Looking really good, you did a very nice job. The big shallow is looking immense as well, love the color of those crypts. I know you battled algae in that one and thought about giving up, but I'm glad you didn't. The low TDS could be a problem long-term for the guppies. They need harder water since they are livebearers to reproduce young that will have proper skeletal structure, just a heads up. Thank you for sharing this video with us all. Take care.
How many watts are your lights? That always can play a big part. A lot of carpet plants grow high with low light, they still spread just takes a little while longer. High light will give you great progress
I think it’s just reflection/refraction from the light on the back wall, but it looks like you have this multicolored sunset-like background on the no-filter tank. 🌅 😊
The device is measuring specific conductance (SpC). This is a measure of the ion concentration. These ions include Na+, Cl-, Mg+2, and Ca+2. Hard water has a lot of these ions, especially calcium and magnesium. You can also use SpC in conjuction with temperature to estimate salinity. But in freshwater its the minerals that conduct the current in the device.
Hi MJ. You should do a $100 fish tank build challenge. It will be a challenge where you build everything from scratch and use no existing equipment. It would be interesting to see you make a quality aquarium with a price limit.
Hi Mark, I am definitely inspired after watching this video to make a no filter no co2 scape. I tried making a terrarium but I am gonna fill it with water now after some changes 😁
Fantastic vid as always MJ... I'm wondering if I can make a request? Would it be possible to explain how to plant using tweezers? I can't for the life of me work it out. I've been trying but never have luck with it lol. Please advise.
Your Aquarium is wonderful, congratulations. I just have a question. How do you heat the water? Or what temperature is your water? Environment temperature? Do you have the room with air conditioning? Thank you, keep going.
hey uncle MJ! can you do me a favor and please measure the substrate depth on the right side of the tank, i am curious how deep it is in the front vs how deep it is in the back. i have a very similar sized tank and not sure how deep of a substrate to use. thanks !
Hey MJ, I got the same light and for some reason it looks much, MUCH dimmer than yours in this video. My tank is a bit longer at 16", could this be the reason?
in our home we use RO water for drinking and making tea and watering some of my house plants so I really prefer to use RO for my planted tanks too. but in lot of videos and articles they say RO water can kill your aquatic plants and fish because it has no minerals and very low KH and GH so PH might fluctuate a lot and it can get very acidic specially if we use aquasoil and CO2. is there some way to know if using RO is safe for me if I don't have TDS meter? I used Amazonia Light and some sand and my rocks are dragon stone in one tank, maple leaf stone in others
How is it possible that in 2 months you managed to insert fish and have few algae, without a filter? But were the seabed and the plants already mature?
They are endlers, guppyes have many babies in one birth like twenty or thirty, but endlers have a lot less like five or ten. So the population is increasing slowly but surely.😊
I just ordered a Chihiros wrgb2 slim for my 30cm cube Endler guppy planted build. Do you recommend starting light out under 100% and increasing slowly as plants grow out? Or just go 100% from the start?
Amazing tank considering there is no filter. I’m trying it on a paludarium at the moment but ammonia is still very high, once it settles I will add some shrimp. Have you considered doing a paludarium?
Another great video. Really enjoy the content. I want to set up a no filter tank as well. Do the fish do OK without surface aggitation for O2? Also, how about a Versus series of tap versus RO water? Lastly- what do you use for remineralization?
Yeah fish are absolutely fine without surface movement, I think there is plenty oxygen released from the plants. Yeah RO vs Tap can be cool! For remineralization I sometimes use Salty shrimp GH+
I am not MJ but I'd love to put some of my inputs on this I would say, when you start the tank I think you should still atleast put a small air stone in until the plants have developed which is when you would add your fish. Make sure the tank is bigger than what most recommend as minimum for your fish to be sure as there isn't getting carried by the beneficial bacteria and just the plants. So for example, a school of 10 neon tetra's need a 20 gallon long as a general minimum/recommendation. Try to get a 30 Gallon instead for the same amount of fish to make sure it is as stable as possible. And make sure to plant as much as possible. I still recommend using even just a small sponge filter or just an air stone though since stuff like mosquito larvae's can spawn in the tank. + it'll grow beneficial bacteria in the substrate.
Great update Mark quick question! When you unhook the co2 bottle to take it to get refilled do you just close all the valves and then disconnect it? I probably have another 6 months before I run out I just want to be prepared 😂
Great video as usual! Quick question, what are the average temperature of all your aquariums? And how do you regulate the temperature during hot/cold weather?
The small tanks on the shelf don't have a heater, so the temperature there fluctuates between 19-22 degrees Celsius. In winter it's probably a few degrees lower and in summer a few degrees higher. The bigger tanks do have a heater which is usually set to 23 degrees Celsius. Besides that I don't really do anything to regulate the temperature.
I wonder how you get such low TDS. I do 50% water change twice a week with RO water which is 25 but after that every day there is an increase of 40 which eventually goes till 250. My tank is 2.5*1*1 with seriyu stone. I am struggling to bring TDS below 120 my goal is to have TDS below 50 In order to keep crystal shrimp with once a week water change. It looks like am dreaming.
It’s probably minerals leaching from the seiryu stone. Switch it out for an inert stone. Also, you don’t need the TDS that low for crystals. Mine breed at 140ppm TDS (pH 6.7, KH 0, GH 6).
