i think its a great idea to start a sort of mini series on "tips and tricks" to improve overall health of ones aquarium, i know it would really help me out!

Even after almost a couple of decades messing around with aquariums, fish & plants I still find time to listen to a good old ramble from George Farmer on filtration and circulation! Great content happy times!

This and the subsequent videos in this series with a focus on some of the specific information have been the ones I'm most looking forward to. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and videos.

Very, very helpful! Thanks George! Especially the circulation part.

Alway informative. You teach folks with a simple easy style. No drama, no click bait, just easy going and step by step informative. 👍💕👍

i'm already in love with this dude he seems so gentle in the way he talks

I would love to see examples of flow in different tanks and practical examples of steps to sort out issues. Also interested in the impact on outlet (spray bar, lily pipe etc.). One thing I have always struggled with is balancing flow and floating plants. With good flow they just seem to end up squished up against the glass.

Great explanation, known for me but important and missed by many other people. Thank you George.

This is one of the best tutorial on the Oase canister filter. Thanks George.

great advise and tips George. thanks for the efforts on sharing this informative video.

great stuff mate, looking forward to the book!

My first tank is now seven months mature. Still watching. Still learning. Thanks again!

This video has been incredibly helpful. Thank you so much for covering a few topics I'd never encountered before. I have always been told when you have an aquarium you keep the water and the fish are the benefit. So watching the water quality has always been priority for me but I've just learned about circulation which is something no one I know has ever mentioned before and or using the outlet to move the co2 about DUH of course 🤗🤗

Again mate, you are killin it it with the information. I will definitely add this video to my must watch playlist.

Honestly I come to youtube for the vast range of knowledge hence why love these kind of informative videos. I mean i still enjoy the casual cinematic talk about a specific aquarium build but i do tend to enjoy more on factual and educational types of vids!!! loving the content by the way!

Finally some technical videos. We need this tipe of videos. So keep going with more :)

One of your most helpful videos yet!

Great video George! Lots of info on circulation and filtration! Always learning a thing or two from you! Thank you!

I really appreciate this video! I just got all of my supplies from amazon, and have my aquarium running. This tutorial really helps!

Helpful video as always!

Hi George, a very useful,informative and easy to understand video,nothing more to say really. All the best,Martin

Very informative & easy to understand...👍🏼

Thanks George, i think this style of video is great it provides loads of info for us beginners who maybe looking for advice on specific subjects. To be honest I do prefer the cinematic and aquascaping videos however this is a welcome change and helps show the 'magic' behind the scenes!!

Very informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

This has dropped at a really useful time for me. It's my birthday later this month, and i'm thinking about treating myself to an Oase BioMaster Thermo from my current Eheim Ecco Pro.

How can anyone not like this. Great info George loved it.

Thanks George, very interesting and useful info. 👍🏻

I think you should sell shirts that say "I love George's Rambling". LOL. Informative video George. Thanks again.

Thank you George, I watched the whole video and learned a lot from it.

Love these kind of videos

Great video! I think you're tips are spot on. I'm really enjoying UKAPS!

Amazing video love it

Great video, very interesting, nice to have it explained in layman terms and not technical jargon. Can’t wait to see what fish will be aqua 1200. I was looking at the Oase thermo filter but went with a fluval. Will def have a look for next tank. Keep on rambling 👍🏻💕

Although I've heard about a lot of these things when I was starting up my tank, it is always a good refresher to hear this "ramble"😉 There's still a lot of things to catch on even after all this time. A very useful video for everyone in this hobby!

Top class information you tell it to us properly based on experience Thanks George :)

Thank you ❤️ Great video...

Awesome video mate 💪🏻

That’s a great video, thank you so much for the information

Love the rambling... we want more

George... Thank you. I enjoyed this format. Less artsy and more informative. Keep up the great work.

I always learn something new. Thank you for sharing George! Cheeri-O! - Little Bobby

I really like this video. I specifically like how you differentiated between Filtration and Circulation. So often people smash them together and convoluted the differences. How you covered them matches a lot of advance literature and looking at very complex, large systems. For example: many of today's large marine systems employ a filtration sump with only 2 or 3 times turnover for the filtration, and then utilize power heads and wave makers for 10x or more circulation through the display tank. You can of course use canisters for extra flow and then accept the excess filtration that comes with it, but understanding that the extra circulation is the primary reason is an often overlooked understanding.

Very useful video. Thank you.

Great Video 👍

Good news George! I have been in contact with the civic council of Hobbiton and they have agreed to give you a lifetime license to ramble on. Great advice as always George. Thanks for sharing.

You are the best George 😍

Thank you George!

great helpful vids! much appreciated mate

Great information.Thank you George

Your videos are an inspiration George! I always used to just throw a few stems plants in my tanks and be done with it (usually my fish at the time would destroy them anyway), but watching your videos has helped me take a better interest in creating something beautiful 😄Speaking of equipment, I run some of the oase thermo filters too and was wondering if they have ever made weird noises for you? When my heaters come on they make an odd metallic scraping noise.

Very informative. Thank you

I have just purchased an Oase myself. So far I love it. As far as carbon I haven't used for a few years. My well water is very good out of tap so I'm lucky. If I was using treated water I would definitely use it. Liked.

Thanks for this informative Video and do some moore. LG Mona 👍❤

Love the vid a rambling pro as well aquascape pro keep it up George

Thank you it Was fantastic video you need to do more of them.

I know this video is old but I am new to planted tanks or fish keeping in general. Love video with knowledge as I have little and want a lot. Love your videos thank you for putting g the time into them.

I like the idea of a ‘tips and tricks and you should know this’ series of videos. I’m finally catching up on your videos. I was on vacation and dropped my phone in the Gulf of Mexico. Not having internet access was weird! I LOVE your t-shirt. I need one. LOL. Sending pets to Tommy.

I own one of the biomaster thermo 600 they really are good

I thought this video would be boring, but I was so wrong. Excellent Video!

I think this could be a good series, from how you run you’re filter, how you maintain you’re c02 and maybe lighting! Keep on scaping👊🏻

Very informative video, thanks. Like others have commented it would be great if you could do an in-depth video on flow in the tank ie placement and pros/cons of different of outflow/inflow pipes, what works best for different types of aquascapes, skimmer and diffuser placement too. You have done so many and have access to so many amazing aquascapes it would be brilliant if you could talk us through the flow patterns in these tanks. 😁

Loved it knowledge = power 🤟

Great advice! I still want to get the Thermo 100. It’s on my wishlist.

thanks.. more videos like this please.. 😃

Best Video 👍👍

Love your shirt!!

Hi George Thanks so much for this video it was very helpful and i look forward to more videos like this. The technical aspects of setting/maintaining up a planted aquarium. I liked that this video went into 1. What some of the other options out there are are 2. Some of the science behind whats going on (especially this) 3. The reasons behind your choices and the 4. How to bits For me this allows me to apply the information and find alternate solutions to the common problems. With my budget and location its just not possible to use the hardware that you do. A video on how to monitor CO2 levels, lighting, and balance it with lighting would be useful. i saw your video with aquarium gardens which was helpful, but the RGB spectrum, lumens etc is still confusing.

Like! Love the oase filter only need the biggest one, although my tank looks and works fine with the 350. I'am using a powerhead from sicce for extra circulation. Maybe a plant species special/serie is perfect for rambling?

Hi George, great video tonight with lots of information, the circulation was very interesting, could you explain a bit more about what media you use in the baskets and in what order you place them , I think there are 5 baskets in the 600 if my memory serves me right. I have been very happy with mine. Great filters. Thanks .

Excelent video! Circulation is very very important when injecting co2. A good example are carpeting plants. Maybe you think that your cuba carpeting plant isn't doing well because you need more light or fertilizer and in fact is because your floor level circulation is poor and it can't get enough co2 and nutrients. Quite tricky to get good circulation there. I started using an inline jbl atomizer some weeks ago for this matter and I'm starting to see improvement in some of my plants. Ranunculus inundatus for instance is growing quite faster than before. I had the co2 difuser in the oposite wall of my 64l cube and it wasn't getting enough co2 I think. I also changed my old Sera filter for a bigger jbl 702 external filter with more circulation. The oase external filters are awesome, that prefilter ir very handy. I want to improve the filtration on my big tank and probably I will change to one of the thermo series. They aren't cheap though!

Good stuff George. Some comments/suggestions/observations. The Oase external is a good product, I'm using one, it is however, quite pricey. The heater/stat in the filter is great but, beware, if the filter blocks and stops working the tank will chill. The pre-filter works really well but it can, because of the density of the sponge material block surprisingly easily. And, output was not consistently strong enough from me to use an in-line Co2 reactor. Juwel make a great fuss about their tanks having an internal filter, and thus, keeping water in the tank. I have had spillages in the past from externals. I also run a second external, with a UV tube, which I only use when introducing new fish stock. This is a very cheap Chinese filter and has proved reliable for at least 1/2 a decade. Juwel tanks, with their supplied internal filter, lighting and open canopy with no cover glass make for easy maintenance and, in my experience - with extra lights - grow plants very well. Internal ceramic Co2 diffusion only works really well, as you say, if the filter output pushes the micro-bubbles around the tank. The, now old fashioned, cylinder/ladder pathway diffusers, often were not tall enough or needed a final bit of assistance from a filter, to do a really good job. Phosphate levels, if high, and I don't find dip strips that accurate, will cause algae problems, nitrate is also nearly always high when there is an algae problem but the evidence is that phosphate is the real culprit - the exception is of course bright green filamentous algae which, and this is rather bothersome, seems to love the same parameters as most plants - though is maybe a little more light hungry. In my experience, especially if tap water comes from agricultural areas, nitrate and phosphate levels can be very high in the summer, much higher than the water in a well planted established aquarium. I certainly caused water problem issues and algae blooms after water changes from water with high levels of pollution, probably from agricultural run off. For new tanks, perhaps the first six months, I would personally always use Rowa to keep phosphate levels very low. Hornwort, Indian Fern and Salvinia - if regularly harvested will really improve water quality but as with all floating plants, they will slow the growth of the plants beneath. Dennerle in fact recommend Hornwort for all new tanks, as do I. Dosing I find problematic, conventional horticultural products - NPK - have too much phosphate and not enough iron for my liking. But those sold for the aquarium are often really very expensive. Like you George I have never found carbon in the filter harmful to plant growth. I currently have loam under horticultural grit but this is a recent experiment - I have a layer of hessian fabric over the compost which prevents clouding when planting or carrying out maintenance. So far (three months) I have had no leaching and consequential water quality issues. In the past I have used aquatic compost topped with dried sand (kiln sand) very successfully, but sand, according to some, compacts. In my experience the only problem really with washed and dried sand, is that it easy to scrape the glass - corydoras love filtering it through their gills in search of micro organisms to eat - some other fish may find the substrate a little bright and might bleach a little in colour. I currently have a small tank with very fine, aquarium designated black gravel which seems also very successful. For me the success of a planted aquarium really takes a year or so to be proved. My last tank ran for a decade, for the last few years with cheap DIY 4,000K 30 watt floodlights - but lots of Co2 (the 30 ppm you stress) and regular micro nutrient dosing, especially sequestered iron. I grew Rota Macrandra well, but some so-called easy plants didn't like the conditions especially slow growing and low light species such as Anubias. I too, like you George, have no across the board recipe for guaranteed success , I might never have had crypt melt, but Alternanthera, a so called easy plant, does not like my current set-up and neither does Lielaeopsis novae zelandiae, whilst Limnophila, Hygrophila, crypts, Micranthemum and Nymphaea are very happily pearling and growing cleanly. I'll welcome any observations on that this current conundrum. PS loved the Madrid store.

Your the best 👍

Hey George - awesome and informative video you have. I only fail to find the follow up video where you talk about the lily pipe installing on the oase filter etc

One of the first comments 😎 love your aquariums George ✌🏾

Hello, George here just to let you know, how much I personally appreciate your videos. I was thinking maybe you could help us a little bit more with videos on “Tips and tricks” on all what’s concerning planted aquariums? Thank you, RE from Nicaragua 👍🏼😉🙂

Great !

Excellent video thanks. Could you cover lighting next in the series, I found that quite confusing starting out. I didn't have funds for a commonly reviewed light but I battled to find information on what sort of watts and lumens to look for, let alone when you consider colour spectrum.

Great video George. There’s a fair amount of snobbery when it comes to filtration, so thanks for demystifying it for us. I think my filter is too small for my tank, so I’ve got a circulation pump to help the flow. Is that a decent solution or will I struggle?

Hi George, did you use the stock sponges and helix inside the biomaster? Thanks, i love the style of your scapes

More vids like this please

Hi George nice talking! Small tip on prefilter you dont need to push two taps just hold firmly at the top and rotate the bottom cover for foams it will release with less effort, cheers

Loved it...im going to start callimg you Hollywood George😎

I heard about the 5 times rule, this 10 times version is new for me. That is why I bought the thermo 350 for my new 200l tank. Is that not enough then??? I don't use CO2, and it is a planted fish tank, not an aquascape...Great video by the way, thanks for sharing your knowledge Master!🙏

I agree with your views on filter media. I would say in a planted aquarium you could not have a filter as there’s enough surface area within the sand/rocks/wood with the plants to not require one. You would only need a wave maker for circulation, a similar concept to reef tanks.

Love your shirt lol ❤️

Hey George, for a 200l well stocked (read heavy ;) ) tank, would you recommend 850 or 600?

George if you don't mind me raising this. With circulation, the input and output pipes should be together. This is something that takes a bit of explaining. Some good explanations on UKAPS might be good to explain this. The problem is not helped by a manufacturer telling people to put the output one side of the tank in the intake the other. Dead zones. Do another George and Tommy seems a great assistant.

Filtration wise, i think that biomaster 600 is more than enough to handle the small bioload of an aquascape focused tank. If what you need is just extra circulation, why not use a small wave maker? Or for smaller tanks, a surface skimmer also adds a decent flow. But it does take away the aesthetic aspect of the tank a little bit by adding extra equipment in there. What do you think?

Ive got highline 300 with the 600 biomaster & heavily planted, now there is a lot of substrate and rocks in there so therefore a lot less water but i get hair algae in one particular spot and now I'm thinking its the circulation causing it x

Great video! Question about internal flow - I am using a Hydor circulation pump on the opposite corner of the filter outlet to help with flow and churn. Do you use those in your tanks or is it better to have filters do that?

Thankyou George very helpful video👍 just a quick question when is your book coming out and are you doing a signing? As always love the videos and the scapes 🙂

Cheers for that George. One thing I would like you to do is show in close up is how to plant carpeting plants, mainly Monte Carlo. I have Tropica substrate in my aquascape and on planting with pinsettes, the buggers don’t want to stay in the soil and always seem to rise up, I have tried to do this using larger clumps and placing it deeper into the substrate. Is there a knack to it ? It I growing but not as I see on some scapes. Cheers if you can help out . Dean from Scunthorpe

Hi gorge my oase biomaster is making a dripping water sound inside the canister do you have the same issue? I tried tilting it to release all bubbles but still cant get rid of the annoying sound

Great video George love your videos and I have learned a lot from you. I even visited aquarium Gardens. I have a question. Would a wave maker help with circulation?

Got a question sir I purchased a new bio master thermos 600 assembled it today the only thing I want to find out when I put my thumb near the inlet pipe to find out the suction level I can’t feel anything being sucked? The outlet spray bar is working fine. Please advise?

Very informative video. Can you tell me pls if for a 115 l aquarium (fish and plants) should use a biomaster 250 or a 350 will do better. Thanks!

Heureka! Now i finally understand! Great video. Maybe i get my constant dying plants to live for a change :-)

I’m very new to the hobby but am already hooked. I’ve bought a Oase 125 Styleline. It comes with the Oase BioPlus 200, which isn’t producing enough flow. I’m thinking of buying an Oase BioMaster Thermo 600. My tank is heavily planted. I am injecting Co2. I was just wondering if the flow rate will be too much for my 125 Litre tank, which probably only has about 100 litres of water due to displacement. George I think your videos are so informative, I’ve even got my wife watching them. 🤣

2 videos I would like to see are plants named once fully grown in so I know what thay look like at full size and best for aquascape tank size. And a video of fish ideal for aquascape tanks and again size of tank and how many fish.

Hi for a African chiclid tank would you recommend the inlet and outlet next to each other on the same side of the tank . Iam getting an oase 850 filter for my 60x24x18 tank. Thanks Peter