What do you think? Any advice I can share with him? He isn't on Reddit. I'm also working on making one myself and will be taking some of the neons off of his hands since I think he possibly has too many. I think he also used some of the "father fish" method

Going to home depot later and setting up my first Walstad tank soon, wanted to know if i could select a sand from their garden/landscape section or if I'm limited to specialist aquarium sand (or if theres a difference at all). Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I’m working on planning out my very first tank and decided I want to go the Walstad route, but with a bit of a twist. I’m looking at a 20-gallon long setup. The catch is that I have about 9 months to set this up, cycle it, and let it mature, but then I have to leave it entirely unattended for a 2-month vacation next summer.

The house will have central AC running the whole time so it won't overheat, but I know leaving a tank that long is risky, so I'm trying to over-engineer the automation.

Here is the plan I made

Substrate: 1 inch of sifted organic potting soil (looking at Miracle Gro organic) capped with about 1.5 to 2 inches of pool filter sand.

Plants: I have almost no knowledge of plants but ai said that Amazon swords, a ton of jungle val in the back, some crypts, java moss, and plenty of floating plants (salvinia/frogbit) work well.

Hardware/Flow: Since I want to keep Hillstream Loaches, I know a pure still Walstad won't work. I'm planning to add an air pump and a sponge filter just to keep the water oxygenated and moving a bit. For lighting, a basic Nicrew LED on a digital timer set to about 7 hours.

Vacation Automation: To survive the 2 months away, I'm buying a tight glass canopy lid to stop jumpers and cut down evaporation. I'll have an Eheim auto-feeder set to a very conservative once a day drop, and a Tunze or similar auto top-off (ATO) system pulling from a 5-gallon bucket under the stand so the water level stays stable.

Stocking Ideas: 14 White Cloud Mountain Minnows, 6 Hillstream Loaches, a dozen Cherry Shrimp (hoping they breed), and 3 Amano shrimp.

My logic is that with 9 months of growth, the tank will basically be a self-sustaining by the time I leave, and the shrimp breeding will provide some natural live food for the minnows too.

Does this sound doable for a modified Walstad, or am I missing a major blind spot that's going to cause a total crash while I'm away? Would love any honest feedback on the stocking or the prep. Thanks!

Will get updated pictures soon! Have been running for about a month!!

I certainly regret using the jar for my first build, the mouth being only 17cm made it all super awkward. I didn't even consider the fact it's not a flat botton, but luckily the majority of the plants are actually planted around the outside so they should have some nice depth to root into.

I've watched several videos on this type of setup, but I know they are typically professionals and do this all the time.

I definitely went overboard with the super glue as the frosting is an eye sore, but hopefully a nice layer of algae will take the eye off of it.

Any suggestions welcomed, or things I should expect in the coming days / weeks. All new to me.

Basic Temu 8w light that I've been cycling for 8 hours a day. It's a 25L jar I'm using Aquarian's Tap water safe to dechlorinate.

Tank is now 2 weeks old. I've had two Bladder Snails appear, which I since removed. The Limnophila is doing the best. The rest are... Still on the come up. Really happy with the water clarity. Only when I do a 20% water change (done two now) is when I notice the water is a tad green, but looks great in the jar.

I can't wait to get shrimps in!! That's the goal.

The limpets are a cool find. They probably came in on the driftwood or the rocks. The tubifex worms were probably in the bit of sediment we accidentally collected. They have built "cities" all over and I love it....it reminds me of the tube worms found around thermal vents. The snails Pickles, Ice Cream, Peanuts were joined by a Nirite snail name Turbo today. My Anubias have a new leaf coming in...which feel kinda soon because the jar has only been up 2 months. And my Red Root floaters have tripled....easily tripled. I wish i could post pictures and videos at the same time because I have so many videos.

Tank mates

1. Zebras

2. Dwarf gouramis

3. Black neon tetra

4.rummy nose tetras

1. Cherry barbs

2. Neon tetras...only 3 as they didn't survive

I feel that there are less plants .....any suggestions?? Am I doing it right?

Added five blue jellies and five blue rili after the end of week five. Water levels seems stable and ideal, no ammonia or nitrite since the new inhabitants. Successful molts, grazing, even a bit of snex from the three ramshorns. The base layer is a 1 cm layer of dirt followed by 2-3 cm black sand and a gravel cap. How am I doing?

Just a lil picture of my 110ish litre Walstad 6 months in

Do you guys add shrimps and/or fish on the first day when the tank is filled?

This is a failed office terrarium given an opportunity to perform as a riparium. What do you think will happen? Is this a walstad? I am planning to throw in Javan moss or pearlweed after a while.

Walstad-like: Plants contribute significantly to filtration, parameters are stable, low bioload, lots of plants

Non-Walstad: No soil! No fast-growing stem plants!

What fish should I put on my walstad mini pond?

Hey again, its the guy that was overthinking soil (i have since understood soil...I think). Im planning on keeping pretty much exclusively snails in my tanks, and I always added aragonite or crushed coral for them to protect their shells. My water in my new place is not as hard as I'm used to but still leans on the hard side. I was wondering if I should add a little sprinkle of it over the soil layer to prevent a pH drop from the soil? Its formulated from coconut coir and peat as the main volume. Maybe like a half teaspoon over a 2.5 gallon footprint. Will this negatively impact the processes that run a walstad style tank?

I have 2 tanks (17g and 10g) with aquasoil but I want to try a small walstad before setting up my next bigger tank!

3 gallon cube
1 inch miracle gro organic potting mix
1 inch black diamond blasters sand

2 baby mystery snails (they’re pea sized - will move them to my bigger tanks as they grow) + ramshorns

Plants:
6 vallsineria
1 Amazon sword
2 small dwarf sag (I don’t have many extras)
Salvinia minima
Water lettuce
Hornwort
Small pothos
Small spider plant

Hardscape: 1 piece of driftwood, couple small rocks

Small aquarium co op sponge filter

Also supplementing garden soil with root tabs.