How to Balance a Planted Tank | Step-by-Step Guide

I finally balanced my tank! Learn about the detailed steps I took to grow plants & defeat algae.
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🛒 MATERIALS I USED
▶ Fluval 3.0 Plant Spectrum LED: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Eco-Complete substrate: amzn.to/2XMP4Kp
▶ Easy Green liquid fertilizer: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Easy Root Tabs: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Flourish Advance: amzn.to/39YzOQd
▶ Flourish Potassium: amzn.to/3sJMu6a
▶ Flourish Phophorus: amzn.to/2YaviZm
▶ Seachem Equilibrium minerals: amzn.to/3qPfnfl
▶ API Freshwater Master Test Kit: amzn.to/3c5WDEg
▶ API GH/KH test kit: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ API Phosphate test kit: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Salifert Freshwater Potassium test kit: www.fishtanksdirect.com/salif...
▶ Fluval Freshwater Calcium test kit: amzn.to/2NpRNHH
▶ Nutrafin Iron test kit: amzn.to/3c5X69u
(As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from the links above. Also, I work for Aquarium Co-Op but do not receive commissions from their links.)
📚 RESOURCES
▶ Bentley Pascoe’s Fluval 3.0 lighting schedules: • The Best Aquarium Ligh...
▶ Decreased lighting to combat green hair algae: www.plantedtank.net/forums/23...
▶ Aquarium Co-Op forum: forum.aquariumcoop.com/
▶ Balanced Plant Nutrition (with barrel diagram): www.fertilizerseurope.com/fer...
▶ Plant nutrient deficiency chart: www.aquariumcoop.com/pages/pl...
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ATTRIBUTION
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#girltalksfish #nanofish #plantedaquarium
0:00 How to balance a planted aquarium
1:19 Tip: wait 2 weeks between each change
1:44 Balance between light, nutrients, and CO2
2:28 Lever #1: Carbon Dioxide
2:46 Lever #2: Lighting
4:04 Wrong lighting schedule
5:27 Tip: set your light at low levels at first
5:58 Lever #3: Nutrients
7:14 Signs of plant nutrient deficiencies
8:38 Use water test kits for troubleshooting
10:38 Is my tank finally balanced?

[@GirlTalksFish]

*Curious about the plants and fish in this aquarium? Check out my 2020 tour video: **kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXuvZWdnet-moZI*

[@Lazy_Fish_Keeper]

Are you no longer in CO? Water in CO & NM is so **hard** and has soooo much calcium and other minerals, I **have** to keep hornwort so the rest of the plants do well. :/

[@GirlTalksFish]

@@Lazy_Fish_Keeper I'm still in CO, but they treat our water with a process that raises the pH and softens the water. So I have to add back in minerals for my animals and plants.

[@Lazy_Fish_Keeper]

@@GirlTalksFish Colorado Springs water leaves massive residue in the tub... but now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing calcium deposits on the spigots like we have in NM🤔 The water here is so hard, 4 gallons is wasted for every gallon of RO. So RO really is not cost effective.

[@cadysaquariums7672]

I love how you show the problems with your tanks like algae, etc. So many youtubers hide all the frustrating stuff and make it look so easy

[@GirlTalksFish]

Thank you! I was listening to a podcast where an aquascaper was being interviewed and said that many of his fellow aquascapers will scrap an entire scape if algae starts growing out of control and just restart the aquarium setup. So we never get to see many of the behind-the-scenes disasters. 😛

[@neilpanega2947]

Totally agreed!

[@BKWhite07]

factuals lol

[@StephenGrinwis]

@@GirlTalksFish Thanks for this video. I didn't realize I could / should massively turn down my lighting. Sent me off in a whole new area to investigate.

[@brosenthal9]

I agree OP. She Helps remind me take a breath and know that I have to take my time and make one change at a time :)

[@JohnDonasco]

a moment of silence for the amount of problem solving time we all have to go through for our beloved planted tanks

[@olivy217]

Amen

[@johnnygee4206]

Just recently discovered the struggle that is cyanobacteria. It was a long, drawn out struggle rife with colorful language, moments of staring at my aquarium wondering if crying would help, and sleepless moments contemplating finding a less complicated hobby such as freelance biochemical engineering or dinosaur cloning. Glad I stuck with it, though. Not sure anyone would appreciate me walking a Velociraptor around the local dog park.

[@courtneykeeps]

Hey Johnny, glad to hear you stuck with it! What ended up working for you? I had a bout of cyanobacteria, defeated it and now it's slowly peaking back.

[@johnnygee4206]

@@courtneykeeps Howdy Courtney. I started by manually scraping and scrubbing as much as I could, did a big water change to siphon out as much as possible , and then started treating my tank with "API Erythromycin". I also cut back on my lighting, cut down on feedings, did extra water changes, and got in the habit of bleach treating my cleaning equipment between uses. It took me months to get it under control and it did try to creep back on me a few times during that time. Not sure if everything I did was necessary, but I haven't had problems with it for around six months now. Hope this helps!

[@courtneykeeps]

@@johnnygee4206 Amazing! Thanks for the help. I'll try some of these things

[@johnnygee4206]

@@courtneykeeps 🙂👍🤞

[@dontreply8346]

I’ve found good flow helps a lot, as it helps with the tank overall.

[@samuelorellana2603]

Extremely helpful in breaking down a concept that many others just leave at "find a balance". Thank you

[@mickeyj9771]

100% agree!!!! :)

[@red_nullhugo4045]

Do I have to put concentrated macro/micronutrients only once or do i have to have a schedule?

[@carterheath2338]

@@red_nullhugo4045 in a low light setup I’d say to do the recommended dosing for your tank size once a week and for medium to high light do something like one full dose a week with a half a dose in the middle or two full doses during the week. If you aren’t using in all in one you could probally dose a full dies of macros then dose half of the micros depending on your plant density.

[@drunkoctopus6769]

I really admire that instead of caving in when you weren't perfect and insulted, you just kept learning.

[@joewwilliams]

Thank you for actually trying to tackle this instead of just parroting "BALANCE!" like 90% of the rest of the internet!

[@SalmanKhan-vy9bm]

Wow. This is LITERALLY my exact situation. Have a fluval 3.0, been running Bentley's light schedule, do not run CO2 and hair algae is everywhere. This was VERY helpful. Thank you so much!

[@noelbrucker135]

This video sums ALL the reasons why you are one of my very favorite channels, Irene! Wow, I needed this video. Been trying to balance my 100g for a year, and would never have thought about the potassium and my Colorado soft water as possible culprits (& how all-in-ones may not be complete for soft water). Already watched twice and saving to watch later again - all the chart links and kit links are so helpful! You’re the best!

[@prabhdeol8098]

I haven’t seen a fish-tuber have as many problems than you (mean that in a good way) thanks for all the advice.

[@fishfolk4059]

Thanks Irene! Good students make good teachers. Thanks for taking time to slowly learn, and teach so well. Appreciate what you do!

[@N16D]

I kinda like green algae when it grows on the back, it makes a realistic green background that makes the tank look nice imo, kinda with saltwater how the light makes the tank look blue, but in fresh the green algae makes the tank look green.

[@bvhimanshu]

A little bit algae is even good for tanks though

[@ScooterFXRS]

"Noob" .... like that fixed anything, ever. As far as I'm concerned that means, "I have no clue but I don't have that problem so I don't care."

[@superbob2]

I totally relate to this video 100% "balance your tank" answer doesn't help!

[@enchiladabonito6629]

Agreed. It’s like telling someone how to walk a tightrope by saying, “Don’t fall” 🤣

[@neilpanega2947]

I know I'm a year late, and everyone already mentioned it, but what an amazing video and instructions. This literally made me feel happy about maintaining my fish tank, and tackling problems that undoubtfully will arise. Thank you for being different :)

[@SassyHippo]

This video is one of the most helpful I’ve seen on plants. I’m wanting to create a beautifully planted large tank and I’m sick of killing plants and fighting algae.

[@jimmyjames2022]

Very thorough for short vid, one of the best I've seen on tank balancing. Irene's frankness is always to the point and very useful, and editing is spot on.

[@NellysNerdyAdventures]

I’ve been struggling with figuring out this balance for years! This is the first video I’ve found that is relatable and practically understandable. Thank you so much!!

[@25TheCaveMan]

This might have been the most relatable and helpful video I've ever watched! Thank you!!

[@cyclinguy]

I have to say that this is one of the best plant videos I have ever watched! Thanks!

[@LeilaSoleil]

Thank you so much, Irene. I am such a newbie. Set up my first planted tank in December. Its such a steep learning curve, lol. But you help me more than anyone. I really appreciate it. Also, you (and Ryo Watanabe) have inspired me to get a betta. He's gorgeous, and I hope I do well by him.

[@MattKeepsFish]

I guess this is why my low-light, no co2, no ferts tank works: because everything is balanced at the lowest level (with slow growth albeit)

[@MattKeepsFish]

@@abdab3226 oh, gosh. Rotala, anubias, hornwort, crystalwort, java fern, amazon sword, crypt, etc.

[@Gunrunn3rTV]

That's an important point! I honestly wouldn't put any liquid fertilizer in a low tech tank. Maybe she does her research at the pet store? Trying to balance out a high nutrient environment without CO2 is unnecessarily hard.

[@tigersunruss]

I'm there with ya. Tried a 10 gallon with the same set up and it went really well so set up a 29 gallon and that's gone bad because I think of the lighting. Set up a 75 gallon fully planted with C02 and I've been fighting brown hair algae for a month now. Hoping this video sets me off in the right direction (I know it will).

[@tigersunruss]

@@abdab3226 I don't know what Matt has but my low tech tank 10 gallon has, Cryptocoryne green, Crypto brown, Crypto Flamingo, Java fern and anubias petite. I do add some all in one ferts after every water change and then one 1ml every other day, this has helped the cryptos and ferns to grow better. I can tell you the java moss and the hair grass didn't well in this tank with my aqueon LED light.

[@MattKeepsFish]

@@tigersunruss Just sold my 36” aqueon led for a high-power Nicrew. I’m... expecting algae growth in my near future. Anyone else having trouble growing Java Fern? My plants have stayed the same size for 6 months...

[@skaerber1767]

Finally, an in depth video on this. I have set up several algae farms in past, due to not knowing how to balance my nutrients/light/CO2. Thank you for this!

[@SA-hk8xj]

Enjoyed the video explanation. Wish I had YT instructions back in the day. Lots of trial and error over the years until Internet forums and videos started helping me. Glad the hobby is still going strong and influencing others. Thank you from a fellow planted tanker 👍😎

[@dontreply8346]

You’re very good at explaining things properly! Especially the processes. I’ve had that same top fin 5 gallon tank for about six years now and it’s still running great. A separate plug for the light is the only gripe, cause it can’t be put on a timer. Still a great tank nonetheless!

[@Nighthawk5015]

This makes it so much easier to understand. I was very disappointed in my tanks last year where everything went wrong. I definitely want to try again after this vid.

[@WhoTheHellIsHarvy]

Amazingly helpful video as always Irene. You and Cory always seem to be able to break things down so well! Glad you've got that tank under control now, it's looking great!

[@TheParallelSound]

I don't comment often on YT videos but wanted to say this video is EXTREMELY well done. Great examples and reasoning and we have good editing I never felt lost leading to one step to the next. You do a great job explaining why everyone tanks will be different on algae issues many need to understand not everyone can yield same results with the same formula we need to sometimes tweak things to what helps us why I love this hobby its trial and error.

[@alexchampion9571]

Please ignore all the hate you get, your doing a really amazing job 😁. Your videos are really helpful for me to learn more about my fish and plants and what I love most about your videos is that you ain’t scared to share your mistakes (as everyone makes mistakes but some won’t admit it lol) and from mistakes we learn from them to approve next time

[@Cavalier_Steve]

This was a very well explained video that I know will help me and my tank, I’ve been trying to get the light balance, fertiliser balance for awhile now, so all of this is food for thought. I will watch this again soon so I can refresh and reference back to it. Thank you! Steve.

[@JoshLeo]

Your videos are hands down the best fish keeping videos out there. I was JUST thinking this week about the question of how to balance a tank. Everyone says “balance the tank” but has never explained it. THANK YOU!

[@matthewbivens5395]

Awesome video! As always. I really appreciate how thorough you are. Thanks for all the great content!

[@walterperrell4898]

I appreciate your video! I lucked out and just threw a bunch of plants and seeds in an aquarium with the fluval light and never had an issuefor over a year. I did a major plant cut back and all of these problems started. Now I'm doing water changes, ordering test kits, and water additives! Thanks.

[@robertplumer]

I’ve found it’s much easier to balance a larger tank than for a small one. Perhaps because changes are spread out over a larger volume.

[@EPhish]

This video helped me out so much when I first started the hobby, a little over a year ago! Had to come back and like and subscribe! Took me some trial and error to get a feel for the balance with my plants (and melt...oh all the melting). It would've taken a lot longer without informative videos like this! Thank you and keep up the great work!

[@Evil_Genius_888]

An excellent video! I went through similar issues as you did for similar reasons. It’s a constant process that takes a bit of dedication until the tank hits that sweet spot.

[@sceek561]

Your approach non setting the lowest light level then adjusting nutrients . While changing one thing at a time is brilliant and so well thought out. Ty!!!!!!❤

[@Fishtory]

Whoa, what a great video for introducing folks to planted tanks! ill definitely be sharing this with my viewers. thank you!

[@UpperAquatics]

For the algorithm!!! Powerhouse video. I really enjoy this style , keep up the good work!

[@dougdombeck3776]

Wow! I had the same issues with the Fluval 3.0 and low tech non co2 injection. I used Bentley’s method for the light too. I raised the light for better spread of light and dialed it down to 50% during peak times. Thanks for the great video!

[@robyn5696]

I've kept a planted tank for a little over a year now. If I had this much trouble I would have quit! I've only encountered a bit of hair algae and it made me want to pull my hair out! I'm impressed by your perseverance and willingness to spend so much time and money (on test kits) to sort out your imbalance. Great, informative, beautiful video!

[@janhabidey6098]

Omg thank you so much for making this video it took me almost one year to learn why my planted tank has tons of algae and melting plants but now slowly plants started to grow now but I still have leaves with brown patches now I know why I have them.

[@wordpainting3]

Great job on this vid. I am still in the thinking about doing it phase. Nervous about getting in over my head. I appreciate information that keeps it simple for the rest of us.

[@fionamacelli4521]

Wow. It's way more complicated than I'd thought! I guess that's why I only seem to be able to grow anubia, java moss, and of course - algae of all varieties!! I'm not sure I have your dedication and patience for it but your tank does look AMAZING now - what a difference.

[@blackosprey2219]

This was a great video. I've been doing planted tanks for years and balancing things has mostly been a "trial and error + survival of the fittest" thing for me. While that method works great and I don't have to do hardly anything to maintain those tanks, I have little control over how they end up looking, and aquascaping isn't really an option. I think this info will help me with future builds when I want to try something a little more difficult than "toss plants in water and see what survives."

[@davidcruz3400]

SUCH A GOOD SOLID VIDEO I LITERALLY WENT "OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH" and now I'm ready for anything

[@kn1752]

Most of the time I don’t need to watch your videos but they’re still so fun to watch. I feel like you’re talking to us as a friend at Starbucks ranting about your aquarium, instead of being very stern and never seem like you’re having fun or enjoying yourself.

[@katiestaines1]

This has been an amazing video, thank you so much for such a comprehensive breakdown! At least I now know where to start on fixing my aquarium.

[@terrywho22]

Wonderful video. Yes, I had similar problems and ended up lowering the light and increasing K and Fe for my low tech tank. Well done!

[@dodododoliciu1253]

Omg! This video is so inspiring. I had the same problems and had no idea where to begin. Thank you🤗

[@thedoubtfulguest2188]

Such a helpful video, going to have to watch it a few times since my plants definitely need some help! I spend so much time researching plant, fish and general aquarium care that I wonder what I’ll do with myself once I’ve got it all figured out. Can’t imagine that happening anytime soon though 😁

[@taymus13]

I watched this before starting my aquarium, but now Ive had mine running for about 3 weeks now with a variety of plants. this week I noticed my Anubis, has got 1 decent dark spot that has now become a hole and my Anubis coin is starting to get some translucent leaves. I'm so glad I came back to your video. At the moment I only have a few snails so It makes sense my nitrogen is low, but I didn't realize how much of an effect it had on the plants. I also had no idea I needed/ didn't have enough potassium. Hopefully adding some in can help get them happy again but I get fish added in. Thanks a lot from including everything in the description!

[@AlpacaMade]

Thank you, Irene, for going the extra mile and a half to cover the triad of plant needs. I discovered the same issues with fast vs. slow growing, who was gobbling up nutrients and why. Maybe the plant keepers can encourage vendors to add nutrients to their tank parameter care guides. Yep, it's extra work for them, but the payoff is more sales from us.

[@yetanotheraquarist2899]

That chart of targets for parameters is awesome! I've been trying to find something like that for quite some time.

[@steviekehoe]

Defiantly the best video about balancing a tank! Thank you! I'd love to see a video on your maintenance for this tank too, like when you do tests and what tests etc.

[@GirlTalksFish]

Thank you! I'll have to do an updated video on how I clean this tank. In the meanwhile, here's a video on how I clean my planted betta tank, which is similar: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWS5h5KZa552r7M

[@steviekehoe]

@@GirlTalksFish Amazing! You're definitely most informative fish youtuber going at the moment!

[@StaceyHerewegrowagain]

This was extremely helpful! Thank you so much for sharing. It's always such a pleasure learning from you 🍃🐟🌿 Have a beautiful day!

[@ddjjj33]

Thank you for this video. I too was growing an algae farm. I tried everything from testing the water to full on peroxide dips and nothing worked. I finally just lowered my lights about 90-95% and just left it alone for a couple of weeks. The tank was dimly lit and was afraid my plants might die. To my surprise, all the algae just started shedding and my plants were growing like crazy. My driftwood and rocks also lost all of their algae too. Lately, I've been testing a high light period of about 1 and a half hours to help my reds with the rest of the day being relatively low at around 15-25%. Water changes are 20 percent every week and 40-50% every two weeks. Again, thank you for these videos!

[@sitechca70]

Great video, thanks for sharing what you learned. For years, I've been big on the idea of minimal water changes (cheap and lazy are my hallmarks for fishkeeping) in a planted tank following the Walstad method. In the end, I gave up. Things that worked well for me: Soil substrate, capped with black sand and gravel (didn't bother with the wash/dry mineralizing process) No water tests, lazy, but I know what my tap water is like. Twice a week water changes for first 2-3months, then weekly 50% water changes. Occasional DIY equilibrium (bought 1lb of eachMgSO4 + CaCl2 + CaSO4, lasts years) for GH coz of my soft water. Whatever LED light, no dimmer, 12 hours No EI/PMDD ferts, just occasional Flourish. Excel daily for algae control (coz my light hours are long, I like to see my tank). Canister filter (somehow algae likes to grow when I tried sponge filters). Livestock are fancy guppies, RCS, a few Otos. Plants that do well in my low tech setup are Crypts, Java Fern, Anubias. The key for algae control (for me) really isn't "when plants grow well, they outcompete algae" crap (sounds great when you're writing a book) but water changes and maintenance (learned that from Green Aqua YT channel).

[@mikeykany1973]

As always brilliant video! I spent 9 months battling BBA, but now it’s gone from my 200 litre planted tank. I religiously do 50% water change at least once a week, have shorter but brighter 6 hours of lighting, I found even with dim lighting that’s on for 8-10 hours the tank became an algae farm. Make you tank maintenance as easy as possible (for example get some hose and a pump for water changes) so it’s more enjoyable rather than just a chore, then you will more likely keep it up and not skip a week.

[@vampirateabhorsen]

this might actually be the best planted tank video I've ever seen

[@nian60]

Aww, those cute kids' drawings at the end. :) Adorable. Thanks for the informative video.

[@Xsksnssjccxghb]

So glad I came across your videos just before I set up my tanks for two new bettas! The problem I’m having is leaves dissolving, no planting substrate only epiphytes

[@savannamm]

Plants tend to melt back a bit at first as they learn to grow under water, as they're typically grown above water before you buy them

[@Xsksnssjccxghb]

@@savannamm Yes. I heard Anubias can take months to acclimate.

[@GeorgeLeite]

Thanks "Eye"rene. 😁 I can't keep floating plants growing in my tank. But my other plants are finally growing well.

[@beaka63]

This is brilliant. Thank you for sharing your experiences and experiments!

[@tiffanyclark-grove1989]

you are the best. I am setting up my first ever 40G tank. Thanks to you, I feel more confident 😊

[@rachelkling6008]

Thank you so much for the video. It's been very helpful for my plants in my tank. Never did live plants before. And I was having all of the same problems. The leaf chart is awesome. I have been able to narrow down what is going on to have a thriving live plant tank. Thank you so much.😊

[@MegaDieseldriver]

Wow what a journey and test of patience, thanks for sharing!

[@alastairnoah]

Thank you for your informative videos. Really love plants in tanks and glad you shared the struggles with looking after them! :) it's such an ART/SCIENCE!

[@elliot5456]

Thanks for this video, so useful! Made me realise the futility in my constant changing of light levels to tackle algae!

[@karenbailey1475]

Thank you for explaining how to balance your tank, as a newbie this was the info I needed.

[@Favodouou]

Yep! All my algae problems were solved over time with light adjustments! Those fluval 3.0's are magic 😇💙

[@aimena1931]

You are making my day! I so needed this video because my plants are dying and I'm having trouble getting my algae in check.

[@johnwood738]

Nice video, was a newbie at one time to planted tanks. I am a firm believer in every tank is different,some plants won’t grow in any of my tanks. Others flower and grow incredibly well. People need to try different plants and see what works.

[@Shiva1725]

Thanks so much! I learned more from this video than I did from weeks of shifting through forums and articles.

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

Very helpful…used to have aquariums, became quite and gave everything away. Now ready fir a small bedside tank…thank you fir this!

[@davidblake5603]

Hugely helpful and well produced video. I am still struggling with black beard algae in my 75 gallon Rio Negro biome planted tank aquarium with CO2 injection while my Amazon swords and red cabomba weren't doing well. You have convinced me to reduce my lighting and increase my fish feeding to get the nitrates up. I was very proud of having 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I will now be happy to see 20 nitrate.

[@ins3rti0n]

awesome video, thanks so much for taking the time to do this!

[@jackjmaheriii]

I had the same green hair algae problem with the same light! My solution was trim the algae as much as I could, then 40% light, 12 hrs a day, in a 24” deep tank. Heavily planted, lightly stocked.

[@wesmccullough8176]

This was a really good video. It answered all my questions but more importantly it has shed some light on the trouble shooting process should i run into trouble in the future with my tank. Well done.

[@speederx7]

super helpful video! I have struggled with all the above (and continue to). Great advice!

[@swartwoodart2558]

Somewhere between Walstad's "Don't mess with it and see what survives" and the High Tech " keep messing with everything always", dwells the girl who talks fish.

[@youngmango4508]

I tried doing nothing and a had sick fish and a fish that died and I never will take that route again. My own fault for going against my gut

[@samsadowitz1724]

I like the idea of Walstad's approach, but I find that you run into the problem of limiting the stock you can carry in your tank. I want to achieve the goal of not having to do too much to my tank, but I had to go to higher tech for the betterment of my fish, who are always my priority. I'll still do detective work should things go wrong with my plants that is not stock related.

[@br9760]

Why you shouldn't add ANY pet to an unestablished enclosure. Ignoring algae, which is largely aesthetic.

[@ritapita519]

I love this! I’m also a beginner with planted tanks and I never knew how to go about “balancing” my tank. So I have the opposite obstacles as you, basic FluvalSmart aqua sky light, very hard water with very high phosphate! Still I’m constantly growing the same algae you are! 🤔😣

[@mikegalizia3368]

New subscriber with a bunch of tanks who has had mixed results with my planted aquariums. Looking forward to getting acquainted this this info. thanks for posting them.

[@richardlalonde3272]

Great video and thank you for not "hiding" the issues you encountered, I have been farming algae for a qhile ...Regarding not being able to find a magnesium test kit, if you know your GH and Calcium amounts, you can always use the magnesium/Calcium/GH relationship to estimate your magnesium. Keep the videos coming!

[@EveHowardCeramics]

oh my goodness this is so incredibly helpful, thank you!

[@thomasb4467]

Great video! I currently live in Germany and my plants do pretty good with just dosing the easy green once a week.

[@kevinw1980]

Another great video! Love it!! Just wanted to add that to fight algae, let the plants do the work for you. All you need to do is to add lots of fast growing plants.

[@phyternl]

Super useful video! My challenge has always been moving too fast. Expecting too much too soon and getting impatient with the process. Learning to slow down is critical and this is true even if you are running CO2 with high light and fast growth.

[@NataliaPrasetionekoneko]

Thank YOU!! You are helping me greatly for my first tank!

[@Red_Rebel]

That light is too expensive for me for now so I’m starting a led light with timer in it. Love your vids I’ve learned so much!

[@zebastianengelska6831]

Again a very interesting and informational video😊Love these kinds of videos

[@Bisen222]

really helpful and inspiring to see the comeback from really struggling to finding a balance.

[@andrewprins2207]

Great video, thanks for sharing. I have a simple set-up like yours and was able to solve some balance problems by putting lights on a 4 hour "rest" period during the day. eg 4 hours on, 4 hours off 4 hours on. The plants will produce carbon dioxide in the off period. I had less algae, and plant nutrient deficiencies issues resolved.

[@anamariapittman661]

you have no idea how much i love you for this video 😭

[@tcr7]

This video was amazing. You took a concept that us beginners don't know well enough and broke it down expertly. My one criticism was going to be, "You used test kits but never said what they were!" but then I looked at the description and saw that you linked to them. Fantastic. Thank you so much.

[@heaven7360]

huh....I couldn't follow the information at all. I can't regulate my light levels except lowing the time I have my lights on. Also, I'm just not into doing research into which nutrients to make different plants do well. Maybe some day but I just now want my fish to be healthy for now.

[@mirandaj2317]

Thank you so much for the informative video. I also struggle with plants and I appreciate the research and information that you share. Don’t pay attention to the haters out there! There is always someone who is not happy unless they criticize others. I really enjoy your videos and thank you for sharing!

[@toomanyhobbies8351]

Way to go! I loved your battles getting a handle on algae.

[@bubbles8521]

thanks for the vid! I follow bentley's lighting info too... helped big time

[@northaquatics]

Great video, first video I have seen from your channel. Excellent info and editing. Glade to see you have over come the issues you were facing and have gained the info/experience from it even thought getting to that point for planted tanks can be frustrating. Looks like its easy green fertilizer you are using?

[@nicoled5160]

You made that all make sense... Thank-you. I guess I truly am a fish nerd, because to me you are one of the coolest people on youtube 😊