I am an environmentalist. I love your conversations together and teachings about real eco system based natural aquariums. Barren or semi barren aquariums look artificial and plastic and are artificial in and out period. They are not good for the health of the fish, because they are NOT ecosystems. Fish are NOT only display objects, but nature based living things. Thank you for treating them like that. I am grateful to you and to Diana Walstad!
Ive never succeeded at planted tanks. Tried everything from aquasoil to high lights ferts and co2. Thanks to you i have my healthiest tank of my life by following your most basic advice. Inch of potting soil, 2 inches of sand, and a heater is the only thing plugged in. No filter or water changes. Zero algae and fish are thriving and breeding. I have a lot of riparium plants growing out above the tank also. So thanks! Your advice helped me and my animals
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀 So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand?? or do i have to remove the gravel first? i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue? thanks
@@sandidsaman7723 it's very difficult to add soil at this stage. You have a few options, one would be removing the fish and restarting. Another would be just slowly pouring two inches of sand over the gravel and add some plants 👍
@@DashDrones well whats the benefit of adding sand over pure gravel that has no soil?how will the plants survive in gravel? sorry i dont have much knowledge regaridng planted tanks also i dont have any fishes in there , just a couple of cherry shrimps
But but... I like my multicolor gravel!! Nah, seriously, 100% agree with F.F. it take a lot of courage to initially try when you are brainwashed that you need a 500 gal sump filled with biomedia and chemical to have a healthy 100 gal. If every new fish keeper received F.F. crash course with their first tank, less would quit and feel like they failed.
I had issues with Fish dying until I capped my basalt gravel with sand and threw away my testing kit. I like the analogy of bare gravel being an open sewer pit releasing toxins into the water column. I watched a lot of "main stream" aquarium channels that promote filter systems, chemical fertilizers and gravel vac technics. I learned so much about fish keeping from them but this channel is all about an environment that self regulates and looks absolutely gorgeous compared to what other channels have to offer. Thank you so much for the knowledge you pass on!!
I had a 10 gal tank with a thriving community of coroy cats, a beta, and a school of tetras. with nothing but sand, plants, and dirt. When I joined the military, my father neglected the tank for 3 years. Every time I visited, the fish were thriving off of the natural exo system that I left behind.
I’ve searched Google all day just to find this basic straightforward info. I don’t want just a list of steps, I want to understand why we need each step but not overloaded with fluff. Even looking up info on the Walstad method was overwhelming. This simple video answered the questions I have now, so I feel better in going on to the next steps. So glad I found your channel before I added in my fish!
Set up a 20g using your method and added 10 black neons, 9 Cory’s and a betta on day 2. 4 months later and the plant growth is phenomenal with no algae. Not one fish loss and crystal clear water. I put away the testing kit and feed once every 2 days. Bliss.
@@FG723-78I used ocean forest organic soil. I added some epsom salt, lime and ironite plus as supplements. The sand is the standard black sand for aquariums
Listen to Father Fish and a couple others who do the natural method. Tank may struggle a bit for a few months, but in the long run you will succeed. You do need to have some movement in your water though.
@@jonnybravo420 indeed,correct!! he should have said they are not starving,,even us as humans should eat the best foods and only as much needed to maintain a healthy weight and good health, and not based on hunger or food availability,,
So insanely proud that MR Lou was my mentor in aquariums. People tell me I make it look easy and I point my fingers at this man and say he is the reason I’m so knowledgeable. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Lou for letting me volunteer for you as a kid and teaching me the best knowledge in the hobby.
Hi Father Fish! I am new to the aquarium world. I've studied a lot of your videos and changed my tank completely over to substrate, sand, pepples, and planted new plants. You'll be proud. I wish I could send you a picture of my changed over tank.
I like your comment about the fish being happy to see you when you walk in the room. I have an Orinoco Dwarf Pike Cichlid who is definitely highly intelligent and is genuinely interested in what I'm doing when working around the tank. He also told me my heater was broken a couple of weeks ago, he stared nonstop at the heater for three days, refused to eat, acknowledge me, or do anything else. I took the heater out and found it was giving off minimal heat, replaced it with a new one and he went straight back to normal again, I was convinced before of his intelligence, but I definitely know he's highly intelligent now
I noticed the large striped cichlid in your tank stayed right there with you almost the whole time you were speaking. That's what I call a real fish buddy!
I love this guy at first I was so confused on the process but because I am really into it and love my little Betta I am grasping it and retaining the science of it all ❤
I'm about to leave my tanks for about 9 days. I was worried how will they be able to survive without me giving them food then I realized that my tanks are heavily planted and has sand and soil as FF described, but now? Naahh, I'm confident they'll survive. Thank you for Father Fish for guiding us on how to do the hobby properly.
hi, I learnt from FF yesterday that sliced of blanched carrot etc r good additional food. I tried it except I did not blanch. just cut a middle long sliver. I only have a 6 week old mini tank! FF's way. the carrot is being eaten and half gone already! so good holiday food. piece of broccoli. a few algae covered rotting pond/dam leaves. yaaay!!
Father Fish obviously does not have a science background. His recommended approaches are oversimplified, and he fails to suggest other approaches that are perfectly acceptable by using different techniques. A formal scientific background (inorganic chemistry, physics, organic chemistry, biochemistry) comes at a tremendous price of intense effort over a period of many years. The academic subjects are reinforced with laboratory investigations. This combination yields real science with real, measured results. It's impossible to arrive at that point by absorbing the hobby periodicals. The problem is that "Father Fish" is so emphatic with his statements that they are presented as the ultimate answer to everything; he hasn't made one claim that is infused with supportable evidence and can't easily been challenged. There are no shortcuts for a thorough grasp of scientific principles. If you're going to enter that world with competency, you have to pay the price.
If y'all listen to what he's saying you will succeed. I have 3 that I did as close as was possible to what he advises. Fish snails plants shrimp everything is thriving. Thank you for taking the time to impart wisdom that you've acquired the hard way. You da man.
He's absolutely correct. I could not keep my guppies alive so I bought a pregnant mom she had 11 babies at all of them thrived because they were born into the tank so I didn't have to worry about constantly adjusting the water
Bought berried ghost shrimps from petsmart not too long ago, all of them passed away after some time one due to a failed molt and the others because of the change in the water. Their babies thrived in the tank though
I can actually see the difference in water quality now following the natural method and your advice. I just bought some more neon tetras to restock my school and a little frog, and within seconds of making the drip acclimator slits in their respective bags, they got up as close as possible to them like they were desperate for clean air, the frog literally sat with his nose pressed up against his drip feed the entire 15 minutes.... And when the only things to worry about are running the lights too long to cause an algae bloom or a simple water top up every couple weeks, this is by far the most amazing way to keep a tank! I'm truly thankful for your dedication to teaching us what is probably the single greatest and easiest method for fishkeeping ever devised!
@@jamesheath5389 i'm kind of counting on that actually, my guppies went from a 6 count to well over 100 in the last 3 months, and it'll only grow exponentially from there. I'll need to move my tetras and barbs to a new tank very soon because of how quickly the guppies are overcrowding this one.... But with any luck having just the one frog with the guppies will balance it out nicely and just add a 2nd stage to the food web building up in there....
VERY educational! I'm getting a tank going soon and doing all of the research! THis is VERY informative, thank you so much for this! Thank you also for crediting the footage.
Honestly can these videos be any more informative and interesting. Watching fellow members tanks while the masters voice churns out free advice in such a calm demeanour. This one in particular really registers with me. I have followed his advice to the letter and closing in on 3 months have the most beautiful planted aquarium i have ever owned. I will admit,feeding was the hardest obstacle to overcome. Feeding twice a week once a day has worked wonders. My tds is sitting at 324. How could you question this method with all the testimonials abounding. You have made a lot of people happy and enjoying the hobby and for this i thank you. 😀
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀 So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand?? or do i have to remove the gravel first? i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue? thanks
@@sandidsaman7723certainly no need to remove the gravel. I have 1 inch of organic potting soil and 2 inches of sand in a 5 gallon tank for shrimp. Takes away a little room but then again it’s shrimp. You could add some soil and sand over the gravel however.
I'm glad I watched this. I did a lot of reading of labels on different fish foods to try and make the best choice I could and one thing that was the same on every packet and jar and bottle, "feed up to 3 times daily" I guess that makes sense if you're trying to sell fish food and want to make a huge profit from it. We are definitely going to cut back our feeding frequency.
I'm an oldtimer too, kept aquariumfish for over 60 years. Father Fish's advice is really helpful, even for me. Most things I know or have experienced over time, but his advice is well structured, well told and convincingly illustrated by his personal experiences, such as with the Jack Dempsey that had to fend for itself over a long period and survived healthy and well.
Father Fish, sir, I have to adress my thanks to you. Recently my eldest son ( 8 years old) started getting obsessed with having a gold fish at home. He got some books, and made his own research. He told me : Dad, I want this "comet" gold fish, and he calculated everything for me : cost and all. I was impressed. ( he thought a 20L aquarium was enough ). So, just to be sure I started watching videos on youtube to gather information. Ho, boy... did I learn a lot. Exit the "comet" ideas. We also went to a pet shop and I showed him the tag : "comet" gold fish : 30 cms. Not possible at home. Enter "guppy". Then, thinking about fish tanks, something was bothering me : I knew a friend's dad who told me he never changed his tank's water, and I always had this info in the back of my mind. It was in contradiction to everything I have heard or read though. Then, came your video ! All the pieces of the puzzles are finally coming together. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, because I want low maintenance above all. Thanks to your tips I feel I will be able to share this great hobby with my son, whithout excessive worries. I am quite happy. Again, thank you very much. I'll study a bit more, and I'll try my luck with your method whithin 4 months. I'm getting as pumped as my son now.
Thank you very much, you speak slowly and clearly, easy to understand. I know English at a basic level. Greetings from Poland. Thank you for the knowledge.
20 years of fish keeping fresh and salt water .. this gentleman is an absolute guru and master .. you sir are walking encyclopedia of aquarium hobby ..I can't thank you enough for hours of amazing content.
Father fish, we need videos of how to safely turn a wrongly set fish tank ( such as gravels for 6 month with 40 fishes, 4 dead) - to your recommended setting … 🙏🙏
Thank you so much for this video! I feel like I’ve learned more in ten minutes than in watching fish keeping videos for two years on UA-cam. I’m now excited to do it and not intimidated. Thank you!
I once bought a house and in it was the nastiest huge aquarium I had ever seen in a house, especially that small. Days later I finally addressed it, and in the process of removing the remaining water, which was about one third and near black, I discovered several fish still living. The owner had died nearly 8 months earlier after being in the hospital for months. Maybe someone gave up taking care of them, but I always wondered if this was possible, and now I think it was, cause I witnessed it. A local fish store came and rescued all of them and they thrived. I'm just now looking at this as a hobby because of disability. I'm limited, and a 40 gallon aquarium is about perfect for my health, and will be fun, keeping me busy and thinking. I enjoyed hearing your knowledge. I'll follow it.
Thank you!!! I’m just getting into fish keeping. I just bought a tank and wanting to help my kid get into making UA-cam videos (since it’s what he wants to do). I’m now going to completely redo his tank with soil/sand instead. And im prepared to start my own!!!
In the 1950's, my mother had a 10 gallon self sustained aquarium. She told me it was a "balanced' aquarium. I had a book from the 40's which explained the concept. Yourr aquarium is balanced and a sight to behold. Thank you for sharing your techniques.
I have a 5 acre pond where i have feeders that feed the fish daily. Some of the Bluegill are the largest “borderline obese” fish Ive ever seen. As an angler, I thought that is what you wanted. However, watching your videos and listening to you opinions on feeding makes me second guess, in fact, come to the realization that I have been wrong. Same principles apply to large bodies of water as your aquariums. My pond is extremely healthy and the only thing I do is “encourage nature” a little to assist in keeping my healthy pond. I am now rethinking my feeding habits to encourage the health of the fish rather that the size. Ive also set up an aquarium in our home based on you principles and has turned out to be extremely successful. Everyone that visits wants to know the secret. I kindly direct them to your channel. Thanks for offering your wisdom and education 👍🏼
I agree with the sand from my own experience. Cheaped out ones by using sandbox sand, rinsed well to get the dusting out, found it made a much better substrate than gravel too. Never did the dirt underlayer, but just sand already beats gravel in my opinion. Combined with a oversized canister filter and ofcourse plants, you get a very low maintenance tank.
It's refreshing hearing some one else say "leave the tank alone". I have been keeping aquariums of various sizes for over 30 years and my advice to other hobbyists has always been, don't touch it (once it's established). A heavily planted tank takes care of its self for sure. I essentially top off the water in my tank when needed and maybe once a month rinse the canister filter pads (never touch the bio media of course). Like I mentioned, 30 of trial and error and this was the key.
I have a 300 litre. Planted, new tank. It looks amazing. I've got gold fish and danios, weather loach. I'm amazed at how good it is. Week one. I also have a canister filter. I've never cleaned it yet. I'm just going off your comment. Is it only the pads I clean? Leave the bio balls as is? I noticed your comment by chance. I'd be grateful for a reply if that's what to do. Thanks, in advance. Scott.
What kind of filter pads do you use? If you use sponge filteres with large pores you only have to slightly squeeze them once in a while (like every 2-3 months) in warm water to remove access. But never throw away all of that precious activated sludge that builds up. It's as precious as the microbial fauna in FFs described baselayer (although being aerobic instead). But that is my motto too. Never touch a running system. Or when you do want to "clean" it, always only clean a small part at a time.
@@scottlouis4076Don't touch the bioballs, never let them dry out or stay stagnant for to long when cleaning the mechanical pre-filtre (assuming your bioballs are ment to house your aerobic microbia). If you have these balls with really fine pores (ceramic or sinther glass) some manufacturers say you have to swap these after a few years since they are said to clog up eventually (no personal experience with that). When cleaning or changing bio-filtre media, never do it all at once, but only step wise or you loose that precious activated sludge.
@@haifutter4166thick sponge filters in my cannister get rung out in the dirty water, the polishing cotton pads I basically throw out and I have a ton of various bio media like plastic bio balls and porcelain cylinders in bags that I shake out and never rinse to keep the bacteria in order.
Need to add SAND next..but just threw a handful of yard debris in my tank (free thanks to the active hurricane season in NE FL.) And my fish came ALIVE instantly. Thank you Fish Father❤🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
I have a 2 years old tank with soil in the bottom and sand in the top and plants and its always crystal clear I never changed the water for 6 months now and all the fish and shrimps are multiplying. I'm glad that I am doing the right thing in my tank. 😊
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀 So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand?? or do i have to remove the gravel first? i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue? thanks
@@francoiscaron1279 I never clean the sand my tank is heavily planted now with dwarf sag as carpet and ludwigia, jungle val and amazon sword as background.. I only have 3 dwarf sags in the beginning and after 3 months it's almost fully carpet..
@@sandidsaman7723 I suggest to remove the gravel put your water and filter medias in a container so you can use it after your reset.. I always put like 1 inch soil in front and 2 inch in the back and then 1 inch sand in the top to trap the soil.. the purpose of 1 inch front and 2 inch back soil is to elevate the substrate and it looks really good..
Can you please share the lighting that you're using for your aquarium. Is it a RGBW light or normal led light. Also the size of your aquarium and watts of the light that you're using
absolutely great video that I'm so happy to have found before setting up a new 40 breeder that was gifted to me. Thank you sir for the great info and for sharing it with us
Hey Father Fish. I appreciate your knowledge and experience. I do have a caveat to the gravel is bad idea. In my opinion, small and medium gravel is a wonderful, healthy and stable substrate after a year or two if you don’t gravel vac. Of course this is for experienced fish keepers with planted tanks. Cheers.
Precisely. Gravel is extremely difficult for a novice fish keeper to prevent fouling. Most newbies quit the hobby over problems associated with gravel.
Molly fish seem to do well going from low ph to neutral ph. At least, in my experience. Am still waiting to do my FF tank. Too many tanks, not enough energy lol 😂 I love watching your videos! ❤ They are definitely happy to see me. 😊
I ordered a bunch of things from Father fish, one of the items was not in the package. I called Father Fish today, and Lou answered himself and straightened everything out! I've learned SO much from him, and prey I get the opportunity to check out his shop and meet in person. If you read this Lou, thank you for everything!
Thank you for what you said about feeding the fish. I always thought that my fish were eating without me feeding them. I see them pecking around all the time. I’m going to 2-3 times a week immediately
I just saw the video of another channel on a video chat with you about your methods. I took offense to the young guy. I was taught to respect and listen to my elders. I'm glad I found your channel. I follow what you say. Ive subscribed, but plan on becoming a member. I may get on your nerves with questions. I am loving the challenge and learning so much.
What a great video! I wish I had watched and rewatched this before I got my first aquarium. I have recently tries to put i to practice the Fr. Fish and so far it is going swimmingly!
Thank you for providing such valuable information for free! It is strikingly simple yet we are so accustomed to purchasing things! I’m doing a 180 turn with my new tank. Returning new canister filter, ditching gravel, buying less fish food, buying no chemicals. This is amazing, looking forward for this ecosystem to thrive!
Hello father fish, I love listening to you. I had an aquarium many years ago, but the plants never really wanted to grow. I also definitely fed the fish far too often, so I made exactly the mistakes you listed in the video. But your valuable tips make me want to try it again more and more. Kind regards from Germany, David
I agree with the whole well water aspect. I moved from well water to spring. I can not complain about free water at all. When I was on well, just gravel was absolutely fine. Since moving I have had to switch to a dirted substrate to keep fish and plants thriving.
I'd love to see a more in-depth video about ph. My city's tap water is very soft and is close to mid in ph. I'd love to know things I could do to make it better for my fish.
Baking soda with increase kH (carbonate hardness) and pH. Marine salt will add minerals in the same proportions/ratios by which they occur in Earth's surface/crust, and will increase gH, TDS, and hardness (+2 charged ions).
I went for crushed coral in my 20g for my shrimpys & aragonite sand in my 29g for my small cichlids & haven't done ANY water change in about 5 months or more. Set my 20g up on March 1st of 2023 & my 29g almost 2 weeks later. If you want another option. My water comes outta the tap like yours... clouds devoid of anything at all.
What is the filtration system you are talking about in your video when needed. I very much want to have an ecosystem tank that pretty much takes care of itself. The beauty of the natural bottom and the tiny fish swimming happily through the vegetation is remarkable. I started off WRONG!!!! Thanks to PetCo who absolutely knows nothing about aquatic life. Do I have to be a tank operator for years BEFORE graduating to your class!!!!! I will be ordering the dirt substrate after my few remaining fish die off which sounds like it’s inevitable.. As far as the sand goes, would I need to purchase the sand or scoop some out of the lake we own??? I know where I can get plenty of leaves and I believe I saw some sunken sweet gums balls in one picture……Man THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO. P.S. Congrats on the new store. I had a brief stint in Silver Springs, MD….years ago
I am so grateful that I found you I had no idea what I was doing and I had been doing the wrong thing for 60 years so now every time I watch a video I learned something and I'm going to set up my old tank the right way and hardly ever feed my fish just making sure it's at 78° and has some filtration and a little bit of bubbles and a ton of plants and my little guppies and my Clown floush will be happy. I know my guppies love the plants but I'm constantly putting in plants because I don't have the right substrate now I know why my plants are dying thank you so much please keep your videos coming
Thankyou.. im finding your video's super interesting.. I have a planned tank with moscow guppies that I had neglected for 8 months (not but choice) but in that time the filtration system & heater had stopped working and i stopped cleaning it, but my tank has never looked better! I have more and brighter fish, more plants that are a whole lot healthier and loads of snails.. it's been 12 months now and other then the odd water top up and a whip of the front glass it's fabulous.. I never understood it until now.. so thank you
Couldn’t agree more especially feed sparingly I’ve kept fish for many years. I have one tank in particular that is my favorite and it’s in the living room I would feed the fish daily I would have fish die randomly maybe one a week or one a month. I started out not feeding once maybe twice a week and I have never seen my fish so active and healthy I also haven’t had a casualty in over a year. I keep deep substrate and tons of plants I do have a homemade sump also with lots of lava rock. Mostly because I like heavily stocked tanks. I have over 100 fish in my 75 gallon tank.
Thanks for all the help. I've just begun making my way into aquariums and I have been having trouble trying to find the right info. Your advice is a big help.
Thank you for the great advice! I used to worry about my nano fish because I work away from home. I had someone feeding them every second day. Now I have them coming to take care of the fish every 3rd day. They are just fine and I'm sure I could let it go longer thanks to you. Take care!
Thats a very risky thing to do unless the other person is a fishkeeper aswell if i were u i would be in constant fear lol, i just love my fish and aquariums too much to let anybody else touch them:)
@@sandidsaman7723 My fish sitter comes in, dumps a pre-portioned amount of food into the tanks, and he's on his way. Sometimes he gives a block of frozen food. When I'm home, I usually feed the fish just three times a week. the tank is well established, heavily planted and there is natural food in there too. I've been keeping fish for over 20 years and haven't starved any of my fish to death yet. 🙂
@@CarolynnMc01 I have never heard of anybody starving their fish to death either :) I am actually worried about the opposite...feeding your fish to death when ur not home! I had bitter experience in the past and thats why i developed a fear of fish sitters lol , now i dont trust anybody for feeding my fishes or even going near my aquariums when i m not home:))
I have a couple of questions regarding a new planted tank that I quickly made to keep a bunch of newly acquired plants alive. Put in the dirt, put in the sand, added well water, put in the plants. There are few species that have almost completely melted. They turned dark and mushy. A few look ok. What do you think I did wrong? I put in in the window to get some sun during the day. It also has biofilm on top that gets dense. Thank you!
Okay, I've kept aquariums my entire life, and I learned more from this 17 minute video than I have in all my years of experience. Okay, now I have to try a dirted aquarium.
Great advice! Thanks for the video, after over 60 years of keeping fish, i still struggle with over feeding, these videos put help put me back on track, love my deep substate tanks, it makes fish keeping a pleasure
I just love the way you explain things. Even if understand them (you dont know me, but people who do know i need things really broken down to understand, my husbadns explains it as “explain like ur talking to a kindergarten” lol) and i love how real you are and i think its cool the way u stop and think of how u wanna say something before you say it. Almost like ur trying to make sure to make ur point but not offend, i respect tht…. & everuthing you said in this is so correct. Having two kids a cat a dog and a fish tank plus all my loved plants and myself. The fish tank was starting to drive me nutz “OH NO I FORGOT TO CLEAN THE TANK” “OH MY GOSH MY FISH ARE GONNA DIE, I HAVE TO CLEAN” ect. I was starteing to go nutz with the weekly sometimes twice weekly changes and all the management and stress. I thought there must be an easier way. So glad i looked up natural ecosystems and came accross ur video. This video here told me that all those chemicals and sterile enviroment is actually killing the immune system of the tank (so to speak) and we wouldnt weaken our own immune system so why would we wanna do that with our fish/water/plants. Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge with all of us❤
I used 2 inch aqua soil and 2 inch small gravel, planted out the tank and its been awesome for 2 years now, i installed 2 filter pumps, 1 for constant running and a high flow pump for a once a fortnight poo clean, i call it the tsunami, i run it for 4hrs any poo on the substrate is sucked up and the fish seem to like the high flow too. 102 ltr tank
Your channel convinced me to change my tank to a dirt/sand substrate, with natural plants. I just set it up that way a couple of days ago, because the 5 gallon tank has a single betta who has severe fin rot. I tried all the chemical treatments/medicines, none worked. I wanted to give him one last chance, and I removed all the gravel and plastic plants, and replaced with top soil and playground sand, and a bunch of real plants in hopes nature could do what I can't seem to. I also hauled buckets of water from my parents house to mine because they have natural well water. My well water is testing at a high PH though. I have strips for pool care, and they top out at 9.0. My well water is hitting that color, maybe even going a bit off the scale. The alkalinity is also hitting the max color. Do you still recommend I let my fish and plants continue to live in this high of a PH? Thanks Father Fish!!!!
So I'm going to leave a remark. I just introduced the resurrection jar to my tank and everything went freaking crazy and the tank is so much better now on a 20 gallon long props to you father fish. Three pandas 3. 3 Cooley loaches, 7 neon tetras 5 galaxies overabundance of plants I use your method. Topsoil sand Canadian bluestone. And drift,wood 40 nitrite snails. Just added 1 pearl gourami Month 2 tank plus flourish. In three mystery snails. Thank you for everything ❤️
Sir, you are a wealth of information… as a child I had no aquariums, everything else, no fish or reptiles in the house! Lol. My Mom threw an Anole out the back door, box and all. I wished that I would have found you before I set up my recent 75 gallon. I use a canister and wave maker, I need to get into plants, but I have a bed of black gravel.😮 However I am the proud owner of a 39 year old Talking Raphael. I’m going to have to give him to a rescue eventually, I guess, he is only 6-7 inches long.
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀 So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand?? or do i have to remove the gravel first? i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue? thanks
Father fish , I wanna start off with saying Thank you for being you Thank you for taking the time to get the message out to those who truly care for thier fish. I truly appreciate your knowledge thank sir. I’m in Canada an I’m now three tanks all natural . Please keep up with the video’s truly enjoy watching them all.
I had a no substrate tanks did great and doing sand and they are even better I soon gonna start putting soil underneath like a inch deep to see the affects
After seeing your videos I have converted my two tanks into planted tank, I did not have all the ingredients of making the dirt but I took some soil from aquarium shop because where I live, getting soil which is not treated with pesticides or fungicide is a bit difficult, so I mixed some compost in the coarse brown gravel looking soil that the shopkeeper gave me and added to the existing small amount of gravel that I had in the fish tank and then put 2 inch of sand and lot of plants and added back the water and fish that I had removed in big buckets. I wanted to ask that my aquariums had pothos roots growing in them, should I let them be or remove them from the tank now? Pls advise, it will be a great help.
I am so grateful to find your channel. I have been keeping tanks for 3 years now and I feel some of the practices I was taught are not sustainable and I am gradually changing over my routines to create more natural tanks. I have a question about the substrate. I have 2 tanks that I set up with Seachem Florite Black substrate with a gravel on top. My tanks are relatively healthy, lots of plants, not too many fish, I don't find I need to add co2 either to keep things going. I do use a canister filter and I add water (due to evaporation) every once in a while, treated for chlorine. I want to add sand to the front of tank without disrupting the current ecosystem. 1. Can you add sand on top of exhausting gravel? 2. Is there an easy way to add sand to the bottom without making a mess of it all? 3. Maybe I just leave it alone? Thank you for all your videos! Nature is so amazing. My second inquiry is what is the best thing to bring into my tanks from outside? Rocks, branches? Leaves? Thank you!!!
Im new to the aquarium hobby and I love his videos. My tanks are about to be upgraded, my turtle (Red eared slider) is getting a bigger tank and Im going to give my fish a new fully panted tank. The fish are partially planted now with floating plants and the turtle tank has some pathos growing on the side. My turtle eats the plants. Lol im looking forward to creating new beautiful tanks for my waterbabies with all the knowledge I have learned in 6 months since I found a baby turtle in my pool, hes invasive where I live and we have gators.
Working in commercial aquaculture I learned that to keep the fish the healthiest possible (for aquaculture this means fastest growing for food), you need to feed to 75% of satiety. That means if you feed until the fish stop eating you are giving them at least 25% too much food. Eating until you are full causes harm by overloading the digestive system while at the same time providing extra nutrients to pathogenic microbes in the digestive system.
Absolutely right In a healthy environment the system provides a basic amount of food. Anything you provide is in addition to that natural food. The environment may not provide enough for good growth so added food is necessary, just not so much and not so often.
I've been having an aquarium at home for ages but till now was doing the wrong thing by making my tank unnatural with plastic stuff. Happy I landed unexpectedly on your channel and found out the mess I made. Gonna get a make over of my tank with natural stuff ASAP. Thanks for letting us know the mess we keep doing daily. Kindly share what kind of oxygen pumps or filters must be used for a small 2 feet length by 1.5 feet height tank.
Currently have gravel. Want to switch to sand but it seems like a lot of work and don't want to risk any issues. Heard about capping the gravel with sand but won't the sand just filter down into the gravel? Thanks
Stick with the gravel buddy, especially if you've got an under gravel filter. As you rightly stated the sand will just filter through the gravel and choke up the gravel bed. Personally I think that gravel is just fine, I've used it for about 35 years in numerous tanks with no issues and has resulted in well balanced stable tanks that in itself led to some great biospheres and very healthy fish. A lot of semi-fast flowing river beds are composed of gravel and if it works for mother nature it'll work for the fishkeeper too !
@@ShaunShearman Sand is a perfect cap for gravel. It does not sift into the gravel but will remain on the surface acting as a cap for the mulm in the gravel preventing it from entering the water column. Once having done that it is possible to turn off the UG and allow the gravel base to develop a soil component.
This is good information! I'm going to dirt my tank this weekend. Oh, and I'm going to STOP feeding at least once per day. Thanks, Father Fish. What kind of soil? Just regular soil from the backyard? Any specific sand I should get or stay away from?
thank you for the content master fish I had my first saltwater aquarium using beach sand exactly as you did, its been 3 months, no problems, no issues, adding more animals slowly.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I am an environmentalist. I love your conversations together and teachings about real eco system based natural aquariums. Barren or semi barren aquariums look artificial and plastic and are artificial in and out period. They are not good for the health of the fish, because they are NOT ecosystems. Fish are NOT only display objects, but nature based living things. Thank you for treating them like that. I am grateful to you and to Diana Walstad!
Ive never succeeded at planted tanks. Tried everything from aquasoil to high lights ferts and co2. Thanks to you i have my healthiest tank of my life by following your most basic advice. Inch of potting soil, 2 inches of sand, and a heater is the only thing plugged in. No filter or water changes. Zero algae and fish are thriving and breeding. I have a lot of riparium plants growing out above the tank also. So thanks! Your advice helped me and my animals
Same, so glad I found nature thanks to Father Fish
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve
right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀
So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand??
or do i have to remove the gravel first?
i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue?
thanks
@@sandidsaman7723 it's very difficult to add soil at this stage. You have a few options, one would be removing the fish and restarting. Another would be just slowly pouring two inches of sand over the gravel and add some plants 👍
@@DashDrones well whats the benefit of adding sand over pure gravel that has no soil?how will the plants survive in gravel?
sorry i dont have much knowledge regaridng planted tanks
also i dont have any fishes in there , just a couple of cherry shrimps
But but... I like my multicolor gravel!!
Nah, seriously, 100% agree with F.F. it take a lot of courage to initially try when you are brainwashed that you need a 500 gal sump filled with biomedia and chemical to have a healthy 100 gal.
If every new fish keeper received F.F. crash course with their first tank, less would quit and feel like they failed.
Father Fish is like the Bob Ross of fish keeping 😂
Happy little fish 💖💖
Great analogy!
True! I listen to his stuff on my drive home. It keeps me sane in traffic.
I had issues with Fish dying until I capped my basalt gravel with sand and threw away my testing kit. I like the analogy of bare gravel being an open sewer pit releasing toxins into the water column.
I watched a lot of "main stream" aquarium channels that promote filter systems, chemical fertilizers and gravel vac technics. I learned so much about fish keeping from them but this channel is all about an environment that self regulates and looks absolutely gorgeous compared to what other channels have to offer.
Thank you so much for the knowledge you pass on!!
I had a 10 gal tank with a thriving community of coroy cats, a beta, and a school of tetras. with nothing but sand, plants, and dirt. When I joined the military, my father neglected the tank for 3 years. Every time I visited, the fish were thriving off of the natural exo system that I left behind.
Hey what kind of sand
And how did the water no evaporate?
@@whothennow24it does. You just replace it.
@@vblackwell3347 Na-From the NAVY?
-Dumbledore said calmly
@@HelloacxAnt. Lay sand, pool sa.d, etc
I’ve searched Google all day just to find this basic straightforward info. I don’t want just a list of steps, I want to understand why we need each step but not overloaded with fluff. Even looking up info on the Walstad method was overwhelming. This simple video answered the questions I have now, so I feel better in going on to the next steps. So glad I found your channel before I added in my fish!
I agree, I was so lost on where to start
The big market stores don't do any of this nor will they teach it to you, just buy all these insane products
Set up a 20g using your method and added 10 black neons, 9 Cory’s and a betta on day 2. 4 months later and the plant growth is phenomenal with no algae. Not one fish loss and crystal clear water. I put away the testing kit and feed once every 2 days. Bliss.
what kind of soil and sand?
@@FG723-78I used ocean forest organic soil. I added some epsom salt, lime and ironite plus as supplements. The sand is the standard black sand for aquariums
Join us in the Shoal for all the details and support: discord.gg/father-fish-shoal
Can I use spring water to fill up my aquarium?
@@FG723-78what kind of sand . Can you put it on top of gravel
I was given a black fish tank yesterday. I’ve never looked after fish, but so glad I found this channel to learn. Today is day 1 of my fishy journey
How are you doing 4 months in?
Out of curiosity, black water? Was there wood in it? Could just be tannins and a healthy tank.
How's it going so far? ☺
Listen to Father Fish and a couple others who do the natural method. Tank may struggle a bit for a few months, but in the long run you will succeed. You do need to have some movement in your water though.
@12:02 They're not hungry, they're happy to see you. I agree!
then one minute later he tells us that fish are ALWAYS hungry. so wich is it?
@@jonnybravo420 indeed,correct!! he should have said they are not starving,,even us as humans should eat the best foods and only as much needed to maintain a healthy weight and good health, and not based on hunger or food availability,,
So insanely proud that MR Lou was my mentor in aquariums. People tell me I make it look easy and I point my fingers at this man and say he is the reason I’m so knowledgeable. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Lou for letting me volunteer for you as a kid and teaching me the best knowledge in the hobby.
Happy to hear from you Joe. I hope all is well with you. Join us on Wed and Sun evenings for SHOW AND TELL. It will be nice to see your tanks.
Hi Father Fish! I am new to the aquarium world. I've studied a lot of your videos and changed my tank completely over to substrate, sand, pepples, and planted new plants. You'll be proud. I wish I could send you a picture of my changed over tank.
I like your comment about the fish being happy to see you when you walk in the room. I have an Orinoco Dwarf Pike Cichlid who is definitely highly intelligent and is genuinely interested in what I'm doing when working around the tank. He also told me my heater was broken a couple of weeks ago, he stared nonstop at the heater for three days, refused to eat, acknowledge me, or do anything else. I took the heater out and found it was giving off minimal heat, replaced it with a new one and he went straight back to normal again, I was convinced before of his intelligence, but I definitely know he's highly intelligent now
I noticed the large striped cichlid in your tank stayed right there with you almost the whole time you were speaking. That's what I call a real fish buddy!
I followed your techniques and my tank is doing well after 2 years. Fish are healthy and beautiful! Thanks father fish 😊
I love this guy at first I was so confused on the process but because I am really into it and love my little Betta I am grasping it and retaining the science of it all ❤
This is what youtube was invented for! Fabulous chanel here FF! ❤
I'm about to leave my tanks for about 9 days. I was worried how will they be able to survive without me giving them food then I realized that my tanks are heavily planted and has sand and soil as FF described, but now? Naahh, I'm confident they'll survive. Thank you for Father Fish for guiding us on how to do the hobby properly.
Once it has leaves, you'll be fine
hi, I learnt from FF yesterday that sliced of blanched carrot etc r good additional food. I tried it except I did not blanch. just cut a middle long sliver. I only have a 6 week old mini tank! FF's way. the carrot is being eaten and half gone already! so good holiday food. piece of broccoli. a few algae covered rotting pond/dam leaves. yaaay!!
@@AndyMacMahon nice! Courgette/zucchini is also a great option 👍
This man's passion for this hobby is wonderfully infectious !
Father Fish obviously does not have a science background. His recommended approaches are oversimplified, and he fails to suggest other approaches that are perfectly acceptable by using different techniques. A formal scientific background (inorganic chemistry, physics, organic chemistry, biochemistry) comes at a tremendous price of intense effort over a period of many years. The academic subjects are reinforced with laboratory investigations. This combination yields real science with real, measured results. It's impossible to arrive at that point by absorbing the hobby periodicals. The problem is that "Father Fish" is so emphatic with his statements that they are presented as the ultimate answer to everything; he hasn't made one claim that is infused with supportable evidence and can't easily been challenged. There are no shortcuts for a thorough grasp of scientific principles. If you're going to enter that world with competency, you have to pay the price.
Personal experience is priceless 🤞
@@KC135jetjockeyPersonal experience is priceless 🤞
If y'all listen to what he's saying you will succeed. I have 3 that I did as close as was possible to what he advises. Fish snails plants shrimp everything is thriving. Thank you for taking the time to impart wisdom that you've acquired the hard way. You da man.
He's absolutely correct. I could not keep my guppies alive so I bought a pregnant mom she had 11 babies at all of them thrived because they were born into the tank so I didn't have to worry about constantly adjusting the water
Bought berried ghost shrimps from petsmart not too long ago, all of them passed away after some time one due to a failed molt and the others because of the change in the water. Their babies thrived in the tank though
I can actually see the difference in water quality now following the natural method and your advice. I just bought some more neon tetras to restock my school and a little frog, and within seconds of making the drip acclimator slits in their respective bags, they got up as close as possible to them like they were desperate for clean air, the frog literally sat with his nose pressed up against his drip feed the entire 15 minutes.... And when the only things to worry about are running the lights too long to cause an algae bloom or a simple water top up every couple weeks, this is by far the most amazing way to keep a tank! I'm truly thankful for your dedication to teaching us what is probably the single greatest and easiest method for fishkeeping ever devised!
Be careful. That little frog wil grow and eat every fish in the tank.
@@jamesheath5389 i'm kind of counting on that actually, my guppies went from a 6 count to well over 100 in the last 3 months, and it'll only grow exponentially from there. I'll need to move my tetras and barbs to a new tank very soon because of how quickly the guppies are overcrowding this one.... But with any luck having just the one frog with the guppies will balance it out nicely and just add a 2nd stage to the food web building up in there....
@@ubermausse306 nice , can I do the same thing for my discuss?
VERY educational! I'm getting a tank going soon and doing all of the research! THis is VERY informative, thank you so much for this! Thank you also for crediting the footage.
Honestly can these videos be any more informative and interesting. Watching fellow members tanks while the masters voice churns out free advice in such a calm demeanour. This one in particular really registers with me. I have followed his advice to the letter and closing in on 3 months have the most beautiful planted aquarium i have ever owned. I will admit,feeding was the hardest obstacle to overcome. Feeding twice a week once a day has worked wonders. My tds is sitting at 324. How could you question this method with all the testimonials abounding. You have made a lot of people happy and enjoying the hobby and for this i thank you. 😀
@@MarmiteManRUMBLE-iw4wn seems he has to keep driving home the point to reach the masses hehe
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve
right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀
So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand??
or do i have to remove the gravel first?
i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue?
thanks
@@sandidsaman7723certainly no need to remove the gravel. I have 1 inch of organic potting soil and 2 inches of sand in a 5 gallon tank for shrimp. Takes away a little room but then again it’s shrimp. You could add some soil and sand over the gravel however.
So true.. 👍👍
I'm glad I watched this. I did a lot of reading of labels on different fish foods to try and make the best choice I could and one thing that was the same on every packet and jar and bottle, "feed up to 3 times daily"
I guess that makes sense if you're trying to sell fish food and want to make a huge profit from it.
We are definitely going to cut back our feeding frequency.
I'm an oldtimer too, kept aquariumfish for over 60 years. Father Fish's advice is really helpful, even for me. Most things I know or have experienced over time, but his advice is well structured, well told and convincingly illustrated by his personal experiences, such as with the Jack Dempsey that had to fend for itself over a long period and survived healthy and well.
Father Fish, sir, I have to adress my thanks to you.
Recently my eldest son ( 8 years old) started getting obsessed with having a gold fish at home. He got some books, and made his own research. He told me : Dad, I want this "comet" gold fish, and he calculated everything for me : cost and all. I was impressed. ( he thought a 20L aquarium was enough ).
So, just to be sure I started watching videos on youtube to gather information. Ho, boy... did I learn a lot. Exit the "comet" ideas.
We also went to a pet shop and I showed him the tag : "comet" gold fish : 30 cms. Not possible at home. Enter "guppy".
Then, thinking about fish tanks, something was bothering me : I knew a friend's dad who told me he never changed his tank's water, and I always had this info in the back of my mind. It was in contradiction to everything I have heard or read though.
Then, came your video ! All the pieces of the puzzles are finally coming together. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, because I want low maintenance above all. Thanks to your tips I feel I will be able to share this great hobby with my son, whithout excessive worries.
I am quite happy. Again, thank you very much.
I'll study a bit more, and I'll try my luck with your method whithin 4 months. I'm getting as pumped as my son now.
Thank you very much, you speak slowly and clearly, easy to understand. I know English at a basic level. Greetings from Poland. Thank you for the knowledge.
20 years of fish keeping fresh and salt water .. this gentleman is an absolute guru and master .. you sir are walking encyclopedia of aquarium hobby ..I can't thank you enough for hours of amazing content.
Been a fishkeeper since 1989, and Father Fish is the best thing I found
Father fish, we need videos of how to safely turn a wrongly set fish tank ( such as gravels for 6 month with 40 fishes, 4 dead) - to your recommended setting … 🙏🙏
Yes! I have sand in mine but no soil underneath…. I have a feeling it’s going to be reallllll messy to correct 😅
Yes please!! 🙏🙏🙏
YES PLEASE!!
It's not that bad. I did a 75gallon in 1 day with minimal mess. Just do it.
@@donnarivers8045your poop works down under the sand and becomes your dirt
AWESOME KNOWLEGE~ THANK YOU !
I'm a simple man, i took FF words for it and followed few basics FF methods and my aquarium hobby have been smooth sailing since.
Father Fish ? Godfather Fish . Unbelievable good , a real pleasure for all fishes and people .
Thank you so much for this video! I feel like I’ve learned more in ten minutes than in watching fish keeping videos for two years on UA-cam. I’m now excited to do it and not intimidated. Thank you!
I once bought a house and in it was the nastiest huge aquarium I had ever seen in a house, especially that small. Days later I finally addressed it, and in the process of removing the remaining water, which was about one third and near black, I discovered several fish still living. The owner had died nearly 8 months earlier after being in the hospital for months. Maybe someone gave up taking care of them, but I always wondered if this was possible, and now I think it was, cause I witnessed it. A local fish store came and rescued all of them and they thrived. I'm just now looking at this as a hobby because of disability. I'm limited, and a 40 gallon aquarium is about perfect for my health, and will be fun, keeping me busy and thinking. I enjoyed hearing your knowledge. I'll follow it.
Thank you!!! I’m just getting into fish keeping. I just bought a tank and wanting to help my kid get into making UA-cam videos (since it’s what he wants to do). I’m now going to completely redo his tank with soil/sand instead. And im prepared to start my own!!!
That is awesome! Be sure to follow the formula carefully. You will find it here: discord.gg/father-fish-shoal
In the 1950's, my mother had a 10 gallon self sustained aquarium. She told me it was a "balanced' aquarium. I had a book from the 40's which explained the concept. Yourr aquarium is balanced and a sight to behold. Thank you for sharing your techniques.
I have a 5 acre pond where i have feeders that feed the fish daily. Some of the Bluegill are the largest “borderline obese” fish Ive ever seen. As an angler, I thought that is what you wanted. However, watching your videos and listening to you opinions on feeding makes me second guess, in fact, come to the realization that I have been wrong. Same principles apply to large bodies of water as your aquariums. My pond is extremely healthy and the only thing I do is “encourage nature” a little to assist in keeping my healthy pond. I am now rethinking my feeding habits to encourage the health of the fish rather that the size. Ive also set up an aquarium in our home based on you principles and has turned out to be extremely successful. Everyone that visits wants to know the secret. I kindly direct them to your channel. Thanks for offering your wisdom and education 👍🏼
I agree with the sand from my own experience.
Cheaped out ones by using sandbox sand, rinsed well to get the dusting out, found it made a much better substrate than gravel too.
Never did the dirt underlayer, but just sand already beats gravel in my opinion.
Combined with a oversized canister filter and ofcourse plants, you get a very low maintenance tank.
You’ve had success with plants without adding soil?
What plants, may I ask? Cause I’m trying to start my first planted tank and don’t wanna do soil
It's refreshing hearing some one else say "leave the tank alone". I have been keeping aquariums of various sizes for over 30 years and my advice to other hobbyists has always been, don't touch it (once it's established). A heavily planted tank takes care of its self for sure. I essentially top off the water in my tank when needed and maybe once a month rinse the canister filter pads (never touch the bio media of course). Like I mentioned, 30 of trial and error and this was the key.
I have a 300 litre. Planted, new tank. It looks amazing. I've got gold fish and danios, weather loach. I'm amazed at how good it is. Week one. I also have a canister filter. I've never cleaned it yet. I'm just going off your comment. Is it only the pads I clean? Leave the bio balls as is? I noticed your comment by chance. I'd be grateful for a reply if that's what to do. Thanks, in advance. Scott.
What kind of filter pads do you use? If you use sponge filteres with large pores you only have to slightly squeeze them once in a while (like every 2-3 months) in warm water to remove access. But never throw away all of that precious activated sludge that builds up. It's as precious as the microbial fauna in FFs described baselayer (although being aerobic instead).
But that is my motto too. Never touch a running system. Or when you do want to "clean" it, always only clean a small part at a time.
@@scottlouis4076Don't touch the bioballs, never let them dry out or stay stagnant for to long when cleaning the mechanical pre-filtre (assuming your bioballs are ment to house your aerobic microbia). If you have these balls with really fine pores (ceramic or sinther glass) some manufacturers say you have to swap these after a few years since they are said to clog up eventually (no personal experience with that). When cleaning or changing bio-filtre media, never do it all at once, but only step wise or you loose that precious activated sludge.
@@haifutter4166thick sponge filters in my cannister get rung out in the dirty water, the polishing cotton pads I basically throw out and I have a ton of various bio media like plastic bio balls and porcelain cylinders in bags that I shake out and never rinse to keep the bacteria in order.
I care for my ponds the same way.
I just found here the best aquarium information than in most other high priced high tech styles and channels here in UA-cam! Thanks father fish!👍
FF, I love how you talk to this newbie. What you say is pure logic and the simplicity. Bravo.
Need to add SAND next..but just threw a handful of yard debris in my tank (free thanks to the active hurricane season in NE FL.) And my fish came ALIVE instantly. Thank you Fish Father❤🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
I have a 2 years old tank with soil in the bottom and sand in the top and plants and its always crystal clear I never changed the water for 6 months now and all the fish and shrimps are multiplying. I'm glad that I am doing the right thing in my tank. 😊
How do you clean the sand, do you syphon the bottom?
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve
right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀
So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand??
or do i have to remove the gravel first?
i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue?
thanks
@@francoiscaron1279 I never clean the sand my tank is heavily planted now with dwarf sag as carpet and ludwigia, jungle val and amazon sword as background.. I only have 3 dwarf sags in the beginning and after 3 months it's almost fully carpet..
@@sandidsaman7723 I suggest to remove the gravel put your water and filter medias in a container so you can use it after your reset.. I always put like 1 inch soil in front and 2 inch in the back and then 1 inch sand in the top to trap the soil.. the purpose of 1 inch front and 2 inch back soil is to elevate the substrate and it looks really good..
Can you please share the lighting that you're using for your aquarium. Is it a RGBW light or normal led light. Also the size of your aquarium and watts of the light that you're using
Thank you for your expert advice and sharing your wisdom with us.
Thank you for all the help. God bless you
What a great video Father Fish! I’ve been keeping fish for 40 years and there is always something new to learn..
Found father fish yesterday and I am so excited to properly set up my fish tanks after months of struggles with the hobby.
Baba bıkmadan seni defalarca izliyorum.Her izlediğimde unuttuğum bakım bilgilerini tekrar hatırlıyorum .İyiki varsın.
absolutely great video that I'm so happy to have found before setting up a new 40 breeder that was gifted to me. Thank you sir for the great info and for sharing it with us
I was searching about goldfish. Came across your Channel. What a gem I found! Thank you!🙏
That's a beautiful tank behind you FF, and your looking tip top as well🎉
Hey Father Fish. I appreciate your knowledge and experience. I do have a caveat to the gravel is bad idea. In my opinion, small and medium gravel is a wonderful, healthy and stable substrate after a year or two if you don’t gravel vac. Of course this is for experienced fish keepers with planted tanks. Cheers.
Precisely. Gravel is extremely difficult for a novice fish keeper to prevent fouling. Most newbies quit the hobby over problems associated with gravel.
@@dudewhereismycar3061 Coconut fibre will lack the bacteria and nutrients present in soil.
Molly fish seem to do well going from low ph to neutral ph. At least, in my experience.
Am still waiting to do my FF tank. Too many tanks, not enough energy lol 😂
I love watching your videos! ❤
They are definitely happy to see me. 😊
I used thriving soil/millipede compost I nutured for almost a year in a terrarium to plant out a tank bottom. Love that one ecosystem feeds another.
I ordered a bunch of things from Father fish, one of the items was not in the package. I called Father Fish today, and Lou answered himself and straightened everything out! I've learned SO much from him, and prey I get the opportunity to check out his shop and meet in person.
If you read this Lou, thank you for everything!
Thank you for your support
Thank you for what you said about feeding the fish. I always thought that my fish were eating without me feeding them. I see them pecking around all the time. I’m going to 2-3 times a week immediately
I just saw the video of another channel on a video chat with you about your methods. I took offense to the young guy. I was taught to respect and listen to my elders. I'm glad I found your channel. I follow what you say. Ive subscribed, but plan on becoming a member. I may get on your nerves with questions. I am loving the challenge and learning so much.
What a great video! I wish I had watched and rewatched this before I got my first aquarium. I have recently tries to put i to practice the Fr. Fish and so far it is going swimmingly!
Thank you for providing such valuable information for free! It is strikingly simple yet we are so accustomed to purchasing things! I’m doing a 180 turn with my new tank. Returning new canister filter, ditching gravel, buying less fish food, buying no chemicals. This is amazing, looking forward for this ecosystem to thrive!
Hello father fish, I love listening to you. I had an aquarium many years ago, but the plants never really wanted to grow. I also definitely fed the fish far too often, so I made exactly the mistakes you listed in the video. But your valuable tips make me want to try it again more and more. Kind regards from Germany, David
Awesome I would have saved a lot of money and time if I heard these things 30 years ago. God bless you father fish
I agree with the whole well water aspect. I moved from well water to spring. I can not complain about free water at all. When I was on well, just gravel was absolutely fine. Since moving I have had to switch to a dirted substrate to keep fish and plants thriving.
And with food. Feed the system and it will feed the fish.
Thank you. I loved the information shared🎉
I'd love to see a more in-depth video about ph. My city's tap water is very soft and is close to mid in ph. I'd love to know things I could do to make it better for my fish.
Baking soda with increase kH (carbonate hardness) and pH. Marine salt will add minerals in the same proportions/ratios by which they occur in Earth's surface/crust, and will increase gH, TDS, and hardness (+2 charged ions).
Perfect!
I went for crushed coral in my 20g for my shrimpys & aragonite sand in my 29g for my small cichlids & haven't done ANY water change in about 5 months or more. Set my 20g up on March 1st of 2023 & my 29g almost 2 weeks later. If you want another option. My water comes outta the tap like yours... clouds devoid of anything at all.
@@cave.dweller.mediocrates what are the kinds of proportions and measurements of those things are you adding to your water?
@@wildbill4138 I do not use heaters in tanks with local fish.
What is the filtration system you are talking about in your video when needed. I very much want to have an ecosystem tank that pretty much takes care of itself. The beauty of the natural bottom and the tiny fish swimming happily through the vegetation is remarkable. I started off WRONG!!!! Thanks to PetCo who absolutely knows nothing about aquatic life. Do I have to be a tank operator for years BEFORE graduating to your class!!!!! I will be ordering the dirt substrate after my few remaining fish die off which sounds like it’s inevitable.. As far as the sand goes, would I need to purchase the sand or scoop some out of the lake we own??? I know where I can get plenty of leaves and I believe I saw some sunken sweet gums balls in one picture……Man THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO. P.S. Congrats on the new store. I had a brief stint in Silver Springs, MD….years ago
I've never learned so much about keeping fish, in so little time.. Great video..
I have a 25 year old aquarium with just pool filter sand for substrate. It's pretty much self sustaining. 👍
Thank you for this video. It has given me the confidence to change many aspects of my fish keeping.
I am so grateful that I found you I had no idea what I was doing and I had been doing the wrong thing for 60 years so now every time I watch a video I learned something and I'm going to set up my old tank the right way and hardly ever feed my fish just making sure it's at 78° and has some filtration and a little bit of bubbles and a ton of plants and my little guppies and my Clown floush will be happy. I know my guppies love the plants but I'm constantly putting in plants because I don't have the right substrate now I know why my plants are dying thank you so much please keep your videos coming
Thankyou.. im finding your video's super interesting.. I have a planned tank with moscow guppies that I had neglected for 8 months (not but choice) but in that time the filtration system & heater had stopped working and i stopped cleaning it, but my tank has never looked better! I have more and brighter fish, more plants that are a whole lot healthier and loads of snails.. it's been 12 months now and other then the odd water top up and a whip of the front glass it's fabulous.. I never understood it until now.. so thank you
Couldn’t agree more especially feed sparingly I’ve kept fish for many years. I have one tank in particular that is my favorite and it’s in the living room I would feed the fish daily I would have fish die randomly maybe one a week or one a month. I started out not feeding once maybe twice a week and I have never seen my fish so active and healthy I also haven’t had a casualty in over a year. I keep deep substrate and tons of plants I do have a homemade sump also with lots of lava rock. Mostly because I like heavily stocked tanks. I have over 100 fish in my 75 gallon tank.
Thanks for all the help. I've just begun making my way into aquariums and I have been having trouble trying to find the right info. Your advice is a big help.
Thank you for the great advice! I used to worry about my nano fish because I work away from home. I had someone feeding them every second day. Now I have them coming to take care of the fish every 3rd day. They are just fine and I'm sure I could let it go longer thanks to you. Take care!
Thats a very risky thing to do unless the other person is a fishkeeper aswell
if i were u i would be in constant fear lol, i just love my fish and aquariums too much to let anybody else touch them:)
@@sandidsaman7723 My fish sitter comes in, dumps a pre-portioned amount of food into the tanks, and he's on his way. Sometimes he gives a block of frozen food. When I'm home, I usually feed the fish just three times a week. the tank is well established, heavily planted and there is natural food in there too. I've been keeping fish for over 20 years and haven't starved any of my fish to death yet. 🙂
@@CarolynnMc01 I have never heard of anybody starving their fish to death either :)
I am actually worried about the opposite...feeding your fish to death when ur not home!
I had bitter experience in the past and thats why i developed a fear of fish sitters lol , now i dont trust anybody for feeding my fishes or even going near my aquariums when i m not home:))
Hi. Thank you for the information. I m a begginer, my 1yo has a beta fish as a present so now I need to maintain him alive.
You can do it!
I have a couple of questions regarding a new planted tank that I quickly made to keep a bunch of newly acquired plants alive.
Put in the dirt, put in the sand, added well water, put in the plants. There are few species that have almost completely melted. They turned dark and mushy. A few look ok. What do you think I did wrong? I put in in the window to get some sun during the day. It also has biofilm on top that gets dense.
Thank you!
Sounds like the dirt overwhelmed the system. Try capping with another inch of sand
Good thing i watched this before setting up my aquarium. Thank you very much and God bless you sir!
would you reccomend going to a local pond or river and getting the soil from there and adding the 2 inch sand from a shop?
No. That is 1/4 of the material for the soil layer. This explains it: discord.gg/father-fish-shoal
@@FatherFish ok I’ll check it out !
Okay, I've kept aquariums my entire life, and I learned more from this 17 minute video than I have in all my years of experience. Okay, now I have to try a dirted aquarium.
Great advice! Thanks for the video, after over 60 years of keeping fish, i still struggle with over feeding, these videos put help put me back on track, love my deep substate tanks, it makes fish keeping a pleasure
I just love the way you explain things. Even if understand them (you dont know me, but people who do know i need things really broken down to understand, my husbadns explains it as “explain like ur talking to a kindergarten” lol) and i love how real you are and i think its cool the way u stop and think of how u wanna say something before you say it. Almost like ur trying to make sure to make ur point but not offend, i respect tht…. & everuthing you said in this is so correct. Having two kids a cat a dog and a fish tank plus all my loved plants and myself. The fish tank was starting to drive me nutz “OH NO I FORGOT TO CLEAN THE TANK” “OH MY GOSH MY FISH ARE GONNA DIE, I HAVE TO CLEAN” ect. I was starteing to go nutz with the weekly sometimes twice weekly changes and all the management and stress. I thought there must be an easier way. So glad i looked up natural ecosystems and came accross ur video.
This video here told me that all those chemicals and sterile enviroment is actually killing the immune system of the tank (so to speak) and we wouldnt weaken our own immune system so why would we wanna do that with our fish/water/plants.
Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge with all of us❤
Thanks, people like you are a GOD gift ,Father Fish !❤
I used 2 inch aqua soil and 2 inch small gravel, planted out the tank and its been awesome for 2 years now, i installed 2 filter pumps, 1 for constant running and a high flow pump for a once a fortnight poo clean, i call it the tsunami, i run it for 4hrs any poo on the substrate is sucked up and the fish seem to like the high flow too. 102 ltr tank
Sand would be better
Your channel convinced me to change my tank to a dirt/sand substrate, with natural plants. I just set it up that way a couple of days ago, because the 5 gallon tank has a single betta who has severe fin rot. I tried all the chemical treatments/medicines, none worked. I wanted to give him one last chance, and I removed all the gravel and plastic plants, and replaced with top soil and playground sand, and a bunch of real plants in hopes nature could do what I can't seem to.
I also hauled buckets of water from my parents house to mine because they have natural well water. My well water is testing at a high PH though. I have strips for pool care, and they top out at 9.0. My well water is hitting that color, maybe even going a bit off the scale. The alkalinity is also hitting the max color. Do you still recommend I let my fish and plants continue to live in this high of a PH? Thanks Father Fish!!!!
So I'm going to leave a remark. I just introduced the resurrection jar to my tank and everything went freaking crazy and the tank is so much better now on a 20 gallon long props to you father fish. Three pandas 3. 3 Cooley loaches, 7 neon tetras 5 galaxies overabundance of plants I use your method. Topsoil sand Canadian bluestone. And drift,wood 40 nitrite snails. Just added 1 pearl gourami Month 2 tank plus flourish. In three mystery snails. Thank you for everything ❤️
Sir, you are a wealth of information… as a child I had no aquariums, everything else, no fish or reptiles in the house! Lol. My Mom threw an Anole out the back door, box and all. I wished that I would have found you before I set up my recent 75 gallon. I use a canister and wave maker, I need to get into plants, but I have a bed of black gravel.😮 However I am the proud owner of a 39 year old Talking Raphael. I’m going to have to give him to a rescue eventually, I guess, he is only 6-7 inches long.
hey ! i am one of those foolish newbies on the learning curve
right now i got a 10 gallon tank with like half an inch of gravel as the only substrate💀
So i was thinking could i just add an inch of potting/garden soil over the gravel and then cap it up with 2 inch sand??
or do i have to remove the gravel first?
i would end up having like almost 4 inches of substrate by this...would this be an issue?
thanks
Father fish , I wanna start off with saying Thank you for being you Thank you for taking the time to get the message out to those who truly care for thier fish. I truly appreciate your knowledge thank sir. I’m in Canada an I’m now three tanks all natural . Please keep up with the video’s truly enjoy watching them all.
I appreciate that
I'd love to hear your advice for taking care of goldfish or other cool water species!
I had a no substrate tanks did great and doing sand and they are even better I soon gonna start putting soil underneath like a inch deep to see the affects
After seeing your videos I have converted my two tanks into planted tank, I did not have all the ingredients of making the dirt but I took some soil from aquarium shop because where I live, getting soil which is not treated with pesticides or fungicide is a bit difficult, so I mixed some compost in the coarse brown gravel looking soil that the shopkeeper gave me and added to the existing small amount of gravel that I had in the fish tank and then put 2 inch of sand and lot of plants and added back the water and fish that I had removed in big buckets. I wanted to ask that my aquariums had pothos roots growing in them, should I let them be or remove them from the tank now? Pls advise, it will be a great help.
I am so grateful to find your channel. I have been keeping tanks for 3 years now and I feel some of the practices I was taught are not sustainable and I am gradually changing over my routines to create more natural tanks. I have a question about the substrate. I have 2 tanks that I set up with Seachem Florite Black substrate with a gravel on top. My tanks are relatively healthy, lots of plants, not too many fish, I don't find I need to add co2 either to keep things going. I do use a canister filter and I add water (due to evaporation) every once in a while, treated for chlorine. I want to add sand to the front of tank without disrupting the current ecosystem. 1. Can you add sand on top of exhausting gravel? 2. Is there an easy way to add sand to the bottom without making a mess of it all? 3. Maybe I just leave it alone? Thank you for all your videos! Nature is so amazing.
My second inquiry is what is the best thing to bring into my tanks from outside? Rocks, branches? Leaves? Thank you!!!
just pour clean sand into the tank and level it. Leaves, especially from a creek are best.
Definitely not my first setup but im adding another tank to the collection and thought i might as well see what father fish does 😊
Im new to the aquarium hobby and I love his videos.
My tanks are about to be upgraded, my turtle (Red eared slider) is getting a bigger tank and Im going to give my fish a new fully panted tank. The fish are partially planted now with floating plants and the turtle tank has some pathos growing on the side. My turtle eats the plants. Lol im looking forward to creating new beautiful tanks for my waterbabies with all the knowledge I have learned in 6 months since I found a baby turtle in my pool, hes invasive where I live and we have gators.
Working in commercial aquaculture I learned that to keep the fish the healthiest possible (for aquaculture this means fastest growing for food), you need to feed to 75% of satiety. That means if you feed until the fish stop eating you are giving them at least 25% too much food. Eating until you are full causes harm by overloading the digestive system while at the same time providing extra nutrients to pathogenic microbes in the digestive system.
Absolutely right In a healthy environment the system provides a basic amount of food. Anything you provide is in addition to that natural food. The environment may not provide enough for good growth so added food is necessary, just not so much and not so often.
13:00 i got a corydora doing his business and danio right behind cleaning it up 😂 the timing was perfect
Thank you father fish ..you really help me improve on my tanks alot..thanks for all the information you give..
I've been having an aquarium at home for ages but till now was doing the wrong thing by making my tank unnatural with plastic stuff. Happy I landed unexpectedly on your channel and found out the mess I made. Gonna get a make over of my tank with natural stuff ASAP. Thanks for letting us know the mess we keep doing daily. Kindly share what kind of oxygen pumps or filters must be used for a small 2 feet length by 1.5 feet height tank.
I use a small air pump and a sponge filter. They are available at my online store
@FatherFish Thank You
Currently have gravel. Want to switch to sand but it seems like a lot of work and don't want to risk any issues. Heard about capping the gravel with sand but won't the sand just filter down into the gravel? Thanks
Stick with the gravel buddy, especially if you've got an under gravel filter. As you rightly stated the sand will just filter through the gravel and choke up the gravel bed. Personally I think that gravel is just fine, I've used it for about 35 years in numerous tanks with no issues and has resulted in well balanced stable tanks that in itself led to some great biospheres and very healthy fish.
A lot of semi-fast flowing river beds are composed of gravel and if it works for mother nature it'll work for the fishkeeper too !
@@ShaunShearman Sand is a perfect cap for gravel. It does not sift into the gravel but will remain on the surface acting as a cap for the mulm in the gravel preventing it from entering the water column. Once having done that it is possible to turn off the UG and allow the gravel base to develop a soil component.
@@FatherFish Great, thank you.
This is good information! I'm going to dirt my tank this weekend. Oh, and I'm going to STOP feeding at least once per day. Thanks, Father Fish. What kind of soil? Just regular soil from the backyard? Any specific sand I should get or stay away from?
thank you for the content master fish
I had my first saltwater aquarium using beach sand exactly as you did, its been 3 months, no problems, no issues, adding more animals slowly.
For what is a substrate? Very good speech.