Tom Barr on Aquarium Plant Tips, Myths, and Critical Thinking

We talk with Dr. Tom Barr, a well-known expert in aquatic plant physiology and promoter of E.I. dosing (estimative index) and Liebig's Law, about how to grow healthy aquarium plants. This is next-level planted tank knowledge, plain and simple.
We cover important topics like CO2 injection and carbon issues, algae, lighting, and nutrient dosing to help you create a thriving planted tank. We also discuss some of the popular planted tank myths that get repeated without critical thinking and proper testing, how to properly test cause and effect in your aquarium, and tips for low-tech and high-tech setups.

This is a condensed version of our live stream with Tom Barr, keeping the focus on planted tanks. Watch the full 2 and a half hour discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F2tBPtx6xw

How to properly use CO2 in planted tanks
Balancing light and nutrients for better plant health
Debunking common myths about algae, blue light, and phosphates
Tips for both low-tech and high-tech setups
The role of plant physiology in successful aquascaping

We had to pleasure of interviewing Dr. Tom Barr on Wet Your Plants, a live stream to help viewers with their planted aquariums, dispel the planted tank myths perpetuated on social media, and encourage critical thinking in the hobby.

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Join us Friday evenings at 8:30pm Central Time for a fun hangout with aquarium hobbyists, and Monday afternoons at 4:00pm Central Time to answer your aquatic plant questions. We're here to interact with chat, answer questions, play some games, make you laugh, and give something back to the Fishfam.

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00:00 Two Doctors and an English Major
00:31 The Path to Mastering Plants
03:07 MYTH: Phosphates!
06:20 What Causes Algae?
06:49 MYTH: Blue Light, Algae, and Critical Thinking
09:34 It's all our fault!
12:16 Pogostemon Octopus Used to be Difficult?
13:06 CO2 even in "low-tech"
16:46 What if you stop injecting CO2?
19:14 Try all the things!
19:37 The proven way to fight algae
22:16 Maximizing what Plants Need Most
25:25 A different view of low-tech
27:32 MYTH: Plants, KH, and pH "crash"
30:54 Healthy Debate vs. Egos
32:10 Dialing in CO2, Patience, True Testing
35:25 Dirted tanks, the best kind of dirt
37:34 A secret advantage of water changes
38:54 Fish as fertilizer, an experiment
41:45 Algae removal methods
43:44 Best time to dose ferts?
44:28 MYTH: Nutrient Deficiency Charts.
45:41 MYTH: Allelopathy or "Plant Warfare"
50:45 MYTH: Carbon filter and fertilizers
52:04 Tom Barr writing a book?
54:41 The most important advice of all