Was disappointed by the video, compared to his scapes! Some people are inherently good teachers, some are not.
Josh Sim is a multi grand champion winner of the IAPLC, yet I'm surprised that
I hope this video doesn't go viral -- not because he doesn't know what he's doing, but
because it's really not well explained.
Nothing he said is groundbreaking (which is why I take major issue with putting "conspiracy" in the literal title of the video) -- he doesn't fertilize the water column for the first month, just lets plants adapt to the conditions via aquasoil nutrients. He doses very lean in his tanks (extremely common for hardscape-heavy IAPLC diorama Tanks, almost exactly what every diorama-style winner has done for every competition), he front loads after a weekly 50% water change, and he doses even less than most labels recommend.
As he states in his own comment section, he's not an expert -- he likes a "lazy approach".
But there is so much important information he
doesn't explain that those in this hobby would seriously misunderstand, for example in the comments:
"
yes i agree that nutrient from the substrate level is equally or maybe more important [as whatever fertilizer you add]!"
Like, Josh, that's HUGE.
Information like that massively matters to the way a tank is run! Thousands of people will be watching this video, are you going to assume they all use nutrient-rich aquasoil? Or, would you mind explicitly explaining that your success with this nutrient style is the result of nutrient-rich aquasoil?
In my "experiment" tank which has inert sand, my plants (even if given the chance to adapt) would nearly immediately stunt and algae would explode if I followed his 3-part advice. Not because it's wrong, but because it doesn't work with my aquarium's setup. I know why, I can explain why, and I don't claim inert sand is
better than aquasoil
.
In my large 150p tank, which started with ~$800 of
ADA Amazonia Aquasoil, I could have
not fertilized for well over 1 month and still seen good plant growth, and for the next 6 months followed a lean front-loading dosing method like he described, and got good growth. Now, approaching a year with POUNDS of plant biomass grown, my aquasoil is basically spent and no longer provides any macros to my system. I am literally required to dose quite a lot of ferts.
But I can explain why, and I do. But I don't have the reach Josh Sim does.
... this comment from Josh:
"Actually i did not go into detail study of why i do what i do....it is just pure instinct and logic and after so many years, it become a habit. "
It's a
sixteen minute video! So what
were we learning from the video? What is the point of a video like this??
It's presented like this is some big secret that we should really consider following, but it's not a secret, it's just science and isn't hard to understand.
Ultimately I don't mind a grand champion sharing his methods, but between the thumbnail, the clickbait title, and the "discussion" style of the video, I wanted him to explain WHY or HOW he follows this method -- not for me, I already understand the reason why his method works for his tanks and the style of the tanks he grows. I previously
only used a lean fertilizer method for all of my tanks (see the river-style tanks in my signature and the bowl scapes I've done).
I want him to explain WHY or HOW his method works because beginners will follow his method and either find success or not, but he didn't explain anything other than the basic of his method. He may not even understand it himself, as it sounds like he leans more on instinct and visual assessment of his tanks and plant health.
Still, I'm so tired of very few people in the hobby understanding the
actual reasons behind their successes and failures. This video feels only like throwing more sh*t in the pile without explaining WHY. More misinformation/misunderstanding, despite a
mostly good intention.
Some people are inherently good teachers, some are not. See
@Dennis Wong for an example of a good teacher!
/soapbox
