EP6 FIRST FISH! Self Sustaining Tank: no water changes, no cleaning, no filter

[@MDFishTanks]

👇👇MD MERCH CLICK HERE👇👇: FULL SHOP: md-fish-tanks.creator-spring.com Equipment (all links affiliate): AUTO TOP OFF: US amzn.to/4bOPVOt UK amzn.to/3YdyOCF PENDENT LIGHTS: US amzn.to/4cTQI1q UK amzn.to/3LiVERG SURFACE SKIMMER: US amzn.to/4cSV0WE UK amzn.to/3xQDvrn SUPER GLUE GEL: US amzn.to/3xU7Ipm UK amzn.to/4cCJsaw GLUE REACTOR: US amzn.to/3VEpN4j UK amzn.to/4cD51YY ------------------------------------------------- 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 KZbin: kzbin.info 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 KZbin: kzbin.info/door/NxaNWKoWr_ztSgXgPj9r8A Purchase AQUARIAN products here: aquarian.co.uk/where-to-buy/ AWESOME MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY kzbin.info/door/3uQXzXSPspf2LoGdtYGiHwjoin FOLLOW MY INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/md_fishtanks/ FOR BUSINESS ENQUIRIES: [e-mail] #plantedtank #aquascape #mdfishtanks

[@durst101]

Video 41 of asking for a tank with some freshwater dolphinfish please.

[@ChickenssaymooMC]

You are probably the reason my parents let me have a fish tank! We love your videos, please keep at it!

[@MDFishTanks]

ahhh that's really nice to hear. Thank you for saying 😊😊

[@jjmg16]

I went out and bought the same water top off MD has. Within a day, a curious snail decided to crawl on top of the bottom float and push it down, causing the pump to activate. If I wasn’t in the room, the tank would have overflowed. So word to the wise, if you have snails, make sure that upper backup float is BELOW the rim (mine wasn't because i like a high water level), or go with an optical version to avoid disaster

[@wirtification]

Thanks to you MD, I can work around the issues I have had with my 1st build, lol. You make it user friendly, there are solutions for problems, like lighting for me and my substrate was distributed by my hardscape in an area i didnt realize in back. Everything about water quality has sorted itself but it's time to fix it and break it down and redo. Again, thanks to you, it's a manageable thing after watching you for so long, I'm not anxious about it. 😅 this is the type of tank I'm going for, self sustaining. Wonderful build, with the step by steps showing the reality lol.

[@CleverNerdPun]

Great update! I hope the mollies and their babies love their new home!

[@alanmorrison470]

I’d love to see an Aponogeton in this tank. It’s not normally your style but given your patience and it growth rate it would be a great addition. Especially if it flowers in your open top.

[@MDFishTanks]

yeah good shout. I'll get a lace ordered.

[@Shanky_TH9540]

there right, when tank water evaporates it leaves mineral content behind, topping up with tap water will gradually increase the tds and water will get harder, personally I only top off with RO on my tanks I use this method with, all other tanks I do weekly water changes on. this probably won't ever be a issue for you tho as most of your tanks dont last longer then a year before you tear them down lol

[@MDFishTanks]

But then, don't plants use minerals to grow right, And once the tank really starts going, there is lots of trimming and thus mineral removal in the tank. That sounds right in my head, but I could be completely wrong. 🤣 I shall measure TDS and parameters every episode from now on. It's not something I usually do but will do it to give everyone more info.

[@evita1643]

​@@MDFishTanksplants do indeed use minerals but not necessarily all minerals found in tapwater. Minerals plants dont use would slowly build up & on top of that some people might have very poor water quality with lots of minerals/chemicals compared to us in europe

[@dennisvanopstal7437]

​@@evita1643 and wich mineral do plants not use are in tapwater wich will be poisonous

[@evita1643]

@@dennisvanopstal7437 you can ask google that question. And even if the plants use all the types of minerals found in your tap water, that doesnt immediately mean they use ALL of those minerals. They might use 50% of the iron in the water but only 2% of the lead or whatever. The rate of use will likely not be equal to 1:1 ratios between the minerals which will still overtime lead to a builtup of some. Its not rocket science. Just like we dont use all the food we ingest to grow but leave some waste in toilets, plants dont use all minerals and mineral quantities thrown at them 😉

[@evita1643]

@@dennisvanopstal7437 some Dutch tap water contains PFAS. If its toxic to us humans i would not want it to built up in my tasks either

[@Andy_Fry]

Have you thought about adding a few botanicals for the acara fry to hide in give them a bit more of a chance at survival...loving this series with all the added updates 👍🏻 well done MD fantastic as always!!

[@matthewsmith6169]

I have a variety of cichlids in one of my tanks, loads of big plants and they love it. Plenty of hiding places, not 1 plant eaten

[@utse2474]

Very excited to see where this tank goes

[@AquaticHomeGarden]

Sometimes my remote control selects the dislike I promise I don’t dislike and quickly change to like 👍 another great tank and video 😂

[@DavidsFreshWaterTank]

I was inspired to finally get a fish tank from watching your videos and some others in the hobby and i have been posting daily updates of the progress so far. It is a low tech 10 gallon community tank that wont be cleaned or get water changes unless i have to do a 10-20% change to drop the gh levels.

[@aquaracer65]

Green neons are not from murky black waters but from relatively clear, small waters with lots of plants. Mostly grasses and Eichornia. Nice looking new tank by the way.

[@mikekb4649]

Plants change colors as a response to many different environmental factors. What you are observing is the difference between genotype and phenotype. Phenotype is the way plant genetics adapt to your specific environment. Because there are so many variable components to an ecosystem we don't know specifically why my Rotala looks different than your Rotala but we know that it will.

[@mellie4174]

All your tanks are gorgeous! But that red tank! ❤❤❤❤

[@pegleggreg3627]

Michael, the tannins will stay in the tank-or get darker, unless you change out the water. Water top offs won’t help because the water evaporates, not the tannins!

[@mellie4174]

Good point

[@JosuaKnoll]

Really can’t get enough from your content! It’s alsways very relaxed and calming. Do you know where you got your light from the self sustaining aquarium? Would be awesome to know, because I also want to buy it for myself. Love your videos!❤

[@CommonZense]

The neons being as bright as they are most likely means that moved them down the menu list of their main predators in their habitat over the last X amount of years in their evolution. OR the brighter the bigger the multiplying score ratio.

[@vmarker80]

awesome that you have tap water with 100, where I live is 330-350. Cleaning tank is messy, and not all the plants can grow. RO water system just to expensive IMO... Great series and great videos alltogether. Keep it up and we will keep enjoying :)

[@norbertthoens3561]

Weiterhin viel Erfolg mit deinem "selbst erhaltenen Aquarium"!🍀

[@ZsoltPapp79]

Man, you are really fortunate with that tap water :D Don't move very far ...

[@MeanOldLady]

My natural, planted tank houses most of my clean up crew with the exception of the cory gang. I love cleaning algae from other tanks & plopping it into the clean up tank & watching them go to town on it. ^^

[@DustinShort]

Technically they're right about the RO top off water as the only thing that evaporates is the pure water with a TDS of basically 0. But if you're working with only 100 TDS water and you've got a ton of plants that are also absorbing dissolved solids as they grow, you can probably get away with it for a long time. Might be a fun experiment to just log TDS over time to see how much it changes or doesn't change.

[@jodip719]

I love mollies. They are like the little trash cans of the aquarium world. ❤

[@Jab3rwoky]

Don’t know about anyone else , but I’d love to see another turtle tank . I’ve got a musk turtle and would love to delve into planted tanks for him but need more inspiration 😂 great work as always 👍

[@timellis9293]

I bought a 6 gallon bowl about 2 years ago and planted it following your video advice. I have a few cherry shrimp in it and it looks amazing still. So I then bought 2 10 gallon tall skinny tanks and put 4 guppies in each. 1 male and 3 female in each. Planted the tanks and now I have about 60 guppies and am looking for another large tank so I can give them more room. The guppies were just random colors from my local pet store and I ended up with these amazing fluorescent pink and yellow in one tank and my other tank I got really long fin males with a cool blue and green snake skin / leopard print on them. I want to try and pull them and see if I can get them to breed this specific color and do some trades with my local fish shop. Thank you for the fish tank addiction.!!

[@The_Crucible714]

It’s not so much a matter of the African cichlids eating the plants, it’s more the fact that plants don’t get enough light to grow at the depth in the Rift Lakes where those fish naturally occur. Fish species which didn’t evolve in heavily vegetated areas may not even view live plants as a natural food source, therefore it only makes sense that they wouldn’t eat them. It’s really a matter of personal aesthetic, if the person wants to create a 100% bio-accurate scape with just rocks & wood or use artistic license. Incorporating plants into the scape has dispelled a long-held belief for other aquarists who may wish to use them with African Rift Lake species. 👍🏻

[@miniscenesgb]

It's looking so good! I wish I could have shrimp in my main tank - I think they'd end up as synodontis food though. She's a big girl lol

[@Leahslittlepatchofparadise]

It's looking so good ❤ And I'm excited to see the neon Tetra tank once you set it up, I think they're just so underrated, they're one of my favourite fish, stunningly beautiful, cheap, and hardy what's not to love!❤

[@colonelgrizzly4548]

I love your videos man, everytime i watch an eco system video of u i just get high of dopamine and want to start an othet tank.

[@ananthusatheesh0807]

Hey MD.... really wish you'd do more variety like the previous double room fish studio...like the Asian peninsula...tigar barb tank...cherry barb tank......and LOVED the 3ft Amazon jungle with the Acaras....oh! And the African tank too❤ really wish you'd do more like them.... really miss those builds ❤

[@teenagescaper6753]

Would be cool to visit the store again, see some new fish with new scapes

[@Willem_Lab]

I could not wait for the fish to be added!

[@titanuranus2136]

If you top up with tap water for long enough and don't do any water changes, you can run into issues eventually, but your tap water is 3.5x softer than mine and your evaporation rate is way lower, therefore I don't think you will ever keep a tank set up long enough to worry about it. If I do no waterchanges in 6 months my tanks TDS is off the scale (999ppm after 20% waterchange), PH is high, plants and shrimp suffer. To keep my TDS around 400ppm, I just waterchange about 2x the amount I need to top up by.

[@MDFishTanks]

I'd say 6 months no water change is good going though. Anyone would be happy with that right? The idea of this self sustaining is meant to be minimal work. Not zero so 6 months is something most people can get behind right?

[@thefisher6273]

Really exciting to watch progress.

[@jwsincla99999]

Reconsider the RO issue. Maybe you don’t get mineral build-up because you eventually do a significant water change which will reset the mineral level. Love your videos!!!

[@Zerzayar]

Be patient! I never clean the glass on my tanks. Had some times especially in the summer when direct sunshine hit the tank and the glass started to get green from algae. But the snails just started multiplying and voila: Clear glass a few weeks later!

[@StephenIsaacson-fe2qm]

Loved this video. So much information. I don't think I'm doing enough light in mine cause my plants don't look as nice. My Cichlids didn't eat the plants per say but dug them up.

[@Christina92488]

Thank you for the help with algae. ❤

[@NoobScapeuk]

MD back with. banger! im honestly stuck bingeing your content atm 🤣

[@Jmayfield4]

Hey MD, I love watching your videos! Started with a tank again because of your vids, so thanks for that! Here is a question, I have not been able to find a good answer too: Can you have a colony of black worms in your normal tank set-up, as well like with fish and everything?

[@ianbrown9578]

Obviously bristlenose caves are not what you want to display in a tank like this. But surely an aguascaper as talented as you are could hide them at the rear? I think they would be less likely to dig this way. At least 1 cave per fish. But no guarantee as they say! Love your work! 🙂

[@thexnewyorker7284]

My 2 fav tanks is the 8 ft you have now and you had a Discus tank at your old house that was really nice . I mean I like all your tanks . You keep doing different set ups and out do yourself all the time . But those 2 tanks I love

[@bearclaw6911]

Hey MD, love your videos. Can you do a small apistogramma cacatuoides aquarium with a male and female, electric blue rams or discus setup again. Also a follow up on your salt aquarium....and any other tips on filters you like?

[@vernstewart1132]

You do an amazing job of explaining things in down to earth terms. And you make it interesting and fun! I'm learning plants and you referenced one that is growing really fast. (Stem Plant) I could not understand the name, and looked in transcript, but it was cut off there. It sounded like Willinski to me, but I could not find a match to that on the plant websites. Can you identify based on my goofy guess? Keep doing what you do (and with Mat) You are a great team!!!!

[@annalee7403]

I think MD might have been referring to Rotala wallichii. I hope that helps.

[@vernstewart1132]

@@annalee7403 Thanks! I think that's it! 👏👏👏

[@annalee7403]

@@vernstewart1132 You're welcome.

[@lobsterknight4165]

Hey! Love your vids, pls make one on aquarium snails asap! Especially best for shrimp tanks 😁

[@MrMaxMager]

Thanks from Hamburg/ Germany 👍👍

[@dawiecilliers2629]

If you do water changes the mineral build up isn’t an issue. But if you never change it, only water evaporates and you keep adding more water with more minerals that never get removed or swapped out. I thinks that’s the principal for that point of view.

[@Shanky_TH9540]

exactly, MD is fantastic with his scapes, but is very quick to shrug off certain things just cos 'its worked for him with no issues"

[@MDFishTanks]

as said in reply to others. I can only talk from my own experience right. I always assumed mineral exportation came from plant trimming. as my TDS on no water change tanks from over a year were only at 200 - 300 and nitrates almost too low.

[@wirtification]

MD, what about the mud skippers you were going to try wayyyy back? I think it was pre-covid and you were thinking on newt tank and a mudskipper tank and supplies were scarce. I think you'd pull off one heck of a mud skipper tank as it's both terrestrial and aquatic plants? Idk what your interest in that would be, lol. I also was thinking about bulb plants, I think the lotus and lillies look amazing in tanks, as a touch here and there, what would a "pond" tank look like, lotus and lilly forward, of course with other plants that go shallow to deeper water, Iike a pond you see in nature? There's a few by me that have cove like spots covered with lilly pads and I'm waiting for the blossoms to bloom, but it's definitely visually different with the cove and then open water as it gets deeper. Maybe one of the long, shallower tanks? Idk, I just had a thought. 😂 there are also SO MANY TURTLE'S in one of the farm ponds, it's so wonderful to see they're thriving and see them out sunning on the rocks as you drive by. Timmy's American cousins, lol. They are definitely not large turtle's and in the Spring i keep gloves so we can pick up any turtle's in the road and put them in the direction they're going so they don't get hit, we even have turtle crossing signs and people reminding everyone that its breeding time and to be careful not to hit them. Wow, a long comment, I know, but I had a few different thoughts 😂😂😂

[@maxredd6207]

Love the way this is going and that you threw some live bearers in there! Have you thought about maybe just making it a live bearer tank? You could do some really cool rare platys or something. I just started a little colony of Rio Coacuilco platys (xiphophorus variatus) and I'm loving them!

[@seymour47]

Using RO water for auto topoffs is NECESSARY for salt water. It's still better in freshwater from a chemical perspective, but you have WAY more wiggle room. So, if the mineral load in your tapwater is relatively low, it's probably ok not to use RO. Especially in a tank this large where your volume:surface area ratio is so high. Also, cover your auto topoff container. Obviously evaporation is going to be minimal inside the cabinet, but there's no reason to leave it open when it's so easy to just put a loose lid over it.

[@lloyd011721]

a ful red tank with green neons would be really cool though

[@marston8006]

You should make a shrimp tank with a model car display case

[@drea4195]

To be fair, your tanks seem to get reset often, so that none of them are more than 2 years old -- possibly a lot younger? So, you won't have a chance to experience the effects of "old tank syndrome:" which you would get from repeatedly topping off with tap water instead of RO. Perhaps you might have a tank that you'll wish to keep much longer some day, in that case, you should consider RO water as your top off water. Just some food for thought. Lovely tank!

[@MDFishTanks]

@@drea4195 most is 14 months. Was running fine but get your point. But if I was to have a tank running that long, I'd just do some big water changes. I'd no way want to keep the same design for that long though.

[@pulungmedia]

Metode atau tutorial yang sangat bermanfaat, dengan menonton video ini saya jadi tahu, setelah air didalam aquarium menguap ternyata meninggalkan mineralnya, dan penambahan air dari keran secara bertahap tds dan airnya menjadi keras

[@Kipsyz]

Awesome content, quick question MD - why do you sometimes start with a substrate before placing rocks/wood and sometimes do the substrate after?

[@Drako100portista]

Greetings from Portugal! 🐟🐠🐡

[@Rose_A]

Rain water is the same as distilled or RO/DI... Sure, in the short term tap is fine. If you're looking into a 50-year and up self-sustaining tank then you should look into distilled or RO. Mainly tds of 100 is just fine for about 10 years, maybe longer if you have duskweed you pull out of the water. The pros of tap is you won't need fertilizers!

[@davejourney3229]

I would like to see your approach to dealing with something other than what someone called your "magic water". I am learning a great deal by watching you and this I do appreciate.

[@MDFishTanks]

A lot of people say magic water as I think a way of dismissing concepts or methods. Most of the UK has similar water to me, It's only as you go more to the south east of the country it can get chalky. I've even been to shops and built tanks in water with high ph and liquid chalk and the tanks are doing amazing. So not to sure about the whole magic water thing based on what I've seen...and that's all I can base it on right?

[@davejourney3229]

@@MDFishTanks Yeah you're right. I've just have had so much frustration when attempting planted tanks. When the plants start dying or the algae starts taking over I lose confidence in what I am doing. I assume my tap water is loaded with phosphates or has something else that sabotages me.

[@MDFishTanks]

@@davejourney3229 I mean, it is possible, You can test for that and have a remover in your filter.

[@susanvasquez3625]

You probably change your tanks too often to worry about mineral buildup. You only see issues with that in long term tanks with no regular water changes. With very low base amounts, and lots of plants, it would take a few complete tank evaporations - with no water changes - to see signs of excess mineral buildup.

[@Ryuga_dx]

Hi MD I’m gonna hopefully start a freshwater again because of you. I’ve got two salt waters

[@Bryan-ky9ep]

How do you keep your Java Ferns bright green and no holes in the leaves? all my plants are great except them

[@IgorEngelen1974]

Amano shrimp are my new favourite.

[@gabormeszaros7896]

Hello MD can you make a tank with pygmy corydoras I think it woud be really cool?

[@Rosewood22]

Can you do a tank setup for Gertrude rainbows or guppies? I'm looking for some ideas, I have Japanese blue albino guppies

[@user-le1co6ue6n]

Always looking forward to these updates 😁

[@JamesCooke-jg8qk]

Please can u do a Scape on the superfish scaper 90 please with a centre peice of spiderwood please , love your videos 👍

[@kbye5323]

Looking really good!

[@MyloSurber]

Md putting the water test tubes on the rims of his tanks gives me so much anxiety 😂 what would happen if they fell in?????

[@thephalaenopsisqueen6960]

MD please help me! 😫 I started watching your content last year and you inspired me to get back into fish keeping. I really enjoy your channel! I started a new planted tank in February. I have been battling an algae. Its getting into my carpet and crypts, all in my dwarf water lettuce and I've been trying to determine what it is. I was thinking its hair algae but when I research its not looking like the hair algae others are talking about. I've been trying to manually remove it without success. I saw it in your Green Neon tank in this video! That stuff! What is it and how do I defeat it?! Please, please help! Its taking over and I cant stop it.

[@MDFishTanks]

I do manual removal like you as much as possible and then add API co2 booster. It has glutaraldehyde which kills the algae.

[@thephalaenopsisqueen6960]

@@MDFishTanks Thank you! I will try this!

[@sweetmia171]

How do you keep your plant leafs so clean?? Mine are always so dirty!

[@flameangel202]

Hi MD, I love watching your vids. I have a tank currently cycling, it is the longest yet, ammonia is still high and it's been going for just over seven weeks. My other tanks cycled 3-5 weeks.This tank has aqua soil, sand capped with lucky bamboo and other plants, normally I don't do a water change while doing a fishless cycle as I was always under the impression to let the cycle and growth of beneficial bacteria run it's course. However, I notice you do water changes, this tank is getting frustrating, can you please offer some advise ?

[@picknickdecke5054]

How do you keep your amanos from crawling out of your aquarium with the plants hanging out on the top? I've got the same plants and im worried they might crawl out easily. Great video btw!

[@lloyd011721]

im still gonna say you should hatch baby brine shrimp for all the tanks that have baby fish that you care about raising up.

[@ZeusKingH]

hi , How many hours of light does the aquarium need?

[@BjornPNW]

What is the product you use mentioned at 11:03 “If things get really rough”? I can’t understand it no matter how many times I rewind…

[@Pickled473]

He's talking about liquid carbon, It's good for spot treating algae but you are better off finding the root cause of your algae and adjusting accordingly. Liquid carbon is more of a band aid and can be poisonous to livestock if used incorrectly.

[@Jack-o7o9f]

Md can we have an update on the saltwater tank please ?

[@georgebutterworth5018]

Probs won’t be a problem in there but monstera follow the sun like a sunflower so if you pin the leaves somewhere they’ll freak out and may die ✌️

[@Azk.Studio]

We can"t say " no water changes" in any aquarium because water evaporates every sec and we have topup water on regular basis

[@eldridgehenry2]

LOOKING GOOD

[@bigbull4014]

😍100 tds straight from the pipe, is a fu**ing dream! I have 500+ tds! 😥

[@lkawaiteacher]

MD has magic water

[@MerryMary79]

You mentioned the Amano shrimp carrying eggs, and I noticed baby amanos in my community tank the other day. They’re not surviving, but I’m very curious about breeding them. Any chance you’d be willing to do an experiment with breeding them?

[@haukehinrichsen410]

Will you fertelize the Aquarium?

[@noofearr99]

Why don’t you use nerite snails as a clean up crew.. they do a very good job in cleaning the tank.

[@JosephStealin]

The are Neon for Health and Safety reasons

[@adamlomas1372]

Whats the algea chemical you use if things go bad?

[@madaboutmilitaria3630]

Good morning fishie freaks

[@jenn_witch]

Good morning!

[@MDFishTanks]

morning 👋👋

[@schmidtsville]

Green neon tetras (Paracheirodon simulans) live in morichales (warm water palm swamps) which are dominated by moriche palms and filled with light coloured sand, terrestrial grasses and leaf litter. Pencilfish (Nannostomus unifasciatus) would be a great addition but they are little rocket ships and would require a lid or lower water levels and loads of floaters. Dwarf cichlids are also found there notably Mikrogeophagus ramirezi (blue rams) and Apistogramma hoignei. These are the smaller fish that could work well with the neons but there are loads of other fish. I keep Dicrossus filamentosus (checkerboard cichlids) with my green neons as they both prefer the warmer waters and checkers are the best of all dwarf cichlids! I learnt most of this by listening to The Tint podcast and reading their blog (loads of photos) and by reading Ivan Mikolji’s wonderful book on the Rio Orinoco! Tai will also have many directions to point you towards!

[@bobbysauer7826]

really should be a lid on the top off would help for evaporation witch is the whole point right? and it relly should be r/o and since your not pulling water out in this tank it will be different then your past experience, minerals will only go up if you keep topping off because only the water evaporates and leaves the minerals behind thats just a fact

[@MDFishTanks]

I don't pull water out of any of my tanks my friend unless there is a specific reason to.

[@bobbysauer7826]

@@MDFishTanks yes thats what i said...

[@andrewjaipeshad3377]

Do a ram tank

[@neurotoksyn]

I've done battle with duckweed before; I'd recommend any other floating plant instead. Trust me, it's nice to have floating plants but duckweed isn't one of them. Get dwarf water lettuce, salvinia, frogbit, or literally anything else instead.

[@pauloxspring425]

Are you limited to what kind of fish you could use in a set up like this?

[@fishtake2330]

@MDFishTanks Super random question but did you make that tool you (re)fill your aquariums with yourself or is that a product that exists on the market? I've seen Python hooks etcetera but nothing looks as industrial grade as yours :) Thanks

[@MDFishTanks]

yeah made it myself from an old filter inlet

[@fishtake2330]

@@MDFishTanks Awesome thank you, i have a 25 ft water changing hose and it's too short to stay in the aquarium might have to create something similar.

[@aquafish8818]

How you get co2 in your tank sir i see lot of your tank not have c02

[@jaronjaronvandenheuvel1007]

Im doing a build like this at the moment. im 4 days in now, but i did put my external filter with bacteria back in because i needed my fish to go back in. Dont worry i test every day. But im noticing my phosphate is going up slowly. Is that because of the plants that need to grow so that they need more phosphate? Or could a leak of substrate be the issue? Or is it just a normal thing with new tanks?

[@natgordon442]

I started a tank same time. I am however doing water changes. But have been hit today by what I think if a cyano bacteria bloom. Not sure how to get rid of it yet

[@christophes9999]

Tu es trop beau.❤❤❤❤

[@precise3291]

No fertilizers? CO2?

[@raymondfernholz367]

How would you control the fish population long term? Id figure the tanks can only support a certain amount of fish, and youre looking for frys from some of the fish.

[@nickkowal6537]

Would love to see you try and breed amanos

[@GenuineUntelligence]

I think they only breed in brackish water?

[@johnnydubbsaquascaping]

@@GenuineUntelligence correct, brackish water with a certain salt percentage for amano breeding. I think thats why no one breeds them as you would need a very specific set up 😀

[@lennaadam3176]

So how isnt your glass getting full with algae?

[@MDFishTanks]

got the lighting levels correct and the plants growing fast. This means minimal available nutrients for algae to grow as they need food. The plants get them first. Any left is used by the algae and then the critters graze on it.