Louis Foxwell, known on RU-vid as Father Fish,, is a seasoned fish keeper with 70 years of experience. His simple, easy, and natural methods insure healthy, happy tropical fish in your aquarium. Lou adopted the role of Father Fish many years ago when he opened a tropical fish store as a retirement business. Prior to this he served as a missionary for 25 years, following in his father's footsteps by ministering to a congregation of deaf worshippers. Lou fondly recalls his grandmother, Lena, from Berlin, Germany, who inspired his love for fish keeping as a child. As a founder and original board member of the National Aquarium, Lou played a significant role in its development, serving as chair of the Community Relations Committee and participating in the Search Committees. With extensive experience across nearly every level of the fish industry, Father Fish offers a wealth of knowledge and products, including plants, soil supplements, and more, to enhance your aquarium experience.
i highly recommend the channel ‘BucketPonds’. I would like to say that I am learning from this channel but in order to learn you have to first understand and I cannot understand it. Simply amazed.
I don't fight the algae much anymore, seems like I put more current in the tank it is perrty is left on the rocks.I think with a little algae looks more like Natural having a bit. In nature algae is a important in a natural environment even though to some might not pleasing seeing algae I have kinda got a bit of fondness for it !!
Or can I use any of those products in the bottle that make the water clear, and if I can which one?. And how to use the Charcoal if I don’t use the hang on back filters
I have a ton of questions after watching this. How much buffer do you put in? Do you need more than one? And do you mix it together with the Peet moss and soil? Also what exactly do you mean by soil? Like potting mix soil? And sand? Could this also be screened top soil? I’m not a fan of white sand I want to use a dark sand. Thanks Father Fish hope you can help. I got a few tanks off the ground with just gravel and plants but it took a while for them to get going.
I had no idea I could put soil from my garden or a bag of compost or potting soil in an aquarium. I wonder what leaves can go in? I’m not American though. I’m in Australia n I think a lot of eucalyptus trees would probably be harmful to fish
First timer here, and I just got your plants in the mail. I was thinking you could make a Video "Just got Father Fishes plants, Now what?" But maybe you already have that Video(: I'll keep looking threw your amazing videos!
Hey farther fish im new to the hobby i felt so confused when i started researching what to do with the full set up i just acquired including fish with a gravel substrate, i love your videos and am wanting to make your style of natural no clean no water change aquarium i just want yo check i am on the right path before i go ahead please correct me if i am wrong, my understanding is that i replace the gravel with the soil blend you recomend (including the ff soil additive on ebay uk) and then dune sand for a minimum of a 1:2 ratio or am i getting confused with the dune sand, should it just be pool sand instead? Even if you dont get back to me thank you so much for all of the amazing advice and information i have learnt from your videos ❤
Would this work in a cichlid-tank with zero plants ?? Will the beneficial bacteria in decor, stones and sand be enough to clear the tank from harmful waste-products ??
God bless you Father Fish and thankyou for changing my passion for this hobby I never gave up on, I just had to keep seeking/learning and came across you. I have a 180L Aquarium / "Now" heavily planted / sand etc it's going best since I started this hobby few yrs bck. I have 3 beautiful Fancy Goldfish (I love Goldfish) 1x Oranda 1x Ryukin 1x Pearlscale & 3 Mystery Snails. You think I can put in 1 or 2 little sucker catfish in? Some say it may stress out the Goldfish? Suck on them whilst there resting at night etc? Thanks Father Fish & God bless. Benjamin from Australia 🇦🇺
Hi father Fish I’m new to the channel and I’ve been doing this for many years but this I have to try. I’m gonna start with a 5 gallon today. I have a 29 up and running now I’ve had for several years with a gravel substrate. Can I put sand over thator should I take the fish out and start from scratch with the dirt and sand? Thank you.
So the minerals get dissolveder? That doesn't make any sense. Yellow water is old and full of organics. I wish people would stop pushing this don't do water changes stuff...
I have two tanks based on @fatherfish on natural tank. I have good result in growing plants and community of discus, angels and sea angels and all works perfect .. one year and no water change .. great result .. all thanks to you. One question Can we top up amazona sand in my tank to add more plants
It’s so funny watching the illogical people project their own emotions onto a fish that’s expending way too much energy swimming in a huge tank - look how active and playful he is, he must he so happy! 🥲 Reminds me of the videos of people setting up their bathtub as a “holiday paradise” for their fish… Delusional people cannot be stopped 🥲
Poor fancy goldfish is everything but natural. Although I believe you can put them into a father fish/walstad tank without a problem. Set the right temperature and don't overthink it. I would definitely try it without worry but I'm not interested in goldfish. Good luck
Hello father fish❤ I have been in the community for more than a year now...I have a problem with my FF tank.... sometimes all of my guppies and platies just die....why is that?😢...also they don't get babies in my tank anymore
He said, Nowhere on Earth has water changing all the time . I immediately thought of all the freshwater Springs around us here in Florida. That water changes every second
Was only thinking the other week if you could keep discus using this method to then read on various forums from "experts" that it wasn't possible and there was a reason you never had any videos with them 😂
Very nice collection! Hope the best for the shop and keep going strong. Hope that you will have a lot of customers that setup their tanks successfully.
That was a fantastic video. Thank you so much. I’ve been doing this for many many years. I have a 29 gallon acrylic Tank! But this is all to me especially the sub I know over feeding isn’t a good thing
I find it amusing that the hobby claims that the FF method will kill a fish. They are perfectly capable of doing that themselves. They don’t need FF to achieve that.
Was just in the store this morning in Salisbury Md. Beautiful fish all living together. Awesome plant selection. Please support Father Fish if you are on the Eastern Shore or feel up for a drive. You won't be disappointed!
Father fish, are you making sure that the wild caught fish are caught right and is that sustainable? I worry about fish taken from the wild. I do not want that to hurt their wild population.
I built my 20L aquarium by your videos. My fist aquarium ever. 9 months in. Have not changed water for 8 months now, just topping up every two weeks. 5 Cardinal tetras, 5 red shrimps, lots of Ramhorn and Trumpet snails, some bladder snails too. Lots of plants. Water parameters are nice. Dirt, sand and wood to my aquarium came from local rivers and ponds. Nothing boiled or cleaned. No bad smell. Just a clean nice water :) Thanks for your lessons. It works!
Still new to this method, so I have some questions about the tanks you are showing here. Aren't there too many fish and too few plants in there? I thought you said that a tank should be 50% to 75% planted. Moreover, the plants don't look to be thriving and there's lots of algae everywhere. I like the idea of a natural aquarium. But I certainly wouldn't like my tank to look like that. With respect. No offense. Just trying to learn.
These are new tanks, less than a month old. A few have algae issues. Working on it. All the fish and plants are thriving. No melt and no death or sickness.
@@FatherFish got your back father , these youngens gotta pay more attention ! Father fish is the Stephen Hawking of aquatic animals and nobody comes close!
The green spotted puffer must have brackish water for its longevity, Amazon Swords and Java fern are best from experience, if it’s in currently in a freshwater tank, GSP’s need brackish eventually then almost full marine