I Give Up, This Has To Change! 

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Great video John. I get so tired of all the Fish & Aquascape people constantly telling us we need to do this or that to our tanks to make them better. When we just need to relax and enjoy what we have.

What I love about this channel is how real it is. Not all about looking perfect. Very helpful and relatable content!

Came here for aquarium information, walked away with a lesson about life...Thank you.

You shouldn't beat yourself up over changing things in a tank. part of the fun (IMO) of keeping fish is experimenting. I did the same with my Discus tank. sand then no sand , then black gravel sand that looked amazing . I was always trying out new things. its fun, it makes it interesting . So don't feel bad for trying things out. and don't feel silly if in the future you want to change it again , its all part of the fun of fish keeping . just enjoy it 😀 🐟🐠🐟

Love the cat climbing the ladder 😊

I love how John is patient with his cats, they are so nice and it's funny to see the cat in camera basically all the time haha

I applaud your patience! I just did something similar on a much smaller scale, and OMG the rocks getting stuck in the tube almost made me lose my mind! I see you had kitty team member support. That always helps! All of your big boys are so pretty, but I have a soft spot for Severums. Yours are fantastic!

The king of DIY has a great solution for this, he puts in tile on the bottom. Looks really nice, especially those earthy colors, and it seems super easy to maintain. I'd consider that maybe... But the tank looks awesome either way

Hey John, I use rubber edged dust pans to scoop out sand. It allows you to tip and squeegee the water out as you rise up the sides. Empty over a colander for the rocks. I know your tank is much taller than my 125s, but I felt the need to share.

Just a tip. Whenever I need to change substrate, I pull out the 5 hp wet/dry shop vac. Substrate is completely gone in about three minutes.

I think everyone experiences the "I should have left it alone" situation at some point. Great video showing your patience and simply working through the change.

I recommend running hot water on new hoses for just like 3-4 minutes and that helps with that coiling

Love your cat checking out the tank! That's exactly how all my tank maintenance goes, he has to be in the middle of everything.

I've been a subscribers for many many years.... the last 12 months I have been through some crap and lost all love for my tanks. I went down from 16 tanks to 8 and have done the bare minimum with them. I've finally come out the other side of my "year of hell" (yes I'm also a trekkie!) And this was sat right here waiting. Some amazing advice and can't wait to binge my way through all of your videos that I've missed. I've missed you and Lisa and your amazing tanks and advice. Love you guys xxxx

I suggest using a net for substrate removal. The water passes through so you won't be removing so much water and it won't push the substrate away from it for the same reason. Just support the full net when moving the substrate to the barrel.

I use two wave makers that run for a couple hours each day. Correctly positioned it sweeps most of the poop up off my sand into my sump. No more gravel/sand vacuuming for me!

My siphon tube is/was super tight and coiled up as well. I put it in the bath tub and filled in HOT water. Let the tube sit in there for about 20 mins with a metal coat hanger that was straightened out inside the tube from the end that would be in side of the tank. When you are ready to take out the water remove the hanger wire and get to suckin. It worked perfectly. I no longer need to wrestle with the tube to try and get the bottom of the tank cleaned.

Thanks for the video John. I will think of it whenever I get carried away, and remember sometimes, less is more.

Good advice for aquariums and everything else in life. Thank you. Hope Crabbe gets his color back. He's a beautiful fish and deserves to be comfortable and happy.

I have sand (sold as filter for Jacuzzis), and it looks great if properly maintained. A little secret to help take out the poop (if the water siphon doesn't work) is to use the medium sized net you would use to take out the average sized fish (the net is usually green in colour). You simply scoop up the area, and then gently shake it. The sand will seep out from the net, but the poop will usually stay in the net. Just a thought, anyways. Cheers.

That's nuts! I thought I was the only one who had seen my fish change color with certain substrate!

Hey John, I have 5 bichir in my monster tank, was bare bottom but I just added a shallow layer of play sand. Poop is not a problem with proper water flow, return flow and wave maker is angled in such a way that the poop flows into the overflow weir and then into the sump filter, no vacuuming required. Sand adds good biological filtration, but yes, I did notice the Bichir's colors have since washed out.

Really enjoyed this video as always John Hudson! And your humbleness is an attribute you have that most RU-vidrs do not. It is just hard to say enough times for your bringing back - above all Enjoy Your Tanks and Fish! So glad you and Lisa continue to make rocking good sense videos that the common everyday fish keeper get so much from! Keep up the great work!

John I gotta say your albino Oscar is the best looking albino Oscar I’ve ever seen! this tank is really cool and those fish look awesome, I prefer the bare bottom look and you should definitely add some wave makers near the bottom to help keep it clean, those Sicce ones that can give random flow would probably work best. Great video and I’m glad the topic streams are back I love listening to them when I’m doing stuff.

My fish tend to be darker when the water has more tannins, and the substrate is darker . They tend to be brighter/less dark when I have a bright substrate and cleaner water.

In the 70's I had a 120 g tank with one breeding pair of black velvet cichlids. I went through substrates, rocks and plastic plants that those fish hated. They spent every day moving them around into a pile, even the filter wash attached. I ended up with a bare bottom tank with one big flat slate rock. They were fed feeder goldfish and made giant waste. I got a diatomaceous filter that I would set up and use several times a week. It was an amazing device. That bare tank was home to many broods of baby fish that the cichlids carefully care for. I would scoop the babies out at about one inch and sell to LFS. I gave this pair to Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. I learned to respect what my fish were telling me too!

I don't know anyone that has a lot of aquariums that don't tinker with them, sometimes it works , sometimes it doesn't. Even if it didn't work that is still good data. I tried the sand substrate once in a 55, what a mess, but lesson learned.

I hate... loathe... DESPISE sand. When you put that in there, I remember thinking, good luck keeping that water clear. I don't know why, but sand just makes my water look hazy, no matter how mature the tank. Plus, it literally hides NOTHING. Of course, neither does bare bottome, so that's why I do gravel. If it ain't broke, I'm done trying to fix it.

Yes!! And there aren't many fish keepers in my area, so a lot of my community contact in that respect is online. It's about 50/50, there's a lot of interest in my diy gear, but there's an equal amount who care more about the color of my gravel than how healthy the fish are. It's maddening sometimes! But I can't say it's all bad either, I've made some really awesome connections and a few friendships through trading experience too.

I used to have black gravel and my female polar blue looked so dark coloured.. but after i changed the substrate to sand her colours became lighter.. Btw i love those severums

I used to use a pvc pipe over the clear tubing but leaving a little of the tubing sticking out. This kept the tube straight and the clear tubing prevented scratching.

Loving this new content lately!! I can tell you guys feel more relaxed and less pressured when you focus on uploading content that you want, & especially when it's on your time versus when you feel pressured by the viewers. I respect you guys and will continue to support the channel. I would love to meet you both one day, we shall see if I get that lucky!!! Much respect to you both and I look forward to more content on YOUR time, not mine or anyone elses!! Do you, stay happy and true❤️😊 So relieved you didn't leave youtube!!❤️❤️❤️ p.s. - I especially love how this content feels more genuine, less forced, and feels happy... it's like your older content and I love it! I started this video, & I was like omg... this is a real concern I have had recently!! I felt like I was getting a sneak peak into another fish keepers world and I felt a calmness cause it made me feel less crazy lol thank you so much!!

I used a shop vac for removing my old sand. It had a 2.5 inch hose and worked great. Drained it out of the bottom plug right outside. Did all the sand in 3 water changes total.

I would have used a lage net to scoop out 90% of the sand and rocks and do the last bit with a hose and be done in an hour. Did this several times before, works great.

Definitely helps me realize that I’m not alone struggling to cleaning up a mess that took me 5 seconds to make😂 thanks bro

I would run a pvc pipe under gravel filter with tile loosely connected on top. Or at least put some tile on the bottom. Bare bottom. Is nice but just looks kind of blah. Tile gives it some look while still being mostly "bare bottom" but curious if you had tile about an inch apart and had a under gravel filter hooked to a fx6 if that may work.. easy to test In a small tank first.

After about 20 years of saltwater and many similar booboos. I used a large pair of pliers to crush rocks stuck in the tubes. It works with small shells too.

Love the video!! I could identify with your obsession with fish, 40 years for me now. Yes sometimes it is hard to leave things alone but I have gotten better about that. Always look forward to your videos!! Keep up the good work.

Hey John u got me In to this hobby 4 years ago when I found your channel iv currently gone to saltwater in the last year but still rocking a freshwater but this hobby is so easy to get addicted to a specially when u have had good advice just wanted to say thanks for all the help and knowledge you have passed on

Oh Carl 😂 another great vid John. Not just information but lots of encouragement for us to do what is actually working for us and not get caught up in what we think we should be doing.

In a very similar situation I once covered the bottom of an aquarium with white aquarium safe silicone, and covered it with soft fine sand. After 48 hours I shop vacuumed out the loose sand, and essentially was left with a bottom that looks like it's covered in sand, but when you go to vac, the sand doesn't move, so you keep the ease of cleaning, gain the look of sand, and the fish have a soft rubbery sand bottom to hang out on, which is loads better than glass, though thick substrate)3-7 inches depending on plants) is the way I go on all of my tanks now. Granted, if you're trying to avoid pulling the fish out of the tank, then there's really no reason to do literally anything to your tank, it looks good enough, and most importantly, the fish look happy. I know nothing about monster fish keeping though, all my fish live in proper ecosystems that have job-doers at every level and all I have to do is feed the fish, check parameters and add fertilizers once a week(never changes), and top off with RO/DI when it gets beyond a CM low on the glass, this is true even of my hard water aquarium.

So, in my 30-gallon tank, I use black diamond sand with some plant substrate mixed in it for my live plants. My tank looks crazy with how wild the live plants have grown, but honestly, the fish are happy with all the plants, so it's fine.

Perfectly timed for me. My wife told me my 75 looks great last night and I said, "yeh, but its not perfect". I think we all let the impossible of perfect get in the way of what is really great. Love that you shared this. We all needed to hear it. My boys just got their first tanks too and I will show them this video too. Thanks!

Ever think about trying some tile in place of substrate? You may dig the look and it would still be pretty easy clean up

I have tried different types of sand and gravel in different colors. The white sand is the worst, it make the fish looks pale and get dirty very fast. Right now i use the red brick gravel, it looks the best for the fish and make the tank looks cleaner.

Yep, It looks better now - tho I liked the sand when you 1st did it. Maybe, for me, occasional change it the key😎 Thanks John 💕👍

I was so guilty of 'tinkering' in the early days and looking back at my old 65 liter, I had a beautiful scape that my fish were obviously happy on, but I didn't know enough at the time to recognise I was onto a good thing... and I meddled. 🤦 Fast forward to 2018, I got my 33 gallon which I haven't touched bar essential maintenance for nearly 5 years. Now my fish are aging out and I'm thinking about what to do next. I have learned what works best for me is to write down exactly what I want to do and take lots of photos of the tank as it is, so I can go back after a few days and look at them objectively. I'd definitely recommend this process to anyone else, especially people new to the hobby. 😊

When I decided to go barebottom I used a shop vac. Turn it on a few seconds, then back off. I was done in about 10 minutes on my 135. If you keep it as close to the bottom as possible, you'll lose minimal water. Ended up 30% Perfect for water change. I did purchase a brand new shop vac for this purpose.

Recently I moved out rocks and driftwood and terracotta pots little pots with little broken pieces here and there my tank looked like this for a long while…And I didn’t like how my tank looked so I took out the most of the driftwood,the big rocks and left only two small pots in replaced the rocks I removed and…I can honestly say that my tank looks better than it did my fish have more space to swim I was going to get a different piece of driftwood but after watching this video it made me realize maybe I don’t need more driftwood I just need my fish and myself to enjoy the setup. Thank you for this video God bless you and your family.🐟

👋, I had the same problem, After 2 hrs of backbreaking playing around with hoses, my plumber says to use a recirculating pump with a filter 😅 All clean in no time

Definitely the right decision...I also struggle deciding when enough is enough

That pale Oscar is a real show stopper - It must be your favourite, right?!

Had that same problem, ended up getting rid of most of the decorations. Now the fish are stress free and don’t get territorial or aggressive.

Wonderful laid back video. You explained so well feelings I get with my tanks, and sometimes when I change, can be heartbreaking. One thing I did see to mention, my opinion, is I believe Crab changed colors to camouflage himself to bottom. You commented that he’s not a chameleon, but…nature has her way, in a river or a tank.

I had the same problem like you before, removing the sand is really a tough job.. but at last i cut tiles with natural stone patterns and put it on the bottom of the tank.. its clean and simple, better than clear bottom tank.. and you can choose the pattern too!

How about adding window tint or a picture to the bottom of the aquarium. Put it on the outside so that it stays dry. You can see it from the inside and the 💩 still lays on the glass for easy cleaning.

What about bigger size gravel and the mostly forgotten under gravel filter. I feel like it is a filter that works very well but nowadays nobody really uses them. Why is that?

I respect your choices, your aesthetic preference. My PERSONAL opinion is that an empty tank with no decor, hiding space for the fish, etc.., is a failed one.

im glad to know im not the only one struggling to clean sand substraight. it looks so good when its new. i have to change my sand yearly.

Put those polished River rocks in that tank It might be easier to vacuum in between around them, You can just move the rocks around gently as you do maintenance. You can put just enough to give the tank a natural look. But most importantly easier to vacuum poop.

a kids plastic shovel into a pail in the tank, when the pail is full then dump the pail into the big garbage can on the outside. Seems to work for me when changing gravel/sand. I have goldfish on a bare bottom.

Any time I take sand out of a tank I use a dust pan and then the hose finally to do it

John, I watch your videos and thank you for your advices but there is something I follow for 1.5 year and worked like a charm. Deep substrate. 1 inch of soil and 2 inches of sand and a lot of plants. Water is great and I make a 30% water change only 1 time per 3 months without even needed. Yes sand alone like you did is a mess. The natural environment of fishes is dirt, sand and plants. Not glass all around. Keep up the good work and thank you for your advices

A little tip for the coiled clear vinyl hose is to throw it in the oven at the lowest setting for 10 minutes. It will be hot when you take it out so wear some mits. When you take it out it will be super flexible. Lay it out straight and let it cool. The coiling will be almost completely gone.

A lot of fish will change colour depending in substrate, etc, as that is their way of camouflage. A lot of things also can affect colour in fish like having other minerals. I was also glad to hear you mention "later" in the video about adding more flow to move the fish waste, as I was yelling in my head " you need more flow" With proper flow it shouldn't matter what's in the tank the waste will get pushed out through the intake.

It's done. But here's what I did.. Drained a big chunk of tank (so fish could just swim) then used a clean dust pan and shoveled it out.. Fill up tank and vacuum out remaining with the Python

Outstanding video, I would say, you actually took time to sit down and script the video. The end result was a much more professional video. Kudos. I do have a suggestion for you if you ever have a similar application for sucking up the. Sand at the bottom of an aquarium. Get yourself a flexible pool hose. Stick on the end of the pool hose a 6 inch wide flat vacuum attachment.

I tried putting gravel in my oscar and goldfish tank. After 2 weeks I had to remove all the gravel because all the poop stuck to it and cleaning was a nightmare. My tank is back to bare bottom and I never see poop or anything else. If you are seeing poop on your substrate then you do not have enough filtration and or water movement.

My electric yellow cichlids, bumblebee, blue, and 2 pleco's in my 55 gallon tank has been messy lately. I have a rock bed for a bottom.

How sad that it didn’t work out for you. And a lot of work to remove. Crab adapted his color to the color of the sand… Gravel and a pair of good wavemakers could work…with good direction adjustment, wavemakers can prevent the poop from deposit onto the gravel. Also I think, sand is very trendy today, years ago we used mainly all kinds and sizes of gravel. Sand is a lot of work and can clog up. Also interesting are the experiments from Jay’s aquarium where he found more beneficial bacteria living in gravel than in sand with repeated measurements over a year or so…

Use a net to remove sand it works beautifully. And I definitely would suggest getting some more flow into your tank it would keep your bottom much cleaner

That type of hose just needs to have very hot water ran thru it to help straighten it out. Why not make a under gravel filter, use pvc pipe with stainless steal 3/8 screen ,than cover gravel

Haha John I said it when you did it the sand would never work. I had the same mistake and even when it comes to matching colors I’ve learned even different lights show different colors on fish. I’m so glad your back to the bare bottom cause I do bare bottom and thought I was wrong 😅so glad you joined the bare bottom tank club again

I use a dust pan to get substrate out. Thanks John. Been there done that only on a smaller scale. Thanks Lisa

this is why we dont use Play Sand. it looks bad, it gets everywhere because its such a fine grain, it washes out colors of bichirs, it has small pebbles in it that bichirs can choke on, it gets compacted so its harder for the bichirs to bury themselves and the poop kind of mixes with it. all reasons i use a garnet sand with my bichir/oscar tank.

Great video, This was me a while back, I kept making changes to my tank, I even lost count of the amount of money I spent on these changes, and the number of trips to the fish store I made.

What about pouring a resin bottom? With sand in the resin it would look like sand but clean up like glass. You would need to move the fish but....

I've had to remove sand from a tank too. It was only a 10-gallon tank though. This is why I advocate for smaller tanks.

Iam a minor with a 10 gallon betta community tank live plants tidal 35 a heater all of this I had to save up for tidal took a big chunk of money away worth it and yes a full spectrum light for the plants I do not have nutrients rich substrate its like little but much bigger beach sand have not had one Plant die and I really am guilty for focusing more on the tank than my school work all i need is a better heater im aiming for a eheim jagar 50w now that the tank is less of a worry and i know the fish should be happy im more concentraiting on school and yes having gravel in a aquarium when doing a water change it gets so murky I have to gravel VA twice a month I saved up for a pump good decision I stick it to the glass at the half way mark

SMOOTH ROCKS Like those in Mbuna tank DARKER SUBSTRATE A section or sections Of pvc that encases the tubing leaving pvc on one End for in tank and tubing at bottom flexible for outflow. Custom designed with PVC And tubing. Coils gone. Had two Oscars In 55 and they were messy. and Tank had to be covered always to prevent them ending up on floor. They were jumpers for sure.

I also have a problem that I dont have crystal clear water in my 92 gallon. I have white, sand at the bottom. Would removing the sand and replacing it with some gravel stone make my water clear? I also have oscars and Dempseys inside.

i dont know why but cloudy tanks get me in the feels. brings back memories of not having any fish and just setting up some tanks. waiting and waiting for water params before adding any haha

The worst thing I did recently with my fresh water tank was I took out my old LED light out and put a put a full spectrum light on it. The tank grew green algae so fast. I went back to my old LED light. No more problems. I did install a UV light. My tank stays crystal clear.

I have a 29 gal with a bunch of tiny fish and my favorite part is the soil and plants trying to grow plants is fun and the tiny fish I get help me clean it out in different ways

I agree, with that particular tank a no substrate is best. But, have you ever done a tank with a tile bottom? Like our friends at OFR. As long as you use the bigger 12 inch tile you can add some color and texture to your tank bottom. But, I agree, the way it is now is great looking.

I'm thinking if you just used a darker substrate you fish wouldn't get so faded. They are just trying to camouflage themselves into their surroundings. Use a net to get the rocks/gravel out first😉 Lay the hose in the sun to heat and soften it up and let it cool down while it's laid out strait😉 Use your circulation pumps to create a slight whirlpool and it will cause the sh!t to settle in the middle = one spot to clean😉

Ya Lighter/white sand tends to wash out bichir colors ironically bichir kinda are like chameleons it's pretty common for bichir tanks to have reddish brown substrate to draw out their best colors.

This is like my turtle tank. I also put sand in it and it looks messy because turtle poops big-time.

Newbie here....again....we have been cycling our tank since last Wednesday. My PH is 7.8-8.0 (its so close not sure how to call it). My ammonia is .25, Nitrate is zero, Nitrite is 0. My water is about 80 degrees. Not sure if were are at right numbers or not or how to correct them. Also not sure about the temp. Send help.....!

Removing sand can be a pain. Something that's worked for me is a simple dollar store dust pan with a few holes drilled and I'm done in about half an hour on an 8' 240g after removing large aquascape.

I recently went through something similar, sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and do it the hard way. I swapped out substrates

Something I've learned keeping discus is to go bare bottom. So much easier to keep the water pristine. I wipe the tank down weekly including the bottom then do a large water change. I added driftwood for decor and I'm happy with it.

When You buy a coiled tube put it in hot water, let it sit for about a half hour and it should become easier to work with

I agree with the if you like it don't change it message. But personally I much prefer a substrate, and making the tank more of an echo system. Now a bit of sand at the bottom isn't going to get that, especially with such a large bioload. But maybe a deeper substrate, capped with a darker more granular sand, and then just don't clean that substrate. Let it do it's thing and work as its own bio filter. Once it's built up some organics you could add a large houseplant to increase the filtration... But that's not what you want to do.. it's what I'd do.. and you're right to set your tank up the way you like it.

Add a surface skimmer and some saltwater reef style circulation pumps.

If you like the idea of sand but the aesthetics of it always being dirty is ultimately what made you remove it I recommend medium grit black diamond blasting sand. Will improve the bichir's color, poop won't be visible unless it reallt builds up, though red garnet sand improves it the color most, waste is some what visible on it so black diamond is a happy medium. Gives extra room for BB to populate, gives your bichir a more natural environment, keeps that nice dark look, improves the bichirs color, and over all just looks really clean. By far the best substrate option for bichir imo. Red garnet looks so unnatural I cant stand it.

I feel better about some of my own current tribulations, I have been a bit overwhelmed.

Put something at the end of the hose and a funnel on the other end and pour boiling water in and the hose will straighten

you can use a fish net to remove most of the sand.