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My wife and I met Father Fish at his aquarium store 10 or more years ago. During our visits there shopping and talking with him we learned so much from him. Our fish and shrimp tanks started flourishing almost immediately when we put his advice into action. He made this hobby more enjoyable and rewarding for us. Now we get keep learning from him here on RU-vid. Thanks Father Fish
How soon do you put shrimp in to your tanks? I figure I'll add fish first and continue adding more every week or so but wasn't sure when shrimp would be good to go
@@awesomeGking you can add them right now along with fishes... I have added them along with guppies... they were quite good companies for fish they eat anything like coriander leaves.. spinach... Carrot pieces etc
@@yashagrawal744 As I understand it, CO2 is produced by the substrate decomposing (thanks to the beneficial bacteria that you should introduce). Just like fermenting some sauerkraut :) And the abundance of plants will eat up all the excess ammonia, and correct the PH, removing the need to change the water. Many plants, relatively few animals.
Thank you for this video. I have several aquariums which I always maintained regularly. My husband had a stroke a year ago and with caring for him and our home I have found it difficult to keep my weekly maintenance schedule. A RU-vidr said that the first time you skip your weekly water change you have lost your passion for the hobby. That statement has disturbed me as I don’t feel I’ve lost that passion. Watching this video has given me a different perspective. All of my tanks have the elements that you listed, dirt, sand, plants, light and thriving beautiful life. Listening to your wisdom now I can enjoy my aquariums without guilt while I help my husband recover.
I used to be one of those and it's one of the things that I really loved about all of the tech with high-tech tanks. Controllers pumps filters shit to maintain, but all that stuff to control the parameters perfectly and have everything set to some arbitrary value that is supposed to be ideal. I have done a complete 180 and boy am I happier with a tank that I set up a year and a half ago and maybe only done 5 or 6 water changes in the first couple of months and maybe one more few months ago
@@NEnigma777 that’s been the hardest thing for me as well, my test kit is starting to gather dust and sometimes I’m tempted. But I know if I do I’ll start trying to fix things that don’t need fixing! Best of luck!
I had a shrimp colony that was starting to really take off. Then I decided there was fixing that needed to be done. Bad choice. The tank crashed because I fixed something that didn’t need to be fixed.
I did this 7 weeks ago & now have a thriving tank with pregnant guppies minnows & mollies 😊 I have 3 baby guppies & a tiny baby molly there maybe more in there hiding in the plants I have 2 different snails in there too next step to get a clean up crew shrimps & some other bottom feeders, I’ve kept fish since I was very small this is the best tank anyone can create I’ve never done a water change just top ups no chemicals… Farther fish your a inspiration thank you ❤
I am a firm believer in the less you mess with nature the less problems you will have. I've kept a 40 gallon breeder with 2 sponge filters, live plants assorted with tetras, corys, shrimp, and Bolivian rams and I haven't lost a fish. I only top the water off when it gets low.
I've love how you're taking over the hobby and getting the recognition u deserve. thanks, father, fish. Truly changed my life. And I share this all over Facebook. Everyone has so many problems and dead fish and chemicals. I say this: Two words father fish!!!!! Please research him. Best thing I've done years ago. My fish breed, and my plants thrive. Snakeplissken. Thanks lue❤ from michigan. Shared.
Thank you Father Fish, for all your content. I really appreciate you sharing all your knowledge with us. Lots of love your way from germany, and all the good things too! ♥
In my first tank after moving, I did a lot of things trying to fix the algae and ammonia. I did tests and when I found variations I did water changes and bought products to stabilize it. Total failure. Something similar happened with my plants, I took great care of them and they always dried up or rotted. Afterwards I simply left them in the yard alone and they grew like never before. That's when I realized that I have to leave them alone as the father fish says. I will try again with another tank. Thanks for sharing your wisdom
Ive instituted alot of your ideas in my first planted aquarium. The result? No ammonia/nitrite readings in the middle of the process...yet the plants grow like theyre Co2 infused, at least doubling in size in less than 3 weeks. Plants are a priceless end game for all things which can harm the ecosystem. Its incredible witnessing this.
Hey! How is your tank doing? Do you feed your fish or do they eat the daphnias/ostrapods if you have them in the tank? I really want to start a tank like yours but am unsure on what I need to make it happen. I don't want to use air pumps, filters, or anything like that. I just want my tank to be completely self-sufficient like an actual ecosystem.
Father Fish, I adore you! I love watching your videos and shorts. You have inspired me to give it a go. I just ordered my plants from you. I have everything else already so as soon as my plants arrive I am diving in, I am so excited! I tried fish tanks with all the filters and pumps and stuff 30 years ago and failed miserably. I swore I would never keep a fish tank again. I didn’t understand the science of it. One of the reasons I adore you so much is because you break things down where it’s almost impossible to fail using easy to follow step by step instructions. I love the love you have for nature. I just found out a few weeks ago that these tanks you talk about existed! How long have I been under that rock? 😂 Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us God bless
Have a well established betta tank after following your videos. It is about 5 months old filled up with plants and shrimp and the Betta. Ive never been so engaged to fish keeping before ive tried different fish keeping methods and different fish but it never clicked. Im SO Glued on my 10 gallon tank I have fallen in love and cant wait to do a small shrimp only tank😊
Baba vidyolarıni tekrar tekrar seyirederek doğru verdiğin en ufak bilgini bile unutmamak için tazeliyorum .İyiki bu su bilimini en iyi bilen baba balığı tanımışım .
Your ethos on fish keeping is in alignment with and proves terrain theory.. Germs are not the problem unless the organism is sick from malnutrition and or poisoned. Great content.
In China there was an ancient way to keep fish, which we call 古法养鱼 Gu Fa Yang Yu, it’s basically doing the same. Dirt in huge china water vase, any clean water sat for a day(it’s called trap water), water plant, lotus, fish, TA-DA! Same philosophy.
Thankyou for not a new message but a reinforcement, a reminder if you will. Patients is a virtue. All the tests in the world wont give you a fraction of information that nature will feed you with OVER TIME. The caveat of course is that you need to become very familiar with your aquarium, and watch..and listen.
Father Fish, you have made this hobby enjoyable again. I have kept fish since 2007, and there were many times I had become so frustrated that I was ready to give up. You have made it fun again. I started some resurrection jars, and I really enjoy seeing the life in there. I’m looking forward to cultivating the daphnia and other creatures to try and establish a food web for my tanks.
My "aquarium" is a large pot of cyperus on my balcony. It has some algae growth. The soil is from our local river. I added a small number of guppys to keep the mosquito larvae in check. Never had to do anything except refill. I've never seen such vibrant colours, within days in the new setup they were totally transformed. I'm watching this to be able to build them a winter quarter indoors.
I was about to give up on having my aquarium on till i found you father fish. After 3 years of owning my aquarium everything just started falling apart and now im taking a different step today. I bought your soil substrate a month ago and i am taking a new step to this you gave me the will to keep going thank you very much father fish nothing is better then a natural aquarium!
I just got my first setup, got a glass small container with 2 plants, one statue and one fish (Sewellia Lineolata) inside (it’s a temporary setup of about 8x8x8 cm ) and although mine was very cloudy for the first few days and my boyfriend (who has his own bigger tank) kept telling me to do waterchanges like he had done I did nothing and little less than a week later my water had become a lot clearer and some new growth has begun to develop 😁
I have followed the father fish method and have been very successful. My fish get 1/8 of a teaspoon of food every 4 or 5 days and the aquarium THRIVES!
In the past I learned that when my tanks were set up right and left alone, they did far better than changing anything around or doing anything at all. At times in the past when I wasn’t feeling good and had neglected my tanks, they flourished. This hobby is one where nature takes care of everything for you if you let it 🙏
I have a cement tank with lots of plants and guppies that I don't do anything for. I just increase the water level when it decreases and it's so beautiful. The water is always clean, the fish always happy and breeding all the time.
I have a 15 gallon Fluvel Flex with two large sprites, a medium rose sword three java ferns and some sprigs of dwarf hair grass. I have 13 fish and a couple of snails. The substrate is a fluvel soil capped with sand. I am wondering if I can introduce some culture. Due to current health issues I cant go to a local stream. Is there another way to introduce the culture to start the food web? I really like your youtubes. Thank you for educating me.
Yes. Set a bucket outdoors and put a little soil and some dried leaves in it., You can even add a bit of table scraps, no meat. Let it sit for about a month. In a week or so you will begin to see microscopic life. Start adding some of that material to your tank, very small amounts. Then add more dried leaves to your tank.
@@FatherFishI think a problem with cultures whether using creek debris etc or starting your own is harmful pests like damsel or dragon fly larvae. If you're a shrimp keeper, your shrimps will get eaten so unfortunately you have to keep an eye out but the more stacked with plants and decor your tank is, the harder it will be - maybe impossible - to track down these predators. I noticed about 2-3 of these in my small (non natural) tank but had not been able to see them all at once, after watching the tank.
Can you put 2 cm of flower soil, then 2 cm of sand and on top of the sand 1 or two centimeters of 1 or 2 mm gravel (only 3 quarters of the aquarium and the fourth quarter leaves taken from the bottom of a lake or dried)?
It's funny to see this video title. That message is one I've been thinking here lately. One example of that is taking one of the two lights off my 40 while I have the highlight plant in the back under the light and a low light plant in the front. I don't cut them and interfere very little. Works well.
After watching this video, I realized how foolish I was to worry in vain and try to do nature's work (for example, because I was so worried about cloudy water, I changed the water too much).
Are plants the only thing that is needed to keep the tank/water clean? I want to make a self sustaining ecosystem where I don't have to use any filters, air pumps, heaters, etc. Even the food source if possible. Obviously light is a must though. I just want to build it and let it thrive on its own. Would I have to add a couple of snails to help clean the algae? Maybe some daphnia/ostracods/copepodes as well for the potential renewable food source?
@@FatherFish Would a good enough substrate be enough to provide food for the fish? Or would I need to feed them myself for a little bit until it kicks off?
Greetings from Russia ! I have been in the aquarium business for over 30 years. And this approach is very different from ours. Ours is taking longer and more difficult or not?)) We pour soil (nutrient substrate and sand on top) + decor from stones and driftwood, fill with water + add bacteria to start (for example from Tetra) or a couple of gallons from an old aquarium and wait 3 days . We don't turn on the lights!!! During this time, the water becomes cloudy and then clear. The launch took place. Then we plant the plants and turn on the lightsfor 5-6 hours per week. And only a week later we plant the first residents. Snails and inexpensive fish. and wait another 3-4 weeks. After this, you can introduce the main inhabitants of the aquarium and increase daylight hours (at your discretion). For the impatient, the option is to immediately plant the plants and the first inhabitants, but we must increase the volume of water from the old aquarium! Light 3-5 hours, but expect lots of algae! That's about it!))
That sounds much more time consuming then my father fish tank. I put the soil in the sand in the water in the plants in day one day two I put a couple fish in.... That's it
Thank you father fish for your golden advice 😊 it really helped me with my aquarium hobby before i used to have a regular gravel tank with fake plants I used to do alot of water changes and heavy cleaning eventually my whole community of fish died off from the chlorine in the water I almost completely quit the hobby but ever since I found your channel I made myself my very own live aquarium with plants and a dirted subtrate i haven't done any water changes since its the 3rd month now and it's getting better my plants are growing rapidly that almost half the tank is covered my new fish loves their aquarium once again thank you god bless you sir 😁😊
Hey! How is your tank doing? Do you feed your fish or do they eat the daphnias/ostrapods if you have them in the tank? I really want to start a tank like yours but am unsure on what I need to make it happen. I don't want to use air pumps, filters, or anything like that. I just want my tank to be completely self-sufficient like an actual ecosystem.
İlham verici. Yeni başlayanları motive edici. Filtreler ,motorlar, birçok filtre ürünü aldım . Bakalım sizin deneyimleriniz bizim de sizin gibi başarılı olmamızı sağlayacak mı? Sevgiler
So very knowledgeable Sir. I just discovered you After seeing up my tank. I do have sand as my substrate but no dirt. Do I need to bust it all the way back down or can the sand still work?
Çok değerli bilgiler tüm izleyenlerin abone olup takipte kalmalarını herkeze tavsiye ediyorum .TÜRKÇE ALT YAZI Olduğunda bende anlayıp izleyeceğim .Teşekkür ederim.
There is still something to do: Take into consideration the size of the adult fish, if a fish is too large for the aquarium it will die, or destroy the life of the others, even plants by getting too brutal for them. Also a fish that must leave in group can be agressive when it is alone, same for fish that need to hide, it can cause damages to plants.
@Father Fish I'd like to see a video or a short on how to protect planted tanks when you have to move. I'm moving to another state. How do i keep my dirted tanks from being tossed around and ruined?
draw the water down to one inch or less. Carry the tank, anything more than 55gal may require help. The tank can be moved successfully with a small amount of water covering the soil and plants.
What would you suggest for mbuna cichlids ? In their habitat there is none or very sparse vegetation. Would you still be able to provide some gunk - even without plants in the aquarium? Sincerely, Paul
Not gonna lie....after seeing all the other videos this one had my anxiety running wild. But watching his video...made a lot of sence to me. I wanna set up a small nano tank and try his method this weekend.
Hey FF! I watch all your vids and have been enlightened! One question, what is your opinion on bubblers/air stones? I personally think the fish don't like the noise they produce. Do plants benefit from these?
I dirted a 3 gallon tank. I've done nothing to it and it is absolutely thriving. Fish super colorful, plants literally growing up through the surface. I have a tiny hob filter that basically just gently circulates the water.
Hello, I don't fully understand because my English is weak. I have a 3.4 gallon tank. How can I install this system without using a heater filter as far as I understand. I have 2 goldfish. Can I do it with them? Can I get soil, sand and plants from nature? As far as I understand from the video, we only use light support.
Hey Father Fish! Your videos are helping me a lot. I have a question though. Do I need to provide CO2 for the plants? I’m new at putting live plants and I get advice from people to provide CO2 otherwise the plants will not thrive. I’d like to hear your wisdom on the subject. Thank you! Have a nice day.
I converted all of my tanks to FF. Some are doing better than others, but I love working with nature rather than trying to combat it. It makes so much sense! Thank you for all your videos
Hello, fish father. Today, after watching your videos for some time, I finished my first aquarium. My question is about the resurrection bottle 6:23 I have two, one of 13 days and one of nine. I have to wait until they celebrate the month to add them little by little or I can already add them, I started by putting 11 prawns. Greetings from Oaxaca.
Hello, I have parrot fish, they enjoy digging in the substrates, I would love to have the soil and sand base but concerned that they will dig this up, currently I have gravel. Do you have any suggestions, thanks Anne-Marie
I do care too much about parameters, I started a pond outside on my balcony with just the water of my sink and I can't feel a difference with the tank in my appartments with osmosis water. I water the plantfs of my balcony of this pond sometimes and refill what is missing. To start also a tank, I did also introduced few fishes ( 4 rasbora last time and 4 tetras the other time) and I didn't know that other people would recommend it, but indeed in the last 2 fish tanks, those fishes even survives more than other fishes introduces after. I guess the health at "T" moment is something you can't select when you bug the fishes, it's like lottery you will have loss... As long as there is no several death in a short period, I presume that was the fate of this fish to die
I did this with the dirt about 6 months ago and to be honest it’s never been clear, I even bought a new filter and it’s still orange the water colour 😢.. about to take the dirt out and start again .
Many of the ones I got to plant the tank with melted....not sure if thes😊e melting plants help the newly set up tank, and then add fish a few days later, or on day 1...sounds counterintuitive
I know nothing about fish. I have no connection with nature except me being alive as I live in a tightly packed city. I was just exploring pets or plants that don't trigger my allergies. I wasn't sure if fish would fit it. But after listening to Father Fish, it's so fascinating. This is exactly what I wanted.
Thank you father for your experience. But what sort of fish can I put in that sort of aquarium? I love rasboras which need A temperature betteween 22 and 25 degres. Can I usea heather?
I do believe that mulm is beneficial. in tanks where I leave mulm and let it be I tend to find most fry. it is my experience that mulm makes tanks thrive. I regularly ad dried oak leaves to fertilise the substrate. the fish love mulm and oak leafs. pretty? I think so. plants thrive and fish thrive together with mulm and leafs.
Great advice! Cloudy water scared me a year ago when I established my first aquarium only you calmed me down and I did nothing 😅😅😅 Guess what happened My aquarium clears up by self and I haven't done any water changes ever Thanks to you 👉 father fish
@FatherFish we started a tank wrong, and then I started trying to adopt your method as much as possible without completely disassembling the tank. I over confidently overstocked because I was inaccurately measuring nitrates at zero or near zero and thought I needed more fish just to feed the plants. Now my nitrates are pretty high and climbing quickly (60ppm ish). How can I address this naturally? Is there an answer other than remove fish, add plants or change water? Can I force faster plant growth? Can I allow green water to develop to help the nitrates?
i have two aquariums, one is with nano fishes FF style ,tank is going great for 2 years but in my discus fish tank which is also FF style tank ,it doesn't work well, by not feeding much and no water changes ,i feel my discus got stunted and did not grow to full potential .My experience FF style works well with nano fishes but not with tanks which has bigger and display fishes
I love your take on aquariums and this is a nice video about all aspekts. Since a year theres noting i do exept to clean the glass and put new water in. I have one question tho. Can i put all fish inside? Dont i have to check temperature and water peremiters for specific fish?
I really want an aquarium with shrimp. it's my dream. But even they need large tanks. Everyone tells me that 2 liters is torture, even for one shrimp. My parents won't let me have pets. I can't hide anything big in the house and If they find it, they'll throw it out 😔
Find a way to support a little biotope in nature. Even a bucket or small container of water, a tub or a little pond where you can add plants and study the fish. Your parents cannot throw a pond out. Share it with someone you trust.
I followed your method and started my drit tank 15 days ago.. i am also a member of discord... May I cover the bottom using carpet plants like Monte Carlo, dwarf hair Grass etc., ?? If it spreads, is there any affects in tank filtration or tank setup?
