For more of my content on lights: "Let there be Light for your Aquarium!" All the details of how aquarium lighting works ruclips.net/user/livecB4xq9_PWtE?feature=share A review of the Hygger 957 ( a low to mid price light but i also discuss the fluval 3.0, nicrew, flood light LED and twinstars). ruclips.net/video/qakgnct_sv4/видео.html Twinstar S and EA Series Lights Review ( True High Lighting) ruclips.net/user/live9oj9FPDdAao?feature=share
well I don't want you to get a big head or anything-- BUT-- This video on The top 5 reasons planted tanks fail-- is the best video on fish/plant keeping I have seen this entire year. REALLY excellent. Educational, Interesting, factual, science based, well documented, filled with examples and clear explanation as to WHY plants do well or not. Kudos! Well done.
Plants Light !!! Plants substrate !!! Plants Fish !!! Fish PooP !!! Plants Grow !!! Its literally that simple. Alex break down a fish tank or set up a new one. With a crash coarse summed up in like 15 minutes for beginners. Show them the short cuts. And patience ❤ cheers
I have a tank with 4 female bettas, 1 otto, ramshorn and random neocaridinas. I use small gravel that is about 1/4" only. My narrow leaf ludwigia, crypts and java ferns are doing really good. Have had this tank running for a couple of years now. Been farming the crap out of the ludwigia.
Great info for newbies. I started a planted 10 gal tank with substrate and went overboard with dead leaves causing it to be dark water and too acidic. I ended up doing 2 water changes a few days apart and replacing with distilled water and the plants are now starting to thrive. I’m about 8 weeks in total and just did the water changes last week.
As a 4 month novice who is currently maintaining 3 10 gallon aquariums, (each with 20 neocaridina shrimp , 4 snails, a couple little rasboras and an otocinclis catfish) with 2-3 inches of basic aquarium gravel and novice friendly plants (amazon swords, coontail, guppy grass and java moss), feeding aqueon shrimp pellets and fish flakes and checking water parameters regularly, I am VERY grateful for the info you offer. I want simple set-ups that work as a system. i figure that the fish poop feeds the shrimp and the plants and so does the snail poop. The shrimp love eating stuff off the plants. the plants are thriving and i think that its because i am keeping it very simple and i managed to not freak out through some gnarly algae blooms. i will be upgrading my lights from the hood lights that came with the aquarium. They work fine, i just want to see more stuff. I saw some tiny worms on the glass, 2 days ago and i almost freaked out. instead, i added a rasbora to each of the tanks and didn't feed, yesterday. no worms, this morning. simple works. you help me remember that.
Finally someone with _good_ advice instead of just repeating the specs and selling products. Also, thanks for showing real tanks - not tanks planted 2 months ago on CO2 and pristine perfect.
As a general rule, I think plants with bigger leaves do fine in lower light conditions because they can catch more light with their big leaves. Plants with fine or narrow leaves generally need more or brighter light. However, this doesn't account for special plant colors and is just for general plant survival.
@@sharonwhiteley4616 Sure. I like Cryptocoryne Wendtii. They come in a few colors, have long/flowing leaves, and do great in lower light. They might melt back a little when you first put them in, but that's normal while they acclimate to your tank. Also, cryptocoryne species don't like to be uprooted so try and pick a spot in your tank and leave it there.
I kept messin up my tank by trying to make it what I wanted vs what nature wanted. Once I started listening to you about the No filter/no water change system it got wayyyy easier. 2 years goin strong on my deep substrate 29 gal with only 2 bubblers and no water changes ever.
This is exactly what I needed to hear. I just started a new planted tank, and some of plants are melting, and some turning yellow. I just got apt 2 fertilizer, I hope to see growth in the next several weeks. I totally thought I did something wrong. I have no fish yet, but I have aqua soil and I had inserted root tabs. When everything stabilizes, I’ll add my fish. Thank you!
How did that APT 2 work out? I'm in the same boat you were in now. Have a very heavily planted tank - not stocked yet. Plants and turning yellow and have some holes in leaves. The holes I think are a potassium deficiency. Thank you.
You are amazing! I’m just getting ready to start a 29 gallon nano tank. Your calm, chill demeanor reminds me that this is a hobby and this is nature, so I don’t need to obsess and freak out over everything!
Beautiful plants. I appreciate all the information. I’m not a pet shop person due to the lack of knowledge with who they hire. A college town here. A “Mom & Pop” store opened which on my visit was refreshing to meet. I will get on a schedule w/taking care of my tank. I appreciate all your help.
My clean-up crew started out just snails and plecos, now i have shrimp. Shrimp are a lot more sensitive than those apparently, but I cant keep their populations down. I will say, they are exceptional at clearing algae. After i finish cycling a tank, I'll add shrimp first to clean any algae. Then mollys to get anything they missed.
I have a 4ft Hygger HG-016 light on a 40 Breeder. I think it is the absolute BEST light for the money. You can control each Red, Green, & Blue LED; as well as the white LED's.
I bought A. Congensis plant and I’m wondering if I should cover roots in the substrate or tie it to a rock? Thank you for sharing your knowledge. So appreciated 😊
It's best open rooted...but you CAN cover about 40% of the roots and it will survive. But it's best to let young plants grow some 3 or 4 inch leggy roots for a few months before doing that in my opinion, then you don't risk brown root rot. Cheers
I wish my local fish store could lable their plants as more than just "aquatic plant $8.99"... I have NO CLUE what i'm even growing, but at least i now know one is rotalla mini butterfly now 😅, mine has both types of growths you showed in the same tank, with the prettier ones being on the side that's in direct sunlight all day....
Good video. I'm looking to set up my first planted tank soon. Trying to learn as much as I can beforehand so I don't have to learn too much the hard way lol
Wow, glad you showed that 5th tank. My 2nd tank plants are not thriving compared to my main one. Always learn something new from watching your videos Alex. Have a good day
So... my water, straight out of the tap is over the readable range of the API High Range pH test. So, around 8.8 or so. Should I anticipate issues with even the most commonly recommended plants for beginners? I try to make sure I am well informed before I end up killing even the most basic of life forms.
Tbh as a complete beginner i have no issue with plants whatsoever. I have hard af water (35GH), i bought a really cheap light, and i just took whatever i saw that i liked in the fish store. So far (5 months now) everything l bought is thriving, some even got funny colors like white or pink, and i use no fertilizers, just my substrate. Plants are easy i love it
Thank you 👍I struggle to get my head around lighting & best ph thank you. I've often wondered if I've got enough Kelvins in some lighting I have. How are you meant to know what light to get for the depth though? Also Is there a natural way to lower pH? All I hear about is how to make it higher for things like cichlids. My area has very hard water.
I’m planting my tank again. My 5 clown loaches needed to move to a huge tank. They outgrew my 180. They didn’t try to destroy my plants but their size swimming couldn’t help but beat my plants up.
@Fishstory Hello Alex. I may have found out that I am not a bad plant keeper. I found this on a website: "Hard water and high pH makes it difficult for many aquatic plants to absorb important nutrients, such as iron and manganese. However, amazon swords, water wisteria, hygrophila, cryptocoryne and other species can grow well in hard water because they demand fewer insoluble nutrients." This explains why the stemplants melt to the point where they die off and the swordplants fair pretty well. I recently got a quote for RO water filter installation (for the entire home) with a bypass to still supply hardwater whenever i wish for it. This coincidently would be perfect for aquatic plants and fish that lay eggs (I found out that hard water has too much calcium for fertilization of eggs). Also if the water is too soft it will be calcium deficient which is probably also not ideal for shrimp and snails. This is where the bypass comes in. Wish me luck. The installation will happen in 1 month. I might give Cambomba and other plants a try again after installation. Their fast growth and inability to absorb nutrient in hardwater explains the die off to a T
100% and good luck. Tip... Most amazonian sourced plants will be used to soft waters.... where as mwnt Indian, Bangladeshi. Malaysian and Thai plants live in limestone rich regions. Also most African plants in the hobby handle hard water resiliency
hate the term "emersed" because everybody always confuses it with "immersed" Is there a reason that your aqueon clip light is mounted so high up on that piece of wood? If you're interested I've got some Val. nana 'yabba creek' that stays 2" in the 50, can send some for the hard water tank!
Thanks i actually have some dwarf val strains too. That tank with the clip light is for ricefish and shrimp, so im only keeping crypts and floating plants for the fry. Its so shallow too, so i dont want to spend time maintaining it to Mach
Hi Alex! If I add an organic plant soil underneath my sand, is it safe for my loaches? One more question..I’ve never been able to get the tannin color out of my water from adding wood two years ago 🤷🏻♀️what gives?
It is safe to add soil under sand ( freeze it into mud blocks, then put them under the deep sand substrate, but it's likely going to need a sand cap due to the high nitrogen compounds like ammonia. St the end of the day, make sure you test for ammonia before adding fish or shrimp
@@Fishtory whoops the tank is already established, has been for years (sand bottom). I just want something to get plants growing. I guess this isn’t safe to do with the existing fish in there.
@Tatted_Librarian i have a video called "adding Substrate to an existing aquarium" or " resetting an existing tanks substrate"...one of those type titles, and explain 2 or 3 ways you can do it. Cheers and good luck
Yeah there's more factors then some realize in keeping aquarium plants and that's why I think it's best to take things slowly and only ever mess with ONE thing at a time if things aren't working as intended, better not to risk stressing an already struggling organism even if it's "just" a plant, without plants we would've get the luxury of breathing so one should respect all life in their aquariums, even the sedentary life ^^ Also side note, details on that shop light that can grow algae that fast? I've got the Ultra Prograde Prolink lights from Home Depot and I feel like this is the longest a tank has taken to establish a biofilm and my beloved pond snails are hurting for food in a couple tanks and I still need a daphnia colony so funny story, but I need a light that encourages MORE and not less algae lmao, got saltwater nerite snails breeding and want a second generation outta them ^^'
What is the tall plant with long thin pointy leaves growing emergent out of the top of some of your tanks? Kind of looks like a bamboo or grass. It looks really pretty but I dont think I've ever seen it in shops.
@@Fishtory Oh is that what it is? I've seen that submerged and it looks different. Does it change form as it comes out of the tank? 😮 or maybe we're talking about different plants? I meant the one at 2:30 at the back of the tank with reddish stalks and thin long leaves (sorry I probably wasn't clear enough before, my bad).
@@Fishtory BTW I don't know if you're already done this yet (if so please ignore) but I would absolutely love a video going through all the different plants you have growing in your tanks with species names, care info, and ease of growth etc. You have a really nice selection of plants and you clearly grow them really well - I'd love to hear more about them 😊
I have 3 java fern attached to a plastic pot in a 30 gallon tank and a wrgb light, a pair of small discus and 3 balloon gold Ram, how do i make the plants grow well?
Good water flow, good lighting, get a liquid fertilizer for aquatic plants... dose once a week after a 30 to 50% water change...that should cause java ferns to grow their fastest. Best of luck 👍
I hear what you’re saying about the pH, but do we need to do anything with kH and GH ? Or as long as we have the proper lighting and fertilization with proper pH will the plants do just fine ??? as long as they are not a High Tech plant
Great Video Alex! I still find it fascinating how all of it works together to achive a balance. One can have a Kessil light but all the others (proper substrate, proper filtration, proper fertilizer), it is just not going to work. Nature is amazing and we just do our best to copy it.
Great video! My first planted tank has been doing well (other than one loss within a week of a shipment), but its always nice to learn about what to look out for if things go wrong!
My giant swordplants have 2 different leafs. The emmersed leaves it came with when I bought em which are wider and darker green and the immersed ones which are thinner and light on color. Both leafs seems to flourish under water which is perfect for me
I have Father Fish dirted tank. (Base soil with peat moss, worm manure (he suggests cow manure), bone meal, garden lime, epsom salt, iron sulfide (he suggests iron oxide) It’s been 1 month. All my plant roots are black even if I don’t plant them no more than 1 cm or 2 cm. The substrate is bubbling but this decreased over time and doesn’t stink. I don’t know why is this but I think this is caused by anaerobic conditions or the burning of the roots because of the nutrients. Should I add 1 more inch of sand to put my plant roots? Does adding more sand cause the death of the bacteria on the underlying sand and cause ammonia spike?
since i watch father fish and you brother, i started to step in aquatics... im from exotic terrestrials keeping.. my 50gal dirted/nature/natural/jungle style tank doing well as of now.. also my 1st dirted 10gal shrimp tank are.stable ❤❤❤ love from philippines. cheers.
I have blue strip LEDs that surround the tank for ambient lighting, but I have a plant specific grow bulb that I used to acclimate the plants to water before putting them into the tank. About to install a white led strip for viewing. I have all the lights lol
What do I do about very hard water? I've bought conditioner - will that help? My water is very hard and acidic. High alkalinity. The parameters of the tap water are nuts.
awesome video! Great info about different plant and lights. I love fish tanks. So many different ways to aquascape it make for amazing levels of creativity
I live in Austin Texas and I use store bought , Mountain Valley Natural Spring Water. I'm at no water changes, just top offs. I have a organic dirt tank, 2 ADA tanks, peagravel tank, Fluval substrate. I have planted tanks and most plants seam to thrive. I have had the few that don't like the situation just like you said. 😂
Temperature can play a large role in some plants. Some dont germinate or bloom without a certain temp and more importantly- the amount of time in the sun's rays.
I have seen several videos by people using flood lights instead of lights made for aquariums. It sounds like that may not always work for all plants and tanks. If tou had to recommend a low, medium, and high price range light, what would you recommend? As a beginner, I find it difficult to justify lights that cost over $100, but I also have a bettwr chance at success with this!
I showed a flood light on that shrimp tank actually. They definitely encourage algae growth because they're not wide spectrum light, but they can be pretty powerful, if you know how to control algae already. I always recommend CREE LED diodes...theyre dirt cheap and in many many generic and name brand lights, search for 6500 or 6000 kelvin lighting warmth and then cree diodes ... others work too, but ive had the best luck with LED flood or spot/shop lights from home depot or lowes that are 6500k or 6000k and about 12 to 20$ per square foot of lighting
Thank you for this video Alexander. Do you have any reliable source that you could point me towards about various plant requirements? A book, or website? Many thanks :)
👍 I have some strange water parameters. My ph is around 8.0 KH 130 GH .25 or less and Total Alkalinity very low. All beginner plants in there but seem to be doing pretty good in a 40 gallon breeder stocked with cockatoo apistogramma cichlids. I have a well also .
I have one of those Aqueon “plant” lights and while my RRF grow fast, they’re indeed more of pink root floaters. Threw some in a tub of dirty fish water outside and those are blood red now. Haven’t found any info on how the co-op light affects color development in plants but I’ve been considering getting one. I can’t do a $130 light on my little 10g
I agree with all that, but with ramhorn snails their eggs mess up leaves and then they eat them ! Just something I've experienced, the eggs put holes in jungle val real good is one plant they seem to really like lol
Awesome video as awlays. I have a high tech tank and my more difficult plants arent doing fine, i was guessing about my pH, because my tap water is around 7-7,5 pH and I rarely do water changes and I top the water with also tap water, so now my pH is higher than 7,5, seems Im guessing it right, thanks alot!... I need RO water and more leaves for my 200 liter asap xD
I have Father Fish tank with 1" of his soil & 2" sand. Talked to him & we're trying to figure out why the plants I got from him are melting & dying stem & all. The entire plant. I use his chlorine treatment-sodiumthipsulphate. We can't figure it out. Any ideas? I use a regular lid light that came with tank but on second tank doing same thing I use a hugger light on the white light though it still has red, blue & green mixed in. It doesn't seem to have a white only light. These are 10 gallon tanks.
I have high PH hard water. 8.2 Ph, 300+ GH and 180 +/- Kh. Do you think that is too hard for plants? My snails and white clouds have always been fine, for like years. But I've never had luck with plants.
Thats probably too hard for most plants, yes. The ph is the bigger issue biologically. If you add aquasoil that buffers water and adds acidity, along with some almond leaves or sphagnum moss/bog peate then you could likely drop your ph to 7.5 ish im guessing... and i bet you'd have much more success. Check out my video on 25+ hard water loving plants...hopefully this helps you a little. Cheers
I struggle sometimes with plants until they get used to my water. My Ph is usually about 6.5, but my hardness is always reading over 300. The TDS would make you weep lol.
@@Fishtory I should probably try bolbitis next. Anubias is doing fine as long as I don't try getting fancy with the nano petite variety. Those hate me.
I made the mistake of thinking because the plants were growing fast they were good , a year in they all lost their bottom leaves , ironically a poor light encourages stringy growth , its really an experiment with plants Ive tried loads in 4 tanks and will keep what does best
It's usually if you don't use a lid, and or if you have jumping fish. Many fish breeders will do this, slowly allowing evaporation for the water to get harder and or more alkaline ad the tds and ph are simulating some time when the rivers drop levels and get more and more concentrated water with dissolved solids and even a temperature increase of half a degree d over 2 weeks. Fatten females with high protein foods...frozen or live to help egg formation. Then add the water back to the top with cooler water to spark the spawning
My tank has been setup using water from a lake (very hard and alkaline). I'm slowly brigning back the PH to a more suitable level for fish using rain water to top off evaporation. The plants that I took from ponds and rivers all melted under a few weeks. The ones that I got from that same lake are thriving. QUESTION: One of them plants that looks like a clod of grass (I don't know it's name) seems like it's dead. All the leaves became rotten-brown but did not melt, the middle core is still green and it's not growing or doing anything. Just like it has become "dormant" it it even possible ?
Temperature and ph can do strange things. Sometimes plants can take 3 or 4 months to die fully at the same time...but id say trim the dead or brown sections...they're just draining the plant's resources. Then youll see it the roots are keeping it alive...or if it was living off the dying leaves energy. Good luck 👍
I simply use 6400 K 20w LED spotlight (2 of them) on my 100 liter tank. Grow lights are way too expensive for my budget. Substrate is simply a mix of sand and gravel (again, budget and active substrate gets depleted over time anyway). Substrate must have been saturated with fish poop, bc I can grow plants in the inert substrate. I have some algea but it doesnt choke plants and is getting better. I have Crypticoryne cryspatula, hygrophila corymbosa, alternanthera reineckii, hydrocotyle tripartita japan etc growing well. If you get your expectations right and choose the right plants I dont see any reason why it will fail. I only pump liq ferts one or two times a week, its more than satisfactory...
My water has a hardness of > 22 dGh and a PH of 7.5. From what I've seen, the only plants I can grow are Vallisneria, Echinodorus and Cryptocoryne. And with Vallisneria, I have a love and hate relation, if I let it in the tank it grows and propagate like crazy, if I get pissed and remove it, everything gets covered in algae. So now, I have two 35 gallons tanks, one that have Vallisneria, with zero algae, but every two months, I must pull out lots of plants, disturb the substrate and make everything cloudy, and another tank where I've pull out all Vallisneria, have only Echinodorus and Cryptocoryne, but all is covered in algae, that I try to fight dimming the light and employing the "services" of 10 juvenile Ancistrus.
dude i've lost water sprite and moss over the last month and realized i forgot i had a big bag of ammonia remover in my filter still, and i don't feed my fish heavily, think i starved the plants
My water has a pH of 8.6 +. My GH is moderate to low, but my KH is high. Any suggestions on plants that would work well other than guppy grass is java fern? I'm having great luck with those two and several others but failing on many. Just want to see if there's something I haven't thought of. And java moss does okay.
I have hardish water pH 7.5 and stargrass, rotala, anubias, crypts, and dwarf sagittaria do surprisingly well for me. I would guess that Val Anubias and Sag would work just fine for you.
Look up calculations for lumens or parr instead. Wattage is going to differ in every product, country, AC/DC , and water depth also... so you really want to calculate light needed for a given surface area...ignoring volume at first, and just knowing every 30cm you lose around 50% of light strength
Sometimes vendors like Aquatic Arts sell what THEY call a plant when it's really a single stem cutting with a single root that barely stands a chance between shipping and the water difference.
I live in a building with softened water, except for one tap in the laundry room. That water has gh 31, kh20 and ph 7.8. I've been buying RO water and mixing it approx 3/2 or 2/1 approx with the onsoftened water. As my number of tanks has increased (MTS lol), it's getting rather pricey. What are the negative effects on both fish and plants, if I started using the softened water to replace the RO water?
Not too much if its consistent. Its swings in ph that cause most stress in fish. Add a cup of crushed coral or shells to every 10 or 20 gallons of tank and then use that soft water, and it should dial in around 6.5 or 7 ph using RO...Then top off with the tap water and gradually aclimate the fish to it
@@Fishtory Thanks. Obviously, you don't feel the sodium levels would be an issue. BTW, I love your videos. The depth of the info you give is excellent, as I've been in this hobby for over 60 years, and your videos are the best I've found for learning new things.
A series called "let there be light, 3 episodes" of live stream is a deep dive... and then my hygger 957 light review compares lights within the same price range
I'm new to your channel. If you don't already, I would really enjoy a more in-depth video about hard water. I'm somewhat of a newbie. My first tank crashed. I think my tap water is too hard. It is above an 8 ph and is very hard (always the darkest color on the test strips) -If anyone knows if he already has a video, can you let me know the name of the title so I can look for it.
![Twenty One Pilots - The Line (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XCz7WUotXs8/mqdefault.jpg)
For more of my content on lights:
"Let there be Light for your Aquarium!"
All the details of how aquarium lighting works
ruclips.net/user/livecB4xq9_PWtE?feature=share
A review of the Hygger 957 ( a low to mid price light but i also discuss the fluval 3.0, nicrew, flood light LED and twinstars).
ruclips.net/video/qakgnct_sv4/видео.html
Twinstar S and EA Series Lights Review ( True High Lighting)
ruclips.net/user/live9oj9FPDdAao?feature=share
well I don't want you to get a big head or anything-- BUT-- This video on The top 5 reasons planted tanks fail-- is the best video on fish/plant keeping I have seen this entire year. REALLY excellent. Educational, Interesting, factual, science based, well documented, filled with examples and clear explanation as to WHY plants do well or not. Kudos! Well done.
Well thank you very kindly.
Plants Light !!! Plants substrate !!! Plants Fish !!! Fish PooP !!! Plants Grow !!! Its literally that simple. Alex break down a fish tank or set up a new one. With a crash coarse summed up in like 15 minutes for beginners. Show them the short cuts. And patience ❤ cheers
Yes please show me
I have a tank with 4 female bettas, 1 otto, ramshorn and random neocaridinas. I use small gravel that is about 1/4" only. My narrow leaf ludwigia, crypts and java ferns are doing really good. Have had this tank running for a couple of years now. Been farming the crap out of the ludwigia.
@@azntactical4884oh really no soil? I’m glad to hear this works for people
👍👍👍
But if the tank is new and yiu waiting for it to cycle without putting fish/snails/ shrimp how does this affect the whole system? No fish no poop??
Great info for newbies. I started a planted 10 gal tank with substrate and went overboard with dead leaves causing it to be dark water and too acidic.
I ended up doing 2 water changes a few days apart and replacing with distilled water and the plants are now starting to thrive. I’m about 8 weeks in total and just did the water changes last week.
Right on! Best of luck
As a 4 month novice who is currently maintaining 3 10 gallon aquariums, (each with 20 neocaridina shrimp , 4 snails, a couple little rasboras and an otocinclis catfish) with 2-3 inches of basic aquarium gravel and novice friendly plants (amazon swords, coontail, guppy grass and java moss), feeding aqueon shrimp pellets and fish flakes and checking water parameters regularly, I am VERY grateful for the info you offer. I want simple set-ups that work as a system. i figure that the fish poop feeds the shrimp and the plants and so does the snail poop. The shrimp love eating stuff off the plants. the plants are thriving and i think that its because i am keeping it very simple and i managed to not freak out through some gnarly algae blooms. i will be upgrading my lights from the hood lights that came with the aquarium. They work fine, i just want to see more stuff. I saw some tiny worms on the glass, 2 days ago and i almost freaked out. instead, i added a rasbora to each of the tanks and didn't feed, yesterday. no worms, this morning. simple works. you help me remember that.
Finally someone with _good_ advice instead of just repeating the specs and selling products. Also, thanks for showing real tanks - not tanks planted 2 months ago on CO2 and pristine perfect.
He’s wrong about lighting. As a physics major, I assure you, he has it wrong.
@@NEnigma777can you explain it correctly please?
Yes please 🙏
Can you explain why his wrong and correct him?
I genuinely want to know
@@NEnigma777 what is the correct information about lighting? You cant just say hes wrong and not elaborate, especially if you're a physics major.
@@NEnigma777was it in relation to how light is measured, red or blue light, or what exactly? Not sure what part hes wrong about
As a general rule, I think plants with bigger leaves do fine in lower light conditions because they can catch more light with their big leaves. Plants with fine or narrow leaves generally need more or brighter light. However, this doesn't account for special plant colors and is just for general plant survival.
As a general rule of thumb that is definitely true 👍
do you have a recommend plant for low light as in my country special lights are to expensive
@@sharonwhiteley4616 Sure. I like Cryptocoryne Wendtii. They come in a few colors, have long/flowing leaves, and do great in lower light. They might melt back a little when you first put them in, but that's normal while they acclimate to your tank. Also, cryptocoryne species don't like to be uprooted so try and pick a spot in your tank and leave it there.
Thank you
Moss has teensy "leaves" and thrives in low light conditions though.
Best video for understanding overall plant care and acclimation
Thank you. I'm flattered
I kept messin up my tank by trying to make it what I wanted vs what nature wanted. Once I started listening to you about the No filter/no water change system it got wayyyy easier. 2 years goin strong on my deep substrate 29 gal with only 2 bubblers and no water changes ever.
Im so glad to hear that. Enjoy!
@@TheWatchernator you don’t specifically need them but I feel my tank is healthier with the bubblers
@@CheeseBurgerXJprobably helps dissipate gases much more rapidly as long as it doesn't make your water move too much for what you have in it 😊
This is exactly what I needed to hear. I just started a new planted tank, and some of plants are melting, and some turning yellow. I just got apt 2 fertilizer, I hope to see growth in the next several weeks. I totally thought I did something wrong. I have no fish yet, but I have aqua soil and I had inserted root tabs. When everything stabilizes, I’ll add my fish. Thank you!
How did that APT 2 work out? I'm in the same boat you were in now. Have a very heavily planted tank - not stocked yet. Plants and turning yellow and have some holes in leaves. The holes I think are a potassium deficiency. Thank you.
You are amazing! I’m just getting ready to start a 29 gallon nano tank. Your calm, chill demeanor reminds me that this is a hobby and this is nature, so I don’t need to obsess and freak out over everything!
Good luck!!
Beautiful plants. I appreciate all the information. I’m not a pet shop person due to the lack of knowledge with who they hire. A college town here. A “Mom & Pop” store opened which on my visit was refreshing to meet. I will get on a schedule w/taking care of my tank. I appreciate all your help.
Of course!
My clean-up crew started out just snails and plecos, now i have shrimp. Shrimp are a lot more sensitive than those apparently, but I cant keep their populations down. I will say, they are exceptional at clearing algae. After i finish cycling a tank, I'll add shrimp first to clean any algae. Then mollys to get anything they missed.
I have a 4ft Hygger HG-016 light on a 40 Breeder. I think it is the absolute BEST light for the money. You can control each Red, Green, & Blue LED; as well as the white LED's.
Thanks for the info!
I bought A. Congensis plant and I’m wondering if I should cover roots in the substrate or tie it to a rock? Thank you for sharing your knowledge. So appreciated 😊
It's best open rooted...but you CAN cover about 40% of the roots and it will survive. But it's best to let young plants grow some 3 or 4 inch leggy roots for a few months before doing that in my opinion, then you don't risk brown root rot. Cheers
I wish my local fish store could lable their plants as more than just "aquatic plant $8.99"... I have NO CLUE what i'm even growing, but at least i now know one is rotalla mini butterfly now 😅, mine has both types of growths you showed in the same tank, with the prettier ones being on the side that's in direct sunlight all day....
Oh I feel you on that one!
Thanks for sharing, Alex. We appreciate the information and effort you put into the hobby and helping us become more informed hobbiest 😊
My pleasure!
@2:10
Bacopa monnieri is the larval food source for the White Peacock Butterfly
Good video. I'm looking to set up my first planted tank soon. Trying to learn as much as I can beforehand so I don't have to learn too much the hard way lol
Wow, glad you showed that 5th tank. My 2nd tank plants are not thriving compared to my main one. Always learn something new from watching your videos Alex. Have a good day
Glad to help. Have an awesome day
So... my water, straight out of the tap is over the readable range of the API High Range pH test. So, around 8.8 or so.
Should I anticipate issues with even the most commonly recommended plants for beginners?
I try to make sure I am well informed before I end up killing even the most basic of life forms.
Tbh as a complete beginner i have no issue with plants whatsoever. I have hard af water (35GH), i bought a really cheap light, and i just took whatever i saw that i liked in the fish store. So far (5 months now) everything l bought is thriving, some even got funny colors like white or pink, and i use no fertilizers, just my substrate. Plants are easy i love it
Right on. The water likely had a great mix of all the minerals that were needed.
Thank you 👍I struggle to get my head around lighting & best ph thank you. I've often wondered if I've got enough Kelvins in some lighting I have. How are you meant to know what light to get for the depth though? Also Is there a natural way to lower pH? All I hear about is how to make it higher for things like cichlids. My area has very hard water.
I’m planting my tank again. My 5 clown loaches needed to move to a huge tank. They outgrew my 180. They didn’t try to destroy my plants but their size swimming couldn’t help but beat my plants up.
Woah big fishy fishies!
Alex, your intro consistently brings a smile to my face. Thanks 🙏 hope something gets you smiling today too. “Laughter is the best medicine”
Im so glad to hear that... it makes me smile to read this haha. Have a great day
@Fishstory Hello Alex. I may have found out that I am not a bad plant keeper.
I found this on a website:
"Hard water and high pH makes it difficult for many aquatic plants to absorb important nutrients, such as iron and manganese. However, amazon swords, water wisteria, hygrophila, cryptocoryne and other species can grow well in hard water because they demand fewer insoluble nutrients."
This explains why the stemplants melt to the point where they die off and the swordplants fair pretty well.
I recently got a quote for RO water filter installation (for the entire home) with a bypass to still supply hardwater whenever i wish for it.
This coincidently would be perfect for aquatic plants and fish that lay eggs (I found out that hard water has too much calcium for fertilization of eggs).
Also if the water is too soft it will be calcium deficient which is probably also not ideal for shrimp and snails. This is where the bypass comes in.
Wish me luck. The installation will happen in 1 month. I might give Cambomba and other plants a try again after installation. Their fast growth and inability to absorb nutrient in hardwater explains the die off to a T
100% and good luck. Tip... Most amazonian sourced plants will be used to soft waters.... where as mwnt Indian, Bangladeshi. Malaysian and Thai plants live in limestone rich regions. Also most African plants in the hobby handle hard water resiliency
@@Fishtory That explains it. With high pH (lowered by CO2) and hardwater. Amazonians were a terrible choice to try to grow
I found, plands do well in my shrimp aquariums.
Somehow, shrimp tend to make the water softer overtime
hate the term "emersed" because everybody always confuses it with "immersed"
Is there a reason that your aqueon clip light is mounted so high up on that piece of wood?
If you're interested I've got some Val. nana 'yabba creek' that stays 2" in the 50, can send some for the hard water tank!
Thanks i actually have some dwarf val strains too. That tank with the clip light is for ricefish and shrimp, so im only keeping crypts and floating plants for the fry. Its so shallow too, so i dont want to spend time maintaining it to Mach
Hi Alex! If I add an organic plant soil underneath my sand, is it safe for my loaches? One more question..I’ve never been able to get the tannin color out of my water from adding wood two years ago 🤷🏻♀️what gives?
Are you doing water changes? It should leave your tank with a 50 to 60 % water change... unless you stained the glass somehow.
It is safe to add soil under sand ( freeze it into mud blocks, then put them under the deep sand substrate, but it's likely going to need a sand cap due to the high nitrogen compounds like ammonia. St the end of the day, make sure you test for ammonia before adding fish or shrimp
@@Fishtory whoops the tank is already established, has been for years (sand bottom). I just want something to get plants growing. I guess this isn’t safe to do with the existing fish in there.
@Tatted_Librarian i have a video called "adding Substrate to an existing aquarium" or " resetting an existing tanks substrate"...one of those type titles, and explain 2 or 3 ways you can do it. Cheers and good luck
I didn’t realize the difference between lights till I got a plant light. Now I have to convert over
Yeah it's pretty incredible
Yeah there's more factors then some realize in keeping aquarium plants and that's why I think it's best to take things slowly and only ever mess with ONE thing at a time if things aren't working as intended, better not to risk stressing an already struggling organism even if it's "just" a plant, without plants we would've get the luxury of breathing so one should respect all life in their aquariums, even the sedentary life ^^
Also side note, details on that shop light that can grow algae that fast? I've got the Ultra Prograde Prolink lights from Home Depot and I feel like this is the longest a tank has taken to establish a biofilm and my beloved pond snails are hurting for food in a couple tanks and I still need a daphnia colony so funny story, but I need a light that encourages MORE and not less algae lmao, got saltwater nerite snails breeding and want a second generation outta them ^^'
Lol thats ironic
@@Fishtory yes lol
What is the tall plant with long thin pointy leaves growing emergent out of the top of some of your tanks? Kind of looks like a bamboo or grass. It looks really pretty but I dont think I've ever seen it in shops.
Cypress maybe Cyprus?... but cypress helferi
@@Fishtory Oh is that what it is? I've seen that submerged and it looks different. Does it change form as it comes out of the tank? 😮 or maybe we're talking about different plants?
I meant the one at 2:30 at the back of the tank with reddish stalks and thin long leaves (sorry I probably wasn't clear enough before, my bad).
@@Fishtory BTW I don't know if you're already done this yet (if so please ignore) but I would absolutely love a video going through all the different plants you have growing in your tanks with species names, care info, and ease of growth etc. You have a really nice selection of plants and you clearly grow them really well - I'd love to hear more about them 😊
I have 3 java fern attached to a plastic pot in a 30 gallon tank and a wrgb light, a pair of small discus and 3 balloon gold Ram, how do i make the plants grow well?
Good water flow, good lighting, get a liquid fertilizer for aquatic plants... dose once a week after a 30 to 50% water change...that should cause java ferns to grow their fastest. Best of luck 👍
CLEAR MY MIND AND LEARN FROM THE MASTER
I hear what you’re saying about the pH, but do we need to do anything with kH and GH ?
Or as long as we have the proper lighting and fertilization with proper pH will the plants do just fine ???
as long as they are not a
High Tech plant
Not really unless you want to get into keeping specialized rare fish and or keeping shrimp species
Great Video Alex! I still find it fascinating how all of it works together to achive a balance. One can have a Kessil light but all the others (proper substrate, proper filtration, proper fertilizer), it is just not going to work. Nature is amazing and we just do our best to copy it.
Great point!
Great video! My first planted tank has been doing well (other than one loss within a week of a shipment), but its always nice to learn about what to look out for if things go wrong!
Cheers
I have such a difficult time with plants! Would a dirted tank capped with sand be ok for plants that need aquasoil to thrive?
Totally
My giant swordplants have 2 different leafs. The emmersed leaves it came with when I bought em which are wider and darker green and the immersed ones which are thinner and light on color.
Both leafs seems to flourish under water which is perfect for me
Cool!
I have Father Fish dirted tank. (Base soil with peat moss, worm manure (he suggests cow manure), bone meal, garden lime, epsom salt, iron sulfide (he suggests iron oxide)
It’s been 1 month.
All my plant roots are black even if I don’t plant them no more than 1 cm or 2 cm.
The substrate is bubbling but this decreased over time and doesn’t stink.
I don’t know why is this but I think this is caused by anaerobic conditions or the burning of the roots because of the nutrients.
Should I add 1 more inch of sand to put my plant roots?
Does adding more sand cause the death of the bacteria on the underlying sand and cause ammonia spike?
since i watch father fish and you brother, i started to step in aquatics... im from exotic terrestrials keeping..
my 50gal dirted/nature/natural/jungle style tank doing well as of now.. also my 1st dirted
10gal shrimp tank are.stable ❤❤❤
love from philippines. cheers.
Exciting! Good luck my friend
I use the full spectrum led light bulb they are cheap but you can change color or dim.
That video is helpful to me. 😊
Glad it was helpful!
@@Fishtory 👍🙂
I have blue strip LEDs that surround the tank for ambient lighting, but I have a plant specific grow bulb that I used to acclimate the plants to water before putting them into the tank. About to install a white led strip for viewing. I have all the lights lol
Do you have a discord?
What do I do about very hard water? I've bought conditioner - will that help? My water is very hard and acidic. High alkalinity. The parameters of the tap water are nuts.
The only plant growing stupid well is rotella... It's like a weed.
Add more botanicals
The best bet is alder cones, leaves or wood dark woods. Or if it's a small tank. Save rain water and it's 0 tds and usually neutral to slightly acidic
@@Fishtory Thank you so much for the help.
great info... Thank You
Glad it was helpful!
Those are green when they are living in the Zambezi river too. Not that I ever get mine there LOL
awesome video! Great info about different plant and lights. I love fish tanks. So many different ways to aquascape it make for amazing levels of creativity
Sure thing! Its a fun past time for sure
Thanks for watching!
Can use a hygger full spectrum
Do you use a heater? How do you keep the temp in check?
I heat the whole room to 74...then individual tanks that need it, or when spawning, ill go to 86 at the high end
I live in Austin Texas and I use store bought , Mountain Valley Natural Spring Water. I'm at no water changes, just top offs. I have a organic dirt tank, 2 ADA tanks, peagravel tank, Fluval substrate.
I have planted tanks and most plants seam to thrive. I have had the few that don't like the situation just like you said. 😂
Sounds great!
How much does temperature affect things? I've started an outdoor tub (low tech) in Australia and my plants aren't doing that well. Water is about 10C
Temperature can play a large role in some plants. Some dont germinate or bloom without a certain temp and more importantly- the amount of time in the sun's rays.
I have seen several videos by people using flood lights instead of lights made for aquariums. It sounds like that may not always work for all plants and tanks. If tou had to recommend a low, medium, and high price range light, what would you recommend? As a beginner, I find it difficult to justify lights that cost over $100, but I also have a bettwr chance at success with this!
I showed a flood light on that shrimp tank actually. They definitely encourage algae growth because they're not wide spectrum light, but they can be pretty powerful, if you know how to control algae already.
I always recommend CREE LED diodes...theyre dirt cheap and in many many generic and name brand lights, search for 6500 or 6000 kelvin lighting warmth and then cree diodes ... others work too, but ive had the best luck with LED flood or spot/shop lights from home depot or lowes that are 6500k or 6000k and about 12 to 20$ per square foot of lighting
My problem is that my standard temperature is 31 Degrees Celcius is...
I live in the Philippines any sugestions??
Thanks
isee snail eat dead tissue 1st, so hole in my plant come form pottasium deficiency. another knowledge tq
Thank you for this video Alexander. Do you have any reliable source that you could point me towards about various plant requirements? A book, or website? Many thanks :)
👍 I have some strange water parameters. My ph is around 8.0 KH 130 GH .25 or less and Total Alkalinity very low. All beginner plants in there but seem to be doing pretty good in a 40 gallon breeder stocked with cockatoo apistogramma cichlids. I have a well also .
Right on. Stick with what works best for you
This sounds a lot like my water, too. I struggled adapting a lot of my plants to it when I moved, but some have held on well.
@Check the Fish Box You wouldn't happen to moved to Florida? That's were I live Panama city
I have not been able to grow plants, all othem disolves within 1 month, I only have plastic plants now . Any advice to start or try again?
I have one of those Aqueon “plant” lights and while my RRF grow fast, they’re indeed more of pink root floaters. Threw some in a tub of dirty fish water outside and those are blood red now.
Haven’t found any info on how the co-op light affects color development in plants but I’ve been considering getting one. I can’t do a $130 light on my little 10g
Ill try and save up to try out a coop light soon hopefully.
I agree with all that, but with ramhorn snails their eggs mess up leaves and then they eat them ! Just something I've experienced, the eggs put holes in jungle val real good is one plant they seem to really like lol
That's definitely true
Awesome video as awlays. I have a high tech tank and my more difficult plants arent doing fine, i was guessing about my pH, because my tap water is around 7-7,5 pH and I rarely do water changes and I top the water with also tap water, so now my pH is higher than 7,5, seems Im guessing it right, thanks alot!... I need RO water and more leaves for my 200 liter asap xD
Soft and mildly acidic water with low nitrates will help a ton. Slight flow and then strong lightm. That should do the trick
What ferts do you use? Thanks.
I have Father Fish tank with 1" of his soil & 2" sand. Talked to him & we're trying to figure out why the plants I got from him are melting & dying stem & all. The entire plant. I use his chlorine treatment-sodiumthipsulphate. We can't figure it out. Any ideas? I use a regular lid light that came with tank but on second tank doing same thing I use a hugger light on the white light though it still has red, blue & green mixed in. It doesn't seem to have a white only light. These are 10 gallon tanks.
Hello how many watts is the 3.0 light
I believe the 24 inch is 18w
@@Fishtory ok thank you
I have high PH hard water. 8.2 Ph, 300+ GH and 180 +/- Kh. Do you think that is too hard for plants? My snails and white clouds have always been fine, for like years. But I've never had luck with plants.
Thats probably too hard for most plants, yes. The ph is the bigger issue biologically. If you add aquasoil that buffers water and adds acidity, along with some almond leaves or sphagnum moss/bog peate then you could likely drop your ph to 7.5 ish im guessing... and i bet you'd have much more success. Check out my video on 25+ hard water loving plants...hopefully this helps you a little. Cheers
@@Fishtory Thank you for always taking the time to help!
Thanks fishtory nice information very helpful ❤
Any time!
I struggle sometimes with plants until they get used to my water. My Ph is usually about 6.5, but my hardness is always reading over 300. The TDS would make you weep lol.
Yeah thats a bit touchy with that combo ... i find south asian and african plants will endure that acidic but also hard water
@@Fishtory I should probably try bolbitis next. Anubias is doing fine as long as I don't try getting fancy with the nano petite variety. Those hate me.
Nice one alex
I made the mistake of thinking because the plants were growing fast they were good , a year in they all lost their bottom leaves , ironically a poor light encourages stringy growth , its really an experiment with plants Ive tried loads in 4 tanks and will keep what does best
Great observation and info for folks. Thank you
You have any planted tanks with ranch goldfish?
Ranchu
Can I ask why the majority of people never fill their tanks up? I tend to notice it a lot and is there something I need to know?
It's usually if you don't use a lid, and or if you have jumping fish. Many fish breeders will do this, slowly allowing evaporation for the water to get harder and or more alkaline ad the tds and ph are simulating some time when the rivers drop levels and get more and more concentrated water with dissolved solids and even a temperature increase of half a degree d over 2 weeks. Fatten females with high protein foods...frozen or live to help egg formation. Then add the water back to the top with cooler water to spark the spawning
Excellent
Amazing video...most amazing video on planted aquariums....thanks a lot!!!
Are familiar with the nutrient film technique?
I think so? But id love to hear more...in case we are thinking of 2 seperate things. Thank you
Dude! You are so knowledgeable! I have learned so much! Thank you!🫶
You are so welcome
My tank has been setup using water from a lake (very hard and alkaline). I'm slowly brigning back the PH to a more suitable level for fish using rain water to top off evaporation.
The plants that I took from ponds and rivers all melted under a few weeks. The ones that I got from that same lake are thriving.
QUESTION:
One of them plants that looks like a clod of grass (I don't know it's name) seems like it's dead.
All the leaves became rotten-brown but did not melt, the middle core is still green and it's not growing or doing anything.
Just like it has become "dormant" it it even possible ?
Temperature and ph can do strange things. Sometimes plants can take 3 or 4 months to die fully at the same time...but id say trim the dead or brown sections...they're just draining the plant's resources. Then youll see it the roots are keeping it alive...or if it was living off the dying leaves energy. Good luck 👍
@@Fishtory good point.
I simply use 6400 K 20w LED spotlight (2 of them) on my 100 liter tank. Grow lights are way too expensive for my budget. Substrate is simply a mix of sand and gravel (again, budget and active substrate gets depleted over time anyway). Substrate must have been saturated with fish poop, bc I can grow plants in the inert substrate. I have some algea but it doesnt choke plants and is getting better.
I have Crypticoryne cryspatula, hygrophila corymbosa, alternanthera reineckii, hydrocotyle tripartita japan etc growing well. If you get your expectations right and choose the right plants I dont see any reason why it will fail. I only pump liq ferts one or two times a week, its more than satisfactory...
Excellently said!
My water has a hardness of > 22 dGh and a PH of 7.5. From what I've seen, the only plants I can grow are Vallisneria, Echinodorus and Cryptocoryne. And with Vallisneria, I have a love and hate relation, if I let it in the tank it grows and propagate like crazy, if I get pissed and remove it, everything gets covered in algae.
So now, I have two 35 gallons tanks, one that have Vallisneria, with zero algae, but every two months, I must pull out lots of plants, disturb the substrate and make everything cloudy, and another tank where I've pull out all Vallisneria, have only Echinodorus and Cryptocoryne, but all is covered in algae, that I try to fight dimming the light and employing the "services" of 10 juvenile Ancistrus.
I have a video of plants that will live in hard water if you want a list of 25 plants to try. Cheers
Nice, have been looking for a vídeo like these for ages!
Glad you liked it!
dude i've lost water sprite and moss over the last month and realized i forgot i had a big bag of ammonia remover in my filter still, and i don't feed my fish heavily, think i starved the plants
Probably exactly what happened! Or lighting
My water has a pH of 8.6 +. My GH is moderate to low, but my KH is high. Any suggestions on plants that would work well other than guppy grass is java fern? I'm having great luck with those two and several others but failing on many. Just want to see if there's something I haven't thought of. And java moss does okay.
I have hardish water pH 7.5 and stargrass, rotala, anubias, crypts, and dwarf sagittaria do surprisingly well for me. I would guess that Val Anubias and Sag would work just fine for you.
@@RoggyGrog it would be great to have a pH that low. I probably could grow a lot more plant
Sure thing... ruclips.net/video/cRvhManeqFQ/видео.html
How to calculate light wattage for a 30inchx20inchx24inch tank
Look up calculations for lumens or parr instead. Wattage is going to differ in every product, country, AC/DC , and water depth also... so you really want to calculate light needed for a given surface area...ignoring volume at first, and just knowing every 30cm you lose around 50% of light strength
Sometimes vendors like Aquatic Arts sell what THEY call a plant when it's really a single stem cutting with a single root that barely stands a chance between shipping and the water difference.
@fishtory I love the drape fin Barbs that is an underrated fish
Agreed!
Great video and content Alex!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I live in a building with softened water, except for one tap in the laundry room. That water has gh 31, kh20 and ph 7.8. I've been buying RO water and mixing it approx 3/2 or 2/1 approx with the onsoftened water. As my number of tanks has increased (MTS lol), it's getting rather pricey. What are the negative effects on both fish and plants, if I started using the softened water to replace the RO water?
Not too much if its consistent. Its swings in ph that cause most stress in fish. Add a cup of crushed coral or shells to every 10 or 20 gallons of tank and then use that soft water, and it should dial in around 6.5 or 7 ph using RO...Then top off with the tap water and gradually aclimate the fish to it
@@Fishtory Thanks. Obviously, you don't feel the sodium levels would be an issue. BTW, I love your videos. The depth of the info you give is excellent, as I've been in this hobby for over 60 years, and your videos are the best
I've found for learning new things.
Great video as always ❤ thanks Alex ❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
I need this video like I need oxygen. Curious to see what the answer will be
Amazing info and been into your videos allot recently, thank u man!
Glad you like them!
Sage advice ... as usual :)
Glad you think so!
oh well, I just buy as many different plants as I can fit and what survives in my water that gets to live :D
More power to yuh!
My Valesnerias are not dying but not sending roots at all and I don’t know why
That's how val usually colonizes Substrate, especially if it isn't in richnutrients... it "reaches" to finding food
I have an $80 nicrew light from Amazon and my plants grow great.
Nice. What model and price?
How do I lower my ph it’s 8.2
Add botanicals, like wood or leaves :) alder cones work great
Great video.
Thank you kindly
“That starts a CASCADE of choices” ugh. The story of my life 🤪
I see duckweed in a tank, how you deal with that dread?
Daily lol
But it does prevent ammonia or nitrates from building up
Do you have any videos that compare brands of lights for lumens/watts, etc?
A series called "let there be light, 3 episodes" of live stream is a deep dive... and then my hygger 957 light review compares lights within the same price range
@@Fishtory thank you!
I'm new to your channel. If you don't already, I would really enjoy a more in-depth video about hard water. I'm somewhat of a newbie. My first tank crashed. I think my tap water is too hard. It is above an 8 ph and is very hard (always the darkest color on the test strips)
-If anyone knows if he already has a video, can you let me know the name of the title so I can look for it.
I can grow swords like a champ....Fern? Nope. None of them. Forget any of the "tougher" non-Co2 needing ones.
Feel semi-brainless. TY for this :)