Why your aquarium doesn’t look like the pristine aquarium you thought it would be.
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- čas přidán 17. 03. 2024
- This will kill all your plants! Why your aquarium doesn’t look like the pristine aquarium you thought it would be.
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The DRAMA between me and @MDFishTanks (Letting myself into the studio)
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This will kill all of your plants!
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This will kill all your plants! Why your aquarium doesn’t look like the pristine aquarium you thought it would be.
Hi there. Thanks for the shout out and also the compliments on my aquariums. Just so a you are aware because maybe you missed the joke in Matt's video, I don't have a team of people cleaning my aquariums (I wish 🤣) and only one of my tanks is run on c02 (my 8ft showpiece tank) currently in my studio. I've built probably 300 tanks over the past 5 years and had co2 on roughly 4 or 5 of them. And no i dont even start them on co2. As said above, in the past few months ive started a few with co2 which my viewers are always made aware of. But again, to clarify, 95% of the aquariums ive ever created dont run and never have run on co2.
Cost: Yes if you look at the sum of all the aquariums, it's a lot of money, but if you look at each build individually, you will see that 90% of my equipment is of a low to medium budget. I use companies that offer great value for money with full kit systems (Superfish which isn't available in the us yet). A 2ft tank, rimless low iron glass with light and filter included costs $177.
Plants: I now have the right contacts to be able to get whatever plants I want but for the first few years of making tanks, that wasn't the case. I had about $40 spare disposable income every 2 weeks so I had to learn how to grow them so that I could propagate them or reuse trimmings in other aquariums. Which of course I still do as I like to end a video with a finished look. I'm sure we can all agree that building an aquarium and the final result has some emersed grown plants as stumps at the bottom of the aquarium isn't very exciting or represent what the tank should look like in it's final form. Hence why I try to achieve a grown in look from day 1. This also massively helps with water quality and the initial phases of the aquarium and fish health.
Floating plants: I also use floating plants on nearly all of my aquarium. As you say, to reduce light, nutrient uptake and a more natural vibe.
It was only a few years ago I was buying just the glass, building my own stands (badly I might add until my skills improved) and fixing LED floodlights used for driveways to the tank, which work so well but not everyone wants to do their own wiring and making brackets out of wood for their tanks in their living spaces.
You are right. I want people to look at my tanks and think "I can do that". Because they 100% can. I know this because I've been to several shows in the US now and seen thousands of people who travelled very far and queued up for a long time have all showed their pictures on their phones and are very pleased with the results.
I've also learnt more recently in how pH can have a big role in how well certain plants can grow. My ph sits at 7.0, with a bit of bogwood and minimal water changes once the tank is settled (which is how i've always run my aquariums) it will settle at circa 6.8. I've found this to be optimal for growing plants. This is another reason I don't need to run co2 on my tanks. Of course when I do, the growth is turbocharged. Often way too fast for me and my team of cleaners to keep up with (again...that's a joke🤣).
I've also done research on using a Plenum as you suggest. It looks like a very viable and interesting way to do things. Your own results prove that as your plants and tanks look great. But surely that doesn't suggest my way is not viable or real in any way? And I say my way very loosely because it's not my way. People have been putting nutrients in a tank and capping for decades/half a century. One thing I do though is mix the nutrients with gravel and cap with sand. I don't even make it like 4 inches deep like some suggest. Just a couple of inches and seems to work well. I have no science to back up anything I do. I've just done the same thing now many many times, I document it and show the audience and say to give it a go.
A last note though. I have nearly 50 tanks which I look after on my own (my wife helps with glass scraping when needed and some top ups to the water level). This would not be possible unless I set them up in a way that they look after themselves. Which they do. I do maintenance on each one once every month or 2. Obviously I am a content creator so I change setups once every 9 months to a year. I used to do it more often but now I have more tanks, I don't need to do it as often. Whenever I refresh/rebuild a tank now, they are always completely healthy and growing plants great. I just fancy something new in the studio. I also view it as enrichment for the fish as they always start breeding behavior in a new setup and tons of exploring, territory ownership depending on the fish. Would I say my tanks and their setup style could last years and years? I couldnt say for sure as the maximum time Ive run an aquarium is 1 year 60 days. But that's enough for me. I'm still a hobbyist at the end of the day and love setting up tanks and getting fish I've not had before.
Thanks for taking the time to read 👍
Such a beautiful reply, MD, 🙏💖
I love your tanks and your channel (almost as much as Matt's lol). I found Dr Novak a couple years ago on CZcams and every tank I have is an anoxic undergravel system except my saltwater and that's only because of a couple digging fish. Your method of setting up tanks works extremely well obviously, but as you said, they don't stay long term just sure to changes you want to make. I hope (fingers crossed) you'd consider setting up one tank using anoxic principles and let it run. Maybe? They run great from day one, but do take a few months for the denitrifying bacteria to develop under the plates in the plenum area. Then they run even better. It would be a very cool experiment video that you can always get back to in six months, a year, two years. Plus you have plenty other tanks to break down and pay with hahaha. Either way, we live the content and any free time to see Matt is always a bonus! Much love and respect my friend
As a viewer from Portugal, that as seen MD since is little shed at home i have to agree with MD. He only uses CO2 in one or 2 tanks, and usually when the container ends, he prefers go to the pub then refeal that bottle 😂 it's his full-time job to take care of his gallery!
You are an oddball getting it to work as well as it does. Would take it to the next level with more measurements and a biologist who can figure out and explain your success scientifically!
2 of my 4' tanks are using the inexpensive flood lights you recommended. They work great. I bought cheap tank light holders so they can be mounted on the tank instead of from the ceiling. You can control them from an app on your phone and change rgb settings and brightness.
That was a friend of MD fish tanks. Fish Shop Matt. They’re friends and used to work with MD in his studio after he sold his fish store. He was being sarcastic. MD does not use Co2 on all his tanks. They are low tech for the most part. With Co2 on a few. He works the studio and his wife. He talks about his low maintenance approach in many of his videos. He does not have a team of folks work his maintenance. 😊
Big fan of your channel 😊
I appreciate the mention on your channel, but you need to watch past those first 2 minutes in, that part of the video was very much sarcasm!
The whole reason I say all those things is that is what MD fish tanks gets accused of all the time.
He doesn't have a team and he doesn't run C02 on every tank and if you watched more of the video you would see and hear all about that.
Anyway, much love! 💜💜💜
😂
Agreed,
He has shown begining algae steps in many tanks. He doesn't use c02 after 2-3 weeks. Doesn't have crew like Green Aqua has in staff. You might be confusing the two.
MD has mentioned numerous times he only has c02 running on 2-3 tanks. Matt was joking about the c02 at the bigging of that video. As far as tanks go. I think it all depends on which aspect of the hobby you are into. There are so many categories of tank styles now compared to what it used to be. I personally enjoy the Aquascaping aspect and having my hands in the tank daily with some music playing in the background while drinking some sort of adult beverage. Then sitting back and watching a large school of fish swim around the tank while trying to find where my all of my algae eaters are hiding. That is Zen to me.
Always good to hear from you Dr. Novak!
Missed your videos! Glad you’re back!
Great upload 👌
I'm sorry but I think you have the wrong end of the stick so to speak. Md and fish shop matt are having a giggle about having teams of cleaners a.d co2. They are just two lads having a laugh. You might be mistaken.
You need to watch the entirety of the MDFishtanks video. It stemmed from some folks thinking that MD and Matt had a falling out when they in fact didn't. You took some of it far too literally and as far as "anyone" knows it's just MD and his wife working on the tanks.
Great video
I really appreciate the time and effort put in to expanding our knowledge about our aquatic environments. I believe you may have only watched a couple minutes of MD's video, as you told us to do. If you had watched a little bit longer you would of quickly understood that it was an absolute joke (between friends) addressing the issue of comments that seem to parrot these same comments you just made. I would really hope you would watch and understand the entire video before you comment on somebody else's hard work. He show's algae, diatoms, cyano or bio film that grows on the hardwood and how he takes care of it. But yes he works on these tanks daily with the help of his wife and friend. It's a lot of work but thank goodness for him it's his actual job. I hope this oversight is a one off, I'm looking forward to learning more about anaerobic and/or low oxygen (anoxic environment) filtration.
Doc absolutely good one please make a complete series on nature aquarium 🙏🙏🙏
He does run co2 but like on one or 2 but none of the others, and he doesn't have cleaners come in . They where joking. I watch him all the time . Go back and rewatch.
G'day Dr Kevin, question, I have set up an aquarium as per your specs, a week now, and still cloudy, can I send some pictures. Long time user in Koi ponds.
Yes....these huge elaborate, lush tanks you see get more CO2 than they admit to....MD Fish Tanks got me into wanting to create my first planted tank.....
I did the thick substrate, but I put bags of Fluval Stratum right under the sand cap. Plants did start to show noticeable growth within a week.
I've been out of the hobby until the beginning of March, so just playing follow the parameters, and going very slowly.
Its a small tank so not sure I will do the CO2 with it, but definitely will be buying one for my next project.
I saw the video you are talking about...that was setup, even though what Matt said was the truth. Lol
Hi Dr Novack, I think you might have misunderstood the video from Fish shop matt if you watch the rest of the video 7mins to 9mins that they were making fun of a comment that was left on one of MD fish tanks videos and it is clarified there is no team cleaning the aquarium nor does every tank have co2 MD fish tanks comes into the video and talk abt it. Just wanted to alert you of this. Other than that I am soon buying a 20 gallon undergravel filter and trying out the anoxic filter with kitty litter and laterite very excited for the results!
Can always add a bunch of hornwort 😁
Can you also use clay mixed with soil or mud
Yep slow moving undergravel filter is the way. Im not a fan of the clay, i went with 1/16 to 1/8 grain size natural gravel aka red flint and it has a ton of naturally occurring iron and combined with the 1 " undergravel filter plates my tank finally took off after i got rid of the SafeTSorb...the SafeTSorb was leaching massive amounts of silica which creates diatom paradise and completely stops plant growth by covering everything...
The video you're referencing was just a joke on all the CO2 and maintenance crews with hi friend Matt lol.
I enjoy watching MD's videos and yes he takes his tanks down a resets them up to keep them looking pristine and even points out how much algae his tanks get before he resets them. So he's honest with how he runs his tanks.
He sometimes uses CO2 on new tanks to get them growing in faster, but mainly he uses lots of plants to make them look good from day one, whereas most people probably can't buy dozens of plants to fill in their tanks at the start like he does and he's honest about that fact.
I like how George Farmer explains why they use high energy and CO2 in all their tanks and do daily maintenance on theirs. You just can't get that look without putting in the work and money whether you're injecting CO2 or buying loads of high-quality plants at the start and resetting the tank constantly like MD does. But they are beautiful for the right person who can do all that. ❤
He does start off some of his tanks with co2 to help get the plants to grow in fast for a while and then when he runs out of the co2 he may just leave it off. He also uses floating plants in some of his tanks and so do I. He talks about not running your lights too strong and how sometimes you can increase the lighting once the plants fill in. I have seen him scrape algae many times off his aquarium glass.
Dr. Novak, I thought I heard you say in another video the gravel substrate should be 1-3mm diameter. What is the best size of gravel to use above the plenum? And what is too large size? I am worried the gravel I used in one tank was too large as it is a mixed size between 3-11mm. I am thinking the smaller size gives you more surface area for bacteria to colonize. Is this correct?
I would say when gravel starts getting the size of P gravel it's just too large and will not work. Most of your smaller gravels if you're going to use gravel will work just fine.
No he dont run co2 in every tank matt was joking he only runs co2 in his new big tank
Please could u do an update on ur big community tank, must be 3 yrs
The big tank is now over four years old. My next video will be showing more of the big tank and the plant growth that's been in there for over four years. Yes you read that right the same plants that start at the tank out for years ago are still alive today..
Regarding the video by FishShopMatt, if you watch the video past a few minutes you see that he was joking about having CO2 in all tanks and having an entire crew working on his tanks, it's just MD and his wife working on his tanks. Matt used to help until he went off to make his own CZcams channel.
Not to defend anyone but you should watch more of the videos. MD has made videos talking about how his tanks do have algae, but its little and you can't see it from far, and he did close ups and showed the algae.
I don't really watch very many of his videos at all. But what I have seen is that it doesn't seem like any of his aquariums have algae. But several people have pointed out to me that that is not so and his aquariums do have algae problems. I have not seen it myself, but enough people have told me the opposite, so I will not question their ability to pick out things more than I have, because I am not an avid watcher of his channel.
I've tried, and I have an interest in some of the topics you bring up, but I'm not able to gain anything from your delivery method other than all other You Tubers are lying.
Best wishes and good luck with your future endeavors. 😊
Still cant find a kitty litter on Romania..
Please correct me if I am wrong but I believe I read a responce to your comments from MD fish tanks in your comments. It appears that that well worded and ballanced response has disappeared and wondered how that could have happened. Is it a retra tion from MD, a deletion by you or am i just mistaken where i read it?
I did get a response by MD fishtanks and yes, I posted it so all could read it. But if it is gone, then they pulled it not me. You see all comments that come into my CZcams videos get held for review. After I read them, I post them if they disappear then it is not me that deleted them. It was somebody else or it was the person who posted it in the first place. So no, you're not wrong it was posted, but they must have taken it down.
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I haven't taken anything down...Im guessing I've been blocked which seems very strange?
I dont care about mine looking pristine. For my first planted tank, Im letting it grow as it should. Wild. Stable parameters are much more important to me. They are for it being in the middle of the nitrogen process. My plants have done what they were created to do.....Ive enjoyed no ammonia reading, no nitrites or nitrates, all the while watching my plants grow like weeds with no CO2. Ive never seen such balance at this point in an aquariums life. I still check parameters 2x per day, ammonia and nitrites 3xs.
MD himself replied here yesterday. Did you remove his response??
Somebody else asked me the same question and no I did not remove their post. They must have removed it themselves not me. I must say for myself 99% of the videos I watch I never leave a comment. Maybe he felt after he made the comment that he should pull his and do the same. But I really don't know.
On the md channel he says he doesn't use co2 but his plants look pristine so I guess he does, do like his videos and the tanks he does. It's a hobby that takes up alot of time and isn't cheap either but I do get enjoyment from it. I'm pretty new to it all and picky stuff up along the way some things work and some don't which I've learnt the hard way
It's funny, if you watch the video, he says right out that every tank uses CO2.
Maybe it's a older video that I haven't seen
@@silver_fox4040he's referring to the opening of the video about the "drama" between Fish Shop Matt & MD fish tanks on Fish Shop Matts channel (spoiler there is no drama it's a response to the online speculation of there being drama).
In the opening of that video Matt goes around the studio saying how MD has co2 on every tank, he has a team of workers etc. This was a joke/sarcasm and was making fun of the fact that's what people accuse him of.
If you watch more then the first minute it's obvious this is what he was doing.
He has used co2 to jump start some tanks, like when he wanted plants to grow faster for example when he wants to make a carpet as he's impatient to wait and on those tank builds he's been very open about using co2 on those particular tanks.
He gets good plant growth because for the most part he uses good lights, like the superfish scaper lights (they aren't the highest end lights but they are good) as well as regularly fertilising the tank in addition to his substrate choices (which he's very open about).
And keep in mind when he has older lights/not as good lights on aquariums those aquariums are put in positions that also get natural sunlight from the windows (I don't know if that's intentional or just happened to work that way).
If you look back on the videos from the previous studio, where he mainly just used relatively cheap lights/non fish tank or plant lights, Vs the videos in the current studio which is when he started using better lighting on most of his tanks there is a significant difference in how fast the plants grow/how often he's having to trim them.
I know plenty of people who have the same results as him with their tanks without using co2 just good lighting and nutrients even from before he got popular, I could be wrong but co2 doesn't appear to be as commonly used by people in the UK (apart from more serious scapers) when compared to America, Mainland Europe & East Asia.
Even my little tank I've noticed a massive change in plant growth/duplication since switching over to a Superfish Scaper LED and the only thing that changed was the light. My Echinodorus which previously had just been living but not really growing have since gone insane and have gone from 2 individual plants (which they had been for the previous 3yr) to now what is currently 7 individual plants, they've made a total of 16 new individual plants but I've been removing them as they at one point fully took over the tank. And I only added the new light in January this year.
Everything else has stayed the same. No changes to the substrate etc.
But so yeah even in my 1 current tank (I used to have a fish room but everything was just kept simple as I focused on breeding fish rather than the appearance of the tank) I've seen the quality of those lights, obviously there are better lights my point is they are still decent lights and honestly don't find anything with MDs tanks.... Fishy....
Forgot to add he also doesn't have a team of people.
It was him & his wife, then him & Matt and now back to being him & his wife.
He's been very open about how he doesn't like the tedious maintenance, like cleaning algae off the front glass and keeping the plants in check. If you look back at his videos before his wife got involved a lot of his tanks after some time would become very overgrown, which he's been very open about at that time too.
So his wife started coming with helping clean algae off the front glass, trimming plants and keeping the equipment/studio organised.
He'll also show when algae is growing on the front glass, like if you can't see it front on will turn the angle so you're looking through the side to allow you to see the algae on the front clearer.
All in all I'd say he's been very open about how he runs things. Again the video this gentleman is using as evidence that MD is hiding stuff is straight away obviously sarcasm from the tone, to a British person at least, but again if you watch past the first few minutes it is made clear that this is a joke incase you didn't pick up on the sarcasm.
Will add, as I've seen people say things about how he has his wife do the tedious work.
I don't see what's the problem if she wants to do it she can (no one knows the details of their marriage and it's no one's business).
All that I will say is she probably enjoys it or at least doesn't mind it as she seems to be a home body at least that's the impression I have.
One of my ex's was a home body and when I had my fish breeding room I hardly bothered cleaning the front glass, I'd only do it if I was struggling to see inside, as there wasn't a major need too (doesn't hurt the fish and my hobby was breeding them not making aqua scapes).
Same for my snake & Amphibian room I didn't bother cleaning the glass regularly only if it got too dirty it bothered even me 😅
After she asked me if she was allowed to she started going into the fish room & Amphibian room 2-3 times a week to clean the glass, organise equipment etc as it would annoy her if the glass or rooms wasn't pristine as she was very tidy/organised 😅
And at least once a week she'd get me to clean the glass on the cages that she wasn't allowed to open, like very fast/nervous frogs and a couple cages with some venomous snakes in.
Point is she chose to do it, I never asked her too, and she wasn't even an animal person (she didn't dislike animals but just wasn't interested in them).
Wouldn't be surprised if his wife is similar in that sense.
Kevin, have you seen the outdoor cichlid and koi ponds in Brasil? Not a speck of algae under full sun and with high nutrients. They also use deep white sand beds with no plenum. I'm talking absolutely crystal clear. Their secret? OZONE
Minute 13:06
😂😂😂😂
I have a deep walstad substrate of abput 3" top soil and 3" sand, you can see the roots going crazy right through it and the plants are thriving. 🤷 Also, MD has a lot of tanks without co2 and I'd like to see where he says he has a maintinence team! Lol. I'm not sure you've got the right man. His wife and Fish Shop Matt helps him sometimes.
Did you even bother watching the video?
@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I didn't need to. The many other comments, including one from MD himself confirm what I said, sorry chap! I do like your content btw.
ThAts true it happend
Good morning from Ireland. I am more and more confused...
I have been watching MD Fish Tanks for a long while now and he does show algae in his tanks and mistakes he does. Most of his tanks do not stay up long term. He breaks them down and and does a new scape. Many aquascapes do the same. He does NOT run co2 on all his tanks, nor does he have a crew of people helping him. It looks like you only watched the first minute of that video.
I have planted aquariums with out co2 and they are full of plants growing well. But I do use fertilizer and so does MD Fish Tanks in some of his tanks. I am using an undergravel plate in my planted tanks as a peleum.
A Defense of Undergravel Filters - CZcams - czcams.com/video/MnQgsUumJzw/video.html
I've seen his videos they're very sophisticated. He always wears a suit and tie. Thank you for the updated information.
Matt used to work with MD Fish Tanks before going on with his own channel. Everything Matt is saying about the CO2, cleaning crew, etc. is just a joke. He only uses CO2 on a couple of tanks. The cleaning crew is occasionally his wife but mostly him. He explains all this in the video.
If you watch the whole MD video you will find that the comments about CO2 and army of cleaners are both 'tongue in cheek' that is they are a joke. The person who enters the studio is his friend Matt, you have missed the point completely, maybe the British humour.
All media was washed.
I don't want to seem offensive or anything like that. But I think you should watch more than a few minutes of the videos hahaha. You fell for M.D's sarcasm, he rarely uses CO2 in his aquariums and the cleaning team was just a joke hahahaha
I think maybe you shut off the video a little early on Matt telling everyone Marc from MD Fish runs CO2 and has people to do all the work in the tanks. They were being sarcastic in the intro to this video. Matt literally has a key to the studio because he recently worked there and is still best friends with MD. I've followed them both for a long time and they have that sense of humor. MD has so many followers, his CZcams money is substantial and he receives a ton of product from sponsors. Tropica plants, API, various filters, tanks, lights, etc.
So far as tank maintenance, Marc does all with the help of his wife Kate who generally shies away from camera. And he does run CO2, but on very few tanks. He has another video talking specifically about his CO2 use. He just doesn't run too many because that's just too many systems, bottles, and hassle.
Watching them is fun for me, but I've also seen their videos over the past couple years and understand their background and sense of humor.
👉 Promo>SM
I do believe you bought in to a spoof video that MD and Matt made to get rid of rumors about their r brake up. he says the clean up crew is MD's wife. also if you watch all his videos he says most of his tanks have no co2. He gets his money API his sponsor and youtube earnings.
He’s actually correct! Guys let’s be honest you really think he doesn’t CO2 the tanks. One thing is what MD does and the other is what he says. It doesn’t take a genius to know the maintenance that MD does, I have no doubt in my mind he uses CO2 on all his tanks. I have shown some of his videos and tanks to biologist professors and they all say the Samething (CO2). Also MD said he does have a group of people that do the maintenance. Besides everything I said MD is a beast at aquascaping. YES he is deceiving people by saying the regular aquarist can do it too. Respect Doctor nothing but respect for this video.
MDFishTanks was good when he started off now hes just so fake i dont watch him anymore
MD Fishtanks uses C02 at the start for 1st 30 days then removed it.
Except with largest tank
czcams.com/video/DXbSSYriLVI/video.htmlsi=EM4p2MmaUEDqvmtt
I heard this from more than one person and some of the comments I have deleted of people who have maybe what I consider badmouth MD fish tanks. This trick of giving CO2 to your plants in early set up helps them get a jumpstart. Once they get started and get to the size you want them then you pull the CO2 so they don't outgrow the fish tank. Makes sense doesn't it? This is a trick people use to accelerate the growth of the plants so they can take them to market and sell them. There's nothing wrong with it it's just that a lot of people don't know that you can do it. You can also buy adding carbonated water with CO2 do the same thing in the tanks early stages of shut up. You can buy a six pack of carbonated water at any local grocery store.