This is RIDICULOUS!! Acara & Cichlid Aquarium! 

👇👇MD MERCH CLICK HERE👇👇: FULL SHOP: md-fish-tanks.creator-spring.com I used some locally sourced wood in this tank and as a result, it will not stop going so dark...you can't even see in it. I hoping I can rectify the issue. Equipment (all links affiliate): LED FLOODLIGHTS: US amzn.to/3m3cEz9 UK amzn.to/3orIdRv GOOD BUDGET LIGHT:: US amzn.to/2MDfjk1 UK amzn.to/3iYlfQQ SMALL HANG ON BACK FILTER: US amzn.to/2Mw63OO UK amzn.to/39rx3b5 NANO INTERNAL FILTER: US amzn.to/3oxGBWm UK CANISTER FILTER: US amzn.to/3iNeVtW UK amzn.to/2Fo774a GOOSENECK CLIP ON LAMP: (similar as product is now discontinued) US amzn.to/2IlwLVA UK amzn.to/2LNat13 MINI WATER PUMP: US amzn.to/2oAmf5y UK amzn.to/2mjHDez TANKS: US amzn.to/2SOocHG UK amzn.to/2SPA24i STRIP LED LIGHT: US (similar) amzn.to/2SNgbm7 UK amzn.to/2Fn9aW1 ASTA LED LIGHT: US amzn.to/3k9EmpY UK amzn.to/3p5XUPY AQUARIUM RACKING: Shelving: US amzn.to/2SrYZ5k UK amzn.to/2GFWKJ2 AIRPUMP (FILTER SYSTEM): US amzn.to/31z8FA9 UK amzn.to/37GIoUa FILTER SPONGES: US amzn.to/3dQLUfM UK amzn.to/3dS2k7K MEDIA BAGS: US amzn.to/34Kaf2N UK amzn.to/3lAj3z1 STAINLESS LILY PIPES: US amzn.to/2FqHpvR UK amzn.to/2RlfrnC BOWL AQUARIUMS: US amzn.to/2M4FwFO UK: amzn.to/2Vx73CL API® products Subscribe to API on RU-vid: ru-vid.com USA consumers purchase API products on Amazon: www.amazon.com/stores/page/2193F555-CE5F-4A6B-BDC4-F315CB7F175D?channel=MDTanks UK consumers purchase API products on Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/25663644-6C8C-432C-9E6A-0A85082C3E3C AQUARIAN® products Follow AQUARIAN on RU-vid: ru-vid.com/show-UCNxaNWKoWr_ztSgXgPj9r8A Purchase AQUARIAN products here: aquarian.co.uk/where-to-buy/ AWESOME MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY ru-vid.com/show-UC3uQXzXSPspf2LoGdtYGiHwjoin FOLLOW MY INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/md_fishtanks/ FOR BUSINESS ENQUIRIES: admin@mdfishtanks.com #plantedtank #aquascape #mdfishtanks

I don't know how it looks in real life but the before-state of the blackwater tank looks amazing on camera imo. Wouldn't call it a failed tank, just a less preferred one.

MD, I've run a filter with carbon on tanks where the wood leeches lots of tanins. The carbon removes the tannins and you don't have to waste so much water.

I think I like blackwater much darker then you do. Though the state of the beginning was only a TAD too dark for me. A suggestion: underwater spot lighting. Tanner from Serpa Design did some underwater moody lighting in his massive 350 gallon jungle palidarium. It made the water have spaces where you can see and appreciate the depth of the scape, but also darker pockets for shy fish to hide in the shadows

I absolutely love Blackwater Aquariums! A perfect display to see natural behavior of your fish!

They are 100% rainbowfish, size says between 2-3 months old. Rainbowfish are egg scattering fish and they may have laid eggs on the floating plants you used in the owl tank. The fry are miniscule, so tiny that they can't even fit a baby brine shrimp in their mouth so you obviously had enough green water organisms for a couple to survive with no other predators in the tank.

I think blackwater is the kind of tank you really have to wait on for that tint to be right. Overtime it really does leach less and less. But this really is what is best for fish and is really replicates natural look. The tanins don't block any of the light for the plants that they need, just makes it seem darker but the wavelenghts the plants need are not affected

Rainbows normally breed on spawning mops and long roots of floating plants, so those are almost definitely rainbows. Always exciting when your fish breed on accident.

This black water tank is looking fabulous now. Yes, those look to be the rainbow babies, the roots of the floating may have done the job of the spawning mop, lucky you MD❤ Waiting for timmy’s another new home. Dude has had more homes than me😅

For Timmy’s tank when you are siliconing the eco earth stuff on the background I recommend throwing some eco bark and sphagnum moss in the mix. It’ll give a little more variation and realistic look to the background. I used to do this with my custom made tanks and it really made a difference

Now THAT'S a black water aquarium HAHA

Black Molly fish babies tend to stay near the surface of the water, which unfortunately makes them vulnerable to being hunted. On the other hand, Swordtail fish babies tend to stay closer to the bottom of the tank, providing them with some protection. In my experience, whenever I notice Black Molly fish babies in my tanks, I promptly transfer them to a separate tank to ensure their safety. By doing so, I can provide them with a more secure environment where they can grow and thrive without the risk of predation.

Great video! Nice job on the hack-back MD ❤ and yes, the rainbow babies 😍 rainbows only spawn for a few hours in the early morning, theyre egg scatterers, usually on the roots of floating plants or those growing close to the surface. The eggs can take up to 10 days to hatch and the babies are tiny...theyre also incredibly slow growing, you wont be able to determine what kind of rainbow they are until theyre much older and start developing colours ❤ this update has made me happy 😁

Love the sword tail and mollie tank. Those sword tails are so vibrant they are practically glowing. Beautiful

I have been watching this channel for a few years now. Finally decided to go ahead and try my hand with a tank. Just finished setting up a blackwater setup with black neon tetras. Thanks for the inspiration.

This doesn't look bad, just very natural. The fish probably like it.

Tank updates are super helpful for long term fish keeping. It helps to know how to keep it good and what to watch out for. It also helps to show the outgrowth so we can see what it looks like mature

Man I love that blackwater tank. It’s a masterpiece. And just look at those cardinals, so vibrant and healthy, a setup like this is exactly what they need to thrive. Just don’t let the plants take over too much! The lightly planted look is what makes this tank and really accentuates the beautiful and rugged hardscape. Well done mate!!

That's pretty rad to see the 2 unexpected rainbow fry turn up in the shrimp tank. MD's been mentioning it in the last few videos, and I'd be pretty excited if that happened to me!

Beautiful tanks! I can't wait for Timmy's tank 😃

Absolutely love the look of that blackwater tank. The fish looked so comfortable in there, though I do understand the need to enjoy the look. Well done on the rainbowfish fry, it is always nice to see fry especailly if from egg layers as they're harder to raise if not using micro live feeds. They are certainly rainbowfish as have bred thousands and know the look from a mile away. They will certainly be hybrids which is normally frowned upon in the rainbowfish community. This is due to chances of them getting into the aquarium hobby and messing up true strains due to their mixed genetics of different Rainbowfish Families, whether that be Melanotaenia, Chilatherina or Glossolepsis etc. depending on which ones are the parents. These hybrids don't normally bring anything special to the hobby of the many beautiful strains of rainbowfish already available in the hobby. Hybrids also tend to have a more aggressive temperament than true strains. Please make sure to always keep these separate if they survive.

Definitely some of my favourite fish in the blackwater tank!

I love seeing Timmy, I can remember when he was about the size of your fingernail. ❤ Looking forward to seeing him in his new tank. I hope you don’t have to pull the Blackwater tank down because I love the scape

I absolutely love the way you said “now I wanted a Blackwater tank but this is ridiculous”. I also love the way you dealt with it. Thank you once again for showing us. You are a great inspiration.

Awesome update man. My home aquarium is a 4ft'er with some Malaysian Mangrove Root in it. Now, it's not leeching as badly as your wood, but I totally had a similar moment when I left it for a while. It's calming down now thankfully! Hopefully yours does too as it's a gorgeous tank.

That tank is far from failed. Needs some maintenance but far from a fail.

Wow that Molly and swordtail tank is stunning, what a beautiful combination of fish!

Yes MD those are 100% baby Rainbowfish! Will be interesting which kind they will be! Because you’ve got a big mix so could be anything. But just keep feeding them and you’ll be fine. They are slow growing tho so keep that in mind!

I was just watching F ather Fish in the USA. He refered to you as a technican of natural fish tanks . Oneof the best , says you really understand a natural system . He also showed your studio , and said al, your tanks were awesome . Other people were mentioned . I mention this because i am happy i am following ohe of the best , before i set up my fish tank . Thank you.

Those are definitely baby bosemani rainbows, congratulations on the growing family!🥂🎉 I've bred preacox, turquoise and bosemani rainbows and they hold such a special place in my heart❤️

Just started my first Aquascape because of your channel, and because of you, I had enough hardscape material. I'm really happy with the results and it restarted a hobby for me. Thank you :)

when the water is darker, the more the neon shine, i like it

Oh my.. Really do appreciate you showing us your successes as well your ooopsies. When we are able to learn from the mistakes of others we don’t have to make them ourselves 😊

Yup, looks like a rainbowfish baby. My guess is that the rainbows laid eggs (they have sticky eggs) on the roots of the floating plants and eventually hatched out your owls tank when you transferred the plants. Very cool :)

I always know when I watch a MD Fish Tanks video I'm in a for a good time

Aren't spawning mops often used to breed rainbows? Maybe those floating plant roots act as spawning mops and eggs attached to the roots transferred over. Just a thought. I do like that black-water tank. I'd say patience. MTC 🙂

Oh man the crypt pink flamingo is looking just stunning in the "plant garden" tank 🤩

Love the tank, definitely not a fail! Over time it may clear a bit with more water changes.

I love the dark tanin look, looks very exotic and natural

you can put activecoal in the filter, from my experience its quite effective in removing the coloration from the tannins.

Hey my friend giving a shout-out from the other side of the pond Philadelphia region, I love watching your shows the flowers the fish everything. You have awakened my mind the real way and making an aquarium. I have plans to drain my tank and rebuild it the way I see you do it not just straight fish gravel. So keep on making them I'll be watching them and keep taking the tips that you put out there. Look forward to show you what you have inspired me to build

Those rainbow fish are stunners

you will need to soak the coco coir (brick) for Timmys tank, coco coir is very absorbent and if you stick it on in its dehydrated state it will expand on the background and fall off in large amounts into the water possibly damaging the entire scape on the wall

Guys. When you're re-charging your purigen put it in a mason jar and stir or shake it lightly every few hours. That way you can get it to almost white again plus the chlorine doesn't evaporate. Mason jars FTW. Then... use activated carbon next to the purigen to make it all a lot more efficient.

Black water tank looks amazing, I’d love to try that one day. Seems like the fish just love it. Very cool

I have to say, I just loved the way it was before… still loving it after the water change. But if my Op matter to anybody, not only the fish are less shy and doing great, maybe even better than the other in your tanks, but the display of rocks with shadings, contrasts and hue of that tank makes it, for me one of the most Naturalistic Tanks I ever have seen in your gallery. Till now this is my absolute Favorite Tank.

This was the best situation similarity I have ever seen so thank you for sharing your experience because I experienced exactly the same thing. I am dealing with exactly the same way you have.

This just recently happened to me as well. I pulled some Cabomba Caroliniana out of my rainbow tank and floated it in another. Went in a week long vacation and came back with 4 fry swimming around with my guppies. Now at first I thought I had baby guppies but nope!! They are rainbows. Lol awesome man! Hey idea for you. I just recently scaped a bow front 35gal tank. I suggest trying one out. The bow magnifies the areas of the tank. So I have one piece of drift wood that looks closer than it really is and one that looks farther. It also magnified the size of them. It looks absolutely stunning. With your skill set I can see you having great success with aquascaping a bow front tank!!

The black water tank was really black ⚫. It looks much better now. Love all your tanks. 🐟🐠🐟🐠 Gina Hetlage

I didn't know you could put coffee in a fish tank. 🤣🤣🤣

Is it just me or we don't all mind watching the rainbow tank maintaine just to check on the gorgeous fish. You should have filmed it MD

That mollies tank is ridiculously awesome! Just perfect!

Ahhhh if only all filters was so easy to clean. The black water looks really good when your close to it but from a few ft away looks terrible

Se ve bonito, es para amazónicos con hoja seca de almendro, es un tono diferente muy agradable, saludos de México Playa del Carmen 👍

Mollies fry like to hide out in plants at the top of the water. They'll stay there until they feel comfortable to move around. So, if you want the molly fry to survive, they need lots of plants at the top.

Love how you show us everything! I am learning! 💖

Keep up the hard work MD! ❤

Wow! That's tanning city mate? I absolutely love all the tanks that you featured in this video. Thanks for sharing 😊

This post was another very welcome and enjoyable morning discovery!

Amazing to see how quickly your channel has grown since I started watching 4 years ago. Well done Squire!

My CPD's are not the least bit shy, they swim around everywhere and even comes to the front of the tank to greet me (hoping to fed) along with the endler males they share the tank with whenever I pass by.

Am I to say added too many Protea cones but I don’t want to take them out so I’m just going to keep changing the water. Protea is a common plant species in Australia 🇦🇺 where I live. Thank goodness you made this video because I have my favourite channels but I only see your stuff occasionally. This was my favourite video ever that you have ever done. Now I know I’m not the only one going through it.

I love the way the Swordtail and Mollies tank looks.

Lovely ❤ glad timmy's doing great 😂🎉

It was quite enjoyable dark red,even better when you redid the water

I love that molly/sword tail tank its beautiful

I love my black water tank! I’m actually getting ready to replace the wood because I had to do a big water change and it took out a lot of the color and the wood isn’t leaking anymore out

So much more informative than every successful tank proving small things can wreak having unknowingly being positive, or at least as far as I have watched for a change

I love your videos MD! First time commenting but I've been watching for months now! Geueinly get so excited whenever you post.

Hope you don't have to redo that tank. One of my all time favourites

Probably unhatched eggs were in floating plants..as they tend to lay eggs on string mops..floating plants roots system is an excellent natural base for them to lay eggs.

Im so happy about Rainbow fish news ! That means the tank is on peak! Now that's what the blackwater tank looks like 😂. Timmy's new home coming ! Huge love and respect from India brother

everything looks stunning

About 2 months ago I set up a 23 gallon shrimp/ Endler tank using the pond compost/ aquasoil and topping with sand. Let just say I already have a dwarf sag carpet! And about 20 more endlers and 40 more shrimp 😄

I love all the tanks! Thanks MD.

this NOT a fail in any possible way! We lovers of blackwater tanks, this is the water colour is what we are aiming for!

Rainbows lay their eggs on roots in the water. The plant roots likely had a few eggs on them and when you moved them they hatched out in the other tank. You actually hang a 'mop' in the water to breed rainbows (basically a lot of woolen strings hanging in a clump from some Styrofoam to simulate roots in the water)

My two favorite tanks: The Purple Rasbora Tank and Black Water Tank!

Loving the little update videos, vlog style vids are a good in between from the build videos!

Best aquarium channel on RU-vid by freaking mile

Got a tank sitting with just plants and snails about a month now, then out of no where I’ve got 2 fish fry identical to yours! Plants I got from the fish shop is a huge tank with fish, so must have been eggs attached

MD please please keep up with the weekly updates on the new Ecosystem Aquarium😊

Those orange swords look great!

Your aquarium looked perfect pre water change

Looks like “Tea Time” at MD’s studio. 😀

the after is soooooo good!

@MDfishtanks I have been successfully breeding rainbows for quite a long time and you will 💯 have scooped up eggs with those floating plants and they will have hatched in with the shrimps. Rainbows will scatter eggs every morning

Holy shit MD - Just noticed your subscriber count!!! You've come a long way from the shed!!! ❤❤❤

Looking forward to the African Cichlid Tank that will be next to the Black Water Tank.

Cardinals look insane ❤

Timmy Turtle needs his own channel 😊

Babies are always a happy surprise. Were they babies when you scooped, or eggs on the roots?

I made a new tank and transfers some plants and found 3 ranibow fry in my own tank too, lol. Keep an eye on their fins. It's a big tell. If they get the longer top/bottom fins they're definitely rainbows.

Can't wait to see timmy's tanks❤keep up the great work MD

Some thoughts of a chemist on leaching out the tannins: Factors to consider: * Diffusion: If you have a differing concentration of tannins in your wood and water, the tannins (which are water soluble) will leach into the water until a concentration equilibrium of 50% wood/water is reached. * Max. Solubility: Every compound has a max. solubility. This means that you might not reach the theoretical concentration of 50% total tannins in the first "extraction" process. Due to a too high amount of them in the wood. So what do you need to do: 1. Change water --> Give enough time to extract max. 50% of tannins. This will probably first be regulated by solubility so actually be below 50% --> Repeat until the max. solubility is not reached anymore. 2. Now every extraction step will give you max. of 50% of the remaining tannins in the wood. The concentration will now decrease exponentially with every water change. Lets imagine you could actually solve 50% of the tannins in the water per water change: 50% (remaining tannins in wood) 25% 12,5% 6,25% 3,125% 1,5% ... (=exponential decrease) This shows us you need at least 5-6 (100%) water changes, if you want to remove 99% of leachable tannins in the wood. In reality this number will probably be higher because your first few water changes will be limited by solubility of tannins and no one changes 100% of water. So one of the main takeaways is: You can not just wait longer for more extraction to happen. Yes, extraction needs some time but when max. 50% of tannins/or soluble amount is reached more time will not help. It is much more effective to perform earlier water changes (once you see the color change) than to wait for days. The higher the concentration difference from wood/water the faster the extraction will work. Of course you could additionally take out the tannins of the water by using a matrix with high affinity to tannins (e.g. Purigen by Seachem) . Depending on how much tannins the matrix can store this will reduce the amount of water changes you will have to do. Hope this helps :)

Great update video! Satisfied my MD Fishtanks craving!

Hey! I had the same darn thing. Seachem makes a product called Purigen. I didn’t think it would work, but I’m about 25 hours most if not all of the tannin was gone. No harm was done! Just thought I’d share 😊

I can now appreciate your enthusiasm for baby fish. I wasn't even aware my Foerschi were mating until a week ago. Apparently they have been busy before as I discovered 3 babies that have been hiding in there for awhile. They survived being fry and now are coming out from their hiding places (probably all the leaf litter I have in the tank) big enough to not be eaten by mom/dad. I never even saw fry and I since I didn't and never saw them mating I never fed the tank anything small for fry. The male was MIA for a bit over a week so he was holding during that time. There must be something in the tank small enough for them to eat as they made it to actual baby/juvenile size. I don't want any more so I'll just have to see how things go with the pair. It's cool you have Matt/store to make sure they get homes if you end up needing to. I don't know about livebearers and if they are super small when first born but apparently they too got nourishment from something in your tank. If large enough when born they could eat particles of the grown fish's food I imagine. It's fascinating to me what the really teeny fry could find in the tank to eat....lots of the super small critters that can't be seen. I don't find much information out there so far as to what is in a tank that is that small. I just have heard people feed infusoria, and all that could be small enough so my 3 survivors are miraculous to me..

hey md for timmy’s tank, don’t use the brick substrate where it’ll be underwater. i speak from experience, it’ll all fall off over time. use sand and small gravel under water and the brick of substrate above water

I had a similar challenge. I added purigen to my filter. It took three cycles before it lightened up enough.