all the small things. My kinda people
@@Buddystemz🍄🍄🟫 🦚🪴🪷🚬🎶🍄🟫🍄
Lmfao as a fellow consumer I had the same thought 😂
@ haha we have an aura about us like minded people that is noticeable.
Had to count the rummy's out of habit of counting mine every morning like a maniac to make sure nothing died. Am I the only one who counts fish all the time?
My neon tank lol
Nope :)
ALWAYS
EVERY. TIME.
Nope. I do it too. I think it was pounded into us from childhood. One fish, two fish, red fish blue fish!
Yes 😊
In January my first dirt/sand planted tank will be one year old. I have learned so much, and I freaked out about some things along the way, but you helped me several times. I agree about fusing different things from different fishkeepers. There were times I was really sure I knew something, but turned out I really didn't have the whole picture (I mean, I still don't, but I think I am getting better! lol). I remember thinking that my tank getting more acidic was a bad thing, because a bunch of my shrimp failed to molt, and I blamed it on the ph and not calcium depletion. I really appreciate your videos explaining all of this. You have helped make my journey less stressful and more enjoyable. I think a big part of learning to keep fish is gaining confidence, and good information helps that happen.
So glad to hear that! Im just learning daily also..but i have the benfit of doing aquarium research at my liesure all day for several years now. If i don't understand a process i love learning why its occuring.... then i run and make a video about it lol
I agree it is a learning process. This is the best part. I am starting tanks now and building the tanks up from the enviornment first.
i have boyu 86 liters tanks and 10w light. I have one inch of soil and 2 inch of sand cap. But my plants no longer growing and stagnated.Leaves turned to brown and some plants stems are rotten.Could you pleas advice on this
Thank you Alex! Im new to youtube and doing lots of research before i buy my first tank in over 20 years. I did okay back in the day but after going down the rabbit hole I have found that I know nothing. You have bridged the gap between my favorite aquascapers and hard to understand science. You are my fishy hero!
1 inch dirt with supplements capped with at least 2 inches pool filter sand, lighting, and some water movement, and you are good to go.
@@mightymike9469it's the "with supplements" part that gets tricky for me..FF uses more than 15 from memory 🫤 it's a lot
Aww thank YOU so very kindly
I have been using 2 to 3 inches of soil with 2 inches of sand. Heavy planted and lots of floating plants for years. My plants grow like crazy and I do not do water changes. I have had many tanks like this and never had problems. I currently have 3 set up like this. I have to remove a couple of lbs of vegetable material a month from them as the plants grow so well. The fish are healthy and happy. I use a simple sponge filter. The moment I went to sand a dirt all my problems keeping fish and plants vanished.
Thank You! I actualy had this exact question if i could do exactly like that.
Try giving away cuttings to other friends in the hobby, or even selling them! You're basically breeding plants :)
Hi. Are you using a regular potting soil?
What plants do you use?
Have 3 deep substrate planted tanks (FF method). I'm 3 months in and they're doing great! I truly appreciate you giving some of the science behind this. You educate deep science and history in such a relatable way. You are a treasure!!
That is very kind of you to say. I'm glad you find it useful info. I just love learning new aspects of the hobby, and if you do as well...we stay curious in this community hahaha
As a teen in the 80's I was really into my 40 gallon aquarium. I had a large hang on back filter with about 2 inches of gravel. Initially I thought that once the filter media got dirty enough (after about 2 months) that it needed to be changed (one aquarium shop owner at the time told me this). I liked live plants and wanted to have them in my tank. I quickly found that most of the coolest plants would not survive long in my setup (plants like anacharis grew well though). I then met a good aquarium shop owner that explained the nitrogen cycle to me. So I stopped cleaning my filter so often and let detritus build in the gravel and although that worked really good for several months, it did not last (I think due to the limit of relatively thin gravel substrate which I did not understand at the time). So my aquarium had some extreme up and down cycles no matter how careful I was. Of course, back then there was not much available for substrate compared to today (I did not know then at ages 13-16 that play sand was clean enough for aquarium use). Now with all this data on the internet and the availability of better lights (for plants) and better substrate I plan on getting an aquarium set up again. Just a 20 L but with an inch of aqua soil and a 2 inch sand cap because I have always wanted the natural look of sand in an aquarium. I will run a hang on back filter at low volume for flow and to insure the balance is kept. I will also plant many plants for the jungle look that I also appreciate. Thanks for doing good informative videos.
Glad you find the videos useful 👍 also thanks for sharing your memories & experiences
Thank you. I really appreciate your doing the in depth research and weighing the risks and benefits in using the various methods. Your honestly pursuing informed, experienced, and science-based knowledge really helps everyone else save the time and disappointment from having to try and navigate learning all the variables involved in good aquarium-keeping. I appreciate you 👍
Thank you kindly. That is my goal :)
Good video Alex. I definitely agree that nature works on a different time scale to most of us lol. I know from my tanks that deep undisturbed substrates become more fertile with every year that passes. They just keep getting better and better, to the degree that I’m not sure they ever stop evolving and improving. Simply fascinating to observe :)
Very true!
Do they have gas buildup ? I have this problem and I don’t know if that relieves over time. I don’t want to do my dirted tank again.
No the gas issue is temporary and should go away as the tank matures and settles down. @@sahindemirer
Gas release from vacuuming frightened me. Then I worried the loaches might disturb pockets. I just dont like the appearance of his substrates. Different aesthetic. Pool sand with soil made such a messy look in my tank. I did have incredible growth, but it isn't my preference. Was never able to grow the maiden hairgrass:( I'm sure I made some mistakes but I had an experienced mentor...
Understand your point, my preference is to have fine gravel or sand without any soil for the two inches back from the front glass, I have had good success with leaving two inches free of soil round the sides and front. The front substrate and front glass can then be periodically cleaned with an old credit card and kept aesthetically acceptable in a living area in the home. If you keep the area plant free, the Corydoras catfish will filter the plant free sand and keep it fairly mulm free. It means they have a free swimming area and we can enjoy them 'winking' at us and watch them draw the sand into their mouths and out their gills. @@wrmlm37
Good morning Alexander! Your such a great teacher. Thanks for taking time out of your day to help educate us all. Much love and respect! ❤
You are so welcome
Great video Alex I'm six months in with an inch of organic compost, and a 3 inch layer of small gravel in my planted tank. It's the first soil deep bed substrate I've ever done and the best success with plants and very low nitrates that I've ever had. No going back from a deep bed for me now !
Right on! Glad you found your groove!
You’re always a wealth of information, thank you!
Been watching your channel for years.
I got the honor to meet FF since his store was in driving distance before he moved to Maryland.
Both of you are great!
Stay safe
That is awesome! Also, thanks for tuning in and stopping by. Happy hobby keeping to you and your organisms!
Thanks Alex!
If you've got the time and energy, could you do an in-depth video on potential ingredients to the soil lasagna, and how to tweak it for your specific circumstances?
Sure thing!
Second this would be great to see
Great. Can you please speak to if, when and where in the lasagne layer a Father Fish soil formula might be placed in a plenum system?
@@HotSauseexcellent... that's exactly what I'm in the process of building but haven't wrapped my head around it quite yet. Did you try it yet?
Hi Cheryl. Not yet. I don't even have a tank yet😢 I saw someone made a comment in Novak's video that did one that I was going to ask but I lost it😢. I may try to find it again. I was hoping Alex would chime in if the two systems are compatible.. I'm thinking plenum , gravel, cat litter, iron supplement, cat litter, dirt supplement -substrate, and lastly 2 in sand cap. LMK your thoughts. 🤔
This is the first vid I have run into that explains the different color layers and what they represent. Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing these layers develop. I just launched my first two deep substrate planted aquaria. Thanks again for your efforts and knowledge transfer.
Finally had time to relax and watch Shisho's latest videos! And it's a doozy of literal fishstory!! Fish and history brought to you by Shisho is the best flipping way to pass a lazy Sunday!!
Welcome back!
Shisho?
I like your process the best Alex. I found out about deep beds the hard way. Father Fish said "Betta fish are better in a confined space because they can't swim." Mine can, so I give them a big tank to cruise around in
I've got 5 in a 10 gallon community and they do just fine
I saw that video and was like... uhhhh , WTF? yes some have crazy fins... which get infected and torn easily in high flow or tanks where they can get scared easily...but thats not at all common....and most betta i see are half moon or less in finage. Especially the aliens, plakats and giants/wild species.
The even odder part of all that to mez was idea that he skipped the fact that betta mostly live in tiny flooded pools, then claim a territory to defend to the death in some cases.... thats why they like, warm shalllow, still water in tannc tanks as a general rule.
Also humans created many lines to strictly be mean fighting fish... but most in the hobby are from the royal lines started in the 1770s or later...for beauty...not the super old fighting lines
@@Fishtory yeah. I think he missed the mark on that one. I have plakats and giants and I could hardly believe what he said, since they max out the space in very large tanks. I think the cruelty is letting a sentient being be cramped its whole life. Imagine us being only being able to go about in something the size of our kitchen. You could live in a mansion and you'd still want to go out.
Great video Alex.. the thing i like about your channel is the amount of education. Thanks buddy 🙂
I appreciate that! Thanks for participating
So I have a question for you. What if you use an undergravel filter with a weed barrier covering play the soil mixture down and then the sand layer on top of it. That would make it completely aerobic and non anaerobic. What would be better. I know that in septic systems that have an aeration tool in it the waist breaks down quicker
So it will break it down quicker and create more nitrates... plants under water will consume ammonia or nitrates, so it works fine...but you wont store up ammonia in the oxygen depleated layer creating a layer of "root tabs" essentially...but also you wont risk an ammonia leech into the water if it gets churned up. So i think either way works well
One of my tanks has aqua soil under gravel and a cap of sand on top of it.
I started that tank befote knlwing about FF so I had to add the sand after setting the tank up and having fish in it.
After some months it's working really well and plants are growing really fast.
Befote having sand my tank had algae blooms all the time and now I haven't changed the water since that time.
The only issue I see is that when You wqnt to movie some plays it's hard to do it because their roots get in the gravel, pulling up some of it when You take the plant out.
Very timely video since I was wondering what was up with all the different colors in my layered substrate. Started my first deep sand substrate in a 55, after trusting the process and letting the green water come and go I got a great looking tank.
Great to hear! Thanks
This was helpful. Getting ready to set up a dirted tank based on the FF method.
Best of luck to you. Have fun
Thanks!
Thank you so kindly, Jay!
Absolutely love your channel. Fully agree with everything you say. I wish I could find something I disagreed with but you are just so good at our hobby as a fellow fish fam. member unlike anyone else I can just never find anything I disagree with regarding your approaches of what you encourage people to do to try to keep our fish as healthy as possible during their lives.
Haha well we will see how long that lasts...but thanks my friend
@@Fishtory I love your personality man. You’re such a survivor. You’re so tough & funny. You have a great outlook on life. You always have such hardships but you just manage to deal with i them where most people just can’t. With the kind of suffering that you’ve gone through from little hints & bits & pieces I’ve picked up since I started watching you a few years ago. Not in a creepy stalker way but because of my Autism I have to study people’s faces extra hard so I can tell what’s happening in their personal lives. You have been kind enough to share with total fan’s like everyone else & myself. The thing I’ve seen that hurts you the most in my opinion is when you lost the ability to conceive children. When I saw your face when you were kind enough to share this with people it made me cry even though I’m lucky enough to have 3 Daughters. I just have so much other shit happening that it all comes out. I see my Daughter’s overnight on weekends now. I’ve never, gambled smoked, or drank, & I’ve never been violent. Just always Mr. Mom, raising my Daughters & building the house with Pons, everywhere deep underground, heavily reinforced. We had frogs 🐸, , & stuff, you only fine and nature reserves everywhere. I have the ADHD like you, but I also have Autism. No one ever cared about my OCD . I did not know what Autism was a few years ago but my ex got rid of me because she got a boyfriend a few months before she got rid of me. She got rid of me as soon as my youngest player to 1st grade. I didn’t get a penny from the house or any of that shit. Anyway man, you’re a great guy. Keep up the good work. Trust me, children have any age or variety all grow up & move out & you’re no better off than you were before. just keep doing what you’re doing because you’re really the best I don’t even waste my time following any other channels except father fish because of course he’s good but you’re the best mother to be fair. As long as I ignore his personal I do appreciate his knowledge regarding our hobbies in ways that encourages a small ecosystem.
Great video Alex! I am thankful that you shared the term, "brownian motion," at the end of the video. I have been trying to learn more of the principles related to how substrate moves and settles. I've made observations and hypotheses about how substrate materials settle over time in relation to one another, but I want to learn more about the physics behind it.
If I keep substrate materials layered in a clearly defined way, they usually stay that way. When materials are mixed together or loosely layered, I have rocks and aquatic soil pellets eventually float above my sand layer, especially if there is a current in the water from a filter. I am guessing that movement of particles from the current (and perhaps brownian motion) cause more buoyant materials to float to the top, while heavier ones sink, but I can't help but wonder if there is more to it than that. Maybe the size of the particles/materials matters in determining where it will eventually settle too?
I would love to learn more about the laws of physics that govern how substrate materials settle in relation to one another.
Thanks for all that you do!
Right on. Im fascinated by this as well! Im pretty sure you and i...and maybe 20 others would watch something that niche and nerdy haha.. but ill definitely add it to my to do list :)
Great info. Although I haven't had the courage to cap soil with sand due to fear of compaction, I have used it with fine gravel and crushed lava rock cap (eco complete). The tank with the eco complete cap is doing amazing. Plant growth is awesome, roots are super healthy, and parameters are steady as you'd ever want them to be. I do have fairly hard water, which definitely helps. I set up a 2nd tank with a clay based substrate (oil dri and akadama), and can attest to the KH drop. It took the PH down to 6.5 and has held it there for over 6 months. Plant growth has been decent, since I seeded it with a good amount of Osmocote, but it'll be interesting to see how it matures. One nice benefit of the clay is that moving plants is way less messy than in a soil tank!
Its mostly extremely fine sand like playsand that causes the compaction. Its better to use fine gravel or poolfilter sand or any sand that is generally more coarse so that roots can reach down and get the nutrients they need. Additionally, animals like worms and snails are able to sift through and aerate the sand to prevent that much compacting.
@@valleymykel-mq7gw Thank you for the tip! I decided to give the "Father Fish Method" a try with some HTH Pool filter sand (pools are pretty rare in the Pacific NW where I live, but a local Wilco store had it). It looks fantastic, and I'm hoping it works well.
Great video, thanks. Most of my tanks are 3 inch dirted substrates now, capped with 1 mm grain size sand. I find that after it settles (a month or two) the nitrates keep going down. I only do water changes now every 6 weeks (and that is not because of nitrate that stays well under 10ppm, usually around 5) just to replenish whatever untested for stuff might get depleted or build up. I have found the same thing with aquasoil and I have one tank running a slow moving plenum, same thing there as well, the nitrates stay almost undetectable once the system is mature.
Totally. Thanks for the feedback and confirmation 👍
Good, practical knowledge. Great looking dwarf hairgrass, too!
That stuff is my bane, I have killed it in several situations lol
Many thanks
If you are doing sand only, i have had some success with using corys to get organic material down into it. I just plop in a seemingly appropriate amount and feed them lots. After a few months, plants will start growing.
Yes indeed. anchor catfish, malaysian trumpet snails, corys, banjo catfish, and cichlids like geos or kribs will also help
@@Fishtorywhat about Neocaridina shrimp? I don’t have any other bottom dwellers
Highly informative and well delivered video. I've been driving myself nuts before setting up another planted tank and this gave me clarity.
Oh great! Im so glad to hear that!
Thank you for yet another fascinating educational video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Big comprehensive explanation of the variables.. these little things make a big difference… always learning lots here.. thanks for the science and history ..
You're very welcome!
Great video, thanks
Question. I've tried half a dozen Dirted tanks using organic potting soil & called with playsand.
Thanks 4 the Tip of not fixing roots all the way down into dirt but instead plant into the sand layer only.
My problem is after 2-3 weeks I notice black areas in substrate in front of glass I can visually see.
I see surface of substrate areas that turn black. I move a rock and under that is now black & noonher white sand.
I noticed many rooted plants aren't growing & are wilting away. I pulled one out and noticed all roots are black & smells like rotten eggs.
How does one prevent this in next tank?
How does Father fish get 4-6" deep substrate and not have roots turn black upon planting?
A y suggestions would be great.
Well i use larger grain sand and only an inch or two.... his method is " different". Perhaps hard vs soft water plays a role but also buy pants already well rooted under water if possible.
Im glad you pointed out how every tiny thing you do can change your tank from someone else's. You could have the 100% exact tank as someone else, but say your substrates are both 5", but one person replansts their exact stem cuttings into their substrate with super thin tweezers down about 3/4s of an inch, and the other takes that exact same trimming and plants them 3 inches deep with their ginger, you will get 2 different results over time.
Well said sir!
Very true!
Can't help but laugh at "with their ginger" 🤣
Hey Alex - I'm seriously impressed by the quality of this work. Perhaps this may be an elementery question, but I was wondering - when you were saying around 17:55 that digging into a monolithic layer of sand or soil could lead to a bunch of ammonia and phosphorus being released (obviously bad for the fish), and the solution is plants (which feed on ammonia, if I understand correctly), would this solution require a lot of plants? I'm asking because I want to do a tank in the future with seagrass (specifically Zostera marina and Ruppia maritima), but I don't want them to be the main focus. I want them, but not as much as some marine invertebrates. Thank you so much!!
You need quite a bit, or fast metabolizers and quick growing plants, ideally. But if its capped and trapped or cycled aerobically...either way itll be safe for the fish. When trapped and capped...it may be strong enough to cause health issues or death, if that layer is badly disturned and exposed
@@Fishtory Okay, thanks so much. I know that macroalgae doesn't have the same roots as seagrass or freshwater plants, but could that help (because it also photosynthesizes) in case of disturbance, if you know?
@alviobarbaretta8863 so mosy macroalgae are saltwater ... freshwater tend to be more small cells in big colonies, as a general rule. But be it "green water" (single cell algae blooms).... or theoretically, some kind of freshwater kelp... they both feed from the water, disolved gases and atmospheric gases in water, and the sunshine... and they do not feed from roots at all, nor do they store carbohydrates for extended dark or dry or nutrient poor stretches.
They live fast, grow fast and die fast if things change. So while algae certainly helps keep your aquarium safe for fish, and oxygenated, its essentially the same be it micro or macro algae... they dont really specialize vasculature or more than a few basic types of tissues...unlike plants which have stems, leaves, flowers, roots etc etc
Boosting for the algorithm 🙌 Love your work, keep it up! 🌻🐝
Thanks for great videos. You are my favorite fish guy!
Aww thank you sk much
Mine too!
Patience is sometimes hard to come by,but my FF dirted tanks are really going great now after 8 months,love how you break it all down
Right on. Glad to hear! And yes... with patience...theyre great 1 to 2 years in and from then on to around 10 years! But i can understand if someone wants to hurry a tank for kids or whatnot. But i think patience has greater rewards too
I use FF method in all my tanks (4 tanks so far) and I have noticed that even the "easy" plants don't grow as good as I'd expect them to (as compared to my control tank, where there is no sand, only a built up mulm on top of the soil). Some thrive, some don't. I suspect that the sand is too dense, limiting the amount of oxygen to the roots. If I was to re-do the tank, I'd probably do a dirt layer, then a gravel layer, then cap it all with a sand layer. The gravel would probably allow the substrate to be more open and aerated. Just my hypothesis though. I could be completely wrong lol.
I think you are correct for most stem plants and any high light/ fast metabolizing plants.
@Alexnguyen, I am having similar problems with sand. As this video says ‘sand cannot nourish plants’ on its own. I love sand, it is so cool, so I will not give up. I think the key to the sand capped tank is it favours deep-rooted stem plants. Grasses seem to struggle which is odd because even they do over time extend deep roots into a substrate. At least that is my experience. I am thinking deep-rooted stem plants work well with sand caps. I have noticed that FF in his own tanks tends to have large plants that are root feeders. My experience is that without the capping, my plants tend to grow unrestrained. I think the problem is that sand and gravel are basically rocks and plant roots prefer mud. Trouble is mud and dirt (uncapped) is messy and potentially to much in contact with the water column (nutrient rich water - algae). So I completely understand why FF goes for capping.
I do not feel that sand is too dense or lack of oxygen. I think it is the reverse. Mud is much denser and less oxygen. Plants seem to prefer that imo.
@@thesolaraquarium I used to think that mud didn't have much oxygen but one guy who specializes in collecting hillstream fish told me that mud is very well-oxygenated, which is why a bunch of critters live in them after all. Critters don't seek oxygen-depleted zones, quite the opposite.
@@alexnguyen3022 interesting. May well be right. I know there is alot of gases in there.
I loved the growth! (Plant substrate beneath pool sand) Everything was so happy! We made a co2 unit with a juice bottle, drop counter...but I love a clean looking floor and it made the pool sand a mess...I maybe should have done more with grasses, but then I got a snail invasion...supposed to not multiply in your tank, but I didn't KNOW I wasn't getting the correct species...maybe I'll try in my new 29 tall...
The more planted, the better, but they do require constant pruning:) hoping my slider will eat it as a snack:)
Thanks for continuing to educate! Much appreciated!
My pleasure! Thank YOU for coming by
Would like to know your opinion in set aquasoil inside net bags, over the dirt , and under the sand cap, in order to not mess too much when moving plants.
You totally can. But any messy bits... like dust or muddiness... will still occur to some degree over time... that and the roots need to be able to get through the bag...so mesh media bags work best...nothing waterproof
Super good in depth look at this. Very nice, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much for this video! Do you put a heater in or just let the room temperature do its job?
I just heat the room to 72 or so, then the lights and filter etc end up heating most tanks to 76 or better
I loved every word of this video. Most of the stuff I now do automatically. I keep my aquariums exactly the way you do recently I had a terrible tank crash. I only put maximum 1 inch formula, soil father fish style with 2 inch sand cap, but I’ve had to put another half inch of sand on top of that. The problem is they are all nano tanks not even 10 gallons so I don’t have enough space to just keep filling up the aquarium to be half substrate. Plants are extremely expensive for me because I’m a permanent property level extreme low income but I would never ever give up no matter what so I’m just making things work. Tonight, I just got the idea that even though it took three years to build up the pots with the bottoms, cut off on my balcony because my daughters and my place is the type of a skyscraper 🏙️ instead what I’m going to do is slowly remove all of those pots which is extremely difficult & get into the fish tubs on the tiny balcony so there is some configuration of tubs, even though the balcony is extremely tiny, so I am extremely limited to see the least like maybe one tub or maybe 2 tubs maybe even 4 small ones but the problem is the smaller they get the shorter they go because they don’t really make “tall tubs” because the size would buckle & crack & break. I’m so excited about this. My life is truly enriched displays the extreme financial & time burden my childhood Hobby & rekindled spirits are pure joy is causing.
Should I do a dirted formulated father fish method for my tiny balcony tubs because eventually I want to not have to change any water. How’s the systems stabilise & only do Justin top off’s? This is so exciting. Imagine a couple tubs on a tiny balcony at the top of a skyscraper with some cold water white cloud minnows with goldfish or whatever just some cold water fish with plants bursting out of the tops of the buckets like maybe I can put some potted plants, even just like one pot on top of my buckets and the roots can grow through the bottom into the highly nutritious tubs. How does all this sound Alex? I’m so honoured whenever you respond, I love your knowledge & you’re a passion for life. I share your passions my friend. The fish make me forget my problems too (even if for just a moment, it is a joy I can not begin to describe). Yes I eat fish that are only wildcat in the open ocean sustainably so they have a good life First, but I also have the pet fish. We have carnivorous teeth for a reason to eat both plants & animals. I’m basically almost a Pescatarian. Once every few months I’ll have some chicken & once every several months or basically just once or twice a year, maximum I’ll have some lean red meat. I’m getting back into my organics to like all my Foods Organic.
Right on! That sounds good. If you can afford it... aquasoil is fine on its own for tubs, but if you decide to do water changes (depending on water costs) you can choose many substrate styles... but if it isnt sand capped or pure aquasoil, youll need to do many water changes to keep nitrates down over time...depending on plant load and the light it gets.. id recommend lots of floating plants that grow fast...hornwart, guppy grass, avoid anubias or java fern...or slow growing plants that dont clean the water fast.
Sounds exciting though! Best of luck on the remodeling!
@@Fishtory Thank you so much for your sound advice. Highly appreciated.
Fantastic video very knowledgable, but I got to the end not really knowing what to do. I've just put a layer of sand from pets at home. I've not got any soil, but have a few plants in the sand. Should I use layers of sand and soil or not, I still don't know.
Check out my other Substrate videos. There's plus and minuses. I don't like telling folks a right or wrong way...if both ways work fine. But look at my "lasagna" method videos for my personal favorite nature tank base style
Great channel man. I've been watching quite a few videos of yours, father fish, etc and your intro perfectly captured what I'm going through.
I'm wanting to redo my 29gal tank for good plant growth and leaning towards something like the Fourite Black or Fluval Bio stratum 2" deep with a 1" layer of Caribsea torpedo beach sand on top. I already have the sand and had originally bought it to put on top of the AquaNatural gold pearl gravel substrate I've been using already but when I started researching substrates, I fell down this wild rabbit hole.
Would you recommend Stratum or Flourite Black or another product for the 2" base layer? Or could I maybe save some money and mix half and half stratum and flourite black and then top with sand?
Stratum is my preference...there's merits to each and yes you can mix but it will mean less root minerals if you use fluorite
I have a 10 gallon and a 5 gallon that are less than a month old.
But in the 10 gallon I have a bottom layer of a fine black biosand, and a top layer of samurai sand (small clay balls).
In the shrimp tank (5 gal) I just have 2 bags of gravel.
Am I doing my substrates incorrectly? I have them loaded with live plants and some root tabs but I’m worried that if I dig into the substrate that it will release something and kill all my fish and shrimp.
What you have going on will work okay. You are correct that root tabs in gravel, can spike and dissolve too fast for your tank..especially if disturbed at all. But my only comment would be ..."do you have enough minerals in your tap water for your shrimp?"
Neocaridina Shrimp need some kh and gh buffer and calcium for their exoskeleton. Some people have hard tap water with a high TDS ph and kh gh. But if your water is soft, you may want to add a small bag of brightwell shrimp friendly substrate.
@@Fishtory yessir. My water comes out naturally at 7 degrees of gh and 7 degrees KH.
lately i've been using just sand, liquid ferts for the first month with a high initial plant load. i add root tabs in time if i notice nutrient deficiencies in plants. i also do high filtration and high stocking. my 20 long full of crypts, swords, and vallisneria is a jungle now after 6 months, i've had some algae battles but it is balancing now. i have corys and assassin snails to stir the surface layer constantly, which helps work the nutrients down deeper as well as into the sponge filters.
Great tips. Thank you
I have this durt and sand set up almost for a year now and it works well, apart from some plants died. Maybe the snails eat them up, not sure 🙂
Are you saying I need to add some fertilizer tablets to the soil from time to time?
I thought the residual waste would be enough for the plants.
Thanks for a great video, keep up the good work!
So fish food, fish poop and plant debris will provide some carbon and nitrogen or basic minerals like iron or Sulphur but may be missing some trace minerals or nutrients over a year to 2 years depending on your soil quality initially... but unless plants are newly dying or newly yellowing/pinholes/or browning and losing leaves, you shouldn't have to add much very often...I start with root tabs every 3 to 4 inches spaced like a checkerboard or chess board. With weekly dosing liquid fertilizers and then if that isn't enough, daily liquid fertilizers, co2 and root tabs for max growth ( oh and of course strong light if you do all that stuff).
I will follow your advice. I still have questions about the lighting. Do you have a post on this subject?
What type of lighting do you recommend? how many hours per day?
Should you avoid sunlight?
Starting out it's best to avoid windows... but once you understand your tank, you can play with that. But I suggest starting with 8 hours of medium to strong light a day for a month or two, if algae isn't a problem then increase lighting a half hour every 2 weeks up to 12 or 13 hours ...with 13 being for people with lots of stem plants or floating plants. I recommend fluval planted plus 3.0 Hands down the best light for new and seasoned planted tank owners
I so appreciate you showing us the different substrates youve tried yet another video i needed 😅❤ much love speaking of caps my corys and sand sifters keep eposing my new crypt roots those dastardly jerks 😅❤
Haha sure thing. Some are embarrassing when i try some kooky order or ingredients...but i want to try it all lol
Thanks that make me feel better as i just set up deep bed with tropica substrate and sand on top.but some people say sand is not good.The so called science man.
Sand is fine... its all a matter of preference basically. Sand alone is not going to grow plants...its the water doing the work until fish waste and other debris turns to soil in the sand bed...then after a year or so it starts a whole new cycle where the bed is "charged" with nutrients and acts as a dividing wall
Alex, if you could set up only one tank (29 gallon) what would you go for to maximise enjoyment from the hobby? Interested in your take. I can only have two tanks due to space. Have already got a 20g and am setting up the 29 now. Want to do so many things but have to make a decision.🙏
Sounds like my situation ❤ I started with just gravel let it get mulmly and then capped with sand per father fish so far so good my Cory's and rams ( sand sifters) love it and it keeps all the stuff collected in the gravel out of the water column ❤
I have 3 29s. One is currently stocked with: black neon tetras, bronze cories, glowlight tetras, and some of my larger guppy fry, one has neons and a female betta (severe jumping coverage)- the last is getting a reimagining, I'm thinking angels, diamond tetras, and cory trilineatus. Few of these were my original stockings, these are the ones that thrived. Keep that in mind- your best ideas may disappear in one night during a tank crash and you find yourself starting from scratch. I miss my ember tetras and cpds and laser corys, but I haven't taken out a second mortgage to replace them, ya know?
I've only just discovered Father Fish, but a lot of what he says makes sense. Tanks run like his aren't going to win any scaping contests, but not everyone is interested or has the time to do a fantastically scaped tank. His method is ideal for those of us who prefer a more natural look, or don't have the time to trim plants, and want to let our tanks work with waste the natural way, rather than always hoovering gravel and adding fertilizer. Once again, it's more about what you prefer. If you're interested in doing his method from the get-go, he has a video for that. It's entitled, "The Three Most Important Things to Understand About Your New Aquarium". If you're more interested in going with a highly scaped centrepiece of the room tank, Check out MD Fish Tank, and watch his videos. It's a whole different way of keeping fish which presents you with some real eye candy once it's going, but what he's doing is very time consuming. There are a lot of other people on TH-cam which have other equally good methods. You can find them by doing searches. Some of them are presenting things which, though interesting, could end up costing you a heap of money, while others offer inexpensive ways to keep fish alive and healthy. The two I've mentioned above are the two I've tried thus far. I'm sure I'll try the others at some point or another if I don't die first. Nothing is better though, than watching these people and what they do, so that you can decide what you want your tank to look like, and how much time and money you have to put toward doing it. I promise you, there will be a technique which will fit what you want to do.
Alex is much more of an authority on this than I am, so if he contradicts anything I've said, follow his advice, not mine. I've learned a metric dump truck load from him in just the few months that I've been watching him. I hope he'll reply here, but if he doesn't, it's probably because he didn't see it. Keep asking, and maybe ask in one of his live chats if you can make it. I am very familiar with the situation you find yourself in; namely not enough room. I also have only two tanks, but if I had a whole warehouse to do what I wanted with, that would likely still not be enough room. For starters, I'd want to turn it into one giant tank, and then I'd have to get a new warehouse to put other things in. But no one has that, so we are compelled to live with what we have.
Would you be willing to share what you would like to do, and and what the decisions you have to make are? I'd be happy to be a sounding board for you, and give you my opinions on what you could do, as well as point you toward any videos that I know of which would help in the decisions you are making.
Best of luck to you in setting up that big ol' 29 (almost 30!) gallon!
@@voluntaryismistheanswer So sad for you! All of those are really nice fish. I'm madly in love with my CPD's, and the others are so cool I can only imagine having them. On the good side, in the aquarium hobby you don't have to get everything all at once. You can add those little by little if you want to get back to that.
What happened if I may ask? I dread having a tank crash, and anything I can learn brings me (and everyone else who reads this) one step closer to avoiding that (maybe). Sometimes it seems like the aquarium gods just have it in for us and something goes wrong no matter what we're doing.
Anyway, may you never have another crash again! I will sacrifice a rainbow trout on the pyre of the god of aquarium crashes in hopes that he will never again plague you with another aquarium crash. There are only a few things in life which can push you into a deeper depression and a sense of hopelessness than an an aquarium crash.
I also have room for only two 29s.
One is a long one with over 50 corys (I always stock at least 10 per species, and I have julii, normal panda + long finn variety, white, black) on the bottom, also have 4 SAE, and 4 bristlenose pleco for algae control. For the midlle I have 8 Buenos Aires tetras, great fish, they will grow too, I plan to get 10 more. In general, my long tank, is the "race track" tank, for fish that enjoy strong current.
The second one is a tall one, there I have a wall of Vallisneria in the back, with room to swim in front, with an white Angel as a center piece fish, recent addition, a real water puppy, always begging for food, plus an 4 years old male pearl gourami. As dither fish have a group of rummy and rasbora (I would add some neon tetra, but my water is really hard, so they don't fare well), and on the bottom, have 8 duplicareus cory (must have corys 🤪). Also, have an army of apple snails, as scavenger crew, as I overfeed to make sure corys get food. The tall tank is a low current tank, for fish that enjoy that. Also, since is autumn, I've turn it in a black water tank with leaf litter.
Planning to have a deep substrate. First layer at the bottom would be pumice stones, 2nd organic soil, 3 lava rocks with sand then at the top would be aquasoil. What you think?
It should work okay, but the sand as the cap really works well.... it also holds small plants In place the first week or two
Is there a limit to the depth of the substrate? Like if I start building a plywood aquarium and in the proces make space for 25 cm (10”) of substrate. Which size of grains would be the best?
So Dr. Barr's work suggests that the standard pellets are still ideal at any depth, since only 3 or 4 inches of soil will remain airated for long before silt seals it into anerobic teritory over a year of so. Anything deeper will be annerobic and even if larger spheres of aquasoil were out there, they would have volumes exponentially related to surface area and the center becomes anoxic or annerobic in dense pellets... so might as well use the small or medium sized soil. ...now you could run pvc drilled full of holes, and burry it about 6 inches down and keep it connected to the water collumn in a few "man holes". That would expose more oxygenated surface areas and allow gas exchange...similar to a plenum or under gravel filter does
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. Keep up the great work! I have some questions about using root tabs vs. Father Fish supplement. What are your thoughts about freezing the Father Fish dirt mix and inserting it under the sand vs. using root tabs? I've seen a few videos about it and would love to read your thoughts.
Nothing wrong with asking questions, but why would you want to pay $20 to jump through hoops to use FF's 11 unspecified ingredients rather than use a product (e.g. root tabs) designed for being inserted into an already running aquarium?
father fish has done several videos on what he puts into his supplement. He also shows you how much of each supplement to add if you are doing this yourself.
Yes, absolutely you can do that. I will just say that i have not added new soil or root tabs to that first tank in over 2 years... i started reading food labels and feeding for my plant needs more than my fish needs lol...the fish eat most stuff, so i have been trying to work out a wholistic diet to recommend for plant nutrients in a food web. But honestly father fishes fertz are great...theyre designed to last a number of years though...planning for bacteria to break free nutrients like iron and magnesium, calcium etc over a long long time...root tabs are like a shot of steroids, they work great for faster growing stem plants
Great video!
On the point of pool filtration sand: Inert capping substrate is more important than it may seem. Many tanks set along the lines of FF method have the issue with increasing water hardness, esp. if they don't follow the method to a T. Something in my deep substrate tanks is increasing hardness and pH (up to 8). In one of those tanks I have a layer of aqua soil and it truly pushes pH down, but the water is even harder than in older tank with no aqua soil.
I didn't add any aragonit, crushed coral... but I reused older sand-gravel and soft gravel substrates as part of it. So I suspect old snail shells, overlooked limestone pebbles and I also used cheap crushed lava rock. Not every lava rock is truly inert.
Quick test strip show the hardness should be well above 300 ppm, sometimes even 375 ppm (limit), TDS meter would go crazy (1000+ ppm), yet fish don't seem to care.
Brilliant point... and excellent observations! I only started noticing this and sorting it out ( same conclusions as you), recently. Thanks for such a great comment!
This is the reason for sudden fish death like discus where the water gradually increases it's hardness and the fish scratch and dash and die suddenly, bare bottom tanks are so much easier and lively..
Just want to put out that I have black diamond blasting sand in all of my tanks, and the batch I got (~10 bags from at least 2 months of shipments to the local Tractor Supply) is NOT inert. My pH rises from about 7.2-7.4 (well water) to as high as 8.8 and just wants to sit there. I'm controlling it with water changes while I figure out how to deal with this.
I isolated the different things in my tanks and over the course of several weeks and without doubt determined it is the blasting sand causing it. I have both medium and fine grain and the fine causes it to rise faster but both are altering the pH up.
I would absolutely love your input as to low-time possible solutions. I'm scheduled for a wrist surgery in a month and can't do a full tank teardown x5, especially approaching the Christmas holiday.
blasting sand is supposed to be inert. However blasting sand AKA coal slag also often has a dusting of other materials that can contain Silicon dioxide, Iron oxide, Aluminum oxide, Calcium oxide, Magnesium oxide, and Potassium Oxide. With the last 3 being the ones that could alter ph and all involving your TDS
Those trace elements could be what is messing with your PH, and may vary from batch to batch or brand to brand.
However, the usual recommendation of washing the sand until it runs clear of silt and or cloudy residuals, has always eliminated that issue for me, and ive heard from others as well. Because fluval or ADA or even flourite can also screw with things if its been broken up into dust that will disolve or suspend into the water collumn.
You Could take some out and do a test with some water in a cup vs the same water in a cup with some sand , and gravel or nothing in it - see if it alters the PH?
Id recommend at that point adding some botanicals... or doing some water changes with rain water or R.O. / Distilled water.
Usually the botanicals will drop that ph ...or any wood will also help. Sorry to hear of your troubles, but hopefully you can add some leaves and wood and then do small water changes when the time comes, so as not to crash or shock the ph levels?
I appreciate you sharing your observations, because that shift is WAY WAY larger than any ive heard of from blasting sand. Usually it's like 7.5 jumps to 7.7 or 7.8 at worst. So thats pretty scary if just the blasting sand is responsible
@@Fishtory yeah so in my tanks I have two with medium and fine grain that was thoroughly rinsed, and two with medium and fine that was not rinsed. All of it is altering my pH in the tanks.
I have isolated buckets and a control bucket. 7.0pH water in all buckets, some with my soil, some with fine, some with medium, some with nothing else (control). Control and soil are staying at 7.0pH, soil is actually a little below. Fine is above 8.6, medium is about 8.0. I haven't checked in a few days since I was out of town so that is probably old news. But the sand itself is causing the pH change, not anything that came with it.
@Giftig--Daniel-P whoa that is fascinating. Is it black diamond brand too?
@@Fishtory yeah, from tractor supply.
This is like months of wondering what the f was going on in my tanks.
I think that seeing people grow plants in simple kitty-litter (Dr Novak) which is just pure-clay (no nutrients at all) has really made me think about how plants grow. Seems to prove that a substrate is simply a medium for plant roots to enable them to process nutrients (ie a home for bacteria). And that is what all these succesful methods have in common - Walstad, Father Fish, Novak.
Great video and explanations here.
The pure clay (no nutrients) substrate works - that was the most shocking part for me. I have not personally done it, but I have seen enough videos to believe it. Makes you start to think where plant nutrients come from.
Well some plants water feed, all root feed and some do both. But other than that... yeah the nutrients are from fish food, fish poo that was fish food, or lla f debris
I did the dirt and sand substrate and i love it!
Glad to hear it!
Thanks for your informative channel. I love your style!
You are so welcome!.thanks for watching
Exact. In agriculture we grow in so many media. But it all about light and nutriments!
I play the long game and let the sand substrate stratify over time. In my blackwater tanks it starts to hit the sweet spot at about 9 months, I think the breakdown of the botanicals helps a lot.
And your tanks also look beautiful for it! The leaf litter and some inverts can build extremely fast compared with just fish poo.
Hi really loving the content.i have a question.just done the change from gravel to a soil and sand substrate.i keep polar parrots and they keep digging in the sand and im worried that they are going into the soil layer.can i stop them from doing this or do i need to keep different fish that dont dig for this setup.tia
They sadly just do that since they naturally eat worms and stuff. You can add a total of 3 inches but usually if you relevel the low spots every few days, it helps. Also try hidding frozen blood worms like half an inch ...under the surface, so they learn they dont need to dig... they still will if spawning though, where they make nests
Great vid, i have a question though, during the summer i put dried dead leaves from my garden into my aquarium, as far as i know we definitely should not put wet leaves into the aquarium but its winter now and raining a lot. Can i collect wet dead leaves, let them naturally dry out and then put them into my aquarium? ❤️🇬🇧
Yes. Id probably dunk em in boiling water just to kill any mold or bad algae/bacterias on them. But once theyre boiled and cooled...or dried totally, theyre fine. Just dont add green leaves ..or it can melt other plants sometimes
@@Fishtory thank-you 👍❤️
Where in Florida is LRB Aquatics located? I'm currently vacationing at Ft Walton Beach.
He is in the middle of no where haha. By cedar key or the small town of "Old Town"... hes about 7 miles from the town
Hey Alex , thanks for the video. What to do for ppl like me, just learn method of yours and father fish’s, but already run fish tank in the modern$ way…. Say, now I have gravel (8cm deep) as substrate, and plants and fish for half year( rookie is me), how to turn my foundation to the soil plus sand one without stressing and killing my fish? Could I simple relocate all water and fish for Half day, replace the current gravel by that? Kindly advise if u can Tks
Mine is freshwater , 120L, tropical fish
Basically yes. And i have a video called( "replacing substrate in an established tank" @fishtory ) should pull up the video
I am trying to do more a Walstad method. I have 5 tanks now, and I’ve only been into the hobby a little over 9 months. But I think I’m all over the board… I’m so new to this fish hobby. Lol I go into the Freaking Fish stores and buy everything, Usually stuff I don’t need!! Lol But I just bought Seachem fluorite clay. I was going to put it as a 2nd layer on top sand only where the my rocks are, to fill in surface areas. I wasn’t gonna do the whole tank. This is for a new 20 gallon African dwarf frog tank. Have lots of plants to include. But this tank is 100% empty now. What are your thoughts here?! Thanks for any information. I sure appreciate your channel. Hugs to all.❤️🌱
So if you want to grow plants youll need aquasoil or dirt ...then cap it with sand or clay/silt to prevent it from mucking up the water collumn with ammonia and nitrates over time. Id honestly skip thr flourite unless you just want it to look nice. In that case just add an inch of flourite, so your plants can still grow through the flourite layer and reach either root tabs, months or mulm built up or an aquasoil layer. When plants grow in gravel or flourite, theyre actually getting most their nutrients from the water anyhow
@@Fishtory thank you for the information❤️🤗
I just got back into the hobby after being gone for 20 years, and I feel like a newbie!
Sounds like you got bitten by the fish bug, LOL.
Great video. I also found the helpful. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Okay so I revamped my 35 gallon, gravel substrate, tank according to a father fish video where he said if I have a gravel substrate tank, all I need to do is to cap it with 2 inches of pool sand and let it go. So I did that a few days ago while I have my betta in his hospital tank trying to heal him from fin rot. He was alone in that 35 gallon with some neurite snails for the last 6 months probably. I had other fish in there before that but I gave them all away because they kept dying. My question; Is it too late to dig up the sand and add soil now? Or will that just make a huge mess? Will I be able to grow root plants with just the gravel and the sand? So far I have only been able to grow anubias and Java fern. My tank has been running for close to two years. It was super dirty in the gravel even though my water parameters were always good when I would test it. Yet my betta ended up with fin rot. So anyway, I vacuumed the substrate some before adding the sand. I didn't do it perfectly but the water was black in the bucket. Probably shouldn't have done that? Please tell me and tell me what you recommend?
Also, as directed by Father Fish, my betta has been in his 5.5 gallon hospital tank for a week now, with nothing but a heater, bubble stone and a betta leaf, no food, just plain tap water with 5 tablespoons of aquarium salt and Prime. I have done three 25% water changes on the hopital tank so far. His ammonia is 0ppm but the nitrites are 0.50ppm so I keep adding the Prime. Father Fish said not to let there be any bacteria in there accept what is on the fish already so he can heal. How long should I leave him in there and should I add more salt and if so how much? Please help. I haven't been able to get Father Fish to answer me about these things. 😩 Thank you so much!
PS, I still think you could be Leonardo Dicaprio's brother. 🙂
I have a deep sand substrate with dirt in the bottom and aquasoil on its top. I also use a massive fluval fx 6. I have a massive planted tank with malawa shrimps and alot of nanofish. I rarely do water changes. My system is in equilibrium with no fish deaths for a looong loong time. Btw, I also inject CO2. I only feed ny tank once in every 2 days. I aint got time for more maintenance. Sometimes I trim the tank, but normally I let it grow every 2 months. I love ny system. Is a fusion between you and father fish and aome other guys. Since I changed my filter to the fluval fx, I noticed a massive growth in all my plants. They grow even faster. Oh and my light is a chihiros wrgb pro. In my tank, water flow is the most important for plant growth, after that lights and nutrition. Water flow is key 😊
Thanks!
PS. I rarely use ferts. Only once in a month maybe. I have so many fish I dont need more ferts than that XD
PS2. I never had an algae issue.
That is how i ran that first tank for years!
if i get it correctly, that anaerobic layer which is orange colour will affect badly to the tank?
Not always. But in most tanks 2 years or older have bacteria that actually stores ammonia and feeds it to plant roots...so if it gets exposed and mixed into the water you can have nitrate and ammonia spikes
I'm considering a dirt tank but not decided yet. It's a 20L and is sitting there with just a plenum, covered by landscape fabric anchored with gravel, until I make up my mind.
As for aesthetics, I've built my first 3 tanks with a "wall" of nice gravel all around the glass edge with whatever substrate I use being layered behind it and capped with a layer of the gravel. That way it has a clean uniform look along the glass. I like gravel caps for ease of vacuuming when it's needed. My latest, most successful tank, has now gone for 9 months with heavy bioload of poopy Platys, but only needed vacuuming twice and water changes 3 times. The water chemistry has been perfect the whole time and I've only scraped algae off the glass 4 times!
I used Novak's system of a plenum with the Walmart clay cat litter, layer of iron, one inch of an aqua soil, and half inch of a nice gravel. I seeded the tank with Dr. Tim's bacteria system to get it going with a strong start, and used lava rocks as the central hardscape decor to house them and the kuhli loach.
This time I'm thinking of trying a mashup of Novak and FF's systems. I want a lake look of just large rocks, a piece of driftwood, and a variety of grasses/vals for the fish to swim in and out of.
Always fun to try new combos out...just check your ammonia and nitrates are 0 and basically the rest is all up to you :)
Thanks for sharing! I have been missing the deep dive informational videos/live streams 😊
More to come! And you are always welcome my friend. Thank you for the patience
@Fishtory I don't think we could be in this hobby long-term without patience 😉😁
Do i have to wash the pool sand before putting it in? I didn't have it in before I filled my tank.
Nice video, (very informative). Question: Are you using co2 for the aquarium behind you? 🤔
Thanks for the deep dive. Currently have a bunch of tanks setup with soil + sand, aquasoil + sand, just plain aquasoil, and sand with just roottabs added. Curious to see which of the tanks do the best. BTW what's that tall grassy looking plant on the left/middle side of the tank at 2:14 ? I found a very similar plant while swimming in northern florida once, brought it back home with me and unfortunately I killed it, never seen anything like it in the shops around
So that is probably cypress helferi you are seeing. And yes, its common in florida naturally :)
Hi I want to try this with my fancy goldfish in my tank. Any advice? As goldfish are messy and eat nearly anything
Dont use an active substrate unless it cycles for about 2 months...itll leech ammonia if they dig...but with time water and plants reduce it to safer levels
Okay but I’m currently using fluval external filter, that’s been cycled for 4 years. I was gonna remove fish, put them in a tub and then empty water out and add the substrate let it sit for an hour once I’d put a small amount of tank water to mix. Let it sit like that for maybe an hour, then add sand , plants , and fill back up, and put fish back in? Maybe do 10% water changes every week to start with? I’m feed up losing fancy goldfish with the current method. Pam
What’s the ppfd of your lights on the aquarium?
Great Video, its really nice to See this Hobby Develop over time :)
Your Tanks are so beautiful! How do you get rid of the Calcium rim on the water surface? I Always gotta use a Lid to hide it.
So my substrate, leaves and live plants, make the water acidic...which disolves the calcium and carbon...and then plants and fish, snails and shrimp use it for nutrition instead.... 6.5-6.8 ph range
Comment#3, so I need Aragonite or crushed coral etc for the calcium for my shrimp n snails. My water is really low ph and horribly lacking in calcium and other minerals. Should I be adding phosphates or maybe all in one ferts? Most of my plants are really healthy but I do use a ton of ambient light, so I do battle hair algae. Would I maybe not have such a big problem with the algae if I use ferts? All I use now are root tabs in mostly aquasoil tanks, I have a couple of sand capped nanos and they seem to be more prone to other algae, I am battling a weird staghorn type that only grows on the tips of the leaves of my plants (wtheck)!?!
Phosphates usually come in fish food as a preservative, so if you feed dry food at all... you're probably fine. Its crucial but you only need a tiny amount
Correct with fertz...sometimes your plants will out compete the algae growth by using up the nutrients..but you need fast growing plants or floating plants for that to work...because you can also make the algae worse if the plants dont eat up all those nutrients
How do you go about adding the iron and sulfur to your substrate? Is it added when you build the substrate layers or does sulfur and iron naturally settle in the lowest layers?
So in naturally forms... potash, charcoal or bio/ aquachar and iron rich ground stone. Plus sometimes ive toyed with potting nutrients and buying individual fertz for E.I. dosing... then use them under a second sand cap...deep deep locked under the aquasoils. Also ive added it later by freezing it in water, and then burying it super quickly and cover back up.
That shrimp on the lower left at 5:58 is absolutely stunning. Does anyone know if that beautiful pattern has a name? I would love to get some
It is an orange rili ... specifically one from the orange sunkist line i think
You and father fish make a great team lol
FF is great at getting the idea out there ( it works ..trust me )
And you are amazing at breaking down the Why ? 👍✅
Wow I was wondering what that 'no oxygen' layer was in my 55g , thanks
Thank you. And yes, i just love watching nature work... sometimes we dont know why, and look to a completely seperate process or science and boom! We learn what was going on due to gut bacteria or septic tanks lol. Cheers
what light do you have on that tank?
Twinstar 900 SA
Can you comment on using fine sand and lava rock in the refugium compartment of a freshwater sump? I have recently added fine CaribSea sand (very dense-not argonite- but dense much like a river) in my refugium. I topped it with some eco complete that was in there previously (cycled) and then large lava rock. It’s on a 120 gallon that has larger plant eating fish so I can’t plant the tank, but I have a mix of houseplants growing crazy in two aquaclear 110s on the back and pathos and monstera in the sump refugium. I am hoping the refugium will eventually one day develop anaerobic bacteria under this sand. Thoughts?
Yup you nailed it. Thats whatll happen until the aerobic bacteria coat surfaces so thick that the internal voids fill with anoxic bacteria... then you end up with essentially little ammonia root tabs waiting in each o2 free void...and micro filters on the surface area. Just watch the ph from getting too high if you're using crushed calcium carbonates as your media.... remeber 1part per million of ammonia at 7 ph equals 10 parts at 8ph...and only by 8.5 ph the ammonia is almost equal to 50ppm toxicity to fish and shrimp.
Can someone post of the link how exactly Alex sets up his way of doing substrate? I mean what are the layers, their size and components. I have gone through several of his videos but unable to determine how exactly he has been setting up! TIA
I will make that video this week!
@@Fishtory Thank you Alex for your response. Kudos to your commitment towards hobby & data/research based elobarated presentations.
Hey Alex thanks for this video ! What kind of dirt will u recommend pls? ( planning to replace my pebbles/ gravel by dirt at bottom with sand on top ), ps: seems potting soil I can find in Australia didn’t say they are fertilised or not.. all says Mix… thanks 🙏
If you can spend the money... 50/50 amazonia aquasoil by ADA and 50% fluval stratum ... it lasts 3 to 5 years growing stunningly beautiful plants without making all the mud of potting soils
@@Fishtory hey Alex thanks for replying and answering . To clarify: u mean to layer them or to mix them with 1:1 ratio ? The other thing is, using ur “recipe”, do I get sand on the top still or not ? Promise it’s the last question for 2023 😬
@@Helloacxgood question.....would like to know too...
Is that a type of otocinclus at 6 minutes? If so what kind?
Zebra striped or marbled oto i believe
Thanks
I'll watch for them.
Are you familiar with Mycorrhizae which are symbiotic beneficial fungus that live in terrestrial plant laden soils and interconnect nutrients with plant uptake of them.
years ago mycorrhizae was released for the Bonsai market and as years passed they learned that they are species specific.
Obviously aquarium folks will take mature substrate and add it to a new tank along with a dirty filter pad... Growing a colony of the mycorrhizae for potential use in inoculating new tanks could be promising.
Doubt it's very shelf stable...
Ok, silly question. I want to start transitioning my tanks to beep substrate. Where can I get enough plants without going broke?
Stem plants ... buy like 5 or 6 .... you can double those by cutting them in half every week or two. Theyre usually 3 to 6 bucks a species for common ones, and usually you get 3 to 9 stems in a little bunch. But local fish clubs are an amazing resource...just asking for trimings or buying on the cheap, then there is always learning to id local marsh and or aquatic plants...sometimes that works, sometimes they dont like tropical tanks...but i have over a dozen that worked out even up here in wet and cold Seattle
Hi. Can I use a regular potting soil or it really has to be like what FF is using?
I'm getting rid of my tanks and want to get just one simple tank with thriving plants; stems, crypts and bulbs. I've never layered substrates before. But from the information I've gathered, does this sound correct? First a layer of sand from one of the other tanks, then a mixture of two different aqua soils like fluval stratum including some from another tank, or should they be layered instead of mixed? And then a mixture of lava rock for its porosity and some sort of small gravel to use as the cap. Or should the lava rock maybe be on the aqua soil layer? I was thinking maybe best on the cap layer as the bacteria will form on that layer faster I'm guessing? Although maybe not because I'd be using some substrate from other tanks that will have beneficial bacteria. But also using driftwood, plants and probably filters from other tanks that will obviously be seeded. And will add neocaridina shrimp and ramshorn snails from other tanks to add to the cycling process. Thank you.
It seems like I'm too deep into watching this video, because I've just picked up this hobby. So I don't really understand it yet, but this is great for those who are already in this community.
Well come back around when it makes some sense, or feel free to join the Facebook group or comment section for any questions.
What’s the Facebook group called
Nice to see a video on tank substrates as I just setup a 20gal and have a 29gal to setup this week lol. Atm I'm going with a fairly thin layer of organic soil then about an inch to two of sand, though for these since ik some plants can struggle to dig through sand and, quite frankly, I was getting bored of my plain sand caps from last year, these two are being setup with a mix of sand and gravel on top and I'm going with if it reorganizes itself to separate out into different respective layers then however it chooses to, that's the new look I'm going with. Smaller gravel does give it a bit better look imo so first one setup (the 20gal) is white sand and standard size gravel that I rinsed and reused from the 29gal, the 29gal is going with sunset color sand that's kinda light brown/orange-ish and fine gravel that's pretty small and blends into the fine sand a bit better. Hopefully this will solve my issues with getting vallisneria to root and thrive with a nutrient layer and more uneven substrate to hopefully give rooting plants some easier path options around the larger substrate pieces so they don't have to wait as long on the feast I hid for them. Also hoping to get back into fish breeding with these new setups and try a couple new species now that I've experimented a bit and think this is currently my best option for only a smaller amount of algae and more viable plant options then water column feeders and wood/decor clingers like my java ferns- of which I have both the standard and windlove(?) that has stayed small for me for the past three years so I see the latter as a nice nano tank option
Nice. And yes i think the val is either a sunstrate grain size issue...since the roots are pretty slender. But be aware that duckweed and val put out chemicals to kill one another... so try not to have a bunch of duckweed if you want lots of val 😉
@@Fishtory oh so what you're saying is... put val in all of my tanks, thanks because I still hate duckweed unless I'm feeding a goldfish fry
Please make a video about the bubbles coming up after doing Father Fish kind of deep substrate with lots of organic matter and how to deal with them.
This is an underrated subject.
But if you can, please tell me something about it. Does it decrease over time? It’s been 1 week and that is producing big bubbles. Should I worry and re-do the tank?
Its natural. Its mostly carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen and sulfur compounds... very very little evidence shows that the amount in an aquarium is ever going to be harmful to fish. However in large marshes and lakes, miles and miles of bubbles under rare conditions have killed people in Africa and India. ( google lake gassing Africa) ...i think 1983 or 86? Several thousand people died at night. But in your tank youd need the volume of 2/3rds the water displaced to cause the same issue for the fish...or tremendous boiling levels of co2 specifically ...but you likely have a mix of all the decomposition produced gasses. Cheers. Check out my video "my does my fish tank stink" for more info
Could you possibly explain why plant roots grow straight up, even when the plant is doing well? I’m not sure if it’s the dwarf sag or the pink flamingo, but those are the only two in an area where the roots are growing up from the substrate.
Im not sure i know what you're asking. Im sorry. But roots grow from the stem down and crawl like hungry worms looking for nutrients. They also always take the shortest and most direct route to nutrients... so when the substrate is all equally nutrient rich. So if possible, they like to stablelize with a taproot to also anchor the plant
@@Fishtory I sent pics in email! 🙂
Great content :) I have a question if i may. I have 2 south american cichlid tanks set up i want to try add plants. I currently have about 3 inches of sand on the bottom of the tank both tanks about 6 months old. My question is if i want to add plants do i empty the tanks take out the sand add soil then put my old sand on top and add plants ? or do i just leave it as it is and then add plants and root tabs i want to have the tanks as natural as possible but i did not know about the soil and deep substrate at the time i set them up. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated :)
At this point id just do the root tab method, otherwise youll get a big ammonia spike most likely, when you disturb the mulm and debris in the substrate
Thanks would you maybe suggest adding a layer of sand and just cap it with sand like the lasagna method you mentioned? thanks so much for your wisdom and advice.@@Fishtory
great video as always! I'm so glad i found your channel I'm learning so much!
Right on! Im glad you found me as well! Welcome
Always enjoy your videos as I feel like I am always learning something. Do you have a video on plants that adjust well to underwater life that were grown emersed? Man, melt is so disheartening. Yeah, things come back eventually but it is a slow process. Unless it is Val., that stuff melts back and regrows in 2-3 weeks even in a low-tech tank.
I can't wait to get to the point where I can pull plants from one tank to add to another but that is going to be a slow process, lol.
Ludwigia is one of the best... and bacopas. I have a video on preventing melt as well...hope that helps for now
Thank you so much, I'll check it out!@@Fishtory