The article explores the challenges and methods of maintaining a well-planted aquarium with a high fish load. It discusses the balance between aeration, which fish require, and carbon dioxide levels, which plants need. The article highlights successful approaches by hobbyists like John Domokos, who uses advanced filtration and aeration techniques, and the Father Fish method, which employs a natural system with a soiled substrate and deep sand bed. It emphasizes the flexibility of aquarium setups and the importance of choosing easy-to-grow plants for success.
AquariumScience
Aquarium Science
Aquariumscience.org is a website dedicated to freshwater aquariums. It is based on SCIENCE AND LOGIC, not on parroted internet “advice”, anecdotal “It worked great for me“, or the marketing hype of some profit-driven marketer.
Auteur: David Bogert
What needs to be emphasized is that this research has pointed out that there are a huge number of ways to be successful with freshwater aquariums. The aquarium is a natural system and Mother Nature is very flexible. One does not need to invest huge amounts of money and time in fish-keeping to have beautiful tanks. Nor does one need to do a ton of research before getting into the hobby. And above all, there is simply no “right way” to do things in this hobby.
So if one is a newcomer to the hobby just relax and enjoy it. If you obsess over every detail and believe all the negativity on social media along the lines of “don’t do this or you will kill your fish” you will not enjoy the hobby and you will leave in relatively short order.
There are 18 chapters leading to over 400 articles on almost all aspects of keeping a freshwater aquarium. These articles have NO links to profit-making sites and thus have no “questionable motivations” in their recommendations, unlike all the for-profit sites you will find with Google. Note I do admit a bias against several companies that blatantly use huge amounts of egregious “pseudoscientific bedazzlement” to sell worthless aquarium products. I can’t help it.
Bookmark and browse! Note that a search bar at the bottom of each page allows one to search the entire site for any particular subject. Note that the entire website is “open” in that any written material can be freely quoted and used without regard to copyrights.
Multilevel Information
This website is designed in descending levels of difficulty, the first level on any given subject which is very simple, a second more complicated level, in some cases going all the way down to sixth and seventh levels which can be very wordy, convoluted and difficult. Note that because each article has to stand on it own in this hierarchy, we often repeat ourselves as we go from simple to complex explanations.
First Level: Keeping it Simple
We start out with a very simple fifteen-point list of what to do with a new aquarium, This simple list can be found in the article:
Second Level
Then we add a second level of complexity when we discuss three very important topics: chlorine, cycling, and the amount of food in this link:
1.1. Guidelines for Beginners
Third Level: Guidelines for Beginners
Then we add a third level of complexity when we give condensed versions of various topics in articles 1.1.1. to 1.1.14.
1.1.1. What to do with Your First Aquarium
1.1.2. A Simple Way to Cycle an Aquarium
1.1.3. Fish Food Simplified
1.1.4. Water Parameters
1.1.5. Filters for the Newbie
1.1.6. Filter Media
1.1.7. Aeration
1.1.8. Stocking a Tank
1.1.9. Brown Algae in a New Tank
1.1.10. Plants and the New Hobbyist
1.1.11. The Most Common Fish Disease – Ich
1.1.12. How to Make Fish Thrive
1.1.13. Fish for the Beginner
1.1.14. Aquarium Maintenance
Fourth Level: Basic Fishkeeping
Then there are the rather verbose general interest articles in the “Basics of Fishkeeping” section 1.2. though 1.7., the fourth level of difficulty.
1.2. 150 Myths
1.3. Marketing Hype
1.4. Sources of Data
1.5. Aquarium Options
1.6. Causes of Rapid Fish Deaths
1.7. Causes of Slow Fish Deaths
Fifth and Sixth Levels: Fishkeeping in Depth
Then there is the fifth level of difficulty in the 18 chapters seen at the top of this article in maroon (also seen either below this section [mobile use] or on the right side [computer screen]). These 18 “chapters” then lead to the sixth level of over 400 “articles” on various aquarium subjects.
Seventh and Eighth Levels: The Scientific Research Papers
Some of these articles have a seventh and even an eighth level of difficulty which delve into the basic science underlying the hobby with many scientific journal articles, book excerpts, and other references. These are long and tedious dissertations only for real aquarium nerds like the author.
Hierarchy
The articles are arranged in a hierarchy. Take the three articles on nitrate for instance. The main article “5. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Chlorine” is a general overview. This article links at the bottom of its 5. article to the hyperlink “5.4. Safe Nitrate Levels”. The article, “5.4. Safe Nitrate Levels”, talks only about nitrate. At the bottom of the 5.4. article, there is a link to the article “5.4.1. Nitrate in Depth”. This final 5.4.1. article is a very boring, verbose, and lengthy look at the scientific papers on nitrate. This is a very typical “hierarchy”.
De auteur : David Bogert
The author’s credentials are in the following article:
97. Author of Aquariumscience.org
Revisions
If you are following this website and want to know when the author has learned something new (I learn something new about aquariums every day!), one can go to the following article to see all the major revisions that are done:
99. Revisions to Aquarium Science Website
And note the author is constantly learning new things from others in the hobby. And he is constantly finding mistakes in his research.
15.10. Hybrid Planted Aquariums
The hybrid low-tech planted aquarium uses wood pellets for CO2 and chemical fertilization, blending Walstad and high-tech methods.
15.9. High Tech Planted Aquariums
I define a “high tech planted aquarium” as an aquarium with CO2 gas injection to at least 20 ppm and high intensity LED lighting with blue and crimson components (“grow lights”).
15.8. Walstad Aquarium
The Walstad Method, created by Diana Walstad, offers a natural approach to setting up a planted aquarium. It emphasizes a balanced ecosystem where plants and fish support each other, requiring minimal maintenance. This method uses organic soil and gravel, eliminating the need for CO2 injection and frequent water changes.
15.6.4. CO2 From Food in the Aquarium
CO2 From Food in the Aquarium is one “interesting” approach to providing carbon dioxide to the aquarium. ote I do NOT recommend this method. It is challenging, to say the least.
15.6.3. High Tech CO2 Systems
Most high-tech planted aquariums use a high-tech CO2 injection system. These systems are prone to failures and doing it cheap can get you in trouble.
15.6.2. KH pH CO2 Relationships in the Aquarium
KH pH CO2 Relationships in the Aquarium is called the “Bermuda Triangle” of aquarium chemistry with good reason. It is very complex and making simplistic assumptions about it can easily lead one astray and kill fish.
15.6.1. Low Tech CO2
There are two low tech CO2 systems extant. One, an inverted bottle diffuser, is for ONLY small low tech tanks under 20 gallons (80 liters). The second, a “wide mouthed jar” diffuser, will work well for much larger aquariums. These type systems are often called “passive CO2 bottles”.
15.6. Carbon Dioxide and Plants in the Aquarium
Carbon Dioxide and Plants in the Aquarium: Unless one has some very easy aquarium plants (Anubias, Amazon sword, Java fern, Java moss) a planted aquarium needs a source of carbon dioxide.
15.5.7. DIY Fertilizers
Some hobbyists with planted aquariums want to use the same type of fertilization program an expensive commercial aquarium fertilizer will provide, but at a much lower cost. This article tells on how to make a do-it-yourself fertilizer which is MUCH cheaper.