Pro Tip: Mastering Natural CO2 Production in Your Planted Aquarium

CO2 generated in the substrate is far more than any artificial means can produce. And there are two major advantages of having CO2 produced naturally.
FATHER FISH is an advocate for natural aquariums. His research over 25 years provides a wealth of information about the creation and maintenance of natural aquariums.
On this channel you will find scientific research as well as personal testimonials by countless hobbyists who have applied the Father Fish System and are enjoying its amazing benefits.
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#FATHERFISH #deepsubstratetank #naturalaquarium #plantedtank #plantedaquarium #fishtube #fishtank #fishkeeping #dirtedtank #walstad #naturalaquarium #deepsubstrateaquarium #balancedaquarium #selfsustainingaquarium #sandsubstrate

[@kenrooke9047]

Just loving these daily snippets of wisdom. The editing is also top shelf. Keep them coming Father. 😊

[@AquaticJr]

Thats why I stick to sand for substrate now and it looks alot better in my opinion

[@user-el5mx6ph4z]

I have learned so much in the two weeks since I "found" your channel. We had aquariums when I was a child and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wow.

[@johnnygalaxy9022]

Very useful piece of advice. I've been in the industry for 2 decades and never even heard of this before. Thanks for the awesome biohack 😅

[@NSB25445]

You haven't heard of it because it's not true.

[@braxtonmackenzie1]

I was really into father fish. I can tell you for some plants he is absolutely correct. For many others this system just isn’t going to get the best out of plants. As soon as he stops lying about other methods being dangerous just to get more people on board I’d be happy to support his ideas again.

[@FatherFish]

your insight is welcome

[@robertdeschu4367]

I love you father fish! Thanks for always being there with great advice for me! I’d love to visit your store someday and thank you in person for all that you’ve taught me :)

[@Nanoscape30]

Deep substrates for life! just capped my neighbor lady's indoor pond, but it had mulm and leaf littler, but I just did an inch tonight of white top fin soft sand, I got tons of it, I love capping substrates every so often, my 37g tall has no water changes, it barely evaporates with the top water plants, it's been 2 yrs straight with an aquatop cf120 and its not clogged, everything I've learned from you Father Fish! ❤️ 😀 Bc your Father fish, Duh, Take note people, my barbs eat plant matter, squash, and cucumber and I feed them one a day at night, no waste essentially, one air pump, Im going no heater soon, because of my Room temp! save electricity, bc im poor 😔 😭 😢 Praise God im grateful 🙏 to be alive and wake up in the morning, that's a good day! Love you Brother! your new content is 🔥

[@otallono]

Not everyone has barbs..

[@softaco3088]

I can see that this creates c02, but as someone who has dirted tanks for a long time now. I can tell the differences with c02 injection vs just dirt capped with sand. night and day.

[@parissturt2788]

Thank you! I have set up a wonderful tank using your instructions. The local pet store refused to sell me any carpeting plants because i dont have a co2 machine. Im going back and asking them again more confidently

[@FatherFish]

Wonderful!

[@sasakalak4681]

they won´t sell plants? plants? I´ve heard that they will not sell fish I someone doesn´t have enough space, heater etc...but plants? Why do they care if someone wants to make a salad from carpeting plants, unbelievable.

[@MCorrigan]

So many local fish stores are full of things you don't need. Soil, sand and plants are all you need in a freshwater tank.

[@realfreshvideos1501]

I'm not a chemist but i'm pretty sure something is off here. If no oxygen gets into the substrate then I don't think CO2 would be generated. The O in CO2 is oxygen. It has to come from somewhere... Not saying the substrate can't make CO2 just something i noticed.

[@dubb5508]

The co2 comes from decomposing biological matter. Its exaclty how plants get co2 in the wild. Not sure exactly how the chemistry works. But i do know that the plants put out o2 into the substrate aswell. They give microorganisms o2 in the substrate so they can survive and break down nutirents. In exchange the plant gets those nutrients. Does it really produce more co2 then injection? No idea. Probably depends on the age of your substrate and whats in it.

[@TheDabbleJew]

@realfresh correct. Chemistry is off. Plant roots, take in oxygen and release CO2, but it won’t be in crazy amounts imho. CO2 injectors over push plants imho. Any aerobic organisms that make CO2 still need O2. Without O2 at the root system a stinky anaerobic rot will commence imho. But, deep gravel in a well established, moving system, provides the bio active conditions we want expressed without killing inverts and over-growing plants imho.

[@realfreshvideos1501]

@@dubb5508 Thanks thats really neat!

[@FatherFish]

Plant roots take in CO2

[@JyajAquaticPlants]

Soil create co2

[@Daves0r]

Thank you FatherFish! I’m in the last stages of my first fish tank and appreciate your insights. I’m excited to showcase that this does work and prove the naysayers wrong

[@laurabustos6560]

Congratulations!!!! 🎉 Before you know it, you'll have at least 3 tanks. And if you follow good advice like this channel, I'm sure you'll give your livestock their absolute best life possible in a glass box! ✌️

[@laurabustos6560]

​@@20Aleksa08couldn't we all improve? Shouldn't we all strive to improve and always try to be and do better?

[@batkat0]

​@@laurabustos6560Sure, but in order to improve you have to be humble. FF is incredibly dogmatic and shuts down when anyone disagrees with him.

[@otallono]

@@batkat0 I think he leaves out a lot of information too and I need to pick it up elsewhere.. also his discord, his members will almost always give conflicting answers and when you run in to a real problem no one will respond unless it's something really obvious and already documented in the posted information. I've found the live chat in the discord to be pretty useless in critical situations. I also see other people having issues and I'm hoping they get answers but they never do. It's a shame, if someone's fish are dying and they followed the system to a T and are expecting that this discord will jump in to help, they will be very disappointed. Seen it again and again and experienced it myself. They need to end the discord and replace it with an actual forum where the activity can be tracked and looked back to. And that is just a start.

[@laurabustos6560]

@@otallono well, I don't do discord so I can only reply to the info here in the channel. I do all my tanks specifically not to a T following a single source. I gather what works for me from a few different styles and tweak as needed, to what works for me. I have all deep substrate and high botanical tanks, so no pond muck as I'm in a very old agriculture area so any bodies of water have chemicals and old oil they used to use to dampen dust in the roads, so even if FF days use pond muck, I'll listen to my common sense and say nope! Not in my situation/ area. But I will follow other tidbits of info he gives. I mean tldr, he's only sharing his collected wisdom from many years in the hobby. That doesn't make him an end all know all prophet, just a guru. Take some advice, leave some advice, but find your own style, what works for you. ✌️

[@BiGenXGardener]

I love father fish! Best method out there

[@Blakrex]

Plants absorb CO2 through their stomata. Plants have stomata on their leaves/bodies along with their roots. So the plants will also absorb CO2 straight from the water column through their leaves and bodies. Blocking oxygen from the roots won't magically create extra CO2.

[@FatherFish]

But the breakdown of organic matter in deep substrate does and the roots gobble it up.

[@rylanwinner6664]

Thank you!

[@AbdullahAzrael]

I never understood the CO2 injection it's just not going to last it's not natural I love looking at my tank and seeing a slice of nature and discovering new little creatures doing their thing and providing sustenance for my fish

[@fanyoktavia1703]

yes this subsrate tips really gooooood. im lucky find fatherfish vid

[@dallasbrat81]

Please do a video on your plants setup and choices

[@SomethinSweetShop]

Do I need to gravel vac before adding the sand?

[@FatherFish]

No. The mulm in the gravel is important nutrient for the system.

[@ghinannafsiaqila4629]

Your editor do good

[@CRA404462]

Thanks

[@boebender]

Wise wise wise!! Thank you thank you thank you!

[@logandowhayko856]

Man there's just something about those rummynose.

[@1bam1productions]

You are the king

[@tivo3720]

Sir, there are some white spots in the leaves and some holes too in Anubis leaves. What to do .

[@JohnKeyMusic]

Amazing!

[@wabalaka1565]

I can't find affordable powder like sand without clouding my water I bought 1mm or smaller size sand grain would it still count as sand or it is still gravel? It definitely smaller than 1mm but definitely bigger than the usual tiny grain of sand

[@FatherFish]

It should be fine.

[@chrisx507]

I don’t have soil as my substrate not sure if fluval Stratham counts as soil. I have flourite and Stratham as my substrate can I add sand to that??

[@FatherFish]

yes, cap it with 2"

[@CHARONIV69]

Thanks boss 👑🫡🤜🏻

[@wenditalton3109]

If I’m putting beach sand (Atlantic, if it matters) into a fresh tank, do I need to rinse it first? One tank is planted with a bunch of different fish and one is only a male betta. Thanks!

[@FatherFish]

Collect sand high on the beach where it is washed by rain

[@SininStyle]

Any suggestions on brands and locations for sand? So many grain sizes and ranges. I have been using HTH pool filter sand. It is the only one I have found that has a larger grain size so it is easy to clean. Such a pain to find here though.

[@FatherFish]

beach or creek sand are perfect.

[@jasonhartman9379]

F's in the chat for any epiphyte plants. Creating an anaerobic environment for roots is as bad for water plants as it is for terrestrial plants. There needs to be a gas exchange. Now luckily, sand doesn't block oxygen at all, as it's dissolved in the water, the water is(hopefully) in the aquarium, which means your plants will get what the need, no matter how thick the substrate. Now all you need is surface agitation for the gas exchange and you're all good!

[@wabalaka1565]

The terrestrial plant's deep root doesn't get O2 too what is your point here? His method of using sand is to stop the nutrient from getting into water, block O2 from the nutrient substrate and also provide surface area for bacteria. The butter of his method is to convert the bottom layer of his nutrient substrate to anaerobic enviroment which he said create CO2 and other nutrient plant needs while taking care of toxic waste your fish produce. Plants have many types of root, the one for O2 stays at the top layer which in his method 2 inches of sand and the one that goes deep doesn't need or absorb O2. The micro fauna etc are just what nature does! The anaerobic thing has nothing to do with it.

[@Grooberto]

this aquarium looks bad, the plants lack fertilizers, apart from that I only see simple plants that grow without the addition of co2

[@FatherFish]

We do not always showcase the very best aquariums. Lots of folks are just learning but by following basic principles such as never using fertilizers, they will achieve more and more success.

[@nixoBB]

i never heard of the deleterious effects. could you be more specific abot them? looking at my co2 injected tank at home and comparing it to the one in the video, the plants especially look way more lush and healthy. i also found a way to do it really cheap.

[@FatherFish]

Ph drop and stress on the O2 breathers.

[@justin94431]

An amateur question, having 2 inch thick sand won't stop the root from reaching the substrate at bottom?

[@FatherFish]

correct

[@nodieskysgonzales]

Well I can tell you my friend that the most beautiful aquarium I ever had all have co2 injection.

[@kanthaguruaj4162]

My friend I am confused How to clean bottom of the tank, can you please explain

[@FatherFish]

Yes. Let the plants and microbes do all the work

[@CRA404462]

That means no siphoning?

[@shattonzubieta9533]

How do you feel about skimmers?

[@FatherFish]

A deep substrate acts as a skimmer by removing organics from the water.

[@Patrickjk]

Nothing works when temperatures are higher than 30 deg C 😢. I envy people living in cooler regions. They have it in easy mode.

[@FatherFish]

I was in Florida for 30 years. Summers were difficult.

[@justin94431]

​@@FatherFishwill having air cooler will fix issue?

[@otallono]

huh? it's 100+ outside here, AC is set to 75... tap and aquarium water stays around 80. Are you saying you don't cool your house? AC is a necessity in the south. I don't know anyone who doesn't have it.

[@Patrickjk]

@@otallono I'm from India bro, south of India. The temperature here averages 32 (90F), which is not too hot for us to have fully Air conditioned homes.

[@FlyingLime]

What if my substrate IS sand, Mr. Father? ❤

[@FatherFish]

Create a food web.

[@FlyingLime]

@@FatherFish OMG YOU REPLIED! THANK YOU!

[@Tubby88888]

If this was true thick substrate tanks would have the same lush and quick growth as a high tech set up... guess what its not

[@FatherFish]

Nor is that normal growth.

[@harrycrissey719]

Hi Father Fish, can you tell me what temperature i can keep Discus Fish? Thank you!!!

[@FatherFish]

85f, 29c

[@maharanigladys]

With tank 20x20x25, how much deep sibstrate i must pour in there? 1 inc? Its good? And sand is 2 inc? And plant my plants? 🤔 please help me.. Thx🙈🙏

[@FatherFish]

yes, yes, excellent

[@az3545]

In my 2 meters tank, I added 20 kg of sand and not even have 1 inch😅

[@timothyharbach228]

What is the large brown leafed plant in the middle towards the back please ?

[@FatherFish]

Tiger lotus

[@timothyharbach228]

@FatherFish thank you ❤️

[@vikisinha3437]

Question: In future will I be able to separate sand and Aquasoil ?

[@FatherFish]

??

[@thomaxtube]

With a sieve and bucket of water you can, the sand falls to the bottom and the Aqua soil is tipped into another bucket, reportedly until all substrate is in two separate bucket, but why would you want to do that, unless you are moving and need to start over the whole system of course

[@sheldoncooper2247]

Use mess bag .. soil will always be separate. This is the best hack

[@alexandrevaliquette3883]

If your substrate is thick, you will get anaerobic and therefore create methane CH4 and not CO2 from decaying organic matter. 'Substrate will create more CO2 than any piece of equipment' The CO2 tank can saturate and kill all living matter if you leave it wide open. So, on that, it seems you got your facts off as well.

[@FatherFish]

Odd. I have been doing this for 20 years. Thousands have tried it with great success. Funny thing is I never hear about these awful fears actually happening.

[@alexandrevaliquette3883]

@@FatherFish I'm not sayin your technique is not working, because it is working great. I was just giving info about the biochemistry (I'm an analytical chemistry technician). The top layers of the sand will get you some CO2 in aerobic mode, the deepest layers will give you CH4, Methane because it lack O2. Like it does in a natural environment. I was also stating that a CO2 tank can generate more CO2 than the natural process. Therefore, you can inject too much if not under control. The natural process won't generate too much, but might be on the thin side for certain setup. Another fact is that your natural system is way cheaper, environmentally friendly (in many ways) and require less maintenance. The 'techno way' will require more maintenance and is more prone to mistake, but can accommodate more fish density. Another fact: you have a very nice calming voice and we love how you share your passion. Have a great day, thank you for your video. Love from Montréal

[@asmarttraveller9576]

You caught father fish pants down. Some of his theories are just random hallucinations .

[@vaibhavrathi8624]

dont want to be rude or anything but sir, roots doesn't need co2, leaves do!

[@FatherFish]

Not rude at all. Roots absorb CO2, look it up.

[@vaibhavrathi8624]

@@FatherFish sir, in biology we were taught that roots go through aerobic respiration and they actually need oxygen rather than co2...yes, co2 might stimulate growth of roots but to grow roots need oxygen.

[@striker4959]

@@vaibhavrathi8624 This is true for terrestrial plants, which have a lot of differences from aquatic and fully submerged plants. Aquatic plants have evolved to uptake most of their CO2 from their roots simply because the amount of CO2 that is dissolved within that soil structure. A good amount of aquatic plants still have stomata, so they can benefit from normal CO2 injections, however, most people who use CO2 injectors do not have any form of an aged and nutrient rich deep substrate. Even then, by using readily available soil from a biodiverse pond, you can already have a mostly complete one.

[@vaibhavrathi8624]

@@striker4959 good to know, thanks

[@jeannesmith1141]

Father fish, I recently found your channel. We live by Lake Erie, and it is starting to be chilly at night. I got a 2 gallon Fluvial tank from my SIL, it was bad, so I "nuked it," with bleach. Got it all cleaned out, running water, no substrate with dechlorinator to be sure the foam filter and bio stuff is cool. Going to be back fishing this week, in lake Erie. I want to try your methods. Could I just put 3" of sand from the lake, and add a bunch of plants from the lake? I thought I would grab floating plants, and see what happens. Also, should I add snails from my other tanks? (Vountiers) I kinda want to add shrimp. They say you should only get one color or they eventually turn wild brown. To be honest, I wouldn't care. I want to do this tank as a "science," experiment, lol. Thank you in advance for your help!

[@FatherFish]

get sand from in the water, not dry sand. It will have losts of life in it

[@jeannesmith1141]

@@FatherFish Thank you for your reply. Yes, I was going to brave the chilly water, and grab sand off of the bottom. I guess I wasn't sure if I still needed some type of soil, underneath the sand? I'm assuming the sand is enough, but I wanted to be sure.

[@thomaxtube]

@@jeannesmith1141I hope this helps: this channel is dedicated for explaining (on nearly all of his videos)the importance of the deep layered substrate and how to set it up (including peat moss and soil and compost, if you choose to go without any kind of decaying soil underneath your sand, it will not be ideal for lush plant grow at as you will not be producing the nutrients and CO2 for your rooted plants, floating plant will be fine, having (rooted) plants is major part of natural filtration / water purification system for a balanced tank, shrimps require balanced tank to thrive. For that the plants need nutrients or at least root tabs (if it’s too late to add the necessary layer( of soil, peatmoss and compost) if you’ve already put the sand and water in your tank. Best wishes

[@jeannesmith1141]

@@thomaxtube Thank you for reply! We actually went to Lake Erie today, 40lbs of Perch! Yay!!!! Anyhow, we grabbed 3 coffee cans of sand/soil? off of the bottom. I'm only doing a 2+ gallon tank. It's a Fluval tank, with a very strong light for it's size. I didn't make myself clear, there are sometimes patches of plants that got uprooted for some reason. If you pick through it, you can find plants that will re-root, if buried. Some are nasty, so you look for the good ones. Today, found no good plants, but I have the bottom soil/sand. I was just trying to figure out the proper next step. (Also caught gobies, which are invasive, but I think they are so cool! Put them in my 90 gallon, "Erie tank," will see if they make it. ) No worries to anyone freaking, I will not release them anywhere.

[@jeannesmith1141]

@@thomaxtube So, no one has really said, is the sand/soil from the bottom of the lake enough? If I need to do a soil, layer, what should I use? I don't have any compost, or peat, but I do have root tabs.

[@trueaussieray9093]

What if I told you over this way we run absolutely no substrate.. Is your mind blown yet old fell

[@FatherFish]

A skilled aquarist can do anything.

[@kenzovts8885]

No oxygen to the roots might make them rot.

[@FatherFish]

Acide will make them rot or burning with ferts. Micro activity will keep the substrate from killing plants. Sand is the key to the system.

[@tomgreen4280]

What is your opinion on aquasoil father fish

[@Starscream_EditZ]

He made a separate video on that topic

[@tomgreen4280]

@@Starscream_EditZ where

[@FatherFish]

recent rant on a live stream.

[@codysterling7695]

Well our tanks aren't natural an don't have an unlimited supply of earth/ decomposition making co2. the way some tanks are filled with plants an some that only get it co2 from the water column its beneficial to inject co2. But it will help co2 production.

[@FatherFish]

My substrate is a co2 factory.

[@Theguy5623]

Hey so I have a question

[@FatherFish]

and?

[@Lint323]

80% of his contents are him saying to have 2 inches of sand

[@firejoey2204]

i was wondering why my tank was doing so well without any “injected” CO2 (absolutely ridiculous marketing scheme in my opinion), i have about 1-2 inches deep of the 25-25-50 mix that you recommend, 1-2 inches of crushed red lava rock/sub stratum on top of that, and then 2-3 inches of sand. all because i listened to you!😉

[@NSB25445]

You have never had a CO2 tank, that's why you're spreading bullshit... Low tech tank scan look great, much better than what FF's tanks look, but CO2 injected tanks are something else entirely.

[@hakman239]

Have you done this and used a co2 test kit you havnt even provided any evidence

[@FatherFish]

proof of results is my evidence. We have created a lab to research these assumptions. The research will be available upon publication of our first pdf some time this Spring.

[@benmorris7448]

Most of your videos are pretty good but that’s just not true at all. Obviously you can pump in more CO2 with a CO2 tank than your substrate could ever make naturally. Your tanks are beautiful but tanks with CO2 injection look very different for a reason

[@FatherFish]

I disagree

[@alexandrevaliquette3883]

@@FatherFish If you pump 100% CO2, you can turn your tank into a fizzy drink. Not that it's a good idea (it will kill everything except some bacteria), but CO2 tank can inject more than just natural. It would be more accurate to say: "you can get CO2 with natural and cheap solution that mimic the expensive CO2 tank"

[@saiarya9637]

Sir i wanted to ask u one question as a junior i had a doubt so heres my question to u - Can monte carlo 🪴 survive in a patio pond

[@FatherFish]

y es if it dies not freeze

[@jmha2428]

It absolutely can, I grow it in shallow parts of my tubs and ponds. In some spots i grow it in planters that are right below or just above the water level.