Hi there. Thanks for the shout out and also the compliments on my aquariums. Just so a you are aware because maybe you missed the joke in Matt's video, I don't have a team of people cleaning my aquariums (I wish 🤣) and only one of my tanks is run on c02 (my 8ft showpiece tank) currently in my studio. I've built probably 300 tanks over the past 5 years and had co2 on roughly 4 or 5 of them. And no i dont even start them on co2. As said above, in the past few months ive started a few with co2 which my viewers are always made aware of. But again, to clarify, 95% of the aquariums ive ever created dont run and never have run on co2. Cost: Yes if you look at the sum of all the aquariums, it's a lot of money, but if you look at each build individually, you will see that 90% of my equipment is of a low to medium budget. I use companies that offer great value for money with full kit systems (Superfish which isn't available in the us yet). A 2ft tank, rimless low iron glass with light and filter included costs $177. Plants: I now have the right contacts to be able to get whatever plants I want but for the first few years of making tanks, that wasn't the case. I had about $40 spare disposable income every 2 weeks so I had to learn how to grow them so that I could propagate them or reuse trimmings in other aquariums. Which of course I still do as I like to end a video with a finished look. I'm sure we can all agree that building an aquarium and the final result has some emersed grown plants as stumps at the bottom of the aquarium isn't very exciting or represent what the tank should look like in it's final form. Hence why I try to achieve a grown in look from day 1. This also massively helps with water quality and the initial phases of the aquarium and fish health. Floating plants: I also use floating plants on nearly all of my aquarium. As you say, to reduce light, nutrient uptake and a more natural vibe. It was only a few years ago I was buying just the glass, building my own stands (badly I might add until my skills improved) and fixing LED floodlights used for driveways to the tank, which work so well but not everyone wants to do their own wiring and making brackets out of wood for their tanks in their living spaces. You are right. I want people to look at my tanks and think "I can do that". Because they 100% can. I know this because I've been to several shows in the US now and seen thousands of people who travelled very far and queued up for a long time have all showed their pictures on their phones and are very pleased with the results. I've also learnt more recently in how pH can have a big role in how well certain plants can grow. My ph sits at 7.0, with a bit of bogwood and minimal water changes once the tank is settled (which is how i've always run my aquariums) it will settle at circa 6.8. I've found this to be optimal for growing plants. This is another reason I don't need to run co2 on my tanks. Of course when I do, the growth is turbocharged. Often way too fast for me and my team of cleaners to keep up with (again...that's a joke🤣). I've also done research on using a Plenum as you suggest. It looks like a very viable and interesting way to do things. Your own results prove that as your plants and tanks look great. But surely that doesn't suggest my way is not viable or real in any way? And I say my way very loosely because it's not my way. People have been putting nutrients in a tank and capping for decades/half a century. One thing I do though is mix the nutrients with gravel and cap with sand. I don't even make it like 4 inches deep like some suggest. Just a couple of inches and seems to work well. I have no science to back up anything I do. I've just done the same thing now many many times, I document it and show the audience and say to give it a go. A last note though. I have nearly 50 tanks which I look after on my own (my wife helps with glass scraping when needed and some top ups to the water level). This would not be possible unless I set them up in a way that they look after themselves. Which they do. I do maintenance on each one once every month or 2. Obviously I am a content creator so I change setups once every 9 months to a year. I used to do it more often but now I have more tanks, I don't need to do it as often. Whenever I refresh/rebuild a tank now, they are always completely healthy and growing plants great. I just fancy something new in the studio. I also view it as enrichment for the fish as they always start breeding behavior in a new setup and tons of exploring, territory ownership depending on the fish. Would I say my tanks and their setup style could last years and years? I couldnt say for sure as the maximum time Ive run an aquarium is 1 year 60 days. But that's enough for me. I'm still a hobbyist at the end of the day and love setting up tanks and getting fish I've not had before. Thanks for taking the time to read 👍

I appreciate the mention on your channel, but you need to watch past those first 2 minutes in, that part of the video was very much sarcasm! The whole reason I say all those things is that is what MD fish tanks gets accused of all the time. He doesn't have a team and he doesn't run C02 on every tank and if you watched more of the video you would see and hear all about that. Anyway, much love! 💜💜💜

That was a friend of MD fish tanks. Fish Shop Matt. They’re friends and used to work with MD in his studio after he sold his fish store. He was being sarcastic. MD does not use Co2 on all his tanks. They are low tech for the most part. With Co2 on a few. He works the studio and his wife. He talks about his low maintenance approach in many of his videos. He does not have a team of folks work his maintenance. 😊 Big fan of your channel 😊

MD has mentioned numerous times he only has c02 running on 2-3 tanks. Matt was joking about the c02 at the bigging of that video. As far as tanks go. I think it all depends on which aspect of the hobby you are into. There are so many categories of tank styles now compared to what it used to be. I personally enjoy the Aquascaping aspect and having my hands in the tank daily with some music playing in the background while drinking some sort of adult beverage. Then sitting back and watching a large school of fish swim around the tank while trying to find where my all of my algae eaters are hiding. That is Zen to me.

Always good to hear from you Dr. Novak!

Missed your videos! Glad you’re back!

You need to watch the entirety of the MDFishtanks video. It stemmed from some folks thinking that MD and Matt had a falling out when they in fact didn't. You took some of it far too literally and as far as "anyone" knows it's just MD and his wife working on the tanks.

I really appreciate the time and effort put in to expanding our knowledge about our aquatic environments. I believe you may have only watched a couple minutes of MD's video, as you told us to do. If you had watched a little bit longer you would of quickly understood that it was an absolute joke (between friends) addressing the issue of comments that seem to parrot these same comments you just made. I would really hope you would watch and understand the entire video before you comment on somebody else's hard work. He show's algae, diatoms, cyano or bio film that grows on the hardwood and how he takes care of it. But yes he works on these tanks daily with the help of his wife and friend. It's a lot of work but thank goodness for him it's his actual job. I hope this oversight is a one off, I'm looking forward to learning more about anaerobic and/or low oxygen (anoxic environment) filtration.

Hi Dr Novack, I think you might have misunderstood the video from Fish shop matt if you watch the rest of the video 7mins to 9mins that they were making fun of a comment that was left on one of MD fish tanks videos and it is clarified there is no team cleaning the aquarium nor does every tank have co2 MD fish tanks comes into the video and talk abt it. Just wanted to alert you of this. Other than that I am soon buying a 20 gallon undergravel filter and trying out the anoxic filter with kitty litter and laterite very excited for the results!

Great upload 👌

I'm sorry but I think you have the wrong end of the stick so to speak. Md and fish shop matt are having a giggle about having teams of cleaners a.d co2. They are just two lads having a laugh. You might be mistaken.

He does run co2 but like on one or 2 but none of the others, and he doesn't have cleaners come in . They where joking. I watch him all the time . Go back and rewatch.

Can always add a bunch of hornwort 😁

Great video

Yes....these huge elaborate, lush tanks you see get more CO2 than they admit to....MD Fish Tanks got me into wanting to create my first planted tank..... I did the thick substrate, but I put bags of Fluval Stratum right under the sand cap. Plants did start to show noticeable growth within a week. I've been out of the hobby until the beginning of March, so just playing follow the parameters, and going very slowly. Its a small tank so not sure I will do the CO2 with it, but definitely will be buying one for my next project. I saw the video you are talking about...that was setup, even though what Matt said was the truth. Lol

Doc absolutely good one please make a complete series on nature aquarium 🙏🙏🙏

The video you're referencing was just a joke on all the CO2 and maintenance crews with hi friend Matt lol. I enjoy watching MD's videos and yes he takes his tanks down a resets them up to keep them looking pristine and even points out how much algae his tanks get before he resets them. So he's honest with how he runs his tanks. He sometimes uses CO2 on new tanks to get them growing in faster, but mainly he uses lots of plants to make them look good from day one, whereas most people probably can't buy dozens of plants to fill in their tanks at the start like he does and he's honest about that fact. I like how George Farmer explains why they use high energy and CO2 in all their tanks and do daily maintenance on theirs. You just can't get that look without putting in the work and money whether you're injecting CO2 or buying loads of high-quality plants at the start and resetting the tank constantly like MD does. But they are beautiful for the right person who can do all that. ❤

No he dont run co2 in every tank matt was joking he only runs co2 in his new big tank

Regarding the video by FishShopMatt, if you watch the video past a few minutes you see that he was joking about having CO2 in all tanks and having an entire crew working on his tanks, it's just MD and his wife working on his tanks. Matt used to help until he went off to make his own KZfaq channel.

Yep slow moving undergravel filter is the way. Im not a fan of the clay, i went with 1/16 to 1/8 grain size natural gravel aka red flint and it has a ton of naturally occurring iron and combined with the 1 " undergravel filter plates my tank finally took off after i got rid of the SafeTSorb...the SafeTSorb was leaching massive amounts of silica which creates diatom paradise and completely stops plant growth by covering everything...

He does start off some of his tanks with co2 to help get the plants to grow in fast for a while and then when he runs out of the co2 he may just leave it off. He also uses floating plants in some of his tanks and so do I. He talks about not running your lights too strong and how sometimes you can increase the lighting once the plants fill in. I have seen him scrape algae many times off his aquarium glass.

Not to defend anyone but you should watch more of the videos. MD has made videos talking about how his tanks do have algae, but its little and you can't see it from far, and he did close ups and showed the algae.

I've tried, and I have an interest in some of the topics you bring up, but I'm not able to gain anything from your delivery method other than all other You Tubers are lying. Best wishes and good luck with your future endeavors. 😊

I dont care about mine looking pristine. For my first planted tank, Im letting it grow as it should. Wild. Stable parameters are much more important to me. They are for it being in the middle of the nitrogen process. My plants have done what they were created to do.....Ive enjoyed no ammonia reading, no nitrites or nitrates, all the while watching my plants grow like weeds with no CO2. Ive never seen such balance at this point in an aquariums life. I still check parameters 2x per day, ammonia and nitrites 3xs.

Minute 13:06 😂😂😂😂

G'day Dr Kevin, question, I have set up an aquarium as per your specs, a week now, and still cloudy, can I send some pictures. Long time user in Koi ponds.

On the md channel he says he doesn't use co2 but his plants look pristine so I guess he does, do like his videos and the tanks he does. It's a hobby that takes up alot of time and isn't cheap either but I do get enjoyment from it. I'm pretty new to it all and picky stuff up along the way some things work and some don't which I've learnt the hard way

Can you also use clay mixed with soil or mud

I have been watching MD Fish Tanks for a long while now and he does show algae in his tanks and mistakes he does. Most of his tanks do not stay up long term. He breaks them down and and does a new scape. Many aquascapes do the same. He does NOT run co2 on all his tanks, nor does he have a crew of people helping him. It looks like you only watched the first minute of that video. I have planted aquariums with out co2 and they are full of plants growing well. But I do use fertilizer and so does MD Fish Tanks in some of his tanks. I am using an undergravel plate in my planted tanks as a peleum.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I believe I read a responce to your comments from MD fish tanks in your comments. It appears that that well worded and ballanced response has disappeared and wondered how that could have happened. Is it a retra tion from MD, a deletion by you or am i just mistaken where i read it?

MD himself replied here yesterday. Did you remove his response??

Dr. Novak, I thought I heard you say in another video the gravel substrate should be 1-3mm diameter. What is the best size of gravel to use above the plenum? And what is too large size? I am worried the gravel I used in one tank was too large as it is a mixed size between 3-11mm. I am thinking the smaller size gives you more surface area for bacteria to colonize. Is this correct?

I have a deep walstad substrate of abput 3" top soil and 3" sand, you can see the roots going crazy right through it and the plants are thriving. 🤷 Also, MD has a lot of tanks without co2 and I'd like to see where he says he has a maintinence team! Lol. I'm not sure you've got the right man. His wife and Fish Shop Matt helps him sometimes.

Kevin, have you seen the outdoor cichlid and koi ponds in Brasil? Not a speck of algae under full sun and with high nutrients. They also use deep white sand beds with no plenum. I'm talking absolutely crystal clear. Their secret? OZONE

Please could u do an update on ur big community tank, must be 3 yrs

Still cant find a kitty litter on Romania..

If you watch the whole MD video you will find that the comments about CO2 and army of cleaners are both 'tongue in cheek' that is they are a joke. The person who enters the studio is his friend Matt, you have missed the point completely, maybe the British humour.

Good morning from Ireland. I am more and more confused...

Matt used to work with MD Fish Tanks before going on with his own channel. Everything Matt is saying about the CO2, cleaning crew, etc. is just a joke. He only uses CO2 on a couple of tanks. The cleaning crew is occasionally his wife but mostly him. He explains all this in the video.

ThAts true it happend

All media was washed.

I don't want to seem offensive or anything like that. But I think you should watch more than a few minutes of the videos hahaha. You fell for M.D's sarcasm, he rarely uses CO2 in his aquariums and the cleaning team was just a joke hahahaha

I think maybe you shut off the video a little early on Matt telling everyone Marc from MD Fish runs CO2 and has people to do all the work in the tanks. They were being sarcastic in the intro to this video. Matt literally has a key to the studio because he recently worked there and is still best friends with MD. I've followed them both for a long time and they have that sense of humor. MD has so many followers, his KZfaq money is substantial and he receives a ton of product from sponsors. Tropica plants, API, various filters, tanks, lights, etc. So far as tank maintenance, Marc does all with the help of his wife Kate who generally shies away from camera. And he does run CO2, but on very few tanks. He has another video talking specifically about his CO2 use. He just doesn't run too many because that's just too many systems, bottles, and hassle. Watching them is fun for me, but I've also seen their videos over the past couple years and understand their background and sense of humor.

👉 Promo>SM

I do believe you bought in to a spoof video that MD and Matt made to get rid of rumors about their r brake up. he says the clean up crew is MD's wife. also if you watch all his videos he says most of his tanks have no co2. He gets his money API his sponsor and youtube earnings.

A Defense of Undergravel Filters - KZfaq - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g9SBmtaG2tOuqqs.html

He’s actually correct! Guys let’s be honest you really think he doesn’t CO2 the tanks. One thing is what MD does and the other is what he says. It doesn’t take a genius to know the maintenance that MD does, I have no doubt in my mind he uses CO2 on all his tanks. I have shown some of his videos and tanks to biologist professors and they all say the Samething (CO2). Also MD said he does have a group of people that do the maintenance. Besides everything I said MD is a beast at aquascaping. YES he is deceiving people by saying the regular aquarist can do it too. Respect Doctor nothing but respect for this video.

MDFishTanks was good when he started off now hes just so fake i dont watch him anymore

MD Fishtanks uses C02 at the start for 1st 30 days then removed it. Except with largest tank kzfaq.info/get/bejne/er6ShraK18-whn0.htmlsi=EM4p2MmaUEDqvmtt