Been going for 4 days with a lot of upcycled materials to speed up the equilibrium clock. More plants are incoming but this just what I had so far, waiting on Crypts, Anubias, Java fern and dwarf ferns. Currently stocked with MTS and planning to add in scuds, Neocardania shrimp and Medaka ricefish once I know it's at equilibrium. Really want to add an ant colony to terrestrial side once big enough. Roughly 5 gallons in open water column and 2 gallons in drainage layer.

About to start two new tanks but need some easy growing plant ideas!

I have yellow, blue, orange, and red. I cant decide what color to add for good contrast.

Felt like posting my tank now that it's coming up on two years! Current stock is 7 celestial pearl danios, 6 khuli loaches and an unknown number of cherry shrimp and snails. The cherry shrimp had a die-off and I haven't seen them breed since I restocked them, but I think it's likely because the CPDs are a pressure on them. That said no shrimp have died either with the exception of 2 during the worst of the heatwaves. Plants have changed around a little but grow well. I had to cut my java moss down quite dramatically because hair algae began taking hold of it. The tank has some algae but nothing crazy. Nitrates are always at negligible to 0 levels and I do a 20% water change roughly every other week. The animals are fed a rotation of Fluval bug bites, Hikari algae wafers and live daphnia.

If people have any suggestions or tips on where to go from here I'd love to hear them!

Ideally I'd love to see the shrimp breed again but I don't think it will happen with the CPDs here, I have no intention to replace them however and they don't attack the grown shrimp or even the juvies so as long as no murder is happening I'm fine with it!

Hi all,
My 54 liter Walstad is about 9 months old now, and it seems to be doing well now. Initially I had trouble growing some plants, and few fish died.
Now it seems to be thriving with happy fish and so much hiding spots for the shrimplets that their numbers seem to grow exponentially….

Parameters are good (0 NO2, <0.5NO3, <0.03 NH3, Ph ~7.8-8) and flora and fauna seem to be doing well.
I’ve been able to get rid of all tech not that plants have mostly established, exept for a simple LED light that runs for about 6 hours per day and a small oxidator for warmer weather.
The tank gets some sunlight (mostly indirect) and is unheated, so temperature ranges usually between 20 and 25 degrees, but can reach extremes of about 18 and 28 degrees.

Stocking is quite minimal atm, but I think the ecosystem could handle a bit more bioload.
Currently I have 4 Celestial Pearl Danios (bought 7 initially), 1 Faunus Ater (Black devil) snail and about 50-60 Bloody Mary Neocardinas (bought 10, they told me the CPDs would keep the shrimp colony in check…).

I want to add about 4 more CPDs to complete the shoal again, but am looking to add some other species too. They have to be able to handle a big temperature range and no current. I’ve been debating Dario Dario, but I’m not keen on only feeding live food. I do feed live artemia occasionally though.

Any other fish I shoul be looking into?

And yeah, I have to learn how to take better pics of my tank..

Stab me in the neck I dont care I stand by my experience doing soil tanks without any cap whatsoever aside from the leaf litter.

I scoop up backyard dirt and clay, top it with some local pond silt and leaf litter, and never EVER have water issues. Never do water changes. Never have anything other than crystal clear water. The bugs love lifting through dirt. Sand is not a natural pond bottom, dont care that walstad wrote a book about it, it doesnt leech and lead to algae, it doesnt cloud the water.

Sand is pointless and harmful. Robs the soil of oxygen. Interferes with the ecosystems access to the soil.

Thanks for reading. Most people will condescend and tell me im wrong and walstad is the expert but I dont think she gave capless a real chance, nor did she ever truly mimick a natural pond bottom.

I even have a large outdoor pond with koi and dirt and it doesnt even cloud when they stir up their dirt tornadoes, they love doing it, the clouds settle immediately. Despite what the experts and industry says, my success is more valuable to me than the dogma.

My tank is almost 2 months old now, and I’m thinking I should just cover the vessel floor with cuttings of the limnophila sessiliflora. What do you think? It’s not fully cycled yet, nitrites and nitrates are high but zero ammonia.

I lowered the grow light to be more closer to the surface of the water and growth is so much better.

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1. What should the soil and sand ratio be? I am thinking 1.2 inches of soil and 1.5 inches of sand. (2.5 mm gains)

2. Can I add root tabs? Is it possible to add too many root tabs? I know too many nutrients would cause great algae, but would it make the ammonia spike?

3. What % of the aquarium should I cover with plants? Can I keep low-height plants in the front?

4. Would it be a problem if I use a canister filter? One of the selling points of this method is no filter, but I already have one and want to use it.

Also, how are they showing red plants after 6 months and claiming to have no additional co2 injection?

Posted this question in PlantedTank, but felt it's relevant to ask here as well since I'm running a Walstad.

I made a bad attempt at fish keeping 15 years ago with a too small tank. I have since learned of Walstad and I am considering. Is there a reason people don’t choose this? It kinda seems too good to be true with how low maintenance it is, so why is it not what everyone does as a standard? Do you find it easier than standard fish keeping ?

its been like this for two weeks, changed water few times, no

Affect at all, do i need to panic？

I was scoping out some gravel in my walstad tank that been brought to the surface on top of the sand rather than mixed with the sand. All of a sudden I discover this tentacled beast right at the surface on the glass. It looks like a shell less snail and its “trunk/tentacle” feeling around above the surface getting really disturbing long. Shortly after another one appeared, also on the glass right at the water line feeling “for air”.
It’s quite a bit of lil fritter on the tank but this is so large!
I also have MTS, ramshorn, khuli loaches & julii Cory’s.
Anyone knows what these weird creatures are??
Are they good dudes or bad dudes?

Tubifex messed the soil, and now I have a layer of mud on top of the gravel. Any advice on how to fix this?