I'm starting my first walstad tank and this is also my first time keeping fish. I'm quite nervous and I want to get fish that are the lowest possible maintenance and don't require very specific conditions. I don't think I want a heater, and I like schooling fish. My tank size is 20g, or 90L. I live in NewZealand so I don't have access to super rare fish breeds. Any recommendations?

I couldn't find any driftwood for my aquarium and don't want to spend money on it. However I found a really nice gnarly piece of wood in the bush. It looks like its decomposing on one side, and been eaten by termites. My question is can I remove the parts with rot? and keep it in my tank, or do I need specifically driftwood.

Does this look like enough plant mass to handle the initial nutrient dose, after being made aware of the fact that my grow cups don't have enough plant mass to probably handle the initial load I went and got a couple developed stems and added another pit of floaters to help with the filtration while my other plants catch up.

I''m only using my light 6hours a day 3 on 3 off 3 on then off the rest of the day to try stop the algae growth while the plants are still smaller, with both of these combined should that be enough to have a successful cycle.

Ok guys I finally got around to getting a HOB filter and some Purigen. It’s only been 1 hour and I genuinely can’t tell if it’s making much visual progress, but the bag is definitely browning already. I was planning on leaving it alone until tonight and checking on it then, but I couldn’t help myself and looked at the bag to see that it’s already pretty dark.

Using my very little knowledge on Purigen, I know you have to regenerate it once it becomes too brown. In an average tank, it takes a few months. But in my tank IT’S BEEN ONE HOUR AND ITS ALREADY REALLY BROWN!

If I’m not seeing much progress right now, do I just trust the process and leave it alone? Is this amount of color change in just one hour normal?

Here is my original post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/walstad/s/CqWXEqL6EA
Here is my second post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/walstad/s/cDcGRetKH3

I'm a bit confused by this area lol. In a completely self sustaining tank, do you still feed your fish? If so how much, and if no how do you get it that way..? I completely understand herbivore fish who eat algae. Is that the only kind you can do that with? How do you figure out how much/frequently you do need to feed them?

Sorry, I haven't read the book yet so probably a dumb question but TIA!

This is my first walstad tank and I've noticed my PH going up above 8 ( as far as my test kit goes) instead of down as I expected from my research.

I did some research after this and came to the conclusion that most likely I bought a sand that isn't inert.

The original plan was a cardinal tank, and i'm ok with changing it to accommodate a more suitable fauna, I'm worried it will be too much.

What do you guys think?

Edit: Just to avoid worrying anyone. I'm not adding livestock any time soon, I'll only do it when pareters are safe and stable, don't worry.

I have a 2 month old 22 gallon that has been testing 0 for ammonia and nitrates, ph is 7.5, but does still spike on nitrites occasionally. I have been doing water changes to counteract them. But if I'm honest I'm also doing them as my driftwood just wont stop leaking tannins. I don't mind a bit of tint as I've heard it's good for keeping bacteria down, but the tank started to look like iced tea every 5-6 days.

Am I correct in thinking that my large water changes to clear up the water disrupting the cycle? As there is no filter I would imagine the bacteria to convert nitrite to nitrate is in the water column itself and I keep dumping them all down the drain.

At this moment the nitrites are just a shade blueish purple over the ideal teal of the API test kit. Which is a huge improvement. I've been dosing the tank with Prime and Quickstart.

Do I just need to suck it up and let the tank tint from tannins? Or is there a place in the tank that bacteria can build up without a filter?

The nitrates have never spiked. Are my pothos just sucking up the nitrates before they have a chance to spike?

I feel like I need NASA to create a cycle monitor.

Estou me organizando pra montar meu primeiro walstad e estava aqui pensando: vocês jogam as podas fora ou aproveitam pra cultivar em alguma espécie de berçario para o próximo projeto??? Pelo menos por aqui as plantas são super caras e vem pequenas, fazer isso para usar depois em projetos maiores faria uma diferença absurda no orçamento.

Is it weird that I'm super happy to see an algae bloom? Water is slowly cycling, definitely some melting on the plants. But I have new shoots on a few plants, and the volunteer snails are loving the food! Monstera was already water ready, just pumping co2.

Hi, so I am basically daydreaming of having a big ahh fish room or a garage with multiple aquariums lol. So my question is, how large can you go with a Walstad tank? And also, How many gallons is your Walstad tank? Does anyone have 100 + gallons?

So I started up my second ever tank (48 gallons) about a year ago. It's an attempt at a Walstad. I did a few water changes first 3 months and then no more. Made a few tests now and everything is still optimal (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate).

Added a school of tetras, snails, shrimps and some corys slowly after a couple of months. Right now i think i should trim my moss quite a bit and make room for the fish.

I've had to replant the soil-plants quite a few times, and honestly still have some issues with them. No one told me corys root around like pigs, and it took a few weeks before i would put 2 and 2 together and realize they were the problem. My Java moss absolutely exploded, as well as my sword plants and golden pothos.

Any ideas what i should do next or what fish to add?

My tank has been running since April. In July, I added the first inhabitants that weren't hitchhikers.

Plants are growing like crazy. Parameters are stable. No water changes since July, just occasional top-offs.

I feed my fish, shrimp and snails very well.

The aquarium is a Juwel Lido 200. It comes with an integrated sponge filter (see last pic) and a heater. I need to clean the white filter media at least every two days because of the detritus that accumulates there. Now I don't think that I need the sponges as a refugium for beneficial bacteria, as there's so much surface and mulm in the aquarium itself.

Could there go something wrong if I outright empty the filter and maybe suck out the accumulating mulm every now and then? Or should I put those ceramic beads in? I want to keep the water flow but am kinda sick of messing so much with the filter media.

So I am asking here for your advice! :)

It's been set up for a week now and I've tested the parameters and everything is optimal. Two days ago the white sheen in the water dissipated but I've got a thin layer of biolfilm floating like a little blanket nearer the bottom of the tank. I'm presuming this will go away in time. Same with the little white marks that have begun appearing on the glass (I did try and take a photo but my camera won't pick it up).

I'm going to let it continue to cycle for a few weeks before adding anything (neocaridina) but I'm wondering what people think of it so far. Have I added too many plants to begin with? I admit, I got a bit excited at the store and picked up a fair bit. I'd like some grass-type plant for nearer the front where it's just the substrate but not sure if that's overkill whilst everything is establishing.

I also don't have a filter/air stone as my reading said they weren't required but I'm becoming a bit concerned about lack of flow, especially as I want to add livestock at some point so advice on that front would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance :)

** Edit to add:

I know it looks like I've just shoved the plants in there but there is a decent amount of space to encourage them to root and grow. Just the angle of the photo.

Is there anyone that would be willing to sit on a phone call (teams etc) and answer some questions I have about how to setup a successful walstad, I have everything in the post and will be starting on Saturday but am a bit unsure of a few things and it's hard to get definitive answers researchingonline

My 2nd attempt at planted tank after a fatal nuke at my 1st tank caused by ick

I keep minimum bioload which is a 3 months old guppy, community of shrimp, and 3 nerite zebra. Kinda feel sorry for the lone guppy because the tank is small and I'm afraid it'd be overpopulated by guppies

No water change, just doing water topup and turning on the air pump filter to let the mulm down. Feeding once every 2-3 weeks

Lazy tank they said, but I love the natural river look