Everything we used (affiliate links) Tank www.aqualife-aquarium.com/ Lights: EU: amzn.to/46vhTwM US: amzn.to/497lNxJ Substrate heater EU: amzn.to/3M1VG15 Normal heater EU: amzn.to/3QgNJaG US: amzn.to/45xQ59y Filter EU: amzn.to/3PQTf2u US: amzn.to/3rQUS8s Substrate base layer EU: amzn.to/3ZXcfRB US: bit.ly/3Rea86F Gravel EU: amzn.to/48UIzZf Wood EU: bit.ly/3ZUxeoa US: amzn.to/3M2Zu1Z Black lava EU: bit.ly/3PQpWMV US: bit.ly/3MXQTyz CO2 regulator EU: amzn.to/3PVqBNM US: amzn.to/3RWqPqn Inline CO2 diffuser EU: amzn.to/45zr65I US: amzn.to/3Fg76KG Glass lily pipes EU: amzn.to/45yTJQL US: amzn.to/3RWqGDl PLANTS USED Dwarf Hairgrass US: bit.ly/3rEvTVr Marsilea Hirsuta US: bit.ly/3ZalltM Hygrophila araguaia US: bit.ly/3QfBuLI Ranunculus Inundatus US: bit.ly/3QgTdCi Cryptocoryne Tropica US: bit.ly/44WHRIy Cryptocoryne Willisii US: bit.ly/46AFmwv Cryptocoryne Albida Costata US: bit.ly/45qX3NG Nymphaea Tiger Lotus US: bit.ly/46GSZKi Aponogeton Madagascariensis / Madagascar Lace Bulb US: bit.ly/46y558Q Rotala H'ra US: bit.ly/3BUsNyY Java fern trident US: bit.ly/3DNXw13 African Water Fern / Bolbitis Heudelotii US: bit.ly/48QO0Zp Echinodorus US: bit.ly/3M3aZGV 🚨Watch this next!🚨 Inspiration playlist! kzread.info/head/PLrlvf56gZy-ipL3105SdfKsUBrMUSttoh CO2 buying guide! kzread.info/dash/bejne/ln2K1NRqqbaZo7g.html How to SETUP your CO2! kzread.info/dash/bejne/o4d8vJZ_YrOvYtI.html Simple fertilizer dosing! kzread.info/dash/bejne/e5N_pLGOfZS4iLA.html 👉🏻Cool Aquascaping T-shirts: mosscotton.com/ Code: mjaqua10 👉🏻Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my KZread channel: KZread.com/mjaquascaping 👉🏻 Use Code ''MJAMSTERDAM'' for 10% off Fzone products #plantedtank #aquascape #mjaquascaping

@AFrox07

9 ай бұрын

2:25 what was the name of the plant nutrient please reply let me know the name

Absolutely love this tank and am a big fan of yours….just don’t like the obvious white wires at the back of the tank…spoils it I think.

@hotwater8473

9 ай бұрын

Yeah I would have tried to wrap it In something or black aquarium silicone over it.

Wow, gorgeous! It looks like the super long dark start created a really stable environment in terms of nutrient cycling from the aquasoil to the beneficial bacteria. Then when you planted the tank and turned on the lights you didn't see that usual nutrient spike which requires so many water changes. This also seems to have made it very difficult for algae to get established, giving the plants a huge advantage! Well done!

This is art! Everything from the aquarium, the videography, editing is top notch. Easily, one of the Top 3, Top 5 channels aquarium hobbyist channels on KZread.

That looks fantastic. This is the first I’ve heard of substrate heating. Very interesting.

Wow those plants filled in so fast and well! Beautiful job, I learned so much

I love it! You did a fantastic job. I never heard of substrate heating before, that is interesting. I really love the way the lights reflect off the water and make the walls shimmer. Made it even more magical looking. Oh, and I also love small fish in a big aquarium. Just really beautiful in every way.

Amazing scape as always, very interesting seeing the results of a dark start on such a large aquarium. The Madagascar Lace is such a unique plant too!

One of those tanks that really starts to look better everytime you look at it and when you get a more close look. Very well done!

Amazing! Might be one of your best I've seen. Fantastic work

That's a stunning tank Mark. Thanks for sharing.

WOW!!! This tank is really amazing, well done!!!

MJ, thank you for sharing and inspiring! Such an amazing quality video overall!

Wow, you've delivered a true piece of art (yet again)! 😊

Wow. That's got to be my favorite MJ aquascape. I love everything about it. Very interesting to learn about the dark start. The light shades the client had made are a great touch--definitely will be using that tactic for my dream tank some day.

Another amazing job! Dark starts are the secret sauce to get a tank set up without the common “new tank” issues.

Gorgeous !! I do think the dark start is a great way to go. The tank is stable before adding the plants

This brings back memories of using a Dupla heating cable in a Dupla aquarium with a Co2 reactor many years ago. Back then i used Metal Halide lighting. I always had excellent results and found that the root growth in heating cable aquariums was astronomical. Great video!

Absolutely stunning!

Awesome tank! Bottom heating seems very interesting.

Lovely set-up! Amazing! I did a dark start recently for my Iwagumi scape. Waited for about 6 weeks due to tissue culture plants availability in my country. Started planting thereafter. Immediately put a couple of nerite snails from Day 1 planting. It's one month since i planted. Zero algaes so far and my scape fully carpeted. My best start-up since i started this hobby.

One top build again! Love it!

That's a good looking set up, great work 👍

Great of video , amazing with decoration of creative , seem like tropical

Beautiful as always

Amazing, Great job!💪🏻

Beautiful and amazing aquarium, congratulations.

Wow, that is beautiful

Beautiful tank and setup. 👍 My first "dark start" attempt went exceptionally well, because I had a lot going on and really took my time. For my second "dark start" attempt, I was kinda in a rush, did some rescaping halfway through, and as a result: algae. So yes, the more time the better!

I love this tank. Congratulations

Superb Marc. Totally love this scape. Substrate heater? Now that's an idea 😊

Amazing tank MJ!

Beautiful as always :)

Nice work!

Really great ❤ congratulations

Great build! I loved every part of the video. I’m excited to watch and learn more. ❤️🇺🇸

nice job man. never heart of a substraight heater before. might have to look into it. the layout and over all groth is very pleasing!

Absolutely beautiful ❤️ The best things come to those who wait

Tolles Video über die Einrichtung dieses schönen Aquariums mit einer sehr guten Information über die verwendeten Pflanzen mittels kleiner "Steckbriefe"! 👍

Schitterend geworden, en wat een kwaliteit he de Aqualife aquariums. Ben er zelf ook nog steeds erg blij mee

So good!

Beautiful!!

I only have three words for the project "very good work"👍⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I would be happy with that Scape such a talented man love watching your videos 👍

omfg. Amazing job!

It look amazing mate! Beautiful plant selection! I think it’d be cool if you did a comparison test of growth in a heated substrate versus non heated! I’ll be waiting for that video bud 😉

Excellent!

My last aquarium which was in a 2009, 115 Gallon tank, I placed outside the tank underside, reptile heating coils pads on the tank. This way they could be replaced if necessary without being in the inside of the tank underwater. I placed three different substrate grain size mediums to also make the benefit exchange from the plant roots and water column. I did have a custom wooden stand built, that gave me access to the filter canisters and the tank outer underside to the reptile heating coil pads. Never had to replace the heating pads. Just an older idea used that functions the same way. Beautiful setup as you have it!

Has to be the cutest fish tuber out here❤

Very beautiful scape 👍

When you placed cables under the substrate it reminded me of floor heating. One would think that this would heat the water as well. I guess the wattage of this system must be really low. This setup is really beautiful Mark.

yea that's an amazing looking tank. Great job... I'm sure your client is delighted. I would be.

Butifull. Them plants 🪴 grow amazingly 👍✌️❤️😎🇬🇧

This is a similar style like the cubic aquarium near the river bank. MJ always bring some low key mystery vibe in the aquacsaping. Calm, bit natural, not over complicated, less contra Color, matching with his personality. which I really like.

Beautiful ❤

such a beautiful setup, thanks for sharing this video. i remember substrate heaters back in the day almost 25+ years ago. interesting to see it being used today. love the lamp shades for the kessil, any links to that? product? keep up the great work and can't wait to watch the next video! and re-watch!

this is awesome

I used substrate heating in my discus tank back in the late 1990s. I this is the first time I've seen it being used since my return to the hobby last year. It brought back a lot of happy memories. Thank you.

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

How was your experience with substrate heating?

@kwackytankslap9339

9 ай бұрын

It seemed to work. It was a 60cm deep tank with suspended halogen lights. Back then we were limited with substrate options so I used organic soil capped with sand. I was worried about stagnation so the substrate heating seemed a good option. I kept mainly vallis and echinodorus species and they grew very well. The echinodorus roots were huge.

@williammcdowell6257

9 ай бұрын

I have experimented with heating cables, on several tanks, over a decade ago, unconvinced it made a measurable difference. Lovely job Mark on this tank, and yes, I think the dark start helped, though the lighting is quite modest which with a controlled CO2 injection makes algae less likely. My substrate cables were black though, so easy to disguise against the back panel! @@MJAquascaping

It's a lovely aquascape! Classic triangular layout with super healthy plants. Great plant selection and end result is fantastic. I am not sure the exact reason behind the fast growing plants. Could be the blend of all the best practices we know of. Dark start is certainly one of them.

Looking Divine 💕💕

Going to model a lot of my new tank this

Unglaublich! Eigentlich ein super simples Scape, aber es haut mich total um. Muss in echt noch viel schöner sein.

Wow 🤩

for me after setting up 3 aquariums and 2 out of 3 had a bad start with alot of plants melting, i decided i wil now cycle a tank without plants first( dark cycle) and this video convinced me even more!

Love you bro Bangladesh 🇧🇩🤟

NICE!!!!

God job Bro!

Beautiful work! I will have to try the dark method on my next thank. Just a thought on substrate heaters. Although a great concept and work great ...when they fail(and all heaters eventually fail) the scape will have to be torn down and redone or switch to a standard heater. With large scale a setup like that I would install 2 substrate heaters in case one fails, so the backup is already there and will buy you some before the inevitable.

Kessil shining is awesome ❤.

Beautiful are plain words but wordless after trying to find words to type!

This is probably one of my favorite creations from you and call me old school, but those Kessil Tuna Sun lights just add such a magical and natural spark to the atmosphere that brings everything to life and cannot be accomplished with the fancy "new school" lights in the market. The only questionable choice was the cables for the heater not being lined up properly in the corner for aesthetic purposes, but that could just be my OCD speaking ;) Phenomenal job once again and very happy to see how your talent from experience matures and evolves with each new creation. Thank you for sharing this beautiful hobby with us and may your journey to the top be as exciting and fulfilling as your wildest dreams 🥂

@MumenRider78

9 ай бұрын

The shimmer makes the tank look very nice. I wonder what red plants look like under the light.

This is amazing! Would love to see you try to scape a 4ft Goldfish tank! Bring on the Ranchus haha. Beautiful job!

Beautiful scapemate, Interesting to see other peoples scapes. If your clients let you then I'd love to see more of these videos every now and then. But keep doubg yoyr normsl videos also.

well done - een super aquarium. you may consider being a bit more active during the darkstart. you can/should add ammonium to the aquarium during the darkstart. this way you simulate pooping fish and the bacteria will start to develop in a more controled way. dosing ammonium should be in the range of 20 ppm. watch what happens with nitrite and nitrate.

Cool...

its perfect :O i just would add a few cpo´s for the orange touch :))

Awesome looking tank, but im surprised you did not try to hide that gravel heater cord. Im sure there is a way ?plastic cable track or something

Ground heating is very good for the roots and prevent build up of methane. It ventilates the soil. The long dark start benefits aswell obviously. Things to remember.

Love your videos! Great tank! Have you thought about putting the heater hose behind the wood so it can’t be seen?

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

Could be an option :)

Incredible! Mark there is only one way to know if the under gravel heating and the dark start made any difference... time for a new comparison/Vs set up on your shelves? 😅

Nice tank! I haven't seen anyone use this substrate layer, how does it compare with regular aquasoil? It does seem interesting for when using a gravel/sand cover.

Hey MJ! Late to the video. Gorgeous tank! Quick question: how do you avoid pests when ordering pots vs tissue culture. I see you mixed the two here. I have always used TC plants but prefer to grab more mature plants. Love to hear what you do.

wonderfully designed tank. looks great. Only the 2 white hoses for the substrate heater disturb the overall picture 😭

Wow, this is gorgeous! I love everything about it! The Lights add such a beautiful shimmer, and I love their little lampshades! I can’t believe how the plants are growing, do you think that a lot of that is due to the substrate heater?

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

I’m not sure if it’s because of the substrate heater, but I’m considering trying it out for myself

Big fan❤ from India🇮🇳

you did a fantastic job. it looks perfect 😍😍😍 I can't figure out how people keep Madagascar Lace plant alive. I love that plant but it seems to hate me😅

Thank you for sharing your projects! Thumbs up! Let me have a question, there is no reinforcement applied to the tank. What is the thickness of the glass?

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

I believe it is 10mm glass

🔥🔥🔥

Beautiful, i love this tank! Normally during dark start period, how long and around how many % water changes would u suggest?

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

No water changes needed when doing a darkstart 😊 when you are ready for planting just drain the tank completely, and after planten fill it back up with fresh water

Nice hardware. I'm assuming a lot of liquid ferts in addition to C02 as no aquasoil?

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

Yep :)

Hey Mark great video as always. I have a question, I'm looking for a pH controller that manages the co2 injection. Which one do you suggest?

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

Evolution deluxe from Dennerle 😊

ik heb exact de zelfde bodem verwarming liggen van dennerle, met controller en het is de zware uitvoering, mijn nieuwe aqua wordt binnenkort geleverd 200x60x50 zal ik hem opnieuw gebruiken of niet? ik ga voor het eerst werken met volcano en soil van tropica..wat zou jij doen MJ ? ps mooie video..topper

Amazing Tank, could you list the fish... looks like a good selection...

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

Green neon tetra's Dwarf neon rainbow's Apistogramma Nijseni Lamb chop Rasbora I think that's it

What pH do you set the pH-controller at? Beautiful video!

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

I believe it's now set to 6.9

Great work. Did you client choose the fish to stock the tank or did you assist with that?

@MJAquascaping

9 ай бұрын

He did :)

Hi Marc awesome work well done. Im just making a similar setup. And im curious that you turned on the substrate heather during the dark start or not. Many thanks for your inspiration cheers mate

@MJAquascaping

8 ай бұрын

Yeah it was on from day 1 😊

@ihsanulusoy16

8 ай бұрын

many thanks for your answer.So kind of you

The heated substrate should make the roots grow better, as long as it's not too hot, but it does not sound like that's the case. I have a collected bonsai that was lacking roots, currently it's sitting on a heat pad

the 'dark start' concept is interesting and yet I wondered what the bacteria had to feed on for three months without any fish waste or any organic material from plants?

@davantorre4227

9 ай бұрын

Hi after one month I put a few shrimp and the got a few shrimpsticks every now an then...

@mountainhobbit1971

9 ай бұрын

what are the bacteria feeding on for the first month? @@davantorre4227

I like this work but the withe tube should be on other side where you could hide Dem. Otherwise, you created a beautiful tank simple, and beautiful.

its Awesome! :O i love it! we are moving in our own House now and my plan for the Livingroom is a Aquarium like that! now we got a Juwel Vision 260 and tbh... i dont like it anymore the curved front is .. määäh... next Tank is a regualr Tank but i dont know how big i will go XD depands on my girlfriend :D but i have a awesome plan for it :P ceep going my firend i love ur builds