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I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude for your deep substrate method. Before adopting your approach, I faced numerous challenges with my aquarium, and unfortunately, many fish and shrimp didn't survive. However, since implementing your method, my aquarium has significantly improved. The environment is now healthier, and the fauna within it are thriving. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and helping enthusiasts like me create better habitats for our aquatic friends. I'm from Jakarta, Indonesia.
I just set up a 40L the wrong way. I am about to buy a 120L and set it up your way next month, i am nervous but watching your videos it has made me convinced! Wiwh me luck!
I installed a soil supplement in my sand aquarium by making the mud, freezing it and putting it in two brown paper bags I get with my beer. Buried it under the sand and topped it up with more sand. Seems to have worked.
Thank you Father. I am an organic gardener and this is basically the same process for setting up a garden bed. Perhaps you should be adding greensand for extra long-term potassium and azomite for trace minerals. I am going to try these and use them at the same rate as the ironite. Also my approach to gardening is to mix the “immobile” nutrients homogenously and mix the “mobile” nutrients a bit less (*think caramel swirls in ice cream). This approach with gardens causes the root systems to grow to search out the mobile nutrients and gives the plants some neutral nutrient pockets to keep them happy. If anybody can see a folly in this approach please speak up before I endanger any organisms. Again, thank you for the instruction because I was searching long for the proper ratios!
Just had another thought... have you heard of "compost" tea? It is created in a worm composter/worm farm as moisture drains through the layers down through the castings into a collection container. It is supposed to be very nutrient rich for plants. I was wondering about the efficacy of periodically adding some compost tea into an established tank. I watched this video after setting up a tank, and gained the understanding of why you use the supplement.
Oh man, I did not hear the one year comment in the other videos when I set up my tank. I had no fear after the first video I saw and just dug up some dirt in the yard and threw my old store bought aquarium sand on top of it, added my plants and wahoo!. Now that I am watching more of your videos, this one seems to say that I will just have one year for my new dirted tank. Tell me it is not true Father Fish :) I wonder what the French equivalents of these ingredients are. My friend lives in France and is clueless. You cannot just go to the store like in the US and get stuff as easily. It is a hunt and a translation debacle. LOL
By building a food web you are adding nutrients to the system. This is critical, particularly since your substrate does not have adequate nutrients to carry it through the first few years of cycling.
Thank You Father Fish! I just started into this hobby, and have gotten so many mixed messages .. as an organic gardener I am 1000% in , this makes sense to me, and I detest plastic!!!! I set up a 10gal. tank today, and I am getting the 75Gal tank that I purchased used, with fish, prepared to be transformed!!! expect a few orders for the lovely plants I really like the tanks I have seen in your shop , exactly what I was hoping to achieve ! thank you so much !
A GREAT TEACHER..knowlegde that is very useful for many people (fish hobies).warm regards from indonesia..i hope FATHER FISH & FAMILY will HAVE ALONG and HAPPY LIFE..THANK YOU VERY MUCH..❤️🙏🙏
For 10 Gallons of tank: 1-Peatmoss-3cups (unknown volume)(the first floor) 2-Potting soil-2cups (the second floor 3-The black cow manure-2cups (3rd floor) Stir them up. Next, minerals and nutritions: Ironide (4table spoons) mix it to the soil Garden lime (I couldn’t understand the amount) Blood meal Bone meal (2 handful) Osmocote All-purpose fertilizer Epsom Salt (one handful) Calcium (one handful) Dioatomafeous earth (one handful) Sodium bicarbonate (1 handful) LIQUIDS: Iron Fish Fertilizer MIX IT ALL TOGETHER! Add water but don’t make it soupy. Add sand not gravel. 2 inches of sand so you have anaerobic protection.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I’ve learned more in a week of watching your videos than 2 years of fish keeping. I just did not understand some of the items you named for the soil. Would you please make a list ? Unfortunately I’m not in us to purchase from your shop.
Love all your videos! I just found my old 20gal tank in my parents garage and I am excited to try this. I plan to have shrimps and some smalls fishes which i havent decided on what kind yet. Can shrimp go in into the tank as soon as i finish set up too? and for the water is tap water ok for this method or what should i use? and any suggestions are appreciated !!! =D
Hi Father fish. I would like to make a constructive criticism if I may. In several videos you over water the mix then you say take a net and strain out the excess water. My grip with that method is your leaving a huge amount of your supplements in the bucket of left over liquid which I assume you toss out unless you feed your garden plants with it. Non the less I feel it would be more beneficial if you added a cup or two of water mixed then added another cup and mix till you got to the mud pie consistency you recommended. This way ALL the supplement you have added to the mix would remain in the substrate providing the long term benefits you are looking to achieve. I feel to much of the ingredients add are being discarded. See you on discord. And happy Father’s Day.
@@FatherFish No negative criticism meant nor implied. Just a new-bee’s observation. I have learned so much from watching your videos, I received my plants and additive yesterday and set up a nursery tank of sorts using a large plastic rubber maid container. After soaking them for 24 hours they were placed in the container in front of an east facing window and also have a light above. I added a 1 inch layer of mud and two inches of sand from the back yard. Dug down 4 feet to get clean sand ( kind of) and used that. Water is a bit murky but ther planted. Looking forward to them taking root and propagating into additional plants to be used in my 150G tank once I put it back together. Thank you for my order. Stan in Orlando.
Hey Father Fish, I have 2 kinds of sand for my 2" cap. My plans were to use 1" to 1 & 1/2" of the medium grain sand on top of the soil mixture, then to cap it off with 1" of very fine river sand. My thoughts on this was that the plants would need a bit more air space in the sand for the roots to grow down into the soil mixture. The top layer that is very fine would help cap in the substrate since there is less air space between the grains of sand. Would this be a good idea?
I live in iraq things that are available Peat moss Sodium bi carbonate Raw cow manure Iron powder Sand My fish gunk Normal npk powder / normal urea powder Is that enough to start with and supplement it with fertilizer sticks ? I am a big fan of your natural approach Thank you for your feedback
Hello again father fish i did the substrate a month ago and now i see occasional bubbles bursting of the substrate are these nornal? In additon i laid 1 .5 inch peat moss and 1.5 inch sand
Hi Father Fish. Great videos you produce! Setting up a deep substrate aquarium. I saw one list of ingredients that included a little manure. Is manure OK for a deep substrate aquarium? Thanks for any advice you have.
Dear Father Fisch, If I understand correctly, there seems to be a lot more to it. In other videos, you mentioned that if you take mud and possibly some stones from a river or pond and put a thick layer of sand over it, that would be sufficient. But now, you see all sorts of things being mixed like a little alchemist. Now, I'm not so sure anymore.
@@FatherFish "That's incredibly good of you to have such an attitude. But if I want to start a 120-gallon tank, how much of everything do I need? Should I get it all from the ecological pond in front of my house, or is it better to order it from you? If I order from you, will there be any life in it? I hope so. I've seen you, and you're a cool guy."
The humic substance rich substrate along with the additives for a decent General hardness should help bind the heavy metals if I'm not mistaken. I'm assuming that was your concern regarding shrimp. I personally would wait a few months before adding shrimp so the chemistry has stabilised.
I love your content and I'm getting ready to set up my first Father Fish aquarium! Here I wonder, in other videos you suggest using soil that comes directly from a natural water source. Is the use of supplement also necessary in this case since I assume that the bacteria are already present in the pond soil?
@@FatherFish You talk about using lime and baking soda.. both of those raise PH.. what if we have tap water that is already very high like mine is 8.2 out of the tap. And then things like bone meal fertilizer is only effective in soil with a pH level under seven. You added lime then more calcium which is already in the lime, and then more lime and probably in other products as well. Sodium bicarbonate also has a ph of 8-9. Does the iron force all of these high ph ingredients to drop?
I’ve done a deep substrate in lager tanks as per your recommendation and it has worked out very well! I’ll be setting up 6 5.5 gallon tanks soon, how deep should I make the substrate in these smaller tanks?
I was wondering what your thoughts were on the "injectable" replacement nutrients for substrate? I was looking for soil and it randomly popped up, I want to say either on Walmart's or Amazon's website, now I can't find it... Have you tried mixing and placing the extra enrichment supplements in the bottom of the tank and then adding the potting soil mix in, followed by the sand? Just wondering if osmosis would still pull it up at a rate that it would still burn the roots or if it would move it up the soil at a slower rate that would still give the tank the longevity to make it to the two year mark? I would imagine it might not make a difference with regards to it burning the roots but figured I would ask...
I have a question. I want to change over the substrate in my tanks from the substrate that you buy in a pet store to your dirt and sand substrate. I have fish in all my tanks. My question is do I take the fish out of the tanks and put them in a bucket while I get the substrate ready in the tank? After I get the substrate all together, am I able to add the fish back in and do my planting of the plants with the fish in the water?
Hi Father Fish - Does the depth of the dirt and the depth of the sand increase with tank size? So say you setup a 500 gallon tank, how deep should the dirt bottom area be and how deep should the sand on top be, and then the same questions for say a 2000 gallon tank. Thanks!
After watching alot of Father Fish's videos and setting up a couple dozen tanks following his method... I think the answer you're looking for is, no the overall tank dimensions don't affect the depth of substrate. However if you have the vertical space then it's advisable to make the sand cap as deep as possible to increase the tanks stability. If using pool filter sand, the minimum cap depth is 2 inches ( but more is better) and 1 inch of dirt mixture under the cap is plenty. The reason for minimum 2 inch cap when using pool filter sand is because Father Fish estimates it takes atleast 2 inches pool filter sand to create an oxygen depleted environment for denitrification. If using a larger substrate (more porous cap) then the substrate will need to be deeper to achieve the same effect.
some of those stuff you used i don't see available here in the Caribbean but if i use plant fertilizers from the Agro Shop in my soil, will it be toxic to the fish?
I' wish I had seen this years ago. I do have a couple questions How strong of filtration do you recommend And since I don't currently have any tanks running I will be using uncycled water will that affect the set up very much
An air driven sponge filter provides adequate water movement and filtration for ost tanks. A large tank might require a second sponge. Be sure there are no chemicals in the water you use. Do not use any supplements of any kind. Collect water from nature if at all possible.
The water we have is Ohio well water I believe it has a pretty high iron content and because we water horses off that there is no softener just a filter system
Easy enough.. except for the leaving it alone… I fail when it comes to not retouching aquariums I have set up. I will continue to remind myself not to touch a stem plant once I’ve added to substrate. What happens when they become loose and float around? That is something I encounter quite a bit.
Do you have a video that shows how to set up a dirted tank with just dirt and sand? Or do you not recommend that because of lack of nutrients at about the 1 year mark?
I have already set up my 100 liter tank with 2.5" of aquarium soil (2-3 mm granules). Can I cap it with power sand for the desired effect or I have to stick to the recipe. Thanks.
It’s my understanding there is a difference between potting soil and potting mix. When making this substrate is that negligible? It’s very hard to find straight potting mix for me all the stores have mix only.
Menurut anda apakah tepung tulang dan tepung kulit kerang laut dan kotoran sapi yang sudah tua dan cangkang kotoran cacing sudah kemenuhi syarat untuk umur aquarium yang lebih panjang ? Saya sangat kesulitan mendapatkan bahan yang seperti anda beritahukan ke publik. Saya dari Indonesia dan saya ada masalah sedikit mengenai keuangan.. maafkan ketidak sopanan saya berkata dalam kolom komentar ini, semoga anda bersedia memberikan solusi untuk orang seperti saya. GOD BLESS YUO .
Hey Father Fish...how about a dirted tank formula chart for those of us who are mathematically challenged? A chart that goes from 5 gallon aquariums & up? I'd buy it, as I have many tank sizes & want to convert them all! Thanks
Hi Father fish, I'm setting up a 29 gal standard tank. Would the ingredients be roughly 3x the amounts for the 10 gal in the video? How deep does too sand need to be? 3 inches or so?
If I keep replanting stuff the sand will eventually going down to the mud and stir the mud into the water. Won’t this harm the fish ? I’m not saying in the short time but eventually there is a time like the sand totally mixed with the dirty
Very interesting ingredient breakdown. For aquaria housing fish but no/few plants, have you noticed differences in water chemistry trends between bare bottom, deep sand, and deep soil/sand tanks? I'm curious after thinking of that past cichlid/all sand tank you once showed.
@@FatherFish Ah sorry. By "chemistry trends" I just mean the rate at which ammonia and nitrate would rise. I'm basically wanting to know if there's any practical benefit to fish health by having either an all sand substrate or a sand/soil substrate, assuming plants aren't used in either case, and the alternative is a bare tank bottom. To confuse matters more (sorry), I recall something Diana cited that answers _part_ of that last question. A study that showed certain farmed fish grew bigger in ponds with soil than in ponds that were bare. While that may appear to be a win for soil substrate regardless of plant presence in aquaria, that's confounded by the fact that most fish farms have a constant stream of fresh water running through them, masking any chemical complications/benefits the soil could provide to the water. With that in mind, I'm left wondering how deep sand/soil subs affect water chemistry with a moderate fish load and no plants, compared to a similar fish load in a bare tank. Which one would need more frequent water changes? I'm aware of denitrification in deep substrates, but does it "keep up" in the average aquarium to make a noticeable difference on its own?
@@billforigno Do not have a clue. I have had no interest in bare tanks other than the rare occasions when needed. Certainly the affects of substrate do not exist where it is absent. Whether its effects exist in its absence is tautological. Clearly they can not. Certainly other processes may occur. Water seeks balance. That balance is differentiated in substrate. Again, I do not understand the nature of your query.
@@FatherFish No worries, thanks for the replies. I'll try to clear up some of the confusion. I was most concerned with _how_ the differences, in practice, manifest chemically between bare vs deep sub fish tanks, not _if_ they occurred at all. Maybe I didn't word that very well before. I also took it for granted that most people I know who keep bare fish tanks double down on filtration to enhance nitrification, and it didn't occur to me to add that detail to the above thought experiment. I'll share how I _think_ each scenario would go in practice without plants: 1. Bare bottom, nitrification filtration: long cycle time, followed by undetectable NH3, but is the kind of system that gains NO3 the most rapidly and necessitates the most water changes. This seems to be a common consensus among other aquarists. 2. Deep dirt + sand cap, nitrification filtration: not a setup I see often in fresh water without plants, so I only have some guesses as to what would happen. Most likely an initial nutrient spike (NH3 + NO3) until bio activity settles down, followed by extra nitrification in upper substrate, and slow denitrification in lower substrate. Would denitrification occur fast enough with a moderate fish load to at least lessen the need for water changes compared to scenario #1? Would life processes be aided by _removing_ the standard nitrification filter for scenario #2? Would this kind of substrate ultimately lessen or complicate long term maintenance of a system compared to #1? I have no clue. Nevertheless, these questions keep me awake since setting up a system like a fish farm a certain way would greatly depend on which method entails the least maintenance, balanced with the least wasted water if locality demands it. Ha ha.
@@billforigno Farming is a completely different matter than aquarium maintenance. Cor farming either dirt pond or continuous flow are the two options at the extremes. Continuous water exchange in bare systems provides best growth. Dirt ponds provide best numbers. Depends entirely upon your goals.
Hello FF :). I have a 55 gallon tank with 1.5 inches of "carib sea super naturals" sand that's established over a year. You told me if I wanted to duplicate your way, to add another inch or more of sand. My question is, can I use more super naturals ( which has a small soft grain that says it "resists the collection of detritus") or should I use pool filter sand? And why? .....I guess, what is the function of the capped sand and why a certain grain? Thank you for all you do!
@@FatherFish Ok very good. I didn't see you rinse the sand first. Someone at the fish store yesterday got in my head.....he said with pool sand, make sure you condition the sand (wash and add conditioner) before you put it in. Just wanted to triple check with you that that is false ?? Also, if the potting mix contains peat, do I still add more? Also, is coco coir and pearlite ok to be in the mix?
I found seachem Marine buffer as well as a product called seachem reef advantage calcium? The buffer states maintains an 8.3ph and the reef advantage just states it's powder ionic calcium. Which one would be a better fit in your substrate system?
Father Fish, I am concerned that I didn't put in enough sand. I have a 55 gal. I used approximately 50 lbs. but I am getting a lot of air bubbles. You can see air pockets in the sand layer. I have 3 inches of substrate altogether. I am worried that when I add more bottom feeders that they will bring up the bottom layer. Can I send you a photo to look at?
Do not worry about the bubbles. They are normal CO2 and nitrogen. It will stop in a month or so. You can post pics and conversations with other hobbyists on the Father Fish Shoal discord.gg/xsdmkYgu
How many inches for the Soil layer and how many for the sand layer please my tank will be 30x30 cms base and 45 cms tall, thank you father fish, greetings from Mexico
I have a question, why after two weeks does my tank still release gas bubbles contaminating the water? I followed your instructions and put 3 1/2 inches of sand and I still see gas accumulation from the substrate, which I followed your instructions perfectly. What can I do, please. I'm already desperate because when the bubbles come out my whole bedroom stinks and the ammonia is very high. Thanks for your help
An odor is unusual. The bubbles will continue until all of the elements are chelated, about 3 months. Join me in the Shoal. I would like to diagnose this odor issue. discord.gg/father-fish-shoal
From the FF DISCORD channel: Recommended dirt mixture of 1", covered with 2" of sand. -The Dirt Recipe- (for 10 gallons tank) Soil Mix: 3 cups peat moss 2 cups potting soil 2 cups black cow soil (composted manure) Additive Mix: 4 tbsp Ironite or iron oxide 1/2 tbsp garden lime 2 tbsp blood meal 3 tbsp bone meal 1 teaspoon slow release fertilizer (Osmocote) 1 tbsp organic natural fertilizer (Dr. Earth) 1 tbsp Epsom salt 1 tbsp marine calcium 4 tbsp diatomaceous earth 1 tbsp sodium bicarbonate 2 tbsp liquid iron (optional) 2 tbsp liquid fish fertiliser (optional) If you find this recipe hard to follow or simply dont have the time, head on to Father Fish Store and get the Additive Mix! Also check out other cool stuff on www.fatherfishaquarium.net
Hello father! I love ur videos! I wanna try to do something like that in my pleco aquarium. I have L46 and i wanna do natural aquarium for them with alot of plants and other fish. Do you think that would be feasible? Thank you!
With 15 Ingredients for the soil, this sounds very expensive for just one tank. Are there complete supplement mixes to purchase, Where you have to combine only a handful of ore even just, and follow up with the sand? Also, gravel is bad, but do a few pieces here and there sprinkled atop the sand for decorative purposes pose any trouble? Planning a riparium and trying to go low budget.
I sell a supplement package available at www.father.fish click on shop You certainly can use gbravel as decorative cover. I like the smooth river gravel.
You don't need all the ingredients he provides. The reason he uses so many is to make sure the substrate has everything it needs to last forever. That means without ever needing to be changed. You can use less ingredients if you want, it just might mean the plants exhaust all the nutrients from the dirt in 5-10 years. I use a combination of 1/2 potting soil and 1/2 dirt straight out of my garden. I then also mixed in a bunch of leaves I found outside into that dirt. 10 bucks for the huge bag of potting soil and everything else is free. He also putts ingredients to keep the PH KH and GH up. As the deep substrate can make acids that slowly lower the PH, the PH upping materials help counteract that. You could use crushed coral, shells, or dead coral bits in your tank to do the same thing.
Can I set up a tank with just garden soil, river sand and plants, no supplements and no fertiliser? I have black river sand that has gravel in it. Will it work ?
It will work fine. Might run out of nutrients in about a year. Be conscious as you are feeding to enrich the substrate with food. That does not mean feeding more. It means feeding a lot of vegetable material.
What’s the point of adding nitrates and other fertilizers to the tank if the goal is denitrification via a deep sand bank? Mine always has too high of a nitrate level in it because it’s a new tank and my plants are still small. My plants are just glued to rocks using aquarium glue; not in any substrate currently. Everyone is extra positive and supportive in the comments here unlike what I’ve seen on other videos in the comments so I’ll take the contrarian position and add some balance to this take.
Hey father fish, just had a quick question. the water i use in my aquarium is very soft, if i use your deep subtrate method, would i need to use additional GH boosters to make more water more hardy or will the substrate help with this. Also Ive been using liquid fertilisers for my plants for a long time, would i no longer need to use them since the substrate contains many nutrients. Thanks in advance.
The substrate will not affect the water gh. You will not need to fertilize rooted plants and fish in the tank will provide enough nutrients foe the floating plants.
After watching this, I'm starting to wonder if i need all the buffers. My tap water is already high in kh and gh. I also have a high ph, around 8.2 to 8.5. I live close to the limestone capital of the world. Ugh, now i have more research to do. I failed with my first attempt. Of course i started big. My tank is a 90 gallon long. So i lost a lot of money. Im trying to do it right this time.
so if you use tap water and it has minerals already if you put these extra bi carbs and calcium in and stuff wont it increase the tds? should i just skip that if my tap water is already good gh and kh ?
What can I use instead ironite 12-10-10. Here in Uk it's imposible for me to find it. There is Ironite 1-0-1. Anynother product similar to ironite 12-10-10?. Thanks.
Hi Father Fish! I've been watching, but without exact measurements, how does one know how much of what ingredients per gallon size of tank? Will this work across the board for all types of fish tanks, including coldwater fish tanks? Can you tell me where I can find the measurements of what ingredients per gallon fish tank?
There are too many mixtures to buy, and some are difficult to get in my area, is it enough to use soil that is sold in aquarium stores. Then add a little thickness,,,... Please answer my question... I beg you a lot.. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Can i buy the FF additive pack and mix that into the peat and manure and soil and then top off with sand? Is that the correct way ? I dont want to buy and portion all of the separate chemicals, are those the things in the FF additive pack for 20$ on your website
