I live in South Africa, and i only use the dirted method. My plants do extremely well. I could spend a lot of money and buy Aqua soil, but i don't like the look of it. I crush clay pots to almost a powder and add that to my dirt layer. Plants love clay! I totally disagree with the method of not feeding your fish. Why deprive them of decent, quality food? Just feed once a day and not overdo it . I do follow Father Fish,but i have 50 years of fish keeping experience, and my own methods are perfect in my opinion.
The issue of 'not feeding the fish', this concept only applies to aquariums that have their own natural food supply network established, that is, the aquarium itself produces its own food through its ecosystem. Obviously this does not apply to artificial aquariums, or other tanks that are not configured in this way. Despite everything, even so, 'FatherFish' says in one of his videos that Yes, he usually feeds his fish, once a month, or every 15 days... One thing does not exclude the other...
I only ușe sand for substrate. I could even go without anything, because plants just extract the nutrients from the water. I keep my plants in plastic cups, so i can move them easily.
Father Fish was the first YTber that I saw about creating a natural tank. I set up 4 tanks in the ff method and they're small tanks. One 2.5g, two 12g, and one 5.5g. Since they got established, they require minimal maintenance and have thrived wonderfully. Ive had them for 2 years now, and i only do a 15% water change ever 6 to 8 months now. They have endlers, and one has neon tetra. So i prefer FF method. I also have been able to sell some plants since they grow so fast.
Father Fish lives in Maryland now. Moved from Florida a couple of years ago after he closed his shop. Looks like he has started another shop in a warehouse area.
Good information, very unbiased. I agree, as a fishkeeper with many years experience, one can use snippets of information across the board, for whatever suits you. All about experimentation.
My first tank was result of snippets of information and the result was an absolute abomination😂During that time i was stuck between father fish method and the aquasoil-carbon-filter method so I literally combined both (with dry start method for carpeting plants) which all failed miserably. I stuck with FF's method because I love a Natural looking aquarium. At the end of the day whether its one, the other, or both at once, its all about what works best for your own personal preference.
My only problem with FF method is that he promote it as beginners friendly and 5yrs old could do it😂 There are a hundred of thing that could go south real quick and ruin the experience big time for newbie. Yes the tank is suitable for the beginner after it is correctly set up but the set up itself isn't beginners friendly.
I don't like when people tell me how you should do things. Father fish tells people, "This is THE way", or the impression that you shouldn't do it any other way. I like the high-tech look. You can't get the high-tech look with the "father fish method."
Father fish has his way, he needs to learn to accept other successful fish keepers do perfectly well using other methods. Modern day tech has transformed the aquarium hobby and is way in advance of old school even though many principles have to be retained.
Going on 2 years now with my 75 gallon planted tank inspired by your methods. And using your substrate additive was a great choice. thank you for all the dedication and wisdom you have shared to this hobby and lifestyle. I about fell over when you subscribed to my channel and commented on my tank and the wonderful compliments you gave me. It was the confident boost I needed to assure me that I fully understood your way of doing things. God bless and thank you again for everything you do.
I think the deep dirted substrate is the best way in my opinion in fish keeping. My plants are thriving and also my fish. They spawn on a regular basis and I keep microfauna as well. I just started culturing green water for my daphnia. All this information i learned from father fish.
Father Fish is more interested in making money on social media. Doesn’t matter if it’s good content or misinformation … as long as you click on the video and you interact is all that matters to FF
His methods won't work with my preferred fishes. Medium-large predatory fish that are messy eaters. Piranhas, wolf fish, etc.. Maybe if I only keep a few small tetras it can work.
As I understand it, using a good dollop of outdoor pond muck or garden soil in your soil mix will instantly cycle your tank. The fish feed the cycle, and after a week, you can add microfauna to the mix to both feed the fish and clean up after them. That sequence makes a lot of sense and has worked so far for me
I like to explain that fish live in rivers and also in lakes. Aquarium keepers can follow the river system of lots of regular waterchanging. The lake system style of aquarium keeping is less water changing. This can mean lots of differences from one extreme of river style fish keeping to the other extreme of lake style fish keeping. Typically growing plants is easier in lake style fish keeping because the aquariums will have more nutrients in the water that plants will uptake and consume.
Lakes actually have a lot of water changes, there is usually a source and and outflow, either rivers, ground water etc. Not many people are often aware of this, so they are constantly water changing not just from rain and evaporation. Lakes also have quite complex limnology and are very varied which also effects their productivity. Unlike many of these minimal water change setups they are also like most freshwater very oligotrophic unless polluted. There are exceptions such as the soda lakes, this is more along the lines of what people are replicating with the minimal water changes, over time these lakes have become extremely alkaline resulting in maybe a few cichlids surviving but no other fishes.
@@FreshwaterIchthyology totally correct of course. For the purpose of an easily understood analogy, rivers with constant running water vs lakes with "still" water, helps to explain to novices why there is so much difference in the advice people hear or read about how to maintain an aquarium, often regarding water changing. In truth all water bodies experience variable water inflows and outflows over seasons and time.
@@FreshwaterIchthyologythank you again Rebecca for this types of comment. My problem is that the extreme want to call this method. I am all for the dirted tank and many plants. I have a issue with the no eater change, no filtration, no air. You can not take a good idea and twisted to an extreme and then get upset when people call you out on it. And if you want to do “sensational thumb nails “ to grow is cool, but to a point misinformation is being projected . Cant call a closed system natural and all real natural bodies have water exchanges. Even those than seem stagnant. Fish will adopt and remain is shallow nasty pool until until a water change comes, rain, flood . That is natural. We can try and do what works for us and your fish , not to push an extreme , on either side. Thank you
@@josepolanco1228 I agree, although I do have a slight issue with the generalization of 'dirt', even in horticulture we know the diversity of soil types and what makes them up. It's just a basic in horticulture that people learn from the first day. I just have house plants but my whole family is into different aspects of horticulture so it was a basic for me. There are also soil types which are quite limiting on growth so telling someone to go out and collect their own is a bit risky. Pesticides and chemicals can be everywhere, who knows if that patch of soil has had something thrown on it. Then Walstad promoting house plant soils which are also extremely diverse even the general ones. I guess top soil is probably the safest as generally the lowest in nutrients, doesn't seem to be much diversity in it but it compacts really easily as well if not turned over. It's all one extreme and people are taking it to that extreme. There really isn't much science used either excluding the fact recirculating systems are used in aquaculture, for fishes that wont be kept for long and aren't meant to live long or breed. These systems aren't even used for the fishes we keep as well unless someone has a tilapia, carp or Ictalurid. People aren't understanding how much flow goes through a lake. The amount of movement in the lakes with a good amount of diversity can be considerable. Some of this movement might be under the surface like in the Rift Valley. At the end of the big issue is that the lack of water changes effects fish welfare, the lack of filtration etc. Some fishes will adapt but there is a reason these water bodies lack much diversity. Those that have been that way for hundreds of years might have one cichlid species whereas the artificial ones have the most adaptable species such as carp. It's not natural and the only thing it replicates is anthropogenic ponds, it bugs me when people sell any of these setups as natural. Because these setups are as natural as a planted tank and also forget the wide diversity and majority of freshwater ecosystems that lack plants because of how rivers or even lakes function are quite hostile to macrophytic plants. A tank bare of plants is equally as natural or can be more natural depending on the fishes. There is a lot of generalization of freshwater ecosystems and a misunderstanding. I frequently encounter people who can't believe there are many ecosystems without wood or even leaf litter because that's what their sold as biotope but that's how rivers and lakes can function. Certain conditions foster certain characteristics but only the most hostile lack flow or an inflow and outflow.
@ thank you again for your knowledgeable responses all the people a a bullhorn spreading the idea of “ natural” and taking a “good “ idea to extremes. Many of us as fishkeepers are as unique as are the aquariums we keep. We need to use common sense and use a little more science or common sence and understand that these “ extreme “ systems are far from natural when applied to the extreme. Seen many that keep “natural” dirted tanks, but do water change , aeration and filtration. I am cool with that. Thank you I enjoy your well thought out science and fact base responses
About 40 years I had a fish tank when I was living in Los Angeles. I decided to go with African cichlids because they were such a hearty fish. After my tank was established I only did a 1/3 water change about maybe every month maybe even 2 months. When you get it right it's not that hard. No plans just rocks and fish.
Thanks, Droeks. My feeling is that as long as you can keep the ecosystem balanced and your water parameters in line, your fish will be happy and healthy. As you've stated, the use of root plants is vital. This debate seems to be something like the iOS/Android debate - very keen followers on either side with folks very keen to prove their perspective to be correct! Too much energy is spent by too many people all trying to be right! Let's keep the focus on keeping our tanks healthy using whatever method you prefer! Thank you for laying out the debate in such an easy to understand way.
I got into this hobby, like you, with a dirted tank. It's the only way I did it for a couple of years until it annoyed me to break them down. Cory personally has never been my source of knowledge even though I like him, for the most part. My problems with Father Fish is the reaction to his advice from people being like "this guy's old, he must know what he's talking about." I think once again, honestly, it comes down to the fact that this hobby is stagnant in some areas, highly dependent on individual experience and folk wisdom. And then the need for content can drive circular conversations I also come down on the side that all of this is unnatural, no matter which way you keep tanks. None of these fish or plants exist like this naturally and it's taken a healthy amount of science, trial and error to even get to where we are today. So I don't really go in for the whole "this is the natural way" thing.
I'm a big fan of if it works for you do it. It's your aquarium do it the way you want to. Think for yourself don't be a sheep. The co-op is just trying to sell you something, and sadly FF is as well. I'm a big fan of the Aquatics by Nature Channel. He's got almost a 30-year-old Aquarium with one substrate, gravel. And he's not shoving a sponge filter in my face that will fall apart after 2 years, or a bag of supplements. Just my opinion, and we all have one.
Been out of the hobby 20 years due to work and travelling. Had alot to catch up on since the 1990’s. It was a whole different world back then as you say. No internet, no utube. I discovered Walstad and FF at almost the same time and am interested in both types of setup. What sold me was sand. I had never even considered growing plants in sand before, so I wanted to find out how to do it. I still struggle with sand but am improving. Its either my dirt mix (not rich enough?) or water, not sure which? I have never done a Walstad but might one day with gravel. I think gravel has some advantages over sand, but I love sand. It is my favourite substrate. So if you combine Plants (my main hobby) with Sand (my fav substrate) - I was always going to be an FF fan.
I've got a Father Fish tank. I've done the resurrection jar and leaf litter and it works very well. I personally think that there is different ways to do aquariums. As Father Fish once said : no method is wrong. Some is just better than other. It all just depend on your personal choice and what works for you.
This is a great video. Thanks for the reasonable explanations. So many newer fish keepers learn one way and have a little success, then amazingly they are experts insisting their way is the only way and everyone else is wrong. What gets me is they will argue about it and get made if you ask their reasoning or for sources. If they would take the time to continue reading, watching and learning, they would learn that there are a multitude of strategies and ways to keep tanks. They also forget there are so many variables impacting how people do things and that influence their methods, water being a big variable, and the type of fish you are keeping. I have been in this hobby, keeping a large variety of fish in all sizes of tanks for 40+ years, and I am still learning new things, and different ways of keeping fish. There is no one perfect way, so we need to keep and open mind and listen. They we can do what makes sense for our own fish tanks and fish, and make something we enjoy. Again, really good video.
Thank you for that, an interesting video. I have kept fish and plants on and off over many years and was discouraged by high maintenance, poor results and apparent lack of unbiased good info. I stumbled upon F.F. 1 year ago and immediately got excited and interested again. I've had a FF tank for 1 year now and it is balanced and settled with no algae (but did have 2 algae blooms). Somehow with FF I have managed to put some knowledge and experience together on my journey and achieved some success using his method, I felt I could put trust in FF. I have gleaned that with any method, YOU MUST ALWAYS ADD. I believe its the only way for a slice off nature to survive outside its natural environs, in a closed system such as an aquarium. However, mine is an amateur point of view. I am pleased that I have found success. I wish also to comment (in support) of FF method. FF states that " people are UNWILLING to return to a fish store to replace dead fish a third or fourth time". This is where the FF method brings great succes, to discouraged fish keepers like I was. It seems to me that whatever method a person chooses, there will be a continual learning process. Thank you.
Found Father Fish about 2 years ago. I have 36 active tanks in fish room and a 210 show tank in living room with a sump in the basement underneath. Every single tank from the5 gallon to the show tank is now fitted FF tanks, heavily planted and with just sponge filters. The show tank is Discus, rams, apistos, super reds and snow white BN, Angels and a few schools of smaller fish. I have not vacuumed or cleaned any sponge filters in well over a year with no plans to do so in the future. P?ants are amazing and most have a Pothos growing above the tanks. No hang on backs and all the a mister filters were closed down and sold off. I did the last 12 tanks 5-20 gallons with at least 3 inches of soil and inch of sand. After a tank is seasoned for about 9 months to a year, no water changes unless something takes place such as a mystery snail death in a 10 gallon and I don't find d it in time. This needs a water change. No more large snails in planted tanks under 20 gallons. My Discus tank with the Rams is proof the method works. Discus have been very successful but the German Blue Rams not only living for well over a year, but actually spawning is my true test because I have never been able to keep them alive for more than 6 months with the avg Ram living a out 4 weeks prior to FF methods. Big co-op fan as well and watched the 2 duke it out a while back. However, at the end of the day, I cannot go against my success with FF tanks and the Rams were the last bit of proof I needed. My 210 show tank is humbly called Father Fish Oasis. I even had Kobatai Rasboras successfully spawn with fry surviving. Didn't even try these egg layers. It just happened. Sorry for the long comments but I could write a book on my experiences. Mostly all positive.
Maybe im wrong or misunderstand his ways but from everything ive watched from him aren't the FF tanks the whole point of being unfiltered and relying on the deep substrate to be its form of filtration and just using airstones to aerate the water if anything.
FF made a video about Bettas that was pretty bad. He didnt invent anything, he does a variation on the Walstad method. LRB aquatics and Fishtory has better info on natural type tanks imo.
Father Fish is old school. A lot of enthusiast and fish hobbiest have access to so many different mediums and resources that weren't available 50 or 60 years ago. So he's made do with what he has had and have deviated a little or not at all. I've recently joined the fish gurus and fish hobbiest community, and I've been doing this all wrong for the last 40 or so years, but my fish have pretty much lived and I've had little disease or dying established fish. It's perspective.
It all depends on what you want/like imo. He has some good information and some I wouldn't personally like for my fish room. Learning things from many places is a good thing. There are plenty of youtube "fish keepers" who have terrible advice. Father fish is not one of those people.
Ive only done it that way long before I heard of Father Fish. I still do very small water changes every once in a while 10-15% but Ive gone half a year with no water change and it was fine.
Great video. Father fish talks about understocking. Is it necessary to light stock your tank when doing a deep dirted substrate? There would obviously be lots of plants in the aquarium. Thanks.
It depends on what type of fish you keep. African & some other cichlids from the America's will dig & ruin a dirted substrate. When it comes to all other fish & and plants, dirted tanks are a great idea. I moved from Ohio to Venice fl. in 2019, where F F had his store. I had the pleasure of getting to know him over the span of 2 years before he moved up north. I had bought many fish from him, which unfortunately I lost after hurricane Ian due to 14 days of power loss.
Pheromones. I think Father Fish lives in the 30s--the 1930s. He keeps his tanks like before such items as air pumps and tank heaters were invented. That's one style, but not for me. There are no muddy streams around here. They are all concreted in. Besides, I cannot trust what would be in and sample from the wild. Some of his information is good, but his fish keeping style is not for me, so much of what he says in unapplicable. I rather like the way your tanks look. HELP! I'm setting up my 75-gallon tank per your instructions. I have the dirt, made to your formulation, in the tank. I have the almost 2-inch layer of Black Diamond, rinsed on top. Whenever I add water, it gets cloudy. I'm on my fifth fill, and it was clean at first, but overnight it's cloudy again, but better than the first few times. I have a slightly oversized HOB running. Is this normal? Right now, I'd like to keep this water, but I don't know why it's always so cloudy. (I found you on FB. Maybe we can continue this there.) Take care. P. S. I live in Los Angeles County. Not too close to the fires, so we're safe, but the air is filthy here.
Glad you're safe. Since you say you did rinse out the sand properly, that should not be the problem. Perhaps some sediment in your source water? You sure you have enough sand cap? You say it is fine and then cloudy again.. tbat could be a bacterial bloom. Do you have enough plants? I think put some filter floss in the hob and keep changing it out. If that does not do it, then you probably have a bacterial bloom and just wait it out. I will link a video I did on this subject.
@@droeksonfishkeeping A great video. Since it's brand new, I'm going to cycle it and then worry about water clarity. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanx.
I follow both as well as many other channels. I think the best practice is to learn from as many points of view as you can and deep dive into what they are saying. If someone like Father fish "speaks to you" try and find other channels like his that use the same or a similar method. Compare similarities and differences. For good measure seek out detractors of the method to see any cons or things you should look out for. Armed with a wide breadth and depth of knowledge YOU will know what you're doing and why you won't just be copy pasting some guy on RUclips.
I generally agree with Father Fish regarding his fish keeping techniques & in many ways agree with Corey as well. Most of all I agree with Alexander Williamson at Fishstory who is my number one guy. I will follow your channel as well & look at previous videos. You sure have a beautiful tank next to you in this video. I do not like tanks that are all perfect & pretty because that’s not what nature looks like. Most everyone gives up on the Aquarium hobby because it’s extremely expensive for time & money no matter how cheap you try to make it it’s impossible & everything dies so damn easy no matter how perfect you think your water perimeters are. The problem is I absolutely love my little critters so I’m stuck having to not give up on them or trying again when I fail via this journey of learning through trial & error. I am in American from California living permanently in Victoria Australia. Where is your accent from?
I currently keep 3 tanks, one with gravel, one with bare bottom and one with ff method Starting the ff tank years ago was a pain in the a** due to very fine sand and excess nutrients turning the soil anoxic real quick Took months until i felt comfortable putting fish in there As it matured (shortly after it was done ripping farts for like half a year) it started growing plants like crazy and is now fully overgrown and overstocked, because my emperor tetras multiplied from 15 to 100ish individuals 😂😂 The other substrates work too, but most plants grow better in the ff tank because i just refuse to do any ferts whatsoever (yes, i am very lazy).
Can we talk about how Cory McElroy is one of the biggest aquarium plant distributors in the US, is one of the biggest promoters of planted tanks, has access to nearly unlimited aquarium resources, and yet can't keep a nice looking planted tank? At least Father Fish has some cool ecosystem style tanks and knows how to grow plants.
What? Corys tanks look way better than father fish tanks!. You do know he uses alot of stock photos don't you? All the tanks in the background look like crap to be honest
@@Pray4Mojo1 idk, I don't pay attention to all his tanks that.close but he definitely had a couple of really nice planted tanks. The 800 looked super nice and had very clear water, especially with a 2foot fish and probably 100 smaller fish. I don't think tons of ditritus and brownish water with only a few tiny fish looks good
I took a break from aquariums for a couple years, and Father Fish's videos were part of what inspired me to get back to it. He definitely inspired me to take a dirted and densely planted approach, although I also use filters. I used his chanel as a launching pad for inspiration, and learned more from other channels as well. I've had great success and joy over the last year with my new setup, and even started a second tank.
Check out Lucas Brettz at the LRB Aquatics RUclips channel. He has several hundred all natural unfiltered aquariums and he is breeding hundreds of fish and plants. It’s like the flip side of the Father Fish method that works for him as a breeder. I watch quite a few FishTubers to get as many methods and opinions to apply to my five living room tanks. Fantastic video though very well thought out, and you have fantastic looking tanks. All my tanks are following the Father Fish method but only two of them are set with the Father Fish soil that I ordered from his website. Those two tanks, which are a 29gal and a 15gal, are growing crazy amounts of plants and the fish are thriving. But the three other tanks that are set up in the Father Fish method, which are a 40gal a 15gal and a 5gal, just run good aquasoil under the sand and are doing just as well. I’m fact the 15gal houses my huge colony of Red Cherry Shrimp and was built with a mix of well aged pond muck mixed with aquasoil under a very deep sand substrate acts as my resurrection jar that cultures everything from scuds and detritus worms to little fairy and seed shrimp that I transfer to the other tanks with the duckweed it grows. I just collect leaf litter from my local water ways to help feed the micro fauna. I’ll have to email you at some point to special ship you some of Father Fishes soil and supplement because they really do work wonders. Keep these good videos coming and keep those fishy friends close 🐠 🐟
Human beings domesticated the modern Betta. They lived very closely with them in SE asian rice fields, harvesting and draining the fields while raising and collecting the Bettas. @Fishtory has a great vid on Betta history, but they have ALWAYS been kept in sub 5 gallon environments. There are a variety of wild Bettas, but the modern Splendens is a product of hundreds of years of selective human breeding. Look at the Betta breeding farms in Thailand, they are literally reared to adult size in coke bottle size glasses. All of the 'Betta Barracks' builds on youtube are a gallon or two tops. Their lung system allows them to tolerate conditions that would kill many tropical aquarium fish. Every single fish in the trade is unique, and the Betta is really not like most of the common community fish in terms of needs. Anyways, this is similar to the endless African Cichlid stocking debate. Fishkeepers are going to have to decide for themselves what is best their fish based on current research and knowledge. An interesting point I got from watching Fishtory are to avoid the Red Betta's if you are trying to keep them in a community setting as those have some genetic predisposition to aggression possibly. Also consider keeping short-fin bettas over long-fin to improve their quality of life.
Father fish has a way to keep me on an even keel. When I saw seed shrimp, planaria, and detritus worms in my new tank I freaked out! I saw some people say to use no planaria to get things handled quickly or my shrimp and fish were in danger. Father fish says dont stress, enjoy then hobby. Take it slow and observe. He mellows me, keeps me from nuking my tank. Reminds me that an ecosystem is necessary and cannot be sterile. He is 50% of my success in this hobby.
Hello, i knew nothing about FF method at first, then when i watched his videos i decided to switch to dirtied tank but except for adding mud from from the pond i added dead leaves. My plants and RCS shrimp colony flourished at first. Then after couple months later i noticed white worms coming out of substrate and swimming in water, well i though that's good the fish will eat them, but they did not?! The shrimp colony started dwingling down and shrimplets completely dissapeared. Checked the water parameters everything ok. One day i saw a weird looking creature crawling on the glass, it was PLANARIA. This was the reason the shrimps were dissapearing. I started catching shrimps one by one (ery difficult to do in a planted tank!) and moving them into a separate fish bowl that I had to set up for them, it was a nightmare. Still have some few left in my original tank but they are not breeding anmore.
@@skadhim100 My fauna came from the live plants I purchased and put in the tank at setup. I didnt go out into nature to get my starter culture. I got a group of 6 Cardinal Tetra and a trio of guppies and didnt feed them for a week. They took care of the Planaria and continue to keep the numbers (if they are still in there, I have to assume they are) in check. No chemical were used and my shrimp colony is growing even with the guppies (about 40 of them now) and tetra. Started with 10 cherry shrimp, have well over 60 now. I assume densely planted stem plants and leaf litter have allowed the shrimplets to hide and thrive. Additionally the tetra help keep the guppies from taking over they eat about 80% of the fry.
@@thephalaenopsisqueen6960 this was the reason you did not get any external microorganisms from outside bc u did not o outside to nature plus you kept your fish hungry enough so they ate all those creatures. FF says the tank will balance itself dont worry about it. But my question is how long it will take for that to happen? What if during that process of "balancing" or before it is completely balanced the hostile preditor that you introducing from the mulch or dead leaves, twigs etc...will take over causing harm to your fauna, plants and the ecosystem in your tank before the tank has time to deal w/ it? The damage will be done.
Exactly my point is father fish is a clickbaiter and purposely Ambiguous!! He repeats things like " water changes are not needed" multiple times through the entire video and then say change your water when the Nitrates get to high. He does this crap with several different things and it's bull crap in my opinion! It's all to stir up crap and for him to get more views .. so many people have came to me and Said father fish said I could add them immediately if I put in plants and then had all their fish die! Quit protecting this guy! With new fish keepers you have to be direct and repeat what important .
There is some bone meal in the soil mixture on the bottom of the substrate, that helps. I also add some Seachem Alkaline buffer when I do water changes for the snails' shells. You could also add crushed coral to your substrate or filter (in mesh bags).
Dag maater altyt lekker stem saam father fish se manier van dinge doen is goud kyk sy video's maar ons het nou vir jou jou raad is net so goed en jy is local
A live stream that i was part of that created a lot of talk. If you go back to different conversations that occurred post. The issue is the extremes that bothers me on any side. The FF method is not for all. Have also been. Fish keeper for over 50 years. I have no issues with the dirt part and say “no water change” which on a follow up live with Mexicali fish keeper and aqua funk after the follow up to the live. He admits that “ it was a sensational thumb nail” to grow the channel and and his bussiness. That i have an issue. You can not preach something and do something different. He has a tank with canister filter , a sponge filter and air flow. All against the extreme view of some. No water change , no air, no filters. Look at your tank for example. Air flow , filter water change. That is not the extreme that he preaches and his extreme follower. His way is not the only way. One size does not fit all. You are speaking common sence. The deep substrate is a great thing. A tank with lot of plants and some small breed is cool. It will not work for my overstock tanks and fish. I think you said “ different stroke for different folks “ that should be the idea. We do what works for us and our fish. And is different for everyone and every tank. I am in the middle and listen to all sides. On my video I clearly explained my issue for the planned conversation i was hoping to have in that live with Mexicali fish keeper. I feel that is some false information and laughing about the click bait thumbnails. Like a video he posted today “ everyone hates father fish” click bait. Not everyone hates father fish. I don’t buy all his methods. Will take some not other. The dirted tank is cool. Not the others. I can quickly debunk on of his ideas immediately. He said if you do large water changes your fish will die. I don80% on all my tanks 11, over stocked 26 discus +others no one dies. That works for me and my fish. I am not the only one i am sure. He does 10% when needed every day for a few day ( in his live) if he does a large water change on his fish of course they will dies , it will be a large shift in concentration of whatever has accumulated in those tanks for months . Your tanks in this video is amazing. But you are not buying into all his theories . I guess i am either naive , stupid or honest. If must people have to do sensational thumbnails for clicks and youtube growth, i get it. Then you can not get upset if you bring the attention to your self as all this is getting him further. Appreciate your stand. You have an open mind and dont fully subscribe to all the extremist ideas. So do I, listen to all and filter the info that goes with my thinking. Subscribed, greetings fro New York @Joy of fish keeping( jose)
Thanks for the sub! One needs to be careful to not just run with what is said on a thumbnail on RUclips. Clickbait is an unfortunate reality of the medium.
@ very true, for personality i see a thumb nail is likely sensational or clickbait i dont go to the video . Recently this particular you tuber not fish related , in think almost every video was click bait. Example michael jackson is dead( he is anyway) Did not want to use a living person. You watch the video the person not mentioned. Your video , the thumb nail was good, i wanted to hear your view, is not click “baitish”, i get the point of it . After i commented on your video a well known youtuber on the hobby , commented on a members only video about your video and the fact that some of have seen it and commented. Further, uncommon aquatics,does a fish room tour. His first tank he says this is a father fish tanks. Deep substrate, i am cool with that , but also he has and fx6 and two large disk air stone on each side of tank , beautiful i thought. Like your tank is beautiful with the great idea of the substrate , but not all the other extreme of some of his followers, he has some great ideas i give him credit for his contribution to the hobby . As humans we need to listen and filter out the nonsense that is put out there. There is many ways to carry the hobby and do what works for you and your fish. He goes further and puts out this video “every one hates father fish” and re runs clip of and earlier live, where he states that was sensational thumb nails to grow channel and business, i get it. So , some of the misconceptions about were “ brought on by your self” , he is told. They laughed if off. I absolutely agree with your response. As you tuber i feel we should be putting info out there that is factual, if something works for you, necessarily is not going to work for others . Them something else is those that take an idea and take it to extremes. I dont hate or dislike the man, just not a follower anymore . The hobby is to vast to push an idea to extreme i and believe is the only way. Thanks for your response
One more thing. I wouldn't dream of going to a dam or a river and scoop up some dead plants and mud, and then toss it in my aquariums!!! There is the real risk of introducing predatory creatures to your tank. I won't risk it!!!
I agree. Most people who complain about Father fish's methods are either one piston minded people (those who only believe in what they've been doing as the only correct methods) and people who screw up the methods. Father fish's methods works if done right, so do other methods. The key is doing things right. I'm from Zambia, no shops sell aqua soil or such fancy soils, so I use Garden soil mixed with river clay and cap it with either pea gravel or sand. It works for me. When it comes to water changes, well ..The No water change at all is surely a controversial one, I do atleast 20 - 30 after a few weeks. Other than that, Father Fish has golden knowledge.
Ya father fish says one thing 90percent of the video and then says the opposite. If you want a mostly planted tank with a few tiny fish, sure. He is a clickbaiter
@@rickywoods3101 Most of them are clickbaiters in a way actually. They're all trying to sell a product of their own, thats where all these confusions are coming from 😂. You have people who are hoodwinked into relying on certain products on one hand, and on the other, you have some that are doing things that work but threaten the other people's products. End results...False accusations and criticism. Anyways...your line is false. I have actually seen a lot of youtubers with father fish's methods and their tanks contradict your small fish and mostly planted claim. Heck, ive been doing what father fish is doing on tubs first before i even ran into his RUclips channel.
@Kel-FinsNaturalAquatics ok, but father fish gets tons of fish killed by how he is purposely being ambiguous and deceptive during alot of his videos. Leading to people loosing hope and quitting along with killing animal. He needs to be clear and precise when making videos to new fish keepers. A lot of people are suffering from the dunning Kruger effect and think they are smarter than everyone else and that all the products are a way to just steal money . What do you mean by big fish though? And how many our their ? And how many gallons?
There are a lot of really good videos and information FF offers. The problem is when FF makes a video and he is wrong. He doubles down when called out on wrong information which I experienced and knew it was time to unsubscribe. FF's discord community is toxic and difficulty to participate in. Who knew wanting to help another member in that community required you to post your resume/apply for a job, what a joke. I know they have members in their community that mean well and if you are new and need help, there is much offered. When speaking about FF with people who are much more experienced then I, what they say is he knows things but he doesn't understand the how and tries to teach others his assumption of the how, this is why its problematic, especially when called out on it.
Water changes are situational, if there's a need, I do them, if not, I don't. Hate when ppl want to apply same rules on every aquarium and every situation. If you have a tank full of african malawis, you better do those water changes + get a solid filtration. Think father fish knows that, but he also knows the power of a good click bait😅. Aside from that, I think dirted tanks are great for live plants, and is still very underrated method.
I liked your video; it seems we share a lot of similar opinions. I follow both Father and Aquarium Coop. they both provide good information depending on what you are trying to accomplish. I have taken the information I find useful and applied it to my aquariums. At the end of the day, you have to do what works best for you and your fish. There is no one way fits all.
I very much like Father Fish's method, although I can't stop feeding my fish because I have too many fish in my tank for a completely balanced ecosystem. Also I think I prefer going with plain sand as a substrate, or maybe just a thin layer of soil under the sand to help the plants get started.
Yes, Father Fish can upset some people, but you hit the nail on the head... with Father Fish u need to listen to what he is saying and also not saying... there is wisdom in his words. I have 3 medium size fully planted tanks (discus, nana fish and dwarf cichlids) and use plenums (2 anaerobic & 1 anoxic (discus)). For the last 9 months I have not done water changes (only daily RO drip feed to replace evaporated H2O) and also never do substrate vacuuming. I do 5 water readings per week and do not have any issues except for wild plant growth. I have to prune plants every 2 weeks. I did have some issues with elevated NO3 in the discus tank about 5 months ago, but added hanging house plants to all tanks, and this brought the levels to almost to zero. I test for ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4) and my readings are zero or close to it. I feed my nano fish three times a week and they are surviving fine, and as a result, the SAE are working harder. I do not have issues of algae due to the feeding routine, SAE and max 5.5 hours of lighting. I do add live food to all tanks and the fish go scavenging for live food during feeds. I do not support the idea of giving nano fish little prisons to live in... my wife kept 4 males fighters and 13 females in a single well planted 432 litres tank in Thailand, with no damage to the males. Fighters need space, plants, warmth and food to thrive.
I check out both of them. Who's to say I can't mix and match techniques and things that are available to me. It takes a lot I don't call anybody a genius! 🤪
I definitely think he gives a lot of bad information, particularly for beginners that don't know how to interpret and understand his methods that's bad for the hobby and gonna turn beginners away. He's an old man that is dead set in his ways and his way is the only way
I dont mind doing wc my plants like it my fish like it. For me its almost therapeutic. Ive never tried a dirted aquarium. I have used sand and i didnt like it. There are different ways to do things this isnt rocket science
FF is a trustful man, a very truthful person, he got me back on the hobby, I'm following him since 2020 and his method never let me down. I've set up 4 FF tanks and the fifth is in working progress😉
Why argue over it?It's all up to your wallet! His way,your way,MD ways,George's way,Aquarium co op way, they all grow plants, its up to the owner,cycle in fish,cycle no fish, it all works . These people attacking an old man for keeping his fish his way is just wrong and they need to get a life. I can grow plant with miracle grow soil and gravel in a tank so there is NO Right Way,its all up to your wallet.
nice new intro mate father fish i watched few videos - i can't follow the guy, the delivery of information is not good for me aquarium co-op now is more about fish business channel, especially cory's lives - also don't follow much
@@droeksonfishkeeping he reminds me the guy with anoxic filtration channel, the plenum guy - lot of repeating of the same information, but he rubs me the wrong way with some very condescending remarks he throws here and there all the time, sure he has more info to share, yet still it's not enough for amount of videos he puts out
Hi I have FF tank, it works good, but without water changes hair algy appears. Now Im going to chceck dr Novak method, undergravel filter with kitty litter cap. What is your opinion about this method?
The plenum method worked in the sense that it kept nitrates and phosphates very low but it didn't solve the algae problem in my puffer tank. I would just do some water changes in your case. I don't believe in no water changes, you have to dial it in for each particular tank.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Im going to start new 600 liter 2m×50x60cm and looking for natural solution like FF or Diana Walstad, dedicated mostly for swordtails. DW I had in te past in my corner tank and it worked great with gravel, maybe even better than FF (the light was old style fluorescent light 865 type). What do you think about dirt with gravel bed ? Could I hold swordtails and platies in one tank?
I don't like gravel on dirt, too much leaching of nutrients into the water column. Platies and Swordtails in one tank will hybridize, if you are fine with that, go ahead. @@arturproc7047
I was so used to the current mainstream way that when I heard about father fish i was skeptical. But I tried to learn his style with an open mind even though I had my doubts. And I was suprised that I couldn't argue with him. Everything he said made sense. And the ocean doesn't do water changes either per say so I think he was trying to replicate a natural environment like that. We fear nitrates for good reason but a heavily planted tank will eat the nitrates which is nice. However, if you don't want plants or that type of substrate then the only other way is the water changes and such. Water changes to take care of nitrates as well as replace natural minerals in the water. The type of fish matter too. If your going to keep African cyclids you can forget about plants cuz they will eat the plants. And when cycling a tank there are newer modern safe products helping you do that nowadays. In tbe end it's a choice. Father fish is smart and has his way but for me I still choose the water changes way. To each their own.
I believe that there are many ways to keep an aquarium. Much of what Father fish recommends is historically, part of our history and always reliable when used properly. But not every person can do this type of tank.
I like Father Fish. He has a lot of good information. I don't agree 100% with all his points, but overall, he is the new face of fishkeeping. Aquariums done the natural way will always prosper. Of course, not all tanks and/or community fish are appropriate for this method.
Tbf my only issue with FF is his clickbait thumbnail/title, but the actual content of the video does not spread misinformation for example: "never do water change" means; If your tank is healthy AF then there's no need to water change really. "dont feed your fish" means, create a food chain so you dont have to feed your fish
I like father fish, I always used his methods before I even watched him. The information he pushes has been around for a long time, and pretty close to diana walstad's method. It works. Aquarium co-op I liked back in the day, but he's all about the money now. Most of his products are junk made in China, basically dropshipped over priced trash. His knowledge is very basic, stuff you can read in a library on a couple of hours. Back when Lemar was doing podcasts with him it was good though, entertaining.
I have a deep substrate tank that is not only inspired by Father Fishes style but I added his substrate additive he sells to the soil before capping it with sand. My tank is heavily planted as well. I have watched nearly every one of his videos and subscribed to him a while ago. He has seen my videos too and subscribed to my channel 2Caves Aquatics and commented on my 75 gallon planted tank. I have also seen Cory's videos. I don't claim to have a Father Fish tank. I use a Seachem tidal hang on back filter as well as sponge filters and I do water changes. i also have about 50 times more fish in my tank than Father Fish would ever put in his aquariums. My tank is very over stocked. So is my 60 gallon tank. But I don't mind at al the extra care it takes. I watch many fishkeeping videos and take the best of what they have to say and if it applies to my personal situation. I have collected 10 one gallon resurrection jars and made videos about my findings. I have followed Father Fishes idea of introducing nature into your tank and the food chain concept. There is abundant life in my water and substrate that can only been seen with a microscope. And I made several videos about it. I subscribed to your channel today because I agree with you very much on this subject. I like Father Fish and have employed many of his ideas but I do water changes and have filtration because I choose to have many many fish in my aquariums. Father Fishes methods don't work in every single situation when it comes to fish keeping and he says so himself. But rather you choose to follow his way or not it wouldn't hurt at all to watch his videos.
A live stream that i was part of that created a lot of talk. If you go back to different conversations that occurred post. The issue is the extremes that bothers me on any side. The FF method is not for all. Have also been. Fish keeper for over 50 years. I have no issues with the dirt part and say “no water change” which on a follow up live with Mexicali fish keeper and aqua funk after the follow up to the live. He admits that “ it was a sensational thumb nail” to grow the channel and and his bussiness. That i have an issue. You can not preach something and do something different. He has a tank with canister filter , a sponge filter and air flow. All against the extreme view of some. No water change , no air, no filters. Look at your tank for example. Air flow , filter water change. That is not the extreme that he preaches and his extreme follower. His way is not the only way. One size does not fit all. You are speaking common sence. The deep substrate is a great thing. A tank with lot of plants and some small breed is cool. It will not work for my overstock tanks and fish. I think you said “ different stroke for different folks “ that should be the idea. We do what works for us and our fish. And is different for everyone and every tank. I am in the middle and listen to all sides. On my video I clearly explained my issue for the planned conversation i was hoping to have in that live with Mexicali fish keeper. I feel that is some false information and laughing about the click bait thumbnails. Like a video he posted today “ everyone hates father fish” click bait. Not everyone hates father fish. I don’t buy all his methods. Will take some not other. The dirted tank is cool. Not the others. I can quickly debunk on of his ideas immediately. He said if you do large water changes your fish will die. I don80% on all my tanks 11, over stocked 26 discus +others no one dies. That works for me and my fish. I am not the only one i am sure. He does 10% when needed every day for a few day ( in his live) if he does a large water change on his fish of course they will dies , it will be a large shift in concentration of whatever has accumulated in those tanks for months . Your tanks in this video is amazing. But you are not buying into all his theories . I guess i am either naive , stupid or honest. If must people have to do sensational thumbnails for clicks and youtube growth, i get it. Then you can not get upset if you bring the attention to your self as all this is getting him further. Appreciate your stand. You have an open mind and dont fully subscribe to all the extremist ideas. So do I, listen to all and filter the info that goes with my thinking. Subscribed, greetings fro New York @Joy of fish keeping( jose)p
I live in South Africa, and i only use the dirted method. My plants do extremely well. I could spend a lot of money and buy Aqua soil, but i don't like the look of it. I crush clay pots to almost a powder and add that to my dirt layer. Plants love clay! I totally disagree with the method of not feeding your fish. Why deprive them of decent, quality food? Just feed once a day and not overdo it . I do follow Father Fish,but i have 50 years of fish keeping experience, and my own methods are perfect in my opinion.
what food do you use..?
The issue of 'not feeding the fish', this concept only applies to aquariums that have their own natural food supply network established, that is, the aquarium itself produces its own food through its ecosystem. Obviously this does not apply to artificial aquariums, or other tanks that are not configured in this way. Despite everything, even so, 'FatherFish' says in one of his videos that Yes, he usually feeds his fish, once a month, or every 15 days... One thing does not exclude the other...
Do you add anything to the soil? I've been thinking about a planted aquarium with dirt substrate.
I only ușe sand for substrate. I could even go without anything, because plants just extract the nutrients from the water.
I keep my plants in plastic cups, so i can move them easily.
Father Fish was the first YTber that I saw about creating a natural tank. I set up 4 tanks in the ff method and they're small tanks. One 2.5g, two 12g, and one 5.5g. Since they got established, they require minimal maintenance and have thrived wonderfully. Ive had them for 2 years now, and i only do a 15% water change ever 6 to 8 months now. They have endlers, and one has neon tetra. So i prefer FF method. I also have been able to sell some plants since they grow so fast.
Father Fish lives in Maryland now. Moved from Florida a couple of years ago after he closed his shop. Looks like he has started another shop in a warehouse area.
Good information, very unbiased. I agree, as a fishkeeper with many years experience, one can use snippets of information across the board, for whatever suits you. All about experimentation.
My first tank was result of snippets of information and the result was an absolute abomination😂During that time i was stuck between father fish method and the aquasoil-carbon-filter method so I literally combined both (with dry start method for carpeting plants) which all failed miserably. I stuck with FF's method because I love a Natural looking aquarium.
At the end of the day whether its one, the other, or both at once, its all about what works best for your own personal preference.
My only problem with FF method is that he promote it as beginners friendly and 5yrs old could do it😂 There are a hundred of thing that could go south real quick and ruin the experience big time for newbie. Yes the tank is suitable for the beginner after it is correctly set up but the set up itself isn't beginners friendly.
I don't like when people tell me how you should do things. Father fish tells people, "This is THE way", or the impression that you shouldn't do it any other way.
I like the high-tech look. You can't get the high-tech look with the "father fish method."
He is a clickbaiter and is purposely ambiguous to the point it confuses new people and their fish die.
Father fish has his way, he needs to learn to accept other successful fish keepers do perfectly well using other methods. Modern day tech has transformed the aquarium hobby and is way in advance of old school even though many principles have to be retained.
Thank you for a very fair review. Very well done. Your fish keeping skills are excellent.
my Father-Fish-inspired tank has reached a year and both plants and fish are doing great. Thank you!
Wow! Didn't expect you checking in Father Fish! Thank you very much, I try my best.
Going on 2 years now with my 75 gallon planted tank inspired by your methods. And using your substrate additive was a great choice. thank you for all the dedication and wisdom you have shared to this hobby and lifestyle. I about fell over when you subscribed to my channel and commented on my tank and the wonderful compliments you gave me. It was the confident boost I needed to assure me that I fully understood your way of doing things. God bless and thank you again for everything you do.
I think the deep dirted substrate is the best way in my opinion in fish keeping. My plants are thriving and also my fish. They spawn on a regular basis and I keep microfauna as well. I just started culturing green water for my daphnia. All this information i learned from father fish.
Father Fish is more interested in making money on social media. Doesn’t matter if it’s good content or misinformation … as long as you click on the video and you interact is all that matters to FF
His methods won't work with my preferred fishes. Medium-large predatory fish that are messy eaters.
Piranhas, wolf fish, etc..
Maybe if I only keep a few small tetras it can work.
I think if you have healthy plants, fish, and your tank keeps YOU happy that says it all. Enough !
As I understand it, using a good dollop of outdoor pond muck or garden soil in your soil mix will instantly cycle your tank.
The fish feed the cycle, and after a week, you can add microfauna to the mix to both feed the fish and clean up after them. That sequence makes a lot of sense and has worked so far for me
I like to explain that fish live in rivers and also in lakes.
Aquarium keepers can follow the river system of lots of regular waterchanging.
The lake system style of aquarium keeping is less water changing.
This can mean lots of differences from one extreme of river style fish keeping to the other extreme of lake style fish keeping.
Typically growing plants is easier in lake style fish keeping because the aquariums will have more nutrients in the water that plants will uptake and consume.
Lakes actually have a lot of water changes, there is usually a source and and outflow, either rivers, ground water etc. Not many people are often aware of this, so they are constantly water changing not just from rain and evaporation. Lakes also have quite complex limnology and are very varied which also effects their productivity. Unlike many of these minimal water change setups they are also like most freshwater very oligotrophic unless polluted. There are exceptions such as the soda lakes, this is more along the lines of what people are replicating with the minimal water changes, over time these lakes have become extremely alkaline resulting in maybe a few cichlids surviving but no other fishes.
@@FreshwaterIchthyology totally correct of course.
For the purpose of an easily understood analogy,
rivers with constant running water vs lakes with "still" water,
helps to explain to novices why there is so much difference in the advice people hear or read about how to maintain an aquarium, often regarding water changing.
In truth all water bodies experience variable water inflows and outflows over seasons and time.
@@FreshwaterIchthyologythank you again Rebecca for this types of comment. My problem is that the extreme want to call this method. I am all for the dirted tank and many plants. I have a issue with the no eater change, no filtration, no air. You can not take a good idea and twisted to an extreme and then get upset when people call you out on it. And if you want to do “sensational thumb nails “ to grow is cool, but to a point misinformation is being projected . Cant call a closed system natural and all real natural bodies have water exchanges. Even those than seem stagnant. Fish will adopt and remain is shallow nasty pool until until a water change comes, rain, flood . That is natural. We can try and do what works for us and your fish , not to push an extreme , on either side. Thank you
@@josepolanco1228 I agree, although I do have a slight issue with the generalization of 'dirt', even in horticulture we know the diversity of soil types and what makes them up. It's just a basic in horticulture that people learn from the first day. I just have house plants but my whole family is into different aspects of horticulture so it was a basic for me. There are also soil types which are quite limiting on growth so telling someone to go out and collect their own is a bit risky. Pesticides and chemicals can be everywhere, who knows if that patch of soil has had something thrown on it. Then Walstad promoting house plant soils which are also extremely diverse even the general ones. I guess top soil is probably the safest as generally the lowest in nutrients, doesn't seem to be much diversity in it but it compacts really easily as well if not turned over.
It's all one extreme and people are taking it to that extreme. There really isn't much science used either excluding the fact recirculating systems are used in aquaculture, for fishes that wont be kept for long and aren't meant to live long or breed. These systems aren't even used for the fishes we keep as well unless someone has a tilapia, carp or Ictalurid.
People aren't understanding how much flow goes through a lake. The amount of movement in the lakes with a good amount of diversity can be considerable. Some of this movement might be under the surface like in the Rift Valley.
At the end of the big issue is that the lack of water changes effects fish welfare, the lack of filtration etc. Some fishes will adapt but there is a reason these water bodies lack much diversity. Those that have been that way for hundreds of years might have one cichlid species whereas the artificial ones have the most adaptable species such as carp. It's not natural and the only thing it replicates is anthropogenic ponds, it bugs me when people sell any of these setups as natural. Because these setups are as natural as a planted tank and also forget the wide diversity and majority of freshwater ecosystems that lack plants because of how rivers or even lakes function are quite hostile to macrophytic plants. A tank bare of plants is equally as natural or can be more natural depending on the fishes. There is a lot of generalization of freshwater ecosystems and a misunderstanding. I frequently encounter people who can't believe there are many ecosystems without wood or even leaf litter because that's what their sold as biotope but that's how rivers and lakes can function. Certain conditions foster certain characteristics but only the most hostile lack flow or an inflow and outflow.
@ thank you again for your knowledgeable responses all the people a a bullhorn spreading the idea of “ natural” and taking a “good “ idea to extremes. Many of us as fishkeepers are as unique as are the aquariums we keep. We need to use common sense and use a little more science or common sence and understand that these “ extreme “ systems are far from natural when applied to the extreme. Seen many that keep “natural” dirted tanks, but do water change , aeration and filtration. I am cool with that. Thank you I enjoy your well thought out science and fact base responses
About 40 years I had a fish tank when I was living in Los Angeles. I decided to go with African cichlids because they were such a hearty fish. After my tank was established I only did a 1/3 water change about maybe every month maybe even 2 months. When you get it right it's not that hard. No plans just rocks and fish.
Thanks, Droeks. My feeling is that as long as you can keep the ecosystem balanced and your water parameters in line, your fish will be happy and healthy. As you've stated, the use of root plants is vital. This debate seems to be something like the iOS/Android debate - very keen followers on either side with folks very keen to prove their perspective to be correct! Too much energy is spent by too many people all trying to be right! Let's keep the focus on keeping our tanks healthy using whatever method you prefer! Thank you for laying out the debate in such an easy to understand way.
I got into this hobby, like you, with a dirted tank. It's the only way I did it for a couple of years until it annoyed me to break them down. Cory personally has never been my source of knowledge even though I like him, for the most part. My problems with Father Fish is the reaction to his advice from people being like "this guy's old, he must know what he's talking about."
I think once again, honestly, it comes down to the fact that this hobby is stagnant in some areas, highly dependent on individual experience and folk wisdom. And then the need for content can drive circular conversations
I also come down on the side that all of this is unnatural, no matter which way you keep tanks. None of these fish or plants exist like this naturally and it's taken a healthy amount of science, trial and error to even get to where we are today. So I don't really go in for the whole "this is the natural way" thing.
I'm a big fan of if it works for you do it. It's your aquarium do it the way you want to. Think for yourself don't be a sheep. The co-op is just trying to sell you something, and sadly FF is as well. I'm a big fan of the Aquatics by Nature Channel. He's got almost a 30-year-old Aquarium with one substrate, gravel. And he's not shoving a sponge filter in my face that will fall apart after 2 years, or a bag of supplements. Just my opinion, and we all have one.
Been out of the hobby 20 years due to work and travelling. Had alot to catch up on since the 1990’s. It was a whole different world back then as you say. No internet, no utube. I discovered Walstad and FF at almost the same time and am interested in both types of setup. What sold me was sand. I had never even considered growing plants in sand before, so I wanted to find out how to do it. I still struggle with sand but am improving. Its either my dirt mix (not rich enough?) or water, not sure which? I have never done a Walstad but might one day with gravel. I think gravel has some advantages over sand, but I love sand. It is my favourite substrate. So if you combine Plants (my main hobby) with Sand (my fav substrate) - I was always going to be an FF fan.
Thank you for the informed input much appreciated. I also have 3 dirted tanks and find them very manageable and stable.
I've got a Father Fish tank. I've done the resurrection jar and leaf litter and it works very well. I personally think that there is different ways to do aquariums. As Father Fish once said : no method is wrong. Some is just better than other. It all just depend on your personal choice and what works for you.
father fish got my sister pregnant. better show up at the birthday party. 6/10.
This is a great video. Thanks for the reasonable explanations. So many newer fish keepers learn one way and have a little success, then amazingly they are experts insisting their way is the only way and everyone else is wrong. What gets me is they will argue about it and get made if you ask their reasoning or for sources. If they would take the time to continue reading, watching and learning, they would learn that there are a multitude of strategies and ways to keep tanks. They also forget there are so many variables impacting how people do things and that influence their methods, water being a big variable, and the type of fish you are keeping. I have been in this hobby, keeping a large variety of fish in all sizes of tanks for 40+ years, and I am still learning new things, and different ways of keeping fish. There is no one perfect way, so we need to keep and open mind and listen. They we can do what makes sense for our own fish tanks and fish, and make something we enjoy. Again, really good video.
Thank you for that, an interesting video. I have kept fish and plants on and off over many years and was discouraged by high maintenance, poor results and apparent lack of unbiased good info. I stumbled upon F.F. 1 year ago and immediately got excited and interested again. I've had a FF tank for 1 year now and it is balanced and settled with no algae (but did have 2 algae blooms). Somehow with FF I have managed to put some knowledge and experience together on my journey and achieved some success using his method, I felt I could put trust in FF. I have gleaned that with any method, YOU MUST ALWAYS ADD. I believe its the only way for a slice off nature to survive outside its natural environs, in a closed system such as an aquarium. However, mine is an amateur point of view. I am pleased that I have found success. I wish also to comment (in support) of FF method. FF states that " people are UNWILLING to return to a fish store to replace dead fish a third or fourth time". This is where the FF method brings great succes, to discouraged fish keepers like I was. It seems to me that whatever method a person chooses, there will be a continual learning process. Thank you.
Found Father Fish about 2 years ago. I have 36 active tanks in fish room and a 210 show tank in living room with a sump in the basement underneath. Every single tank from the5 gallon to the show tank is now fitted FF tanks, heavily planted and with just sponge filters. The show tank is Discus, rams, apistos, super reds and snow white BN, Angels and a few schools of smaller fish. I have not vacuumed or cleaned any sponge filters in well over a year with no plans to do so in the future.
P?ants are amazing and most have a Pothos growing above the tanks. No hang on backs and all the a mister filters were closed down and sold off.
I did the last 12 tanks 5-20 gallons with at least 3 inches of soil and inch of sand. After a tank is seasoned for about 9 months to a year, no water changes unless something takes place such as a mystery snail death in a 10 gallon and I don't find d it in time. This needs a water change. No more large snails in planted tanks under 20 gallons.
My Discus tank with the Rams is proof the method works. Discus have been very successful but the German Blue Rams not only living for well over a year, but actually spawning is my true test because I have never been able to keep them alive for more than 6 months with the avg Ram living a out 4 weeks prior to FF methods. Big co-op fan as well and watched the 2 duke it out a while back. However, at the end of the day, I cannot go against my success with FF tanks and the Rams were the last bit of proof I needed. My 210 show tank is humbly called Father Fish Oasis. I even had Kobatai Rasboras successfully spawn with fry surviving. Didn't even try these egg layers. It just happened.
Sorry for the long comments but I could write a book on my experiences. Mostly all positive.
Maybe im wrong or misunderstand his ways but from everything ive watched from him aren't the FF tanks the whole point of being unfiltered and relying on the deep substrate to be its form of filtration and just using airstones to aerate the water if anything.
@@lif3l3ssgamingthey are not neccessarily unfiltered, he has sponge filters in most of his tanks.
FF made a video about Bettas that was pretty bad. He didnt invent anything, he does a variation on the Walstad method. LRB aquatics and Fishtory has better info on natural type tanks imo.
Didn't like the Betta video either. To be fair he often credits Diana Walstad in his videos, his way is indeed a version of that.
Father Fish is old school. A lot of enthusiast and fish hobbiest have access to so many different mediums and resources that weren't available 50 or 60 years ago. So he's made do with what he has had and have deviated a little or not at all. I've recently joined the fish gurus and fish hobbiest community, and I've been doing this all wrong for the last 40 or so years, but my fish have pretty much lived and I've had little disease or dying established fish. It's perspective.
It all depends on what you want/like imo. He has some good information and some I wouldn't personally like for my fish room. Learning things from many places is a good thing. There are plenty of youtube "fish keepers" who have terrible advice. Father fish is not one of those people.
Ive only done it that way long before I heard of Father Fish. I still do very small water changes every once in a while 10-15% but Ive gone half a year with no water change and it was fine.
Great video. Father fish talks about understocking. Is it necessary to light stock your tank when doing a deep dirted substrate? There would obviously be lots of plants in the aquarium. Thanks.
My tanks are mostly heavily stocked right now because of fish breeding. As long as you stock slowly within reason you should be ok.
It depends on what type of fish you keep. African & some other cichlids from the America's will dig & ruin a dirted substrate. When it comes to all other fish & and plants, dirted tanks are a great idea. I moved from Ohio to Venice fl. in 2019, where F F had his store. I had the pleasure of getting to know him over the span of 2 years before he moved up north. I had bought many fish from him, which unfortunately I lost after hurricane Ian due to 14 days of power loss.
Are malaysian trumpets okay in dirted tanks or do they drag the dirt to the surface?
They're ok. They don't dig that deep.
Pheromones. I think Father Fish lives in the 30s--the 1930s. He keeps his tanks like before such items as air pumps and tank heaters were invented. That's one style, but not for me. There are no muddy streams around here. They are all concreted in. Besides, I cannot trust what would be in and sample from the wild. Some of his information is good, but his fish keeping style is not for me, so much of what he says in unapplicable. I rather like the way your tanks look.
HELP! I'm setting up my 75-gallon tank per your instructions. I have the dirt, made to your formulation, in the tank. I have the almost 2-inch layer of Black Diamond, rinsed on top. Whenever I add water, it gets cloudy. I'm on my fifth fill, and it was clean at first, but overnight it's cloudy again, but better than the first few times. I have a slightly oversized HOB running. Is this normal? Right now, I'd like to keep this water, but I don't know why it's always so cloudy. (I found you on FB. Maybe we can continue this there.) Take care.
P. S. I live in Los Angeles County. Not too close to the fires, so we're safe, but the air is filthy here.
Glad you're safe. Since you say you did rinse out the sand properly, that should not be the problem. Perhaps some sediment in your source water? You sure you have enough sand cap? You say it is fine and then cloudy again.. tbat could be a bacterial bloom. Do you have enough plants? I think put some filter floss in the hob and keep changing it out. If that does not do it, then you probably have a bacterial bloom and just wait it out. I will link a video I did on this subject.
ruclips.net/video/xYeUcCYMBUE/видео.htmlsi=kJX9fO_xHOfJOJod
@@droeksonfishkeeping A great video. Since it's brand new, I'm going to cycle it and then worry about water clarity. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanx.
Using filter floss in your hob?
@@radioraffa Yes. If I wanted a black water tank, I'd have it.
I follow both as well as many other channels. I think the best practice is to learn from as many points of view as you can and deep dive into what they are saying. If someone like Father fish "speaks to you" try and find other channels like his that use the same or a similar method. Compare similarities and differences. For good measure seek out detractors of the method to see any cons or things you should look out for. Armed with a wide breadth and depth of knowledge YOU will know what you're doing and why you won't just be copy pasting some guy on RUclips.
I generally agree with Father Fish regarding his fish keeping techniques & in many ways agree with Corey as well. Most of all I agree with Alexander Williamson at Fishstory who is my number one guy. I will follow your channel as well & look at previous videos. You sure have a beautiful tank next to you in this video. I do not like tanks that are all perfect & pretty because that’s not what nature looks like. Most everyone gives up on the Aquarium hobby because it’s extremely expensive for time & money no matter how cheap you try to make it it’s impossible & everything dies so damn easy no matter how perfect you think your water perimeters are. The problem is I absolutely love my little critters so I’m stuck having to not give up on them or trying again when I fail via this journey of learning through trial & error. I am in American from California living permanently in Victoria Australia. Where is your accent from?
South Africa.
Oops. Never mind. I see you are South African. Any way I think your channel is cool. Keep up the good work.
I currently keep 3 tanks, one with gravel, one with bare bottom and one with ff method
Starting the ff tank years ago was a pain in the a** due to very fine sand and excess nutrients turning the soil anoxic real quick
Took months until i felt comfortable putting fish in there
As it matured (shortly after it was done ripping farts for like half a year) it started growing plants like crazy and is now fully overgrown and overstocked, because my emperor tetras multiplied from 15 to 100ish individuals 😂😂
The other substrates work too, but most plants grow better in the ff tank because i just refuse to do any ferts whatsoever (yes, i am very lazy).
I also have a ton of Emperor Tetras now 😂
Can we talk about how Cory McElroy is one of the biggest aquarium plant distributors in the US, is one of the biggest promoters of planted tanks, has access to nearly unlimited aquarium resources, and yet can't keep a nice looking planted tank? At least Father Fish has some cool ecosystem style tanks and knows how to grow plants.
What? Corys tanks look way better than father fish tanks!.
You do know he uses alot of stock photos don't you? All the tanks in the background look like crap to be honest
@rickywoods3101 Say what you want about father fish, but Corey couldn't keep a nice looking planted tank to save his life.
@@Pray4Mojo1 idk, I don't pay attention to all his tanks that.close but he definitely had a couple of really nice planted tanks. The 800 looked super nice and had very clear water, especially with a 2foot fish and probably 100 smaller fish.
I don't think tons of ditritus and brownish water with only a few tiny fish looks good
I took a break from aquariums for a couple years, and Father Fish's videos were part of what inspired me to get back to it. He definitely inspired me to take a dirted and densely planted approach, although I also use filters. I used his chanel as a launching pad for inspiration, and learned more from other channels as well. I've had great success and joy over the last year with my new setup, and even started a second tank.
They are all good,only 2 diffrent ways to have aquarium,Yes and i am a follower of both
Check out Lucas Brettz at the LRB Aquatics RUclips channel. He has several hundred all natural unfiltered aquariums and he is breeding hundreds of fish and plants. It’s like the flip side of the Father Fish method that works for him as a breeder. I watch quite a few FishTubers to get as many methods and opinions to apply to my five living room tanks. Fantastic video though very well thought out, and you have fantastic looking tanks. All my tanks are following the Father Fish method but only two of them are set with the Father Fish soil that I ordered from his website. Those two tanks, which are a 29gal and a 15gal, are growing crazy amounts of plants and the fish are thriving. But the three other tanks that are set up in the Father Fish method, which are a 40gal a 15gal and a 5gal, just run good aquasoil under the sand and are doing just as well. I’m fact the 15gal houses my huge colony of Red Cherry Shrimp and was built with a mix of well aged pond muck mixed with aquasoil under a very deep sand substrate acts as my resurrection jar that cultures everything from scuds and detritus worms to little fairy and seed shrimp that I transfer to the other tanks with the duckweed it grows. I just collect leaf litter from my local water ways to help feed the micro fauna. I’ll have to email you at some point to special ship you some of Father Fishes soil and supplement because they really do work wonders. Keep these good videos coming and keep those fishy friends close 🐠 🐟
LRB Aquatics is a very interesting channel too.
I got plants in pots . The silver dallors will eat them in side the aquarium. Got a grow light for the plants
Human beings domesticated the modern Betta. They lived very closely with them in SE asian rice fields, harvesting and draining the fields while raising and collecting the Bettas. @Fishtory has a great vid on Betta history, but they have ALWAYS been kept in sub 5 gallon environments. There are a variety of wild Bettas, but the modern Splendens is a product of hundreds of years of selective human breeding. Look at the Betta breeding farms in Thailand, they are literally reared to adult size in coke bottle size glasses. All of the 'Betta Barracks' builds on youtube are a gallon or two tops. Their lung system allows them to tolerate conditions that would kill many tropical aquarium fish. Every single fish in the trade is unique, and the Betta is really not like most of the common community fish in terms of needs. Anyways, this is similar to the endless African Cichlid stocking debate. Fishkeepers are going to have to decide for themselves what is best their fish based on current research and knowledge. An interesting point I got from watching Fishtory are to avoid the Red Betta's if you are trying to keep them in a community setting as those have some genetic predisposition to aggression possibly. Also consider keeping short-fin bettas over long-fin to improve their quality of life.
I also got the Red Betta thing from Fishstory. Had a plakat Hellboy that was super aggressive.
Father fish has a way to keep me on an even keel. When I saw seed shrimp, planaria, and detritus worms in my new tank I freaked out! I saw some people say to use no planaria to get things handled quickly or my shrimp and fish were in danger. Father fish says dont stress, enjoy then hobby. Take it slow and observe. He mellows me, keeps me from nuking my tank. Reminds me that an ecosystem is necessary and cannot be sterile. He is 50% of my success in this hobby.
Hello, i knew nothing about FF method at first, then when i watched his videos i decided to switch to dirtied tank but except for adding mud from from the pond i added dead leaves. My plants and RCS shrimp colony flourished at first. Then after couple months later i noticed white worms coming out of substrate and swimming in water, well i though that's good the fish will eat them, but they did not?! The shrimp colony started dwingling down and shrimplets completely dissapeared. Checked the water parameters everything ok. One day i saw a weird looking creature crawling on the glass, it was PLANARIA. This was the reason the shrimps were dissapearing. I started catching shrimps one by one (ery difficult to do in a planted tank!) and moving them into a separate fish bowl that I had to set up for them, it was a nightmare. Still have some few left in my original tank but they are not breeding anmore.
@@skadhim100 My fauna came from the live plants I purchased and put in the tank at setup. I didnt go out into nature to get my starter culture. I got a group of 6 Cardinal Tetra and a trio of guppies and didnt feed them for a week. They took care of the Planaria and continue to keep the numbers (if they are still in there, I have to assume they are) in check. No chemical were used and my shrimp colony is growing even with the guppies (about 40 of them now) and tetra. Started with 10 cherry shrimp, have well over 60 now. I assume densely planted stem plants and leaf litter have allowed the shrimplets to hide and thrive. Additionally the tetra help keep the guppies from taking over they eat about 80% of the fry.
@@thephalaenopsisqueen6960 this was the reason you did not get any external microorganisms from outside bc u did not o outside to nature plus you kept your fish hungry enough so they ate all those creatures. FF says the tank will balance itself dont worry about it. But my question is how long it will take for that to happen? What if during that process of "balancing" or before it is completely balanced the hostile preditor that you introducing from the mulch or dead leaves, twigs etc...will take over causing harm to your fauna, plants and the ecosystem in your tank before the tank has time to deal w/ it? The damage will be done.
Exactly my point is father fish is a clickbaiter and purposely Ambiguous!!
He repeats things like " water changes are not needed" multiple times through the entire video and then say change your water when the Nitrates get to high.
He does this crap with several different things and it's bull crap in my opinion! It's all to stir up crap and for him to get more views .. so many people have came to me and Said father fish said I could add them immediately if I put in plants and then had all their fish die!
Quit protecting this guy!
With new fish keepers you have to be direct and repeat what important .
He is a self-proclaimed blowhard! Keeping fish that children keep, and plants that can survive in a swamp isnt a major achievement
How are you buffering your PH? I have soft water too.
There is some bone meal in the soil mixture on the bottom of the substrate, that helps. I also add some Seachem Alkaline buffer when I do water changes for the snails' shells. You could also add crushed coral to your substrate or filter (in mesh bags).
I always change when nitrate is 20
I dont follow Father fish anymore, i agree with some things but not with the substrate method, he gives alot of false information
Dag maater altyt lekker stem saam father fish se manier van dinge doen is goud kyk sy video's maar ons het nou vir jou jou raad is net so goed en jy is local
A live stream that i was part of that created a lot of talk. If you go back to different conversations that occurred post. The issue is the extremes that bothers me on any side. The FF method is not for all. Have also been. Fish keeper for over 50 years. I have no issues with the dirt part and say “no water change” which on a follow up live with Mexicali fish keeper and aqua funk after the follow up to the live. He admits that “ it was a sensational thumb nail” to grow the channel and and his bussiness. That i have an issue. You can not preach something and do something different. He has a tank with canister filter , a sponge filter and air flow. All against the extreme view of some. No water change , no air, no filters. Look at your tank for example. Air flow , filter water change. That is not the extreme that he preaches and his extreme follower. His way is not the only way. One size does not fit all. You are speaking common sence. The deep substrate is a great thing. A tank with lot of plants and some small breed is cool. It will not work for my overstock tanks and fish. I think you said “ different stroke for different folks “ that should be the idea. We do what works for us and our fish. And is different for everyone and every tank. I am in the middle and listen to all sides. On my video I clearly explained my issue for the planned conversation i was hoping to have in that live with Mexicali fish keeper.
I feel that is some false information and laughing about the click bait thumbnails. Like a video he posted today “ everyone hates father fish” click bait. Not everyone hates father fish. I don’t buy all his methods. Will take some not other. The dirted tank is cool. Not the others. I can quickly debunk on of his ideas immediately. He said if you do large water changes your fish will die. I don80% on all my tanks 11, over stocked 26 discus +others no one dies. That works for me and my fish. I am not the only one i am sure. He does 10% when needed every day for a few day ( in his live) if he does a large water change on his fish of course they will dies , it will be a large shift in concentration of whatever has accumulated in those tanks for months .
Your tanks in this video is amazing. But you are not buying into all his theories .
I guess i am either naive , stupid or honest. If must people have to do sensational thumbnails for clicks and youtube growth, i get it. Then you can not get upset if you bring the attention to your self as all this is getting him further. Appreciate your stand. You have an open mind and dont fully subscribe to all the extremist ideas. So do I, listen to all and filter the info that goes with my thinking. Subscribed, greetings fro New York @Joy of fish keeping( jose)
Thanks for the sub! One needs to be careful to not just run with what is said on a thumbnail on RUclips. Clickbait is an unfortunate reality of the medium.
@ very true, for personality i see a thumb nail is likely sensational or clickbait i dont go to the video . Recently this particular you tuber not fish related , in think almost every video was click bait. Example michael jackson is dead( he is anyway)
Did not want to use a living person. You watch the video the person not mentioned. Your video , the thumb nail was good, i wanted to hear your view, is not click “baitish”, i get the point of it . After i commented on your video a well known youtuber on the hobby , commented on a members only video about your video and the fact that some of have seen it and commented. Further, uncommon aquatics,does a fish room tour. His first tank he says this is a father fish tanks. Deep substrate, i am cool with that , but also he has and fx6 and two large disk air stone on each side of tank , beautiful i thought. Like your tank is beautiful with the great idea of the substrate , but not all the other extreme of some of his followers, he has some great ideas i give him credit for his contribution to the hobby . As humans we need to listen and filter out the nonsense that is put out there. There is many ways to carry the hobby and do what works for you and your fish. He goes further and puts out this video “every one hates father fish” and re runs clip of and earlier live, where he states that was sensational thumb nails to grow channel and business, i get it. So , some of the misconceptions about were “ brought on by your self” , he is told. They laughed if off. I absolutely agree with your response. As you tuber i feel we should be putting info out there that is factual, if something works for you, necessarily is not going to work for others . Them something else is those that take an idea and take it to extremes. I dont hate or dislike the man, just not a follower anymore . The hobby is to vast to push an idea to extreme i and believe is the only way. Thanks for your response
One more thing. I wouldn't dream of going to a dam or a river and scoop up some dead plants and mud, and then toss it in my aquariums!!! There is the real risk of introducing predatory creatures to your tank. I won't risk it!!!
If you live in South Africa, the risk is infection from raw sewage. Ecoli etc.
Thats why you quarantine the jar of mud for 30 days or more theres more risk of adding parasites from new fish.
I agree. Most people who complain about Father fish's methods are either one piston minded people (those who only believe in what they've been doing as the only correct methods) and people who screw up the methods. Father fish's methods works if done right, so do other methods. The key is doing things right. I'm from Zambia, no shops sell aqua soil or such fancy soils, so I use Garden soil mixed with river clay and cap it with either pea gravel or sand. It works for me. When it comes to water changes, well ..The No water change at all is surely a controversial one, I do atleast 20 - 30 after a few weeks. Other than that, Father Fish has golden knowledge.
I agree. I have small tanks so they require the occasional water change.
Ya father fish says one thing 90percent of the video and then says the opposite.
If you want a mostly planted tank with a few tiny fish, sure.
He is a clickbaiter
@@rickywoods3101 Most of them are clickbaiters in a way actually. They're all trying to sell a product of their own, thats where all these confusions are coming from 😂. You have people who are hoodwinked into relying on certain products on one hand, and on the other, you have some that are doing things that work but threaten the other people's products. End results...False accusations and criticism. Anyways...your line is false. I have actually seen a lot of youtubers with father fish's methods and their tanks contradict your small fish and mostly planted claim. Heck, ive been doing what father fish is doing on tubs first before i even ran into his RUclips channel.
@Kel-FinsNaturalAquatics ok, but father fish gets tons of fish killed by how he is purposely being ambiguous and deceptive during alot of his videos.
Leading to people loosing hope and quitting along with killing animal.
He needs to be clear and precise when making videos to new fish keepers.
A lot of people are suffering from the dunning Kruger effect and think they are smarter than everyone else and that all the products are a way to just steal money .
What do you mean by big fish though? And how many our their ? And how many gallons?
Zist of the video... read between the lines😂
There are a lot of really good videos and information FF offers. The problem is when FF makes a video and he is wrong. He doubles down when called out on wrong information which I experienced and knew it was time to unsubscribe. FF's discord community is toxic and difficulty to participate in. Who knew wanting to help another member in that community required you to post your resume/apply for a job, what a joke. I know they have members in their community that mean well and if you are new and need help, there is much offered. When speaking about FF with people who are much more experienced then I, what they say is he knows things but he doesn't understand the how and tries to teach others his assumption of the how, this is why its problematic, especially when called out on it.
Disinformation and marketing
Water changes are situational, if there's a need, I do them, if not, I don't. Hate when ppl want to apply same rules on every aquarium and every situation. If you have a tank full of african malawis, you better do those water changes + get a solid filtration. Think father fish knows that, but he also knows the power of a good click bait😅. Aside from that, I think dirted tanks are great for live plants, and is still very underrated method.
I liked your video; it seems we share a lot of similar opinions. I follow both Father and Aquarium Coop. they both provide good information depending on what you are trying to accomplish. I have taken the information I find useful and applied it to my aquariums. At the end of the day, you have to do what works best for you and your fish. There is no one way fits all.
Thanks, I follow your channel as well. What happened to the goldfish tank with the plenum?
I very much like Father Fish's method, although I can't stop feeding my fish because I have too many fish in my tank for a completely balanced ecosystem. Also I think I prefer going with plain sand as a substrate, or maybe just a thin layer of soil under the sand to help the plants get started.
Yes, Father Fish can upset some people, but you hit the nail on the head... with Father Fish u need to listen to what he is saying and also not saying... there is wisdom in his words. I have 3 medium size fully planted tanks (discus, nana fish and dwarf cichlids) and use plenums (2 anaerobic & 1 anoxic (discus)). For the last 9 months I have not done water changes (only daily RO drip feed to replace evaporated H2O) and also never do substrate vacuuming. I do 5 water readings per week and do not have any issues except for wild plant growth. I have to prune plants every 2 weeks. I did have some issues with elevated NO3 in the discus tank about 5 months ago, but added hanging house plants to all tanks, and this brought the levels to almost to zero. I test for ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4) and my readings are zero or close to it. I feed my nano fish three times a week and they are surviving fine, and as a result, the SAE are working harder. I do not have issues of algae due to the feeding routine, SAE and max 5.5 hours of lighting. I do add live food to all tanks and the fish go scavenging for live food during feeds. I do not support the idea of giving nano fish little prisons to live in... my wife kept 4 males fighters and 13 females in a single well planted 432 litres tank in Thailand, with no damage to the males. Fighters need space, plants, warmth and food to thrive.
I check out both of them. Who's to say I can't mix and match techniques and things that are available to me. It takes a lot I don't call anybody a genius! 🤪
I have banjo catfish that burrow under sand so not good for a dirted tank lol
I definitely think he gives a lot of bad information, particularly for beginners that don't know how to interpret and understand his methods that's bad for the hobby and gonna turn beginners away. He's an old man that is dead set in his ways and his way is the only way
Kg Tropicals an Ben ochart
poor ppl thing, it was done 30y ago on low techs :) its so complex no point to even start.
I dont mind doing wc my plants like it my fish like it. For me its almost therapeutic. Ive never tried a dirted aquarium. I have used sand and i didnt like it. There are different ways to do things this isnt rocket science
He's a quack .
That is a very nice aquarium.
FF is a trustful man, a very truthful person, he got me back on the hobby, I'm following him since 2020 and his method never let me down. I've set up 4 FF tanks and the fifth is in working progress😉
I got family there
I'm following FATHER FISH. The natural way is how the fish luve in the wild. No medicines, no hight tech equipment.
Fatherfish methods are great for someone who does not want to spend lots of money
Why argue over it?It's all up to your wallet! His way,your way,MD ways,George's way,Aquarium co op way, they all grow plants, its up to the owner,cycle in fish,cycle no fish, it all works . These people attacking an old man for keeping his fish his way is just wrong and they need to get a life.
I can grow plant with miracle grow soil and gravel in a tank so there is NO Right Way,its all up to your wallet.
nice new intro mate
father fish i watched few videos - i can't follow the guy, the delivery of information is not good for me
aquarium co-op now is more about fish business channel, especially cory's lives - also don't follow much
FF does have a meandering style of talking. Not everyone's delivery style works for everyone, that is true. We all learn differently.
@@droeksonfishkeeping he reminds me the guy with anoxic filtration channel, the plenum guy - lot of repeating of the same information, but he rubs me the wrong way with some very condescending remarks he throws here and there all the time, sure he has more info to share, yet still it's not enough for amount of videos he puts out
Nice
Hi I have FF tank, it works good, but without water changes hair algy appears. Now Im going to chceck dr Novak method, undergravel filter with kitty litter cap. What is your opinion about this method?
The plenum method worked in the sense that it kept nitrates and phosphates very low but it didn't solve the algae problem in my puffer tank. I would just do some water changes in your case. I don't believe in no water changes, you have to dial it in for each particular tank.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Im going to start new 600 liter 2m×50x60cm and looking for natural solution like FF or Diana Walstad, dedicated mostly for swordtails. DW I had in te past in my corner tank and it worked great with gravel, maybe even better than FF (the light was old style fluorescent light 865 type). What do you think about dirt with gravel bed ? Could I hold swordtails and platies in one tank?
I don't like gravel on dirt, too much leaching of nutrients into the water column. Platies and Swordtails in one tank will hybridize, if you are fine with that, go ahead. @@arturproc7047
I was so used to the current mainstream way that when I heard about father fish i was skeptical. But I tried to learn his style with an open mind even though I had my doubts. And I was suprised that I couldn't argue with him. Everything he said made sense. And the ocean doesn't do water changes either per say so I think he was trying to replicate a natural environment like that. We fear nitrates for good reason but a heavily planted tank will eat the nitrates which is nice. However, if you don't want plants or that type of substrate then the only other way is the water changes and such. Water changes to take care of nitrates as well as replace natural minerals in the water. The type of fish matter too. If your going to keep African cyclids you can forget about plants cuz they will eat the plants. And when cycling a tank there are newer modern safe products helping you do that nowadays. In tbe end it's a choice. Father fish is smart and has his way but for me I still choose the water changes way. To each their own.
I believe that there are many ways to keep an aquarium. Much of what Father fish recommends is historically, part of our history and always reliable when used properly. But not every person can do this type of tank.
Mind is 7ph
I like Father Fish. He has a lot of good information. I don't agree 100% with all his points, but overall, he is the new face of fishkeeping.
Aquariums done the natural way will always prosper.
Of course, not all tanks and/or community fish are appropriate for this method.
Tbf my only issue with FF is his clickbait thumbnail/title, but the actual content of the video does not spread misinformation
for example: "never do water change" means; If your tank is healthy AF then there's no need to water change really. "dont feed your fish" means, create a food chain so you dont have to feed your fish
I believe in Father Fish👍
He is a major asset to the hobby as well as cory is too.
I like father fish, I always used his methods before I even watched him. The information he pushes has been around for a long time, and pretty close to diana walstad's method. It works.
Aquarium co-op I liked back in the day, but he's all about the money now. Most of his products are junk made in China, basically dropshipped over priced trash. His knowledge is very basic, stuff you can read in a library on a couple of hours. Back when Lemar was doing podcasts with him it was good though, entertaining.
I have a father fish setup and love it! ❤
Father Fishs method has revitalized the hobby. I think egos get in the way of some people thought processes.
I have a deep substrate tank that is not only inspired by Father Fishes style but I added his substrate additive he sells to the soil before capping it with sand. My tank is heavily planted as well. I have watched nearly every one of his videos and subscribed to him a while ago. He has seen my videos too and subscribed to my channel 2Caves Aquatics and commented on my 75 gallon planted tank. I have also seen Cory's videos. I don't claim to have a Father Fish tank. I use a Seachem tidal hang on back filter as well as sponge filters and I do water changes. i also have about 50 times more fish in my tank than Father Fish would ever put in his aquariums. My tank is very over stocked. So is my 60 gallon tank. But I don't mind at al the extra care it takes. I watch many fishkeeping videos and take the best of what they have to say and if it applies to my personal situation. I have collected 10 one gallon resurrection jars and made videos about my findings. I have followed Father Fishes idea of introducing nature into your tank and the food chain concept. There is abundant life in my water and substrate that can only been seen with a microscope. And I made several videos about it. I subscribed to your channel today because I agree with you very much on this subject. I like Father Fish and have employed many of his ideas but I do water changes and have filtration because I choose to have many many fish in my aquariums. Father Fishes methods don't work in every single situation when it comes to fish keeping and he says so himself. But rather you choose to follow his way or not it wouldn't hurt at all to watch his videos.
Thanks for the sub!
FF clearly states don’t break any rules …Funny thing people talk bad about their pass Ecco system disaster ……broke many rules?
A live stream that i was part of that created a lot of talk. If you go back to different conversations that occurred post. The issue is the extremes that bothers me on any side. The FF method is not for all. Have also been. Fish keeper for over 50 years. I have no issues with the dirt part and say “no water change” which on a follow up live with Mexicali fish keeper and aqua funk after the follow up to the live. He admits that “ it was a sensational thumb nail” to grow the channel and and his bussiness. That i have an issue. You can not preach something and do something different. He has a tank with canister filter , a sponge filter and air flow. All against the extreme view of some. No water change , no air, no filters. Look at your tank for example. Air flow , filter water change. That is not the extreme that he preaches and his extreme follower. His way is not the only way. One size does not fit all. You are speaking common sence. The deep substrate is a great thing. A tank with lot of plants and some small breed is cool. It will not work for my overstock tanks and fish. I think you said “ different stroke for different folks “ that should be the idea. We do what works for us and our fish. And is different for everyone and every tank. I am in the middle and listen to all sides. On my video I clearly explained my issue for the planned conversation i was hoping to have in that live with Mexicali fish keeper.
I feel that is some false information and laughing about the click bait thumbnails. Like a video he posted today “ everyone hates father fish” click bait. Not everyone hates father fish. I don’t buy all his methods. Will take some not other. The dirted tank is cool. Not the others. I can quickly debunk on of his ideas immediately. He said if you do large water changes your fish will die. I don80% on all my tanks 11, over stocked 26 discus +others no one dies. That works for me and my fish. I am not the only one i am sure. He does 10% when needed every day for a few day ( in his live) if he does a large water change on his fish of course they will dies , it will be a large shift in concentration of whatever has accumulated in those tanks for months .
Your tanks in this video is amazing. But you are not buying into all his theories .
I guess i am either naive , stupid or honest. If must people have to do sensational thumbnails for clicks and youtube growth, i get it. Then you can not get upset if you bring the attention to your self as all this is getting him further. Appreciate your stand. You have an open mind and dont fully subscribe to all the extremist ideas. So do I, listen to all and filter the info that goes with my thinking. Subscribed, greetings fro New York @Joy of fish keeping( jose)p
Thanks for the sub!