Great video. I used to get problems with BBA and green algae. I have been using this method for the past 2 months and now have a tank completely clear of algae and full of vibrant plants. It works!! 👍
I found another solution just with tissue paper. No need of UV light and no frequent water change. It works well for me for last 3 months. If interested, you may watch video
I had GDA, GSA and BBA in my 5 gallon tank during the first month of setup. The GDA was all over the place and returned quite often. I started adding more plants (including floating plants) to help eat any excess nutrients. The floating plants helped a lot in lowering my light output in the tank. Maintenance-wise, I kept up the usual water changes (50% 2x a week) and started leaning out my dosage of ferts (also 2x a week right after each water change). Lighting periods are down to 4 days a week for 6 hours each time. On the days my tank LED light is not on, ambient room lighting is provided. Over the course of about 1.5 months, the results have been quite positive. None of the algae types I mentioned have returned, or have come back enough to be noticeable at all. I can say for now, this is how it's working out for me. Thanks for all your awesome videos!
Ever since I used organic dirt in my substrate, I eliminated 99% of any algae. Never dose or add anything into the water. I use this on a high tech tank with co2 and a low tech nano with no co2. Both are algae free and I do a 30% water change every four weeks or so. Old guy many years ago…before planted tanks were the rage, told me plants take most of their nutrients through their roots. I never dosed the water, but used fertilizer tabs in the substrate for years, until I switched to dirt in the substrate, and now it’s even easier for me to maintain. Just look up “dirted tanks” and you will see others results. Good luck 👍
Another great detailed video grounded in useful knowledge rather than popular opinion. I love the thought gone into your work. And thanks for debunking that iron myth for red plants! You're the first UA-camr so far I've seen mention that.
Great tips Mark! I too have been using this method most of my plants are algae free in low tech setups and I no longer dose excel which I’m happy about and things look better then ever! Love your videos!
I saw "Chapters cuz uncle MJ cares about your time" on another video of yours which is why I subscribed. I still watched the full video because it's full of useful information (I want to try lean dosing with my new tank) and to help boost it in the algorithm, but thank you for being considerate. Keep up the good work!
@@MJAquascaping I actually subbed a few weeks ago! I have a low-tech 20 gallon long with two old tetras that will probably pass away soon, and it's filled with anubias, java ferns, and cryptocoryne (almost time for a rescape). I'm just doing some research to take things to the next level in a way that doesn't require too much extra effort or expense, so I love the idea of lean dosing, especially since I want to do no CO2 if possible. I'll be sure to comment if I have any questions/suggestions!
@@HeyItsJA I just subbed due to the chapters + the subtitles. I have a couple of Walstad tanks, and some Walstad inspired tanks. I need low tech, low maintenance, and still vibrant and healthy for my fish and inverts. Sending folks from a local aquarium club this way because lots of people with CO2 and newly scaped tanks seem to struggle with algae.
@@HeyItsJA currently, my dirt is still supplying nutrients via the roots and minimal in the water column. Most dirted tanks take 5 to 7 years before depletion starts requiring supplementation. Dr Diana Walstad encourages a biotope framework of thinking and planning. The biggest thing I struggle with is getting reds to really pop. I have kept tanks since 1974, and before Walstad's "Treatise on the Planted Aquarium" I followed a German book on old school fish keeping. Similar principles: plant in dirt, plant thick enough to supply fish with oxygen, and to also filter the aquarium. It's my favorite method, tbh
I'm beginner, excellent info. My 20 gallon has no algae problem yet :) I do use live plants planted from bulbs or seed. My Gourami like to nibble at the plants. I need to learn the names of plants. I'm enjoying the hobby. Thanks 👍😊
I second this as well.. I know there are many videos online about lean dosing and all.. but it would be nice to have a comparison between tanks with the leaner dosing vs tanks with E.I dosing. Esp the reds, purples, and also the shade of green on the green plants.. not many people actually do a side by side one which would be good if you are up for it!
Here's Filipe Oliveira sharing his home tank fertilization routine. I took this dosing routine and adjusted it to my tanks dimensions, plant density and tap water parameters. Indeed, like MJ says I can confirm LEAN dosing leads to less/no algae, far less trimming and other maintenance and far, far more and more vibrant reds in the plants. Just keep doing your weekly 50% water changes. ua-cam.com/video/wtH44vCjW2Y/v-deo.html
Thanks to your videos I learned a lot in a short time. Your explanation is very clear, without secrets and eager to help the aquarist. I spent months watching ADA and Green Aqua videos, but I could not find the solution to my algae problems, they think about it a lot and end up confusing. Instead, you are direct. Thank you very much keep going.
I do not add any fertilizer to the tank. I have a sand substrate but it was an established tank when I added the plants, most of which I grew from bulbs. The fish waste seems to be enough to grow healthy plants. My plants have done great thus far. As to algae, I added 2 snails and within a week or so they were controlling the algae and I had no more algae bloom issues. I opted to not add an anti-algae agent as I did not want to take the chance with my plant health. I think snails have gotten a bad wrap for whatever reason but in my case they have been amazing. I call them our little vacuum cleaners.
You've got really elegant, beautiful tanks. I'm getting ready to try my first tank and your videos have been great for learning. Thank you for making them
I switched to a lean version of Filipe Oliveira’s Seachem regiment. It’s helped a ton getting my BBA under control. He also recommended dosing most of the nutrients through tabs.
As a subscriber, I like almost all of your videos. They are rich in content and stay focused on the topic. In the future, I would like to hear more about your experience working with moss. Your moss work really stands out among all the great tanks I've seen online.
Some soils have lots of tanins in them which may require a lot of carbon at first to get rid of. I use soil for growing taro and the water is deep brown. Very different setups and basically no filtration but the water is crazy brown from the tanins
@@nyimakgan no sorry, they need to sprout their leaves out of the water. The root needs to be a few inches under the water. They like really low flow, and high light.
7:10 the Tank is every time nice to see its so beautiful ☺️ We have the same experience that fertilizer are help by the Problem with algea too it is important that the plants becomes the things that they need 😊 Have a nice Day!
Thanks for more this video, with valuable information. Here, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I have one more detail to consider: Water temperature. I've had a lot of problems with algae, but when I started cycling my tanks for about 50 or 60 days, with no substrate, no light, and adding a small amount of fertile substrate, only in the places where the plants would be, I had no more problems. with algae. The very few that exist, the cleaning team finds a way to eliminate them. (8 Otocinclus, and 16 Paraotocinclus). Glasses and plants are always clean. Once again, thanks for your videos.
I've been struggling with GDA. I'm not new to this hobby. Started with pmdd then EI. Quit the hobby for few years now getting back to it but struggling with algae again. You just opened my eyes. I will need to look into this lean dosing method.
There can be lean dosing only if you know what is the nutrient consumption of your tank compared to the quantity you are putting in the tank. Otherwise you are just fertilizing randomly or overdosing systematically.
I've been doing this for years now and the main thing I found to be the contributing factor to excess algae was nitrogen. If you can get your test kit to read pretty much 0 nitrogen in the water column I found that anubias, rocks, and other hard scape and plants would have 0 GSA on the leaves. In most cases leaves would actually recover as soon as I leaned my nitrogen out and they would suddenly be clean again. Nice videos by the way. Great to watch.
nice topic. i think this has sense because i observed that when i used Seachem Flourish and Api Leafzone, i used it once daily, algae started to bloom. Now i will try to completely eliminate these fertlizers to see the effect.... thanx for the video...
My friend has a new set up and the algae started growing all she does is buy the Chinese algae eaters like six of them and within a few days all the algae is cleaned.
Trying to take easy shortcuts when feeding tanks is giving an open invite to bacteria in tanks and its called fertilizer for a good reason it fertilizers everything in the body of water including unwanted algae.
SO good as usual. Always learn a lot; need to put into practice and get myself some more root tabs. I would like that video on growing red plants, please.
I just started aqua scapeing recently I watch all your videos...and I enjoy every minute.....I have 2 planted tanks.....a 10 gallon...the 10 gallon lamp I'm using is a twin star 450 sa......I wanted the chihiros 45 cm but Amazon was sold out..now they have a new stock in...in the 10 gal I have java moss, java fern,crypt Wendi,mini words,and Asian fern,and just added rotela which I like a lot.I use api liquid ferts half required dose weekly and root tabs...its growing well I have baby's on every kind of plant in the tank....second tank I have shrimp only and its a 6.6 gallon planted...there's blue orange and red shrimp in the their.......the 10 gallon has a hob style filter and the shrimp tank has a sponge filter also the 10 gallon is set to 78 degrees the 6 gallon is set to 73...I'm running o2 on the 10 with light timers on both. Plants are growing fine in both but my question here is why? Are the plants in the shrimp tank doing better....the weird thing here the shrimp tank I bearly use any if all ferts....and no co2 and the plants are absolutely stunning......... I'm wondering if the 73 degree lower temp and using a sponge filter is making a huge difference.....
I'm not struggling with algae but im happy to see that some one else has a similar thought lol I've been doing this method for a very long time and with super deep substrates
I'm definitely going to try this lean dosing method. Yes to a video about growing healthy red plants! In my red plants I always see holes appearing. Maybe you could talk about the causes and solutions for these holes.
I have a heavily planted low tech tank which is generously stocked. I don't dose ferts at all. I do a 50% water change a week and have a 8 hour photo period with a fluval plant 3.0 light. No algae at all for me and all plants look very healthy🙂 And that's with a plain sand substrate, no aquasoil, no root tabs no nothing. Fish food and waste literally maintain the nutrients in the water column.
My tanks are dirted low tech setup not the prettiest but never had algae issues and i like the way it looks im satisfied with what i have. never had to dose liquid ferts only osmocote root tabs.
Hello from Denmark. One method I use for the dreaded black beard algae on rocks hard scape or plants like Anubis is to lower the water level or remove items from the tank and brush them with liquid carbon . Dosing liquid carbon can cause melting on some softer leaf plants so by brushing you limit the amount of liquid carbon in the tank and it will kill the algae in a couple of days. This also works on all types of algae By the way great Videos and your tanks look great
@@MJAquascaping even if it's just a small but specific part of a larger video for us low tank people that place greater emphasis on the community fish (rather than the true scrapers) ... but like that splash of red to cut through all those beautiful green tones and textures. 💚❤️💚
Well, I don't use any fertilisers at all, and I still have quite a bit of algae. All the nutriets Come from fish food and from water changes. I am forced to rely on nerite snails to help me with algae. Gourami and swordtails also help a bit. They all don't solve the problem completely, but they reduce it.
SAEs destroy BBA, Hair Aglae and Red Algae. That said you can still does with liquid fertilizer if you add plants the pull more nutrients from the water (Anacharis, Hornwort, Cobomga, etc.) column although, those plants aren't really Aquascaping popular.
Yes please! A video on red plants. I just today ordered red root floaters, thank you for the suggestion :-) PS. Your tanks always amaze me and I learn so much from your techniques. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with all of us :-)
Really struggling now in a lotech nano (5gal) tank with brown algae (which I am ok with in a 5 week setup), but my epiphites were really struggling too. My light wasn't rated well for live plants, so I did upgrade it. I had good aquarium soil, but that wasn't helping the plants feeding from the water column (even the java moss was struggling). So I did add one dose of liquid fertilizer. BAM! Staghorn algae everywhere. What's really crazy is my 2.5gal thrown together setup is PERFECT. Happy plants, minimal algae. Both tanks use the same good well water, moderately hard. Starting to remember my days of African cichlids and no plants with some nostalgia. 😂
Hi, are you Dutch? I am and I think I hear a Dutch accent. Just discovered your channel and subscribed immediately. Like the info👍! I struggle with my plants all the time. Even after buying a CO2 set. My bb algae has stopped since using it, but my plants just don't thrive. They do well for a while, but new growth doesn't and the plants turn brown. The green colour just goes away. I don't know why. I keep my nitrate at around 10 and phosphate at 1, iron between 0.25-0.50. I supplement pottasium according to the information on the bottle. I use root tabs. I don't use aquasoil anymore. I really didn't like the mess it gave when I took out plants and replanted them. It's black dust everywhere.! My PH is 7.1, KH 10 and GH 6. I have a Fluval Flex 34 litres with the standard led lights. What could be the problem? I always chose easy plants. Do you have any idea? I look forward to seeing all your videos 🤗.
Hey! Yep Dutch indeed! Thanks for the sub 😊 I read your story and it seems like you are doing everything right, so I'm not sure what the problem is. The only thing I can think of right now is that the standard LED light of the Fluval is just not enough to grow healthy plants. But then again I have seen some decent planted Fluvals in the past.
Even though we are both Dutch, I'll answer in English so everyone can understand it. Thanks for taking the time to answer👍. It's a pity you don't know a solution. I thought about the lights too, bus as you say there are Fluval tanks with decent plants so it should be possible 🤷🏻♀️.
I love your scapes, they're beautiful! In addition to what you said - if that's not sufficient, test your tap water, people! My tap is cursed, gives me cyanobacteria without fail XD
Please describe how less chlorophyll leads to more red color.as I have a concept that plants grow red when they feel that there is no need for further photosynthesis.
I read somewhere that you shouldn't because the substrate release a lot of ammonia at early stages and that will spike your algae growth. I also learned from experience lol
@@j.ricardo5256Thanks for your answer sir. I heard some argue that dosing fertiliser at the early stage promote plant growth to fight off algae which make me very confused.
I think the key here is the substrate, I used Neo Soil Shrimp for my shrimp tank, and only added half cup of monte carlo on 30 cubes, and in 3 months the monte goes crazy with 0 liquid fertilization (It's shrimp tank) and my Rotala H'ra is really compact but not red, because of rare water change, 1-2 months once (again it's shrimp tank so frequent water change is not necessary)
You could measure and go for these values K 20-24 ppm NO3 1.5-6 ppm PO4 1-4 ppm Personally i just like to experiment a little and watch my plants. They will tell me if they are lacking something or not.
Hi, how do you limit/reduce the Nitrate in your aquarium (water column)... could we request you to do a dedicated video about this topic? "Limiting Nitrate to encourage redness from aquatic plants". Thanks a lot.
I’m gonna try this method! I’m having the same issue! Healthy beautiful plants but still some algae here and there. How will epiphyte plants do with the method?
Don’t use liquid fertilizer, never had, just substrate made for live plants, and thats it. But I’ve still had issues with green spot algae and hair algae for years, it’s not near a window or anything, so I don’t know 🤷♀️
Merci, il y a de bonnes idées. Le problème pour les algues c'est que certains suivent les recommandations des fabricants d'engrais qui donnent les doses à administrer par semaine. Or les plantes ne pourront pas tout consommer en 2 ou 3 jours et l'excès sera pŕofitable aux algues. C'était ce que je faisais avant. Maintenant je fractionne l'engrais. C'est à dire que je divise la quantité recommandée par 7 , et donc je verse tous les jours 1/7 de dose. Les plantes absorbent tout dans la journée et il ne reste pratiquement rien pour les algues (et je n'utilise pas d'engrais dans le sable). Et depuis que je fais cela je n'ai plus de problèmes. Pour moi, l'aquariophilie n'est pas une science exacte, ce qui explique que ce qui marche pour l'un ne marchera pour un autre. Chacun doit tester ce qui est le mieux pour lui, en s'aidant des recommandations qui fonctionnent bien pour d'autres. C'est pourquoi cette vidéo est intéressante et peut aider certains.
very interesting I knew one can the skinny method know what I'm trying right now I'm reducing my fertilizer by half right now and I make it look like a market more seaweed and plants grow better you enriched my video again with its beautiful thanks and you have a beautiful tank - 👍👋🇫🇷
Hello Mark... really good information... currently my tank is suffering staghorn algea. Tank is one month old with hightech. I am treating it with easy-carbo double the recommended dose daily. Today is the fourthday. most of the Algea is now off-white. Please let me know how many days should I need to continue the dosing and when can I need to do the water change. Need your help urgently
2 mins into this video, and it was exactly what I said to my gf... Our algea issues went away when I stopped dosing liquid fertilizer everyday to once a week, and reduced the overall amount by a lot.
Great advice here and yes I would like the video on how to get plants red, I have ludwigia palustrus that I got red thru and thru and now it's only green.
Seeing these beautiful tanks literally killed my ego. Idk what is going on. I’ve been scaping since 2019, not that long, but I buy don’t cheap out, I run high tech with all the proper gear. I am on top of my maintenance. Things were going great and now I’m battling algae in 2 scapes that I just can’t beat. I’m to the point where I’m going to throw in the towel and rescape. I’ve had algae here or there over the years, but this is relentless. 😢
I'm new at this & still learning. I can't seem to be rid of algae. I've been cleaning & doing water changes every day. I only use liquid fertilizer once a week. Some plants have melted (micro swords & hydrocotyle japan). So, I'm going to try using less liquid fertilizer & see how that goes.
Well, I'm doing a few things & hoping it'll help. I'm doing the lean dosing. I did lessened the intensity of the light. I've learned that my tank isn't heavily planted (I need to add more plants), & that to keep trimming the melted plants, which causes algae. I also need to get some fert tabs. The hardest thing is to get the algae off the plants. Once I can do that, it should be good. Any suggestions anyone? I also realized that I had the light on for way too long.
Great video. I used to get problems with BBA and green algae. I have been using this method for the past 2 months and now have a tank completely clear of algae and full of vibrant plants. It works!! 👍
I found another solution just with tissue paper. No need of UV light and no frequent water change. It works well for me for last 3 months. If interested, you may watch video
@@advisor4info171 the link video please. thank you
@@m4rt100 dont hold your breath i watched the video. it has zero real advise just misleading information
Sorry 😢 what exactly should I do ?? Can anyone write step by step please
I had GDA, GSA and BBA in my 5 gallon tank during the first month of setup. The GDA was all over the place and returned quite often. I started adding more plants (including floating plants) to help eat any excess nutrients. The floating plants helped a lot in lowering my light output in the tank. Maintenance-wise, I kept up the usual water changes (50% 2x a week) and started leaning out my dosage of ferts (also 2x a week right after each water change). Lighting periods are down to 4 days a week for 6 hours each time. On the days my tank LED light is not on, ambient room lighting is provided. Over the course of about 1.5 months, the results have been quite positive. None of the algae types I mentioned have returned, or have come back enough to be noticeable at all. I can say for now, this is how it's working out for me.
Thanks for all your awesome videos!
Ever since I used organic dirt in my substrate, I eliminated 99% of any algae. Never dose or add anything into the water. I use this on a high tech tank with co2 and a low tech nano with no co2. Both are algae free and I do a 30% water change every four weeks or so. Old guy many years ago…before planted tanks were the rage, told me plants take most of their nutrients through their roots. I never dosed the water, but used fertilizer tabs in the substrate for years, until I switched to dirt in the substrate, and now it’s even easier for me to maintain. Just look up “dirted tanks” and you will see others results. Good luck 👍
What brand of organic dirt or where to buy? I'm doing as much research as I can cause I am about to start my first planted tank. Thank you
@@SA-hk8xj Thank you
@@williamcalhoun7841 yes always dose your water with dechlorinator
Another great detailed video grounded in useful knowledge rather than popular opinion. I love the thought gone into your work. And thanks for debunking that iron myth for red plants! You're the first UA-camr so far I've seen mention that.
Thank you very much!
Great tips Mark! I too have been using this method most of my plants are algae free in low tech setups and I no longer dose excel which I’m happy about and things look better then ever! Love your videos!
I saw "Chapters cuz uncle MJ cares about your time" on another video of yours which is why I subscribed. I still watched the full video because it's full of useful information (I want to try lean dosing with my new tank) and to help boost it in the algorithm, but thank you for being considerate. Keep up the good work!
😁
Awesome! Thnx for the sub, and good luck with your tank! If you need any help, let me know!
@@MJAquascaping I actually subbed a few weeks ago! I have a low-tech 20 gallon long with two old tetras that will probably pass away soon, and it's filled with anubias, java ferns, and cryptocoryne (almost time for a rescape). I'm just doing some research to take things to the next level in a way that doesn't require too much extra effort or expense, so I love the idea of lean dosing, especially since I want to do no CO2 if possible. I'll be sure to comment if I have any questions/suggestions!
@@HeyItsJA I just subbed due to the chapters + the subtitles.
I have a couple of Walstad tanks, and some Walstad inspired tanks.
I need low tech, low maintenance, and still vibrant and healthy for my fish and inverts. Sending folks from a local aquarium club this way because lots of people with CO2 and newly scaped tanks seem to struggle with algae.
@@traumahealingandprevention Thank you, I'll look into it! I've heard about it before, do you do EI dosing?
@@HeyItsJA currently, my dirt is still supplying nutrients via the roots and minimal in the water column. Most dirted tanks take 5 to 7 years before depletion starts requiring supplementation.
Dr Diana Walstad encourages a biotope framework of thinking and planning. The biggest thing I struggle with is getting reds to really pop.
I have kept tanks since 1974, and before Walstad's "Treatise on the Planted Aquarium" I followed a German book on old school fish keeping. Similar principles: plant in dirt, plant thick enough to supply fish with oxygen, and to also filter the aquarium.
It's my favorite method, tbh
I'm beginner, excellent info. My 20 gallon has no algae problem yet :) I do use live plants planted from bulbs or seed. My Gourami like to nibble at the plants. I need to learn the names of plants. I'm enjoying the hobby. Thanks 👍😊
Good video as always... i would like to see that video for the red plants
Noted!
I second this as well.. I know there are many videos online about lean dosing and all.. but it would be nice to have a comparison between tanks with the leaner dosing vs tanks with E.I dosing. Esp the reds, purples, and also the shade of green on the green plants.. not many people actually do a side by side one which would be good if you are up for it!
@@MJAquascaping me too!!
Here's Filipe Oliveira sharing his home tank fertilization routine. I took this dosing routine and adjusted it to my tanks dimensions, plant density and tap water parameters. Indeed, like MJ says I can confirm LEAN dosing leads to less/no algae, far less trimming and other maintenance and far, far more and more vibrant reds in the plants. Just keep doing your weekly 50% water changes. ua-cam.com/video/wtH44vCjW2Y/v-deo.html
+1
Thanks to your videos I learned a lot in a short time. Your explanation is very clear, without secrets and eager to help the aquarist. I spent months watching ADA and Green Aqua videos, but I could not find the solution to my algae problems, they think about it a lot and end up confusing. Instead, you are direct. Thank you very much keep going.
Great to hear!
I do not add any fertilizer to the tank. I have a sand substrate but it was an established tank when I added the plants, most of which I grew from bulbs. The fish waste seems to be enough to grow healthy plants. My plants have done great thus far. As to algae, I added 2 snails and within a week or so they were controlling the algae and I had no more algae bloom issues. I opted to not add an anti-algae agent as I did not want to take the chance with my plant health. I think snails have gotten a bad wrap for whatever reason but in my case they have been amazing. I call them our little vacuum cleaners.
You've got really elegant, beautiful tanks. I'm getting ready to try my first tank and your videos have been great for learning. Thank you for making them
I switched to a lean version of Filipe Oliveira’s Seachem regiment. It’s helped a ton getting my BBA under control. He also recommended dosing most of the nutrients through tabs.
As a subscriber, I like almost all of your videos. They are rich in content and stay focused on the topic. In the future, I would like to hear more about your experience working with moss. Your moss work really stands out among all the great tanks I've seen online.
There's another moss scape coming soon! Will go more into detail about how I work with moss
I know ! That fissidens is gorgeous. So health and so we’ll manicured.
You might also try dimming down your lights! A lot of our LEDs emit way more light than is necessary, especially for smaller or shallower tanks.
Talking about nutrient rich soil, what are your thoughts about using dirt as substrate?
I honestly have never tried this, but I'm planning to give it a go this year!
@@MJAquascaping Yeah it would be interesting to see what you can accomplish using dirt. 👍
Some soils have lots of tanins in them which may require a lot of carbon at first to get rid of. I use soil for growing taro and the water is deep brown. Very different setups and basically no filtration but the water is crazy brown from the tanins
@@nyimakgan no sorry, they need to sprout their leaves out of the water. The root needs to be a few inches under the water. They like really low flow, and high light.
you should do a video feeding your tank... with some soothing videos of the tank... watching fish and shrimps eat sometimes can be very relaxing....
7:10 the Tank is every time nice to see its so beautiful ☺️
We have the same experience that fertilizer are help by the Problem with algea too it is important that the plants becomes the things that they need 😊
Have a nice Day!
Thanks for more this video, with valuable information. Here, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I have one more detail to consider: Water temperature. I've had a lot of problems with algae, but when I started cycling my tanks for about 50 or 60 days, with no substrate, no light, and adding a small amount of fertile substrate, only in the places where the plants would be, I had no more problems. with algae. The very few that exist, the cleaning team finds a way to eliminate them. (8 Otocinclus, and 16 Paraotocinclus). Glasses and plants are always clean. Once again, thanks for your videos.
Definitely a video on how to grow red plants please 🙏
I've been struggling with GDA. I'm not new to this hobby. Started with pmdd then EI. Quit the hobby for few years now getting back to it but struggling with algae again. You just opened my eyes. I will need to look into this lean dosing method.
Yes, please.
It would be great a video about red plants care.
There can be lean dosing only if you know what is the nutrient consumption of your tank compared to the quantity you are putting in the tank. Otherwise you are just fertilizing randomly or overdosing systematically.
Your tanks are so colourful!
P.s. Do you have tips for keeping mosses in low tech?
For me moss does quite well in low tech, but I do suggest to keep it in a spot with decent light. Moss really does not like low light conditions
Thanks!
Thanks for your video. Very interesting. And yes please make a video on growing red plants 😃
Noted!
I've been doing this for years now and the main thing I found to be the contributing factor to excess algae was nitrogen. If you can get your test kit to read pretty much 0 nitrogen in the water column I found that anubias, rocks, and other hard scape and plants would have 0 GSA on the leaves. In most cases leaves would actually recover as soon as I leaned my nitrogen out and they would suddenly be clean again. Nice videos by the way. Great to watch.
nice topic. i think this has sense because i observed that when i used Seachem Flourish and Api Leafzone, i used it once daily, algae started to bloom. Now i will try to completely eliminate these fertlizers to see the effect.... thanx for the video...
Just discovered your channel. Kept aquariums for over 50 years but have always had problems with planted tanks. Thanks for your vid’s.
My friend has a new set up and the algae started growing all she does is buy the Chinese algae eaters like six of them and within a few days all the algae is cleaned.
Trying to take easy shortcuts when feeding tanks is giving an open invite to bacteria in tanks and its called fertilizer for a good reason it fertilizers everything in the body of water including unwanted algae.
Thank you for chapters ❤️
SO good as usual. Always learn a lot; need to put into practice and get myself some more root tabs. I would like that video on growing red plants, please.
Noted!
I just started aqua scapeing recently I watch all your videos...and I enjoy every minute.....I have 2 planted tanks.....a 10 gallon...the 10 gallon lamp I'm using is a twin star 450 sa......I wanted the chihiros 45 cm but Amazon was sold out..now they have a new stock in...in the 10 gal I have java moss, java fern,crypt Wendi,mini words,and Asian fern,and just added rotela which I like a lot.I use api liquid ferts half required dose weekly and root tabs...its growing well I have baby's on every kind of plant in the tank....second tank I have shrimp only and its a 6.6 gallon planted...there's blue orange and red shrimp in the their.......the 10 gallon has a hob style filter and the shrimp tank has a sponge filter also the 10 gallon is set to 78 degrees the 6 gallon is set to 73...I'm running o2 on the 10 with light timers on both.
Plants are growing fine in both but my question here is why? Are the plants in the shrimp tank doing better....the weird thing here the shrimp tank I bearly use any if all ferts....and no co2 and the plants are absolutely stunning......... I'm wondering if the 73 degree lower temp and using a sponge filter is making a huge difference.....
I guess the shrimp tank is more established.
I have to point out your unbelievable tanks.
They are one my favorite fishtanks ive ever seen.
Yes please, would like to see a video focussing on getting the color out of red plants.
YEEESSSS for the red plant video
I'm not struggling with algae but im happy to see that some one else has a similar thought lol I've been doing this method for a very long time and with super deep substrates
Hell YES you should make a dedicated video about how to grow red plants. Thank you! 😄😄😄
Will do!
Great video, again learned a lot. Video on vibrant red plants would be great.
Noted!
Love the way you talk, reminds me of Niki Lauda from the movie Rush 😀. Btw, this is a very informative video 👍
That's funny 😁
YES FOR THE RED PLANTS
make a video on how to grow red plants
Co2 and HELLA light
I'm definitely going to try this lean dosing method. Yes to a video about growing healthy red plants! In my red plants I always see holes appearing. Maybe you could talk about the causes and solutions for these holes.
Great information, very helpful. Thanks :)
great video and info, thanks man
I need to know here you get the red floater plants!!!
Why it took me so long to find your channel?! This is game changer.
I have a heavily planted low tech tank which is generously stocked. I don't dose ferts at all. I do a 50% water change a week and have a 8 hour photo period with a fluval plant 3.0 light. No algae at all for me and all plants look very healthy🙂 And that's with a plain sand substrate, no aquasoil, no root tabs no nothing. Fish food and waste literally maintain the nutrients in the water column.
My tanks are dirted low tech setup not the prettiest but never had algae issues and i like the way it looks im satisfied with what i have. never had to dose liquid ferts only osmocote root tabs.
Hello from Denmark. One method I use for the dreaded black beard algae on rocks hard scape or plants like Anubis is to lower the water level or remove items from the tank and brush them with liquid carbon . Dosing liquid carbon can cause melting on some softer leaf plants so by brushing you limit the amount of liquid carbon in the tank and it will kill the algae in a couple of days. This also works on all types of algae
By the way great Videos and your tanks look great
Red plant growth in low tech systems please 🙏🏻
difficult
Ludwigia sp. mini super red
@@myna0814 absolutely.. But if I'm asked what I'd like.... 😂....
@@MJAquascaping even if it's just a small but specific part of a larger video for us low tank people that place greater emphasis on the community fish (rather than the true scrapers) ... but like that splash of red to cut through all those beautiful green tones and textures.
💚❤️💚
Walstad method helps. Or find good root tabs and lights
Well, I don't use any fertilisers at all, and I still have quite a bit of algae. All the nutriets Come from fish food and from water changes. I am forced to rely on nerite snails to help me with algae. Gourami and swordtails also help a bit. They all don't solve the problem completely, but they reduce it.
these tanks are BEAUTIFUL. thanks for sharing.
SAEs destroy BBA, Hair Aglae and Red Algae. That said you can still does with liquid fertilizer if you add plants the pull more nutrients from the water (Anacharis, Hornwort, Cobomga, etc.) column although, those plants aren't really Aquascaping popular.
Yes please! A video on red plants. I just today ordered red root floaters, thank you for the suggestion :-) PS. Your tanks always amaze me and I learn so much from your techniques. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with all of us :-)
Coming soon!
Very informative and helpful video. Yes you should do a tutorial on now to grow red plants in a low tech setup
Really struggling now in a lotech nano (5gal) tank with brown algae (which I am ok with in a 5 week setup), but my epiphites were really struggling too. My light wasn't rated well for live plants, so I did upgrade it. I had good aquarium soil, but that wasn't helping the plants feeding from the water column (even the java moss was struggling). So I did add one dose of liquid fertilizer. BAM! Staghorn algae everywhere.
What's really crazy is my 2.5gal thrown together setup is PERFECT. Happy plants, minimal algae. Both tanks use the same good well water, moderately hard. Starting to remember my days of African cichlids and no plants with some nostalgia. 😂
5:59 apt is the best fert.. quite famous in Malaysia
Hello, yes we need a red plants video plz ! But that we need more is a video on your timer/doser ^^ Cya !
Hi, are you Dutch? I am and I think I hear a Dutch accent. Just discovered your channel and subscribed immediately. Like the info👍!
I struggle with my plants all the time. Even after buying a CO2 set. My bb algae has stopped since using it, but my plants just don't thrive. They do well for a while, but new growth doesn't and the plants turn brown. The green colour just goes away. I don't know why. I keep my nitrate at around 10 and phosphate at 1, iron between 0.25-0.50. I supplement pottasium according to the information on the bottle. I use root tabs. I don't use aquasoil anymore. I really didn't like the mess it gave when I took out plants and replanted them. It's black dust everywhere.! My PH is 7.1, KH 10 and GH 6. I have a Fluval Flex 34 litres with the standard led lights. What could be the problem? I always chose easy plants. Do you have any idea?
I look forward to seeing all your videos 🤗.
Hey! Yep Dutch indeed! Thanks for the sub 😊 I read your story and it seems like you are doing everything right, so I'm not sure what the problem is. The only thing I can think of right now is that the standard LED light of the Fluval is just not enough to grow healthy plants. But then again I have seen some decent planted Fluvals in the past.
Even though we are both Dutch, I'll answer in English so everyone can understand it. Thanks for taking the time to answer👍. It's a pity you don't know a solution. I thought about the lights too, bus as you say there are Fluval tanks with decent plants so it should be possible 🤷🏻♀️.
Very informative ad well structured video as always. Thanks, mate.
My pleasure!
YES! Please do one for red plants... my red plants are PINK instead of red.... =(
I love your scapes, they're beautiful!
In addition to what you said - if that's not sufficient, test your tap water, people! My tap is cursed, gives me cyanobacteria without fail XD
Yes please! A video about growing red plants! I love your videos!
Please describe how less chlorophyll leads to more red color.as I have a concept that plants grow red when they feel that there is no need for further photosynthesis.
Yes...make a video about growing red plants Ive heard luwiga ruby red don't require co2 but can help it
May I know do you dose fertilizer when you start up a new tank?
I read somewhere that you shouldn't because the substrate release a lot of ammonia at early stages and that will spike your algae growth. I also learned from experience lol
@@j.ricardo5256Thanks for your answer sir. I heard some argue that dosing fertiliser at the early stage promote plant growth to fight off algae which make me very confused.
In a new tank I would either not dose anything at all during the first 3-4 weeks, or only dose a little potassium and trace elements.
I think the key here is the substrate, I used Neo Soil Shrimp for my shrimp tank, and only added half cup of monte carlo on 30 cubes, and in 3 months the monte goes crazy with 0 liquid fertilization (It's shrimp tank) and my Rotala H'ra is really compact but not red, because of rare water change, 1-2 months once (again it's shrimp tank so frequent water change is not necessary)
Yep the neo soil is great stuff
If aquatic plants are anything like land plants then low phosphorus leads to the anthocyanin production, not low nitrogen.
Perfect video
Most beautiful aquariums I have ever seen
Defently vid on red plants 😁, also sounds great lean dosing but how would you know how much to dose ?
You could measure and go for these values
K 20-24 ppm
NO3 1.5-6 ppm
PO4 1-4 ppm
Personally i just like to experiment a little and watch my plants. They will tell me if they are lacking something or not.
Hi, how do you limit/reduce the Nitrate in your aquarium (water column)... could we request you to do a dedicated video about this topic? "Limiting Nitrate to encourage redness from aquatic plants". Thanks a lot.
I’m gonna try this method! I’m having the same issue! Healthy beautiful plants but still some algae here and there. How will epiphyte plants do with the method?
In my experience they do just fine! In general most epiphytes are already slow growing, so they don't need a lot of nutrients anyway.
Yes! Make the red plant video.
Your tank are very beautiful! I do have algae problems so I will be doing more research into this method. Thank you.
Good to see people dosing their aquarium the right way.
Don’t use liquid fertilizer, never had, just substrate made for live plants, and thats it. But I’ve still had issues with green spot algae and hair algae for years, it’s not near a window or anything, so I don’t know 🤷♀️
I assume all of the tanks in video have CO2 set ups? Beautiful tanks
The very best way to increase the fertility of soil is to use rich, loamy soil full of humus.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us! Quick question, how often do you add nutriment tabs to the substrate? cheers!
I will usually add new tabs every 6 months
@@MJAquascaping thank you !
Where is everybody getting their red plants? I keep seeing these gorgeous, feathery red plants, but i cant find them in stores or on Amazon.
Merci, il y a de bonnes idées. Le problème pour les algues c'est que certains suivent les recommandations des fabricants d'engrais qui donnent les doses à administrer par semaine. Or les plantes ne pourront pas tout consommer en 2 ou 3 jours et l'excès sera pŕofitable aux algues. C'était ce que je faisais avant. Maintenant je fractionne l'engrais. C'est à dire que je divise la quantité recommandée par 7 , et donc je verse tous les jours 1/7 de dose. Les plantes absorbent tout dans la journée et il ne reste pratiquement rien pour les algues (et je n'utilise pas d'engrais dans le sable). Et depuis que je fais cela je n'ai plus de problèmes. Pour moi, l'aquariophilie n'est pas une science exacte, ce qui explique que ce qui marche pour l'un ne marchera pour un autre. Chacun doit tester ce qui est le mieux pour lui, en s'aidant des recommandations qui fonctionnent bien pour d'autres. C'est pourquoi cette vidéo est intéressante et peut aider certains.
very interesting I knew one can the skinny method know what I'm trying right now I'm reducing my fertilizer by half right now and I make it look like a market more seaweed and plants grow better you enriched my video again with its beautiful thanks and you have a beautiful tank - 👍👋🇫🇷
I suppose it can’t do to much harm to go from everyday to every other day dosing. And save some money in the long run 👍👍👍
How is lean dosing beneficial to anubias? They don't feed from the substrate.
Anubias don't need a lot of nutrients to begin with, so in general they are okay with the small amount of nutrients coming from the lean dosing regime
Great video. I CANNOT wait to start making these changes to prevent getting algae again. Love your tanks man! Very inspiring
Hello Mark... really good information... currently my tank is suffering staghorn algea. Tank is one month old with hightech. I am treating it with easy-carbo double the recommended dose daily. Today is the fourthday. most of the Algea is now off-white. Please let me know how many days should I need to continue the dosing and when can I need to do the water change. Need your help urgently
If the staghorn is off-white I'm quite sure its dead, it should turn pinkish really soon. Pink = dead
love your explanation..
make a video on aquaspacing on a 25gallon tank if possible
2 mins into this video, and it was exactly what I said to my gf... Our algea issues went away when I stopped dosing liquid fertilizer everyday to once a week, and reduced the overall amount by a lot.
Best thing I ever did was use RODI water. Remineralise it. Set ph etc. Tanks now look amazing
Great advice here and yes I would like the video on how to get plants red, I have ludwigia palustrus that I got red thru and thru and now it's only green.
Seeing these beautiful tanks literally killed my ego. Idk what is going on. I’ve been scaping since 2019, not that long, but I buy don’t cheap out, I run high tech with all the proper gear. I am on top of my maintenance. Things were going great and now I’m battling algae in 2 scapes that I just can’t beat. I’m to the point where I’m going to throw in the towel and rescape. I’ve had algae here or there over the years, but this is relentless. 😢
Don't give up! Just focus on growing healthy plants, and try to find a good balance between light, CO2 and ferts
the one thing i have been looking for, thanks mate
In gardening we always do a half dose for fertilization so maybe that can help? I'm new AF so idk lol
I noticed that there's not a lot of fish in those aquariums, is that also a way to keep the algae down since they fertilise the water?
I found out string algae loves potassium. I will see what nutrient tabs do.
Now I'm considering lean dosing too. :)
awesome video -- i'm just starting over in this hobby and will be trying this method out to see.
Yes! Please make a video about red plants!
I'm new at this & still learning. I can't seem to be rid of algae. I've been cleaning & doing water changes every day. I only use liquid fertilizer once a week. Some plants have melted (micro swords & hydrocotyle japan). So, I'm going to try using less liquid fertilizer & see how that goes.
could be your light settings and flow.
Well, I'm doing a few things & hoping it'll help. I'm doing the lean dosing. I did lessened the intensity of the light. I've learned that my tank isn't heavily planted (I need to add more plants), & that to keep trimming the melted plants, which causes algae. I also need to get some fert tabs. The hardest thing is to get the algae off the plants. Once I can do that, it should be good. Any suggestions anyone? I also realized that I had the light on for way too long.
Your tanks look amazing btw!