Keep it real and thanks for watching.

You are definitely my favorite aquascaping teacher. All I do is learn!

I run medium light most of of the time for the sake of the fish and for aesthetic reasons, I like to create shadows I think I gives more depth and watching the water movement shadow on the surface it’s more pleasant than high light. Nice video Dave.

Great explanation of what "medium tech" actually means! My skin crawls less now when I hear that term haha :) Really enjoying the look of this tank as always... so atmospheric!

Thx homie this is really helpful information, I really appreciate these videos. I love how you break this down into yearns where I can understand.

Thanks, this is really informative. I've been questioning whether or not I should be raising the power of my lights, this had shed some light on it.

Wonderful, and informative. I am a beginner and so appreciate this information!.

Very nice short video Dave! I've myself have begun the transition from high to medium light & knowledgeable aquarists like yourself droppin pearls makes a difference!

Totally agree, I run a Kessil A360 WE 90W at only 20% 8 inches above my 55 tall (6,5 hours). I dose 180 bps CO2 and EI dosing. Plants are growing very well, bushy and have nice colours. Can't say my tank is low maintenance though, I have a high fish load, I like the lively and somewhat crowded look, and have to do quite some maintenance to do keep things balanced. But it's worth it.

Appreciate the science discussed in regards to your approach to the hobby. Very interesting and informative. New sub here, and you've helped explain a variety of concerns succinctly.

Excellent advices! Thank you!

Great video and that tank look amazing!👍

You are the "Dr. Dre" of planted tanks, thanks Dave!

Thank u so much for the video alot of great info 👍👍👍👍👍

Awesome as ever bro!

Love this tank!

beautiful tank.

Great video 👍. Very interesting

Looking forward to the new set up. Things I would like to see for the new tank. How you like to set up your substrate. How will you begin your nitrogen cycle. What will be your desired outcome for this new tank. Thanks for your consideration! Great video and always look forward to your vids.

Wow,that tank looks sooooo nice

100% totally agree. Medium lighting with co2 helps with less algae issues on plant leaves, rocks & glass areas. It’s more stable & natural approach. Very few places in earth have sustained 100% full sunshine 365 days a year in nature. Slow, Smart & Steady always finishes the race.

Another Must Watch episode, growth that is too rapid becomes a chore. Far better to enjoy the tank.

Yet again another great info video. I'm excited to see your new setup!. Where can I find a twinstar?

I'm running 20W led in 12.5 gallon tank for 10 hours a day. I use supplementary 2x red and 2x blue 1W leds and tank works great. Plant growth is still not slow. My lamp is high above the tank as well. You can grow any type of carpet plant you want in this tank, no problems at all. Thing is that its 12" high. Tank height is a major factor, so in my 82 gallon tank I am using 210W HQI + 40W led and this is perfect. I tried lower light and increased CO2 but lower light only made my Glossostigma Elatinoides, Hemianthus Cuba and Staurogyne Repens grow taller than they should. Eleocharis Parvula was responding well to lower light, just grew slower.

Love your videos, any advice for getting rid of bba?

Gotta love science!

I'm kinda new with plants. Thanks for the good help. I have low tech (you can check it out if you like) and my tank is kinda deep for my lights. I run them almost max but it's just enough to keep vetting ones doing well. I dose lightly and exel but if things fill in I'd dial it back a bit. My rotala are just barely being hit hard enough to get some pink tips. That's good enough for me. I do get a bit of green spot on anubias and the java but that's ok as it kinda looks like nature in there. I really wanted higher light to try to get a hairgrass or something to fill the ground. Hard to find balance.

Sweet video man. I have moss just like that growing - videos of my setup to come soon if you wouldn't mind checking it out! However, I've recently got what I believe to be hair algae growing in the moss. When I pull it off with tweezers, it's like velcro-ish

I've ran in between low to medium ( around 35 white on the current satellite plus pro ) on my 9.3 gallon and it seems to be the best for cryptocorynes and monte carlo carpet. I noticed if I turn it higher, around 40-45, i start getting little hair algae growing. Everytime I go back down, its much easier to maintain. It definitely is true. Cheers Dave!

👍 nice

Well done. With bimonthly maintenance still have a problem with brown alge. I don't use CO2. What else can I try. Keep them wet.

Great video Dave. Quick question, where did you get the aquarium stand. It's really nice.

Are you going to make a video of the new mid tech tank you introduced in the beginning? We would love to see that for sure!

You know what's up? I subbed 😁😋

I love the contrast between shaded and bright areas. is it true that, surface agitation , increases co2, or does it just help to oxygenate the aquarium?

You're right on flavonoids. Also they are related to stress. That's why I've always claimed that extreme light and obscene amounts of fertilizers are no good for plants at all. In fact what they do in a long shot is induce stress, lots of reactive oxygen species are generated, hence flavonoid synthesis (as well as carotenoids) which scavenge those excessive "loose" electrons. Lots of enzymes take part in this process as well. All in all it's a metabolic-heavy process that makes more harm than good.

i found that red plants actually use iron very slowly. one small dose went a very long way for me. the main drive for red pigment accumulation is CO2. my main tank doesn't have CO2 injection and the alternanthera reineckii inside has a nice gradual green to red/pink gradient from bottom to top. but the most intensive red/purple colour are from their emersed leaves presumably because they are bathing in the atmospheric concentration of CO2.

Hope you make a video with the twinstar ..see some reallt great things on instagram with them. Are they high light btw? There are not dimable to

I made the mistake of trying to save money, by basically reusing my old, by then biologically inert substrate to start a new tank. It was a pretty basic Eheim Aquastar setup with a T8 bulb, needless to say the plant life didn't fare so well, regardless of EI fertilization, about two thirds of my plants died out, and then I tried to make the rest spread out to eventually substitute the died off plant life by doing "upgrades". 11 months later I have this 40 liter (net) tank with dozens of root tabs inside, with a 20W LED light above it, and a DIY citric acid CO2 system beside it, the plants that stayed alive without any of these still refuse to grow with these. A couple days ago I finally decided not to beat a dead horse anymore, I'll get rid of the gravel and get some active soil and throw out the CO2 system, but thanks to your video I also consider getting rid of my excessively strong LED light too. Any suggestion how to measure or find out the PAR value if it isn't listed anywhere in the specs? Thanks!

I have even heard of people running co2 on low light tanks and claiming that it still does wonders with low light.

Hi, can you tell me what brand of aquarium is in this video and size? Thanks.

I'm runing medium light, medium CO2 and fertilising heavly on my nano tank.Plant are growing well.Some grows really fast some grows slow.But they are healty.Colour are good too.But AR mini and Rotalas are not that much red.No algae in the tank except on the rocks and sponge. I think the most important things are; 1)A good fertilising schedule 2)Water flow 3)A moderate light with a good spectrum 4)Consistent water changes That is all an aquarium needs.

Can medium light be a light with higher par, but a decreased photo period? I was wondering the same for having low light conditions. The bulb I am using has a high lumen rating, I was thinking of increasing the distance and decreasing the photo period to get that medium light/ low light condition and manage algae a little better.

Very interesting video as well. I never did any of these aquariums as well. But I remember that I saw similar one's when I was a little child. Also I always wanted to get them, but I never had a chance to do that kind of thing as well. But to me the way how you have putted these plants, they remind me of diorama, since I like doing model kits as well. You have only forgotten to put either a model it submarine, or a model kit ship there as well 😉🙃🙂.

What lighting do u use here?

I really like that light! would it work for a medium light 10 gallon? If not could you recommend a similar one? I'm looking to improve my lighting.

How about Monte Carlo in a 24x12x12 inches tank?

Medium light means less trimming and a more sustainable growth with less ferts. unless you are growing for resale, medium light is better for both plants and fish. Many fish are not high light habitat, and prefer shadowy areas. plant color is more often achieved by iron supplements, not bright light. Also important is spectrum range of the lights over brightness. Reds, yellows, and blues are absorbed by the plants which is why they appear green most often.

Big question for me. Is Planted Plus 24/7 on max considered medium or high light on a standard 55g? A month ago I started a new tank with dwarf sag, Ludwigia sp mini, java moss, Java fern, and amazon sword. Tank is averaging 8 hours of max light and 1 hour at the 9 am setting per day. Co2 set to 3 drops. Alternating dosing flourish excel and flourish advanced twice a week each. Green Dust Algae problem. Heavy fish load. Tank finished cycling last week. I haven't done a water change since the nitrites dropped to nothing a week ago. BTW, the tank is dirt capped with black gravel.

What brand and model is the LED light on the mature tank? Keep up the great videos.

whats the name of that fish?

Amazing tank !!

How about 60x30x30 (54 litres) with hpl diy led lamp 30 watt is it medium or high? In the forum they said ur watt is divided by liter so 30÷54= 0.55. in the forum said if the result is 0.5-1watt is medium light is it True?

Is the light description based on the PAR that you get right at the bottom of the aquarium, ie is a low light tank say around 20 PAR at the bottom and a high light tank say over 60 PAR at the bottom, or is it based on the overall average value over the whole fishtank? Obviously the PAR value can go from low at the bottom to very high near the top, so tall stem plants will be getting a much higher PAR value anyways.

Yes, I also advocate for medium light for all the reasons you stated. In regards to your comment on fert dosing (i.e pps-pro) I feel the type of substrate you use plays a significant role in how effective your dosing regimen is. Your aquarium soil should provide significant nutrients vs inert substrate which may result in the comments you have received. Do you experience significant pearling at medium light? I ask because even with injected CO2 my medium tanks don't pearl much. However, I had a tank with high light but no CO2 that pearled a lot albeit with a lot of algae growth. I use pearling as my indicator of the light level in the tank although I have no scientific studies supporting my thoughts.

I can't get my fishes to relax whenever I try to increase illumination. Beyond level 2 they get too nervous and I fell bad for them. Especially with white light

Can i grow cuba in mid light with pressurised co2 ?

can you tell me the name of this LED light? looks fantastic, wanna buy it

Ohhhhh shit son. This one is gonna be good!! What kind of filtration are you running?

Isn't the twinstar lights are lacking in the green specrtum? When I look at tanks that are runing twinstar lights; the red plant looks gorgeous but green plants especially the dark green plans aren't look that much good.

Where did you buy your lighting?

What brand and model of light it is… please.

What is the lumen output of your light at the 45 watts?

omg wet sleeves are the worst, thanks for reminding me XD

So have u decided to return ? 🤗🤗 just checking u kno its been 3 looooooooooooooooong years n no video from u 🤗🤗...

Can you tell in lumens per gallon what is medium light?

Strange........it looks exactly like my aquarium,,,,,same plants ...same fishes .....same co2 knobs....in fact same reading on the pressure dials usually,....except its 5 ft long.....just imagine my maintenance cost

Miss seeing ur video ..... :( :(

I never heard anyone say mid tech, but now that I've heard it, why yes it does make my skin crawl. So no.

I use low light and high co2+ nutrient. Free algea and low working.