As much as I would like to agree with some of the things you said, the difference between adding good fertiliser in your tank and just leaving it to the fish to produce nutrients or other unorthodox methods is the quality and growth rate of the plants, especially for crypts and swords, this is reflected in your video, some of the plants are not doing that well. Cheapest option is to buy decent substrate and then cap with sand. Nutri Base from Colombo is quite good, a 5kg bag will do for a 300l tank easily for example. Crypts go nuts once they have good roots, and best way to get them to do it is with deep substrate, same with swords, the deeper the better. This will be reflected with the number of leaves a plant will produce and the coloration. Lotus should always be bought with the bulb (needs to be halfway in substrate at least, don’t bury the whole bulb) and they first tend to grow fast towards water surface if you give them a root tab or clay stick. Java ferns that tends to grow babies on a dying leaf is a bad sign, plant is trying to save itself… Anubias growt rate increases with water column fertiliser, to some extent that if you have a good substrate the plant will actually send roots in it too! I have Anubias congenis with 20-30cm roots in the sand… Same for ferns, bolbitis, buces and also other plants you can attach to wood or rock such as Lagenandra, water column fertiliser will help growth rate and quality, also keep in mind that some buces are expensive and very demanding and they will still grow slow. To be more to the point , a full planted tank demands more nutrients and if you want to invest in plants, be prepared to pay for maintenance. Once you have an established tank that produces plants you can always make a side hustle to help buy what you put in :). If you just want the easy option, try the minimum and get at least a tiny layer of substrate and some clay sticks, Easy Life does a good job with the 25pcs , you can brake them in half easily and also they have ProFito fertiliser that is quite concentrates and complet. Plenty of easy stems plants that grow fast, also plenty of floating plants, dont ignore them as beginner ;). All my thoughts on here are based on about 20 years of keeping planted tanks and testing out a lot of fertilising methods and options, from self preparation to brands 👍.
Great video, and you are 100% right about planted aquariums. I rarely fertilize my tanks and my plants have overgrown my tanks. I am always pruning. I had a sword that took over my 40 G tank so much that I removed it. I also have a red tiger lotus, and it is a beautiful plant. With some light the leaves get a dark red. I have as my sole red plant in a tank of green plants. Just FYI, the adult plecos (bristlenose and regulars) will suck the leaves bare and leave the skeletons leaves on a lotus if they get hungry. Also for those that want to keep the red tiger lotus short and bushy underwater, just trim off any leaves that shoot out towards the surface. If you let one get to the surface, they all try to go there. Love your videos, and always great fish info.
wow, what an awesome channel, I love it. Who'd have thought at 55 years old there was much else I could learn. You have taught me loads about fish keeping and plants. Thanks so much, Ive only just subscribed today and totally glad I found your channel.
Using Osmocote for my aquarium tank just blew my mind. I’m an orchid expert and never thought of using Osmocote for aquatic plants. Thank you so much for stepping outside the box and coming up with low budget successes. Keep it up!💪🏼
Great video Nick, aquarium plants don't need to be hard, and you have come a long way with yours, it makes your tanks look so much better and the fish love them, the plant nutrient to look out for is one they use with aquaculture and it's safe for fish, much cheaper then any other in the long run, any plant will grow if given the right environment as you have found, the plant you called Potamogeton is actually Aponogeton rigidifolius unlike others in it's family it grows from Rhizome rather then a bulb and originates from Sri Lanka, all you need to grow plants is a little patients, you can spend as little or as lot as you want with this hobby 🙂
Great video as always. Just want to point out that when using aquaponics fertilizers make sure it doesn't include ammonia as a lot of them do. Double-check the ingredients list before using it in your aquarium.
Lotus!!! So easy to grow, I have two in my tank and they’re gorgeous ! I’ve realized if you just black out the tank for a few days, they turn into a dark red!
Crypts are by far my favorite plant! They look beautiful, are easy to grow and there are dozens of different types! Different colors, sizes,shapes what not to like about them!
I use terracotta pots too. I just had some gravel on the bottom of my tank (and not a lot either), and I really wanted super red Ludwigia and an Amazon sword. It works so well, and looks really nice, I chucked some hornwort into little clumps, and put in a few Java plants, moss, and a mini Anubias, and I have a pretty planted tank without a huge substrate layer.
I have just stumbled across your channel after hearing about you in the fishtube circles, I'm massively impressed! Can people visit your store, I would love to make a time to have a squizz at all your beautiful fishes if I could?
Love buce. One I've had for years has spread all the way up a large piece of dragon stone and regularly flowers. I've had upward of 10 flowers at once bloom on it.
This is a good video. If someone ever finds themself wanting more from aquatic plants, I say don’t hesitate to consider adding CO2! Under higher light and CO2, most of these species will switch into hyper mode and give you an astounding show of abundance and with more intense colors👌
Thanks for making this video! I have been keeping around 15 different aquarium plants and many houseplants. Looking to get into a few new plants like the Ludwigia Repens (Super red). I appreciate this video!!
Hi. I have a really important question. Is IR light from my webcam safe for my tank and inhabitants mostly guppies? I want to monitor and watch them even especially when Im away or at bed. Thank you.
I would like to see more education video for sure I love this I want to get into the business side of this hobby but there's still so much I don't know or it's hard to find info on
Make sure to take a VERY CLOSE look at the ingredients. Almost all "regular" fertilizers contain some metals, some not good for fish and some (like copper) that will actually kill shrimp.
Many fish foods contain copper as well, shrimp and fish actually need it in micro amounts just like we need zinc and selenium. The problem is when there's an overdose of it, and shrimp need less than fish. A great alternative is an active substrate (such as all natural soil with a few supplements like minerals and iron added), about half an inch to an inch, with 2 inches or more of sand on top. I don't even bother with fertilizers. The sand keeps the soil from polluting the water column, so all the copper, iron, etc your plants need is safely tucked down there for years if you do it right. Fish waste and such gets worked into the sand over time and acts as additional fertilizer. Especially if you have snails or fish that like to dig through sand for food, like loaches or corydoras. They love this sort of tank. Check out Father Fish and Fishtory if you want in depth explanations on why you shouldn't even bother with fertilizers for a low tech tank, unless you're dead set on sticking to gravel.
There might be copper present in fish foods as well, but aren’t there different forms or consistencies of ingredients in fish food versus container plant fertilizers (as in potted, terrestrial, hydroponic plant food)? I would think so… and def different concentrations, too. The amount in fish food, or even found naturally in the water, is likely metabolized okay and an acceptable amount… provided your inverts are still thriving. lol. But on another note, it is kind of like… I’ve heard someone say, “don’t put alcohol on your skin”, like as a toner or astringent. Then the other person said “but there’s alcohol in every body product” and that’s somewhat true, but there’s isopropyl alcohol for antibiotic and cleaning reasons; body products use a range of other “alcohols”, such as cetyl alcohol. 🤷🏼♂️
I've found that as long as you're dosing according to the manufacturer's recommendations, it's really safe. Underdose it a bit if you're still worried. I was worried too at first but then someone on Reddit says "if ferts kill inverts that easily, no one would ever get a snail infestation!"
Hey there bro love every single video of yours i have learnt soo much from them all i was desperately waiting for you to upload a video since 2 weeks please be regular as i study pharmacology and your videos are therapy for me i have loved raising fish and i used to raise guppys to breed but after all that i learnt from your videos i successfully hatched silver fin tetra fry, please make a video on cherry barbs, lamp eyes and harlequin rasboras i think you will have most difficulty with the harlequins but best of luck :)
Hi there, I couldn’t find the fertilizer in Amazon which you have shown in video. Can you please suggest me any which is affordable and good in quality.
Thank you for the tips on those root tabs I have some but never put them in my aquarium but I will now. I would like to know what temp is your water with those plants, could you tell me please. ❤
Never used nutrients all my plants do great across 3 tanks and a pond. I've had to spread the species across all tanks now. I'd agree I use a clay substrate in one of the tanks capped with fine sand then fine sand only in the other two. Clay made a minimal difference. Tubefix bring clay up from beneath the sand 😂
Appreciate the video and the info. Im growing different java fern varieties and different anubias. Dose with liquid ferts every 2-3 weeks - alkost all of them getting algae on them?? Any ideas?
One of my fav plant is dwsrf sagitaria. I love how they carpet I got tons on my outdoor breeding tubs so easy to grow BUT..... I just cant seem to grow them indoors. They will just melt on me. Whike my amazon sword, crypts, jungle val do seem to grow fine (tho I do get a lot of yellowing and hole in the leaves, I heard it indicates the lack of iron?!). Additionaly, my stem plants grow weirdly (cabomba, ludwigia, hornwoth, wisteria) like they grow fast and long but their leave/nodes are too far appart and the foliage are thin compared healty growing ones. Maybe it mean I have too low for the lighting? Making them reach higher to the surface? Ohhh another thing, I CANT GROW DUCKWEED ON MY TANK 😐 The most invasive plant seems to melt on my aquarium. Hows that?
Your root tab and plant fertilizer money saving hacks were amazing! I’m sure aquarium fertilizers are overpriced since it’s kind of a monopoly (like Seachem) 👀
They’re not just overpriced versions of the same products. For example the biggest glaring issue is that osmocote has enough copper to kill shrimp. Where as Flourish tabs contain zero copper.
@@billy1503 thats true, but contrary to that after trouble with molting for my shrimp, i actually found feeding them "Shrimp Cuisine" by Hikari extremely effective. and that contains Copper (E4 (copper) 25mg/kg), i am sure that other vitamins help them too. i actually used to just try cuttlebone for Calcium (tiny amounts of it). too much ofcourse shall be lethal but its all about amounts (i am not sure the amounts in Osmocote maybe 0.5%??)
I upgraded to a 150 gallon tank from a 120 gallon tank. I have had so much trouble trying to keep it clean and clear. I never had this problem with my 120 gallon tank..i had it for about 15 years. Now the new one is constantly looking like yellow water. I just noticed that the algae that is growing is orange. So i started looking around for how to keep it clean and i found your videos. Im excited to try putting real plants in the tank to see if that helps. Do you have a video that explains how to take care of the plants in the tank long term. How do i keep them under control so they don't take over the tank at some point? I currently have a good size pleco, a goldfish and 10 tiger barbs. Also, i add stress coat to the water every time I clean the tank. Would that hurt the plants? Ive never had live plants in my tank before so i could use all the info, i can get. Thanks!!
I also see a lot of fertiliser products are relatively expensive. But I have found a company in Belgium which is cheaper relatively speaking, but so far I'm enjoying their products very much. 25 root tabs for € 10,- while with other brands, you'll get around 10 for that price. For liquid fertiliser I'm currently using their lean all-in-one product in which they've found a way to include iron effectively. I use that on my planted 240 l tank everyday and it lasts a fair while. Not sure if they ship to Australia, but then you would probably pay a lot of shipping costs.
limnophila sessiflora (easy to maintain, just cut lower than you want it to branch and bush out, some shoots will regrow like a Y) at the back Or Val (if you have a high tank). any of the smaller Crypts for foreground. and some anubias, bucephalandra or Java fern in slightly shaded areas. for the Crypst onwards if you get any brown leaves then cut the bad ones back.... the plant will then concentrate on new growth rather than repairing a damaged leaf... no video required (ill save your suggestion for future content on m channel though :) )
G'day Nick, another very interesting and informative video. Do you know whether any of the plants you mentioned are native to Australia or of any natives that are aquarium suitable? I hope you have not been impacted by the reccent severe weather in Queensland.
Hello, are certain plants better at “housekeeping” than others? An employee at the petstore told me a plant will help clean the water but she didn’t know if 1 type of plant was better than another. I have a 30gallon with 2 big goldfish and my son has a 10 gallon glofish tank with ummm glow fish … I don’t know the actual kind of fish but its a blacklight aquarium. Thanks
typically plants that grow outside the tank and have access to the air will do a better job removing nitrites from the water, but plants planted in the substrate in the bottom of the tank will do a good job using up the excess nutrients the fish put out too.
@@lucy.brenn4n when asking what type I meant a name of a plant like Amazon or Java or fern.( I think the word is species but it’s been decades since science class) I was at petsmart and they all had different names. Thank you!
@@lisamarie870 generally plants with larger leaves will need more energy to grow, so they will take more gunk out of the water, so if you're looking for plants, try looking for fast growing ones with larger leaves, java ferns are a really good one because they look amazing and they're easy to look after. Crypts are good too, they're slower growing but they take up nutrients really well.
Hey I've had a Betta for a few days now. I saw the videos of good tank mates for them I bought a few neon tetras today I added 1 and the betta began attacking it right away. I removed it and returned the tetras since I don't have an extra tank. Any tips on getting him to not being aggressive?
they will tend to pick on smaller fish, try bigger fish (bigger than a betta). You could try platys, maybe even some barbs (barbs tend to bit a bit nippy, but when kept in bigger schools tend to settle down on that aggression). You could even try a school of danios if you wanted to.
Hello! I'd like to know how many Corydoras Paleatus I should place in a 30-gallon tank to avoid overstocking. The tank is only for them, no other fish. A minimum and a maximum? All answers are welcome, but please respond only if you have knowledge of this fish and experience. Thank you!
I actualy have an echinodoris, that gats a runner at the tabroot, wich I have seen with that one do 2 times (I don´t know the name of it because I got it from a friend, wich didn´t care aboute the name)
I use salt for fertilizer ( Nährsalze in German) basically iron salt, magnesium salt etc. I test the water and mix my own fertilizer. I mean I learned it for my job so why not use it( it’s dirt cheap if you have a cool boss)
too bad about the bristlenose. I have a yellow eye long finned baby bristlenose that I wanted to transfer to a 110 gallon planted tank, but if he is going to eat my swords? but I don't have anywhere else for him, I would hate to have to sell him back to the store. do most bristlenose eat the plants? thanks, Todd
One thing you didn't say was some fish hit plants hard with Fish like that you have to have fast growing plants. Most Floating plants are easiest but can be a pain to remove once you have them. Nice to see this video was sort i want to do a video but presented as is with uncleaned glass etc = Respect.
I HAVE ZEBRA DANIOS,TIGER BARBS,MOLLYS,PLATTYS,and tetras. AND IT'S MOSTLY PLANTED. CAN I ADD SOME SHRIMPS TO THIS AQUARIUM. any if these guys eat them ? Plz reply brother
The danios won’t eat shrimp, but the others may. You’d have to have a well established group of lots of shrimp with tons of cover for them to likely survive long enough to get a strong population growing. I’ve kept all sorts of fish with shrimp AFTER the shrimp have increased population large enough to keep the fish from out-predating them. Tons of shrimp plus well fed tetras/barbs can work, but the shrimp have to be in there first in my experience.
Obviously I can’t say with 100% certainty, but I’m sure I grow that species at 9:30 you’re unsure of the name on, _Lilaeopsis brasiliensis_ aka “microsword”. Though the name is sort of a misnomer… I don’t think it’s a “true sword” with the _Echinodorus_ genus, unless they’re in the same family… then they can be “honorary” swords 😂
I want to stop putting chemicals in my tanks for the third time either a bacteria bloom appears or an algae. The very worst is the melt down my floaters root start dropping it's insane. Like you said these plants are expensive.
@@natekoro8594 i don't know mate, I've tried to please the plants with everything possible (light, good substrate, fertilizers etc), but for some reason the only plant that's doing well for is the Ludwigia Repens
First off I'll say I enjoy your videos and respect your information you provide on fish and your videos are typically great for getting people into the hobby, so props for that. But .. Anyone reading this ... Please do not take this video as a source of information on how to grow Aquatic plants. Please instead go watch Green Aqua or MJ Aquascaping instead or countless others. They show you low tech and high tech options - you dont have to spend $1000's to get nice plants as Nick said. And thats true. But the approaches here are just misguided. You'll potentially harm fish, shrimp and you'll absolutely end up with plants like the majority of Nick's in this video - stunted in growth, stressed, unhealthy and suffering from multiple algae issues and nutrient deficiencies. Which will end up costing you more in the long run because you simply wanted to not buy from Aquatic companies that spend alot on r&d to create fertilizers specifically for Aquatics because ..... Why? What is your reason? To save $10 only to grow unhealthy plants? Or to appear as if you're above the industry? Truly doesn't make sense. *Some* things may appear as gimmicks in the industry and even I will agree with that but majority of the time its simply new science. But you cannot deny a simple NPK + trace mineral fertilizer (See: Aqualabs which is Aussie owned, LCA which is also Aussie owned, APT, Seachems Micro options, so many that are just as cheap but fish and Shrimp safe and far better). You dont need to buy ADA to get healthy plants. And you'll have far more success than 80% of the algae riddled (BBA, hair algae and GSA), stunted, chlorosis-suffering plants like shown here (thats the yellowing you had on most of your more demanding plants - like the echins). This is like going to Bunnings and asking their staff how to keep a plant "alive". Versus going to an actual nursery and asking how to keep a healthy plant flourishing. Seek plant advice elsewhere anyone reading. This is not it. *** Also - that plant from Sri Lanka is called an Aponogeton. Hopefully you spend as much time one day researching plants like you have for fish and re-do this video. The topic deserves it. But if you don't care about it - please try not to spread misinformation to your impressionable audience and then hide behind the guise of "oh but this is just how I do it ya know ...." I'll also say .. We stand on the shoulders of everyone that has come before us and the lack of respect you show for companies that are fiercely in love with this hobby that create products that make your fish room even able to exist - is sad to see. Blanket statements saying that cheap, Bunnings root tabs are better than something like API or Seachems root - is just wrong. Or worse, saying API or Seachems are "crap", is crap. Not just because you are wrong. But it's so short sighted, it's embarrassing. Alot of your videos there are small little jabs towards the industry as a whole. It's petty and unwarranted, man. You're clearly young but maybe worth realising what you're saying and how you're influencing people's perspectives of companies that if they didn't otherwise exist, would mean our hobby couldn't continue like it does and wouldn't have progressed to what we know today, without.
Well said. I think there’s another side to that coin too though. This is good information for engagement. Cory at the Coop similarly approaches things, and it really stings me to see some of the amateurish and severely limited results he gets with his contrarian attitude toward nearly all things in the hobby. But if I step back, I find Cory and KFS to be wonderful ambassadors to engage people to the hobby. People will be introduced, and they will eventually look for more - improving their knowledge along the way. So, while you (and I) may be looking for a more advanced approach in general, many aquarists are satisfied with ANY development of their tanks and knowledge base. What used to really satisfy me is quite quaint in retrospect, but I found as much enjoyment then as I do now. That said, I agree with several comments here about being careful about random fertilizers. Some contain straight ammonia that could crash a small system.
they're underdeveloped for a reason. maintenance, they also have different fish cycling in and out of all of these tanks. you can't do that with a fully developed display type tank.
As much as I would like to agree with some of the things you said, the difference between adding good fertiliser in your tank and just leaving it to the fish to produce nutrients or other unorthodox methods is the quality and growth rate of the plants, especially for crypts and swords, this is reflected in your video, some of the plants are not doing that well.
Cheapest option is to buy decent substrate and then cap with sand. Nutri Base from Colombo is quite good, a 5kg bag will do for a 300l tank easily for example. Crypts go nuts once they have good roots, and best way to get them to do it is with deep substrate, same with swords, the deeper the better. This will be reflected with the number of leaves a plant will produce and the coloration.
Lotus should always be bought with the bulb (needs to be halfway in substrate at least, don’t bury the whole bulb) and they first tend to grow fast towards water surface if you give them a root tab or clay stick.
Java ferns that tends to grow babies on a dying leaf is a bad sign, plant is trying to save itself…
Anubias growt rate increases with water column fertiliser, to some extent that if you have a good substrate the plant will actually send roots in it too! I have Anubias congenis with 20-30cm roots in the sand…
Same for ferns, bolbitis, buces and also other plants you can attach to wood or rock such as Lagenandra, water column fertiliser will help growth rate and quality, also keep in mind that some buces are expensive and very demanding and they will still grow slow.
To be more to the point , a full planted tank demands more nutrients and if you want to invest in plants, be prepared to pay for maintenance. Once you have an established tank that produces plants you can always make a side hustle to help buy what you put in :).
If you just want the easy option, try the minimum and get at least a tiny layer of substrate and some clay sticks, Easy Life does a good job with the 25pcs , you can brake them in half easily and also they have ProFito fertiliser that is quite concentrates and complet.
Plenty of easy stems plants that grow fast, also plenty of floating plants, dont ignore them as beginner ;).
All my thoughts on here are based on about 20 years of keeping planted tanks and testing out a lot of fertilising methods and options, from self preparation to brands 👍.
👍thanks
U had a lot of freee time
Great video, and you are 100% right about planted aquariums. I rarely fertilize my tanks and my plants have overgrown my tanks. I am always pruning. I had a sword that took over my 40 G tank so much that I removed it. I also have a red tiger lotus, and it is a beautiful plant. With some light the leaves get a dark red. I have as my sole red plant in a tank of green plants. Just FYI, the adult plecos (bristlenose and regulars) will suck the leaves bare and leave the skeletons leaves on a lotus if they get hungry. Also for those that want to keep the red tiger lotus short and bushy underwater, just trim off any leaves that shoot out towards the surface. If you let one get to the surface, they all try to go there. Love your videos, and always great fish info.
wow, what an awesome channel, I love it. Who'd have thought at 55 years old there was much else I could learn. You have taught me loads about fish keeping and plants. Thanks so much, Ive only just subscribed today and totally glad I found your channel.
I agree 100% about the swords, I have one in my planted tank that has exploded. It is over 14" tall and is growing out of the tank.
what kind do you have? I am trying to decide, Nic's ozelot looks nice!
@@toddbigeasy echinodorus grandiflorus. It has flowered once already as well.
A little off topic here, but this guy has the cutest smile...
Right? I want to adopt him, my son is 20 and grumpy 😂
@@hollystryker8756🤨
In my experience red tiger lotuses do very good in even low cost low quality aquarium lights
Good to know.
Using Osmocote for my aquarium tank just blew my mind. I’m an orchid expert and never thought of using Osmocote for aquatic plants. Thank you so much for stepping outside the box and coming up with low budget successes. Keep it up!💪🏼
Great video Nick, aquarium plants don't need to be hard, and you have come a long way with yours, it makes your tanks look so much better and the fish love them, the plant nutrient to look out for is one they use with aquaculture and it's safe for fish, much cheaper then any other in the long run, any plant will grow if given the right environment as you have found, the plant you called Potamogeton is actually Aponogeton rigidifolius unlike others in it's family it grows from Rhizome rather then a bulb and originates from Sri Lanka, all you need to grow plants is a little patients, you can spend as little or as lot as you want with this hobby 🙂
Great video as always. Just want to point out that when using aquaponics fertilizers make sure it doesn't include ammonia as a lot of them do. Double-check the ingredients list before using it in your aquarium.
I love the crypts and anubias. I, also, have dwarf hair grass and narrow leaf stems. Trying my hands on pearl weed and green temples.
Lotus!!! So easy to grow, I have two in my tank and they’re gorgeous ! I’ve realized if you just black out the tank for a few days, they turn into a dark red!
Add an air pump close to the center and they'll grow crazy. They will even shoot of new ones that are bulbless
Crypts are by far my favorite plant! They look beautiful, are easy to grow and there are dozens of different types! Different colors, sizes,shapes what not to like about them!
You have given me new ideas for growing plants in my aquariums thankyou for sharing
I use terracotta pots too. I just had some gravel on the bottom of my tank (and not a lot either), and I really wanted super red Ludwigia and an Amazon sword. It works so well, and looks really nice, I chucked some hornwort into little clumps, and put in a few Java plants, moss, and a mini Anubias, and I have a pretty planted tank without a huge substrate layer.
I agree with your easy plants. Swords can be to big for some tanks but grow as hell. I love Cryptocoryne in sand. No Co2 and high end light needed.
Who plays the music in the background of your videos? It's nice, it goes well with the content
I have just stumbled across your channel after hearing about you in the fishtube circles, I'm massively impressed! Can people visit your store, I would love to make a time to have a squizz at all your beautiful fishes if I could?
Love buce. One I've had for years has spread all the way up a large piece of dragon stone and regularly flowers. I've had upward of 10 flowers at once bloom on it.
This is a good video. If someone ever finds themself wanting more from aquatic plants, I say don’t hesitate to consider adding CO2! Under higher light and CO2, most of these species will switch into hyper mode and give you an astounding show of abundance and with more intense colors👌
Love your channel and the way you explain. Thanks for your simple words and enthusiasm 👌
Great introduction about these plants and I would love for you to talk about mystery snails. Thumbs up to you!
Thanks for making this video! I have been keeping around 15 different aquarium plants and many houseplants. Looking to get into a few new plants like the Ludwigia Repens (Super red). I appreciate this video!!
Thanks for the video! I’ve had the same Anubias plant in my tank for years now. I love it but I might have to diversify with some swords soon too!
and Val, such a great plant when it starts to grow, can get the twisted type too :)
Im really loving the plants at the moment, likewise i just plant in terracotta pots but i dont use any fertiliser
Hi. I have a really important question. Is IR light from my webcam safe for my tank and inhabitants mostly guppies? I want to monitor and watch them even especially when Im away or at bed. Thank you.
I would like to see more education video for sure I love this I want to get into the business side of this hobby but there's still so much I don't know or it's hard to find info on
Nice to here about Sri Lankan plant there. Watching you from Sri Lanka
Make sure to take a VERY CLOSE look at the ingredients. Almost all "regular" fertilizers contain some metals, some not good for fish and some (like copper) that will actually kill shrimp.
Many fish foods contain copper as well, shrimp and fish actually need it in micro amounts just like we need zinc and selenium. The problem is when there's an overdose of it, and shrimp need less than fish.
A great alternative is an active substrate (such as all natural soil with a few supplements like minerals and iron added), about half an inch to an inch, with 2 inches or more of sand on top. I don't even bother with fertilizers. The sand keeps the soil from polluting the water column, so all the copper, iron, etc your plants need is safely tucked down there for years if you do it right. Fish waste and such gets worked into the sand over time and acts as additional fertilizer. Especially if you have snails or fish that like to dig through sand for food, like loaches or corydoras. They love this sort of tank.
Check out Father Fish and Fishtory if you want in depth explanations on why you shouldn't even bother with fertilizers for a low tech tank, unless you're dead set on sticking to gravel.
@@gryaznygreeblol.. I knew where you were going when you said active substrate..
@@gryaznygreeb Sorry, not a disciple of The Father.
There might be copper present in fish foods as well, but aren’t there different forms or consistencies of ingredients in fish food versus container plant fertilizers (as in potted, terrestrial, hydroponic plant food)? I would think so… and def different concentrations, too. The amount in fish food, or even found naturally in the water, is likely metabolized okay and an acceptable amount… provided your inverts are still thriving. lol.
But on another note, it is kind of like… I’ve heard someone say, “don’t put alcohol on your skin”, like as a toner or astringent. Then the other person said “but there’s alcohol in every body product” and that’s somewhat true, but there’s isopropyl alcohol for antibiotic and cleaning reasons; body products use a range of other “alcohols”, such as cetyl alcohol. 🤷🏼♂️
I've found that as long as you're dosing according to the manufacturer's recommendations, it's really safe. Underdose it a bit if you're still worried. I was worried too at first but then someone on Reddit says "if ferts kill inverts that easily, no one would ever get a snail infestation!"
Moin
Wich echinodorus is it at 10:00? With the long leafs, Looks really cool.
Thanks so much for that info keep up the good work mate
Could you please do a drilling and installing a bulk head please.?
Hey there bro love every single video of yours i have learnt soo much from them all i was desperately waiting for you to upload a video since 2 weeks please be regular as i study pharmacology and your videos are therapy for me i have loved raising fish and i used to raise guppys to breed but after all that i learnt from your videos i successfully hatched silver fin tetra fry, please make a video on cherry barbs, lamp eyes and harlequin rasboras i think you will have most difficulty with the harlequins but best of luck :)
5:24 what are the sizes of those terracotta pots please? Many thanks
I'd guess 11cm, as an old gardener
Great stuff, Nick. Really helpful. Thanks, Mate. Happy New Year! ~ Ron
Hi there,
I couldn’t find the fertilizer in Amazon which you have shown in video. Can you please suggest me any which is affordable and good in quality.
Thank you for the tips on those root tabs I have some but never put them in my aquarium but I will now. I would like to know what temp is your water with those plants, could you tell me please. ❤
What kind of light are yo using? Reminds me of a led shop light. But it could be anything.
Never used nutrients all my plants do great across 3 tanks and a pond.
I've had to spread the species across all tanks now.
I'd agree I use a clay substrate in one of the tanks capped with fine sand then fine sand only in the other two. Clay made a minimal difference.
Tubefix bring clay up from beneath the sand 😂
What lights are you using? I think they are awesome
Which plant is it at 8:56? Is it Lilaeopsis brasiliensis?
Appreciate the video and the info.
Im growing different java fern varieties and different anubias. Dose with liquid ferts every 2-3 weeks - alkost all of them getting algae on them?? Any ideas?
One of my fav plant is dwsrf sagitaria. I love how they carpet I got tons on my outdoor breeding tubs so easy to grow BUT..... I just cant seem to grow them indoors. They will just melt on me. Whike my amazon sword, crypts, jungle val do seem to grow fine (tho I do get a lot of yellowing and hole in the leaves, I heard it indicates the lack of iron?!). Additionaly, my stem plants grow weirdly (cabomba, ludwigia, hornwoth, wisteria) like they grow fast and long but their leave/nodes are too far appart and the foliage are thin compared healty growing ones. Maybe it mean I have too low for the lighting? Making them reach higher to the surface?
Ohhh another thing, I CANT GROW DUCKWEED ON MY TANK 😐
The most invasive plant seems to melt on my aquarium. Hows that?
Your root tab and plant fertilizer money saving hacks were amazing! I’m sure aquarium fertilizers are overpriced since it’s kind of a monopoly (like Seachem) 👀
They’re not just overpriced versions of the same products. For example the biggest glaring issue is that osmocote has enough copper to kill shrimp. Where as Flourish tabs contain zero copper.
@@billy1503 thats true, but contrary to that after trouble with molting for my shrimp, i actually found feeding them "Shrimp Cuisine" by Hikari extremely effective. and that contains Copper (E4 (copper) 25mg/kg), i am sure that other vitamins help them too. i actually used to just try cuttlebone for Calcium (tiny amounts of it). too much ofcourse shall be lethal but its all about amounts (i am not sure the amounts in Osmocote maybe 0.5%??)
Monopoly because you only need them if you have nothing but plants in the tank.
I upgraded to a 150 gallon tank from a 120 gallon tank. I have had so much trouble trying to keep it clean and clear. I never had this problem with my 120 gallon tank..i had it for about 15 years. Now the new one is constantly looking like yellow water. I just noticed that the algae that is growing is orange. So i started looking around for how to keep it clean and i found your videos. Im excited to try putting real plants in the tank to see if that helps. Do you have a video that explains how to take care of the plants in the tank long term. How do i keep them under control so they don't take over the tank at some point? I currently have a good size pleco, a goldfish and 10 tiger barbs.
Also, i add stress coat to the water every time I clean the tank. Would that hurt the plants?
Ive never had live plants in my tank before so i could use all the info, i can get. Thanks!!
I also see a lot of fertiliser products are relatively expensive. But I have found a company in Belgium which is cheaper relatively speaking, but so far I'm enjoying their products very much. 25 root tabs for € 10,- while with other brands, you'll get around 10 for that price. For liquid fertiliser I'm currently using their lean all-in-one product in which they've found a way to include iron effectively. I use that on my planted 240 l tank everyday and it lasts a fair while. Not sure if they ship to Australia, but then you would probably pay a lot of shipping costs.
Hé I would like to know to brand you use, Im from the Netherlands & planning a new aquarium
@@sasseveria Planted Box
Thank you!
Good ingredients and a whatever you desire NPK-ratio is what you want for hydroponic fertilizer
How about low tech set up and recommended plants for it
limnophila sessiflora (easy to maintain, just cut lower than you want it to branch and bush out, some shoots will regrow like a Y) at the back Or Val (if you have a high tank). any of the smaller Crypts for foreground. and some anubias, bucephalandra or Java fern in slightly shaded areas. for the Crypst onwards if you get any brown leaves then cut the bad ones back.... the plant will then concentrate on new growth rather than repairing a damaged leaf... no video required (ill save your suggestion for future content on m channel though :) )
How long do you leave the lights on each day for good plant growth?
Would love to see you do a planted display tank mate. With Co2 even
Got my rosen maiden recently! they take so long to mature though, mine melted all the way back and just grew back its first leaf
As a fellow sri lankan,I can assure you that your potamogeton will look adsolutely amazing with time❤greetings from sri lanka🇱🇰
Happy New Year! May this be the best year yet
G'day Nick, another very interesting and informative video. Do you know whether any of the plants you mentioned are native to Australia or of any natives that are aquarium suitable? I hope you have not been impacted by the reccent severe weather in Queensland.
@australianbiotopes4563
might know
the Osmocote aquatic plant stuff, only available in Australia .
Yup. I went looking online here in the States and ended up at Bunnings in Australia. I found some on eBay for twice the price Nick mentioned.
me too.
Thanks for the plant To get in the food and hopefully getting one
The fertilizer grows What and tomatoes?? 4:20
Amazing video, would have been a little better with sections, maybe it's just me, I saved it for going back to in a couple days when I had money haha
Will these plants grow with aquarium salt? I keep cichlids and use aquarium salt, but I do want to try live plants.
Nope
WoW. We really appreciate your great informative vedios❤
Can the tiger lotus leaves also be fed to shrimp ?
Love your content keep going❤
Are u in portmacquarie right now I swear I seen u come into cassie grain winery
3:19 I also do the same
I go to agricultural fertilizer shop and their root tabs are really really cheap with same content 😂
I take fertilizer and put it in gelatin capsules to make my own root tabs..
Good choices. I keep all those plants, except Java fern. That plant hates my water. LOL.
Hello, are certain plants better at “housekeeping” than others? An employee at the petstore told me a plant will help clean the water but she didn’t know if 1 type of plant was better than another. I have a 30gallon with 2 big goldfish and my son has a 10 gallon glofish tank with ummm glow fish … I don’t know the actual kind of fish but its a blacklight aquarium. Thanks
typically plants that grow outside the tank and have access to the air will do a better job removing nitrites from the water, but plants planted in the substrate in the bottom of the tank will do a good job using up the excess nutrients the fish put out too.
@@lucy.brenn4n when asking what type I meant a name of a plant like Amazon or Java or fern.( I think the word is species but it’s been decades since science class) I was at petsmart and they all had different names. Thank you!
@@lisamarie870 generally plants with larger leaves will need more energy to grow, so they will take more gunk out of the water, so if you're looking for plants, try looking for fast growing ones with larger leaves, java ferns are a really good one because they look amazing and they're easy to look after. Crypts are good too, they're slower growing but they take up nutrients really well.
@@lucy.brenn4n awesome! Thank you for educating me 🙂
Thanx for sharing. Greetings form Holland
Hey I've had a Betta for a few days now. I saw the videos of good tank mates for them I bought a few neon tetras today I added 1 and the betta began attacking it right away. I removed it and returned the tetras since I don't have an extra tank. Any tips on getting him to not being aggressive?
Yes,buy a female one. The males are jerks. They will kill most fish and even some snails.
they will tend to pick on smaller fish, try bigger fish (bigger than a betta). You could try platys, maybe even some barbs (barbs tend to bit a bit nippy, but when kept in bigger schools tend to settle down on that aggression). You could even try a school of danios if you wanted to.
thanks for the updates
Please do a update on your super red German rams
Great upload 👌
just superglue them much better for the rhizome than a rubberband. 3 for like $2 at office works for the gel
Thks bruv
My water and lights seem to kill every plant I buy 😅 Anubis is the one and only plant to live in my water
Hello! I'd like to know how many Corydoras Paleatus I should place in a 30-gallon tank to avoid overstocking. The tank is only for them, no other fish. A minimum and a maximum? All answers are welcome, but please respond only if you have knowledge of this fish and experience. Thank you!
I love the shirt!
I actualy have an echinodoris, that gats a runner at the tabroot, wich I have seen with that one do 2 times
(I don´t know the name of it because I got it from a friend, wich didn´t care aboute the name)
I use salt for fertilizer ( Nährsalze in German) basically iron salt, magnesium salt etc. I test the water and mix my own fertilizer. I mean I learned it for my job so why not use it( it’s dirt cheap if you have a cool boss)
Off the plants sorry. Quick question what is the best water temp to keep shrimps? Tx Brian south africa
too bad about the bristlenose. I have a yellow eye long finned baby bristlenose that I wanted to transfer to a 110 gallon planted tank, but if he is going to eat my swords? but I don't have anywhere else for him, I would hate to have to sell him back to the store. do most bristlenose eat the plants? thanks, Todd
One thing you didn't say was some fish hit plants hard with Fish like that you have to have fast growing plants. Most Floating plants are easiest but can be a pain to remove once you have them. Nice to see this video was sort i want to do a video but presented as is with uncleaned glass etc = Respect.
I HAVE ZEBRA DANIOS,TIGER BARBS,MOLLYS,PLATTYS,and tetras.
AND IT'S MOSTLY PLANTED.
CAN I ADD SOME SHRIMPS TO THIS AQUARIUM.
any if these guys eat them ? Plz reply brother
The danios won’t eat shrimp, but the others may. You’d have to have a well established group of lots of shrimp with tons of cover for them to likely survive long enough to get a strong population growing. I’ve kept all sorts of fish with shrimp AFTER the shrimp have increased population large enough to keep the fish from out-predating them. Tons of shrimp plus well fed tetras/barbs can work, but the shrimp have to be in there first in my experience.
Obviously I can’t say with 100% certainty, but I’m sure I grow that species at 9:30 you’re unsure of the name on, _Lilaeopsis brasiliensis_ aka “microsword”. Though the name is sort of a misnomer… I don’t think it’s a “true sword” with the _Echinodorus_ genus, unless they’re in the same family… then they can be “honorary” swords 😂
Wow alot of negative people 's comment
I want to stop putting chemicals in my tanks for the third time either a bacteria bloom appears or an algae. The very worst is the melt down my floaters root start dropping it's insane. Like you said these plants are expensive.
Tomodels hahaha nice 🤣
I like the endler's
👍🏻👍🏻
Great video, thank you! From the river to the sea, Palest*ne will be free 🇯🇴
Sure am glad Israel is taking care of that problem.👍
Your fertilizer looks like nerds gummy clusters
Dont start me on the easy plants to grow. I've killed plenty of them
How do u kill them cause I wanna get some for my new aquarium but I don’t wanna kill them
@@natekoro8594 i don't know mate, I've tried to please the plants with everything possible (light, good substrate, fertilizers etc), but for some reason the only plant that's doing well for is the Ludwigia Repens
High bro
🎉❤
Nice babe 😘
💚❤️🙏🏼💚🇬🇧
QT
First off I'll say I enjoy your videos and respect your information you provide on fish and your videos are typically great for getting people into the hobby, so props for that.
But .. Anyone reading this ... Please do not take this video as a source of information on how to grow Aquatic plants. Please instead go watch Green Aqua or MJ Aquascaping instead or countless others. They show you low tech and high tech options - you dont have to spend $1000's to get nice plants as Nick said. And thats true. But the approaches here are just misguided. You'll potentially harm fish, shrimp and you'll absolutely end up with plants like the majority of Nick's in this video - stunted in growth, stressed, unhealthy and suffering from multiple algae issues and nutrient deficiencies. Which will end up costing you more in the long run because you simply wanted to not buy from Aquatic companies that spend alot on r&d to create fertilizers specifically for Aquatics because ..... Why? What is your reason? To save $10 only to grow unhealthy plants? Or to appear as if you're above the industry? Truly doesn't make sense.
*Some* things may appear as gimmicks in the industry and even I will agree with that but majority of the time its simply new science.
But you cannot deny a simple NPK + trace mineral fertilizer (See: Aqualabs which is Aussie owned, LCA which is also Aussie owned, APT, Seachems Micro options, so many that are just as cheap but fish and Shrimp safe and far better). You dont need to buy ADA to get healthy plants. And you'll have far more success than 80% of the algae riddled (BBA, hair algae and GSA), stunted, chlorosis-suffering plants like shown here (thats the yellowing you had on most of your more demanding plants - like the echins).
This is like going to Bunnings and asking their staff how to keep a plant "alive". Versus going to an actual nursery and asking how to keep a healthy plant flourishing.
Seek plant advice elsewhere anyone reading. This is not it.
*** Also - that plant from Sri Lanka is called an Aponogeton.
Hopefully you spend as much time one day researching plants like you have for fish and re-do this video. The topic deserves it. But if you don't care about it - please try not to spread misinformation to your impressionable audience and then hide behind the guise of "oh but this is just how I do it ya know ...."
I'll also say .. We stand on the shoulders of everyone that has come before us and the lack of respect you show for companies that are fiercely in love with this hobby that create products that make your fish room even able to exist - is sad to see. Blanket statements saying that cheap, Bunnings root tabs are better than something like API or Seachems root - is just wrong. Or worse, saying API or Seachems are "crap", is crap. Not just because you are wrong. But it's so short sighted, it's embarrassing. Alot of your videos there are small little jabs towards the industry as a whole. It's petty and unwarranted, man. You're clearly young but maybe worth realising what you're saying and how you're influencing people's perspectives of companies that if they didn't otherwise exist, would mean our hobby couldn't continue like it does and wouldn't have progressed to what we know today, without.
Well said. I think there’s another side to that coin too though. This is good information for engagement. Cory at the Coop similarly approaches things, and it really stings me to see some of the amateurish and severely limited results he gets with his contrarian attitude toward nearly all things in the hobby. But if I step back, I find Cory and KFS to be wonderful ambassadors to engage people to the hobby. People will be introduced, and they will eventually look for more - improving their knowledge along the way. So, while you (and I) may be looking for a more advanced approach in general, many aquarists are satisfied with ANY development of their tanks and knowledge base. What used to really satisfy me is quite quaint in retrospect, but I found as much enjoyment then as I do now.
That said, I agree with several comments here about being careful about random fertilizers. Some contain straight ammonia that could crash a small system.
6th
Please pin 😊
these tanks are so underdeveloped, i would not buy anything from this store
they're underdeveloped for a reason. maintenance, they also have different fish cycling in and out of all of these tanks. you can't do that with a fully developed display type tank.
Underdeveloped? What an odd comment. What do you expect from a store? Blessings nonetheless!