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Dr. Kevin Novak, PhD is always recommended for me on Youtube and I honestly can't stand him. Why? His solution to EVERYTHING is a plenum. It reminds me of some diet supplements I've seen (Dr. Gundry's Vital Reds anyone?). Whatever your ill, what he's selling will cure it.
Is it hucksterism? Probably not. I would guess that he has based his life and Youtube personality so wholly around anoxic filters and plenums that he genuinely sees that as the solution to all your aquarium ailments. The people I trust are more likely to say that these are complex problems with complex solutions, and you can't ascribe one general solution to every situation.
Another thing about the problems we encounter in aquariums: Time heals many wounds. Let's say you have an aquarium with algae and you try a bunch of things to get rid of it. Eventually, the microbial and macrophytic ecosystem balances out and the algae is outcompeted by the plants and it goes away. You might think it was something you did, but the algae may have gone away on its own without intervention.
This happens with folk remedies all the time. For example, my mom always tells me to take oregano oil when I have a cold (disgusting stuff, btw). I take it to make her happy, and two weeks later I no longer have a cold. She takes it as evidence that oregano oil works, when in reality the cold would have gone away on its own if I did nothing at all!
That seems to be the exact situation with the plenum/anoxic filtration. You do something that by design has very minimal impact, wait a long time, and your problems are solved. So did the anoxic filter solve the problem? Or was it time?
That's it for my rant. I'm sure he is a very knowledgeable and pleasant man, I just disagree with his ideas.
Is it hucksterism? Probably not. I would guess that he has based his life and Youtube personality so wholly around anoxic filters and plenums that he genuinely sees that as the solution to all your aquarium ailments. The people I trust are more likely to say that these are complex problems with complex solutions, and you can't ascribe one general solution to every situation.
Another thing about the problems we encounter in aquariums: Time heals many wounds. Let's say you have an aquarium with algae and you try a bunch of things to get rid of it. Eventually, the microbial and macrophytic ecosystem balances out and the algae is outcompeted by the plants and it goes away. You might think it was something you did, but the algae may have gone away on its own without intervention.
This happens with folk remedies all the time. For example, my mom always tells me to take oregano oil when I have a cold (disgusting stuff, btw). I take it to make her happy, and two weeks later I no longer have a cold. She takes it as evidence that oregano oil works, when in reality the cold would have gone away on its own if I did nothing at all!
That seems to be the exact situation with the plenum/anoxic filtration. You do something that by design has very minimal impact, wait a long time, and your problems are solved. So did the anoxic filter solve the problem? Or was it time?
That's it for my rant. I'm sure he is a very knowledgeable and pleasant man, I just disagree with his ideas.
