This was really helpful. I've kept my fertilizing really simple but have started wondering about a little addition to my usual. I love how you present so thoughtfully but not overly confident, allowing for the unknown :) Your scapes are beautiful, I especially loved the one that you say has not been trimmed at all. You are a treasure 🙏

Your tanks are excellent art. I have 2 planted tanks which I started with potting soil. Nature is about competition. I also have Saltwater tanks, the ultimate in competition. Algae is the basis of all life in the aquatic realms. Simplicity is best.

A good substrate and good maintenance is the key... I've used several brands of liquid fertilizers, and I didn't see much differences between them... for long term, I've finished using a bit of micros and iron (tropica for example, it's reasonably afordable), and DIY NPK, Ca and Mg fertilizer using salts... inyected by a syringe directly to several spots in the substrate once a week after the water change... no need of capsules and thanks to ion exchange capacity, enriching the substrate (lasting for many years) and restricting fertilizer in the water column in order to avoid algae... I've used this method for years and I think it's one of the easiest way to achieve a reasonably pertentage of success. Regards

Cheers from my fish room channel in Chicago, where I am a delighted subscriber to yours! For me the hierarchy is 1) light 2) Co2 3) water chemistry/filtration and then 4) fertilization. Fish waste is the primary fert for plants. I add an all-in-one once a week after water change and that's it.

Hello from Los Angeles! I've never considered how nitrate in the water column can be a deficiency too. I'm going to try and dose 2ppm of nitrate daily and see what happens. Thank you again for these long forum videos, I love listening to aquascaping video essays during tank maintenance. Green Aqua is another fav of mine

Jeez Rach yer just done my head in 😂only joking another good watch and pretty much speaks for most of us I would say, it can get a bit confusing with all the different factors of good plant health, growth and algae attacks. I feel I am in the lean dose all in one lazy camp keep up the good work

Super Solid Advice!!!! You're headed in the right direction. I just read Amano's book, "Nature Aquarium World, book 1". ALL of his set ups had akadama as a base substrate and a capping layer. Any ferts added were either used by plants or absorbed into the akadama. With it's high ion exchange capacity, akadama (or even dolomite clay {cat litter/oil dry} has the ability to hold and release nutrients to plants as needed. Thus reducing the amount of fertilizer needed to keep plants happy. But keep in mind, just like corals, some plants fight with each other using hormones. Regular filter cleaning, helps to reduce the spread of these hormones blowing around the tank. Thus reducing the need for water changes.

Great channel. I'm in the saltwater realm.

Soooo… I pretty much add an all-in-one liquid fertilizer and extra potassium after a weekly water change. I have trace amounts of phosphate & iron in my tap water. When I add CO2 my plant growth goes crazy.

Thanks so much for sharing your ferts regime. It's the thing in planted tanks that puzzles me the most as well. Side note: Love the ADA stuff like you do and I'd use the bottles too, hehehe. Looking forward to more of your videos!

Fantastic video and I can relate to so much of it. So much information overload out there it’s bound to confuse many folk. I just keep things as simple as I can and having good results. Tropica Premium is my fert of choice I think everyone just needs to try and find what works best for them and their individual set ups but keep an open mind on things to maybe change if needed

First off, love the shirt. Secondly - love your analogy; crack is to hi-tech as pot is to low-tech

Love your gallery, it’s similar to mine. Please keep up the content , in joy the inspiration ❤

Enjoyed this style of video and the length don’t think anyone will truly ever understand fertiliser 😂👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Great video and great t-shirt 🙂

Everything you said in this video seems to align with my experiences as well. Lately ive done a really similar method as you: a complete fertilizer and adding micros depending on deficiences. I also like to use seachem flourish advance after each water change especially after a trimming.

Love how you talked about sustainability! Great video, enjoyed learning what you do and I learned some along the way too. I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly my plants need. After watching this, I ordered flourish advance and nitrogen lol. Just got potassium and haven’t started using it yet.

Thank you for the conversation! I wish I had access to it more easily, I plan to use something like the UNS or ADA ferts. The UNS one seems nice, slightly expensive, but it's practically not available.

What would you recommend doing with Anubias that keeps melting? Every time I get new anubias the whole thing melts including the rhizome. Great videos btw - subscribed !

I think i know the reason, usually green string algae is related to N:P ratio. Probably the P int he low tech is dfferent.

Seen the bug bites there. You know the good stuff

Hey, What is the distance between your light and the water surface. I've got a new light recently, but is actually my first time using a hanging light. Because you know, most of the lighting is fixed with the stand they came with, but with the hanging kit, you can adjust to it.

I don't use fertilizers and my plants are amazing.

Nice video as a hobbyist I've found low tech is more enjoyable you just have to wait longer for results and you can't grow every plant but you also curve you mts (multiple tank syndrome) because once a tank is established for 6 months and all you're doing is maintaining you get bored of it.

I like your videos but the sound quality isn't the best. Sometimes one have to make an effort to hear what you say. The sound is a bit muffled. What you say is interesting and i want to hear everything. 🙂

All in 1 Api Leafzone no more than 5ml a week max. Plants are superb, no co2 & my rotala blood red sg & red tiger lotus are super red.