# Newbie 40 gal walstad



## Mezuri

Hey guys,

I just setup a 40 gal walstad tank a 4 days ago.
I have to say it looks pretty sweet however I have no pearling going on..
My water column is pretty stable.
Ph: 7
Gh: 8
Ammonia : 0.25
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0

Tank mates are:
1 dwarf flame gourami
1 dwarf coral gourami
2 rainbow sharks
1 bristlenose catfish
14 neon tetra
5 glow tetra (i know they school in 6 or more but they love there neon buddies)

Substrate:
Scotts osmocote garden soil
Capped with 2 - 7 mm gravel.

Tech:
Eheim 200w heater
Eheim 2213 canister with filter wool(no bio media)
x2 30 watt t8
x1 20 watt t8
80 watts 2wpg.

I will post pics asap.


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## Mezuri

A photo of the tank

Plants:

Bacopa - dont know full name of it thats all my lfs calls it
Pennywort
Amazon swords
Baby tears

As above has stated no pearling at all..
Am I being too impatient or have I done something wrong?

Please any/all advice is appreciated


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## Michael

Welcome to APC, Mezuri!

Pearling only happens under certain conditions when the plants are producing oxygen so quickly that it cannot dissolve into the water and appears as bubbles on the leaves. New plants that have not established yet almost never pearl.

A tank can be perfectly healthy with plants that never pearl. This is often the case in Walstad tanks. You may never see pearling in your tank, but that does not mean that you have done anything wrong, or that the tank will not be successful.

If I can offer another tip, you need a lot more plants--four times the number you have would not be too many. Walstad tanks depend on dense planting right from the start to use up any excess nutrients (ammonia) from the soil. They don't need to be expensive plants. Cheap, fast growing stem plants work very well. You can thin them later if you want. Of the plants on your list, bacopa and pennywort are the fastest growers.

Good luck!


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## Mezuri

Thanks michael.

My lfs is also my place of work 

I picked up today:
x2 java fern- very healthy
x4 crypts- again very healthy

All came in small clay pots, I have yet to plant them in yet as I need a new syphon

Could i crush those little pots and use them as iron enhancer or just discard them?

All i did with my soil was throw it in as it had very little large sticks/bark.


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## draftzero

I would watch for ammonia spikes, especially at night when the light goes out. Usually happens in 1-2 weeks.

As far as the clay, I think it should help provide iron and what not. This should better explain everything: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...-mineralized-soil-substrate-aaron-talbot.html

Also, I'm curious as to how your baby tears do. I read somewhere that they are hard to grow in a NPT.


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## Michael

Draftzero is right, if you used the soil with no preparation you are likely to have ammonia spikes. I'm not familiar with that exact product, does it have Osmocote pellets in it?

You can crush the pots and put them in the substrate. Because the clay has been hard-fired it will be very slow to release any iron. The effort may be more trouble than it is worth.


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## NayR:D

I think you may need a whole load of stems and floating plants to deal with the soon coming ammonia spike...good luck


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## Mezuri

Thanks to all for your input,
Im looking out for spikes of anykind, osmocote does have a version with the little yellow slow release natural ferts.
Judging by whats being said this ammonia spike sounds like it will be high..
As far as I was told - at night plants release co2 as we all know so I put my bubbles on softly.
I read somewhere bubbles also defuse ammonia into ammonium or is said article full of itself?

It has been 5 days and heres some number results from the past 5 days

Ph: 7, 7, 7, 7, 7
Ammonia: 0.25, 0.25, 0.25, 0.25, 0.25
Nitrate: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
Nitrate: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

And its all the same at 5 hours after lights out


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## Mezuri

Hey everyone!

Day 6 and i have finally gotten around to doing some tank work:










I took out 50% of the water planted then filled back up.

Added:
Java ferns x2
Crypts x alot those 4 clay pots i purchased had heaps in there
Wisteria



The tanks water column hasnt changed still
Ph: 7
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Gh: 8


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## Mezuri

Update:

So it seems I have encountered a nitrate spike of 50 ppm and a nitrite spike of 2 ppm

I did a water change but wont know more till tonight when i get off work. I unfortunately lost my bristlenose catfish 

Should I put my bio media back into my filter? As I said before all i have in there is filter floss.

Sorry to be a pain!


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## draftzero

Can't remember, but I believe bio filter will be okay, but don't put charcoal (if memory serves), best way (IMO) to deal with the spike is to get some prime.

It may be a good idea, since you still need more plants, or at the very least for the plants to acclimate to your tank... but eventually you'll probably want to take it out, once your tank has much more plants.


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## Luffy

If you go to orchard supply or any store with a garden section, they should be able to sell you some water lettuce really cheap. It'll suck up a lot of that ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, etc. Bad news is the bio filter will take some time to establish a colony of beneficial bacteria. Unless you've got an established tank to keep your fish in until everything's under control, I fear you might have more casualties. The water lettuce is easy to find though, and will help a bit. They're hungry plants.


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## Mezuri

I use prime, stability, safeguard and as for the ph i use seachem neutralizer

Water lettuce you say ok! Ill go have a poke around and see what I can find. Thanks!!

Unfortunatly i cannot obtain water lettuce.

My area of australia doesn't sell it.. will duckweed work as a substitute?


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## NayR:D

Mezuri said:


> I use prime, stability, safeguard and as for the ph i use seachem neutralizer
> 
> Water lettuce you say ok! Ill go have a poke around and see what I can find. Thanks!!
> 
> Unfortunatly i cannot obtain water lettuce.
> 
> My area of australia doesn't sell it.. will duckweed work as a substitute?


Why do you want you alter you PH?


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## Mezuri

My tap ph is like 8.2 its rather high for trops ok for goldies but i dont like goldies.

I balance it before i put it in the tank


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## NayR:D

Why not cut it with RO.
The GH and KH is more appropriate for specific fish.


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## Mezuri

Hi, sorry not up with the lingo, what is RO?
My gh is 8
My kh is around 6


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## Michael

My suggestion would be to have nothing but biomedia in the filter. But biomedia takes time to mature, so it is not a quick fix for your problem. Do you have some mature media from another tank you could use? Or even some mulm (that yuck that comes out of a dirty filter) that you could put in the tank or filter to get a good bacteria colony going?

Carbon in the filter may help. More fast growing plants will help, especially floaters like hortwort, frogbit, or even duckweed. Your main tool to reduce the ammonia spike is frequent large water changes.


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## NayR:D

Mezuri said:


> Hi, sorry not up with the lingo, what is RO?
> My gh is 8
> My kh is around 6


PM'd

Hope you get over the spike  sorry to hear about your unlucky fish


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## Mezuri

Thank you Michael and NayR,
Your guys help is much appreciated!

This is my only tank really besides my 2 beta tanks but there filters are tiny and one of the betas just got over popeye...

By large water changes u mean 50%? Or greater?
Would bagging my bio media and hanging it in the tank with the already matured filter floss help age my media or will that just be a waste of time?

Im about to do a water test since I just woke up and have a few hours before going to work.
I heard duckweed once its in the tank its a nightmare to get out! Is this true

I dont mind the look of hornwart. May have to pick some of that up.
Wont floaters knock out alot of light? Also my spraybar on my filter is nuts and will push floaters into the corner of the tank...

Test results from yesterday and today

Yesterday:
Ph 7
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 2
Nitrate 80

Misses did a small water change yesterday. After those results i dont blame her.

Today's:
Ph 7
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.50
Nitrate 5.0

Down from yesterday!


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## Angie

Need more plants and some floating fast growers.
Good luck.


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## Mezuri

Thanks im aware of needing more plants.

Alot of plants in the fast grower section and floater sectiom are unbeleavably hard for me to obtain. All of the online stores that sell what i need aee either closed for a few weeks or arnt taking orders or havnt got any stock.

My lfs is crap in the way of selection and all of the stores near me use tge same supplier.. which is CLOSED till january.

All I can do is try and put bio media in and wait for it to.mature.im stuck.


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## Mezuri

I apologise for my snappy post above I see you all are trying to help me, been under alot of stress I just cant seem to get any floating plants at all!

I'm worried about my fishes.. I don't want to lose any more but I don't have a spare tank for them.

I got myself 2 bunches of pennywort and some more crypts.
I'm trying to get hornwort.. alas cant get any atm. I found out today my pennywort I thought was isn't its baby tears but my new bunches defiantly are pennywort!

I put my bio back in my filter and it seems to be working still early days tho.

Again I'm really sorry for being snappy.

I'll add a happy Christmas snap tomorrow once lights are back on 

I did alot of work on the tank.
I am poking and pressing the substrate and bubbles are coming out, I do a water change after that happens tho.


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## Mezuri

Here's a night shot i couldn't help it.


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## Angie

Looks good. Sorry about your plant problems. I just ordered some that well be here Friday. Are you in the US?


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## Bbroush

Have you thought about temporarily just getting something like pothos to help lower the nitrate levels? I've found pothos extremely helpful for that reason


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## Luffy

Looking better! The pennywort will probably be a big help because it grows like nuts. I got one bunch when I started my tank and now I've got so much I don't know what to do with it. 
I wouldn't worry about the bubbles from the substrate too much yet. But the nice thing about these tanks is they can be pretty forgiving. I thought I set mine up wrong and was stressed when I started. I was getting bubbles from the substrate; I didn't have enough plants; I thought everything was gonna explode. It's about six months later, my plants are established, and I have a wonderful tank. If I can do it then I'm sure you can do it! It'll all be fine 
If you do eventually get worried about the soil bubbles though, the thing that worked for me was those cheap packs of "hardy bulbs" you can find for like $3 at walmart's fish section or the big chains like petco. They come with aponogeton bulbs, and a couple other plants. I just threw away the water union bulbs that come with (look like onions, so they're easy to spot; they're not true aquatics) and dropped the smaller bulbs in the tank. Two were duds but the other two grew into some really luscious plants. The roots grew down through the substrate, pulled the bulb in, and I've had no bubble problems in those areas anymore.


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## Michael

At this point the bubbles are probably just CO2. This is not unusual in Walstad tanks, and is acutally a good thing in very small amounts. If the bubbles smell like rotten eggs, that is a danger signal: toxic hydrogen sulfide is forming in the substrate.

Bbroush's suggestion of pothos (a.k.a. common philodedron) is a good idea. Just rinse the soil off the roots, and hang it over the edge of the tank with roots in the water and stems and leaves in the air.

BTW, Welcome to APC, Bbroush!


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## Mezuri

Merry Christmas from down under!

I'm from Australia 

What if it is that toxic h2s is there anything i can do to get rid if it or do i have to tear it down?


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## Michael

H2S only forms if there is no oxygen in the substrate. Plants with deep, strong root systems (like your Amazon swords) help to prevent that. You can also gently poke the substrate with a chop stick to release the bubbles. Some people think that Malayan trumpet snails help to aerate the substrate with their burrowing.

Unless your soil layer is way too deep, it is rare to need to tear down the tank. Two to three cm of soil is plenty, but up to five or six cm is usually safe.


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## Mezuri

Thanks heaps Michael!
Unfortunate to say the bubbles smell!
Do i need to poke the substrate daily or when bubbles releases?


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## Michael

Do it every day, or several times a day. You don't want it to build up.


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## Mezuri

So do it until it stops happening yes?


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## majorwoo

Yes, until it stops happening. You don't want the buildup to occur (it's toxic after all)
Take a read here if you want some more info:
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/hydrogen-sulfide

I haven't been to Australia in years. I used to work for a company based in Melbourne with offices in Brisbane. You guys always manage to have supplier problems - I remember having a hard time finding random crazy things because of that. Good luck!


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## Michael

The Skeptical Aquarist is one of my favorite web sites!


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## Luffy

Given time, your plants will probably establish good roots that will keep anaerobic bacteria from creating sulfates. Patience should heal the problem if it happens. Also those aponogeton bulbs seem to help. I dropped a bulb right on top of the gravel above an anaerobic zone in my tank and its roots grew down through the gravel and eventually aerated the problem area.


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## Mezuri

Hey everyone and thankyou all for your time posts and patients my tank my misses and myself are very glad there is such an amazing community of people that are happy to share experiences both high and low our tank is now 13 days old and looks to be getting better each day ill try and get some of those bulbs and hornwort in the new year once suppliers are back open. I'll personally handle the h2s issue until I can buy some more things the water quality seems to be stabilizing which I'm very happy about and havn't had a fish death since!
Ill post another pic soon.
Thanks heaps!


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## Mezuri

Okay so it seems, my tank has now become really cloudy and the fish are gasping at the top of the water line.

I'm about to perform a 50% water change should I do anything else?

What's causing it?


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## Michael

This is a crisis situation. I would change as much of the water as you can--90%. And you are going to need to keep doing big daily changes until this stops. I don't know how long it will take.

Is it green cloudiness or grey/white cloudiness? Green means algae, grey/white means bacteria. An algae bloom rarely causes fish to gasp, but a bacterial bloom will.

Your misfortunes with your tank remind us of two lessons:

1. Don't use fresh, highly fertile soil without preparing it first.

2. Don't put fish in the tank until it is fully cycled.

Patience is an aquarium virtue.


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## Mezuri

Its more white then grey.
After the water change the tank went back to cloudy
Now its cleared up no fish loss and they are back swimming around not gasping for air
Ill do another water change today. So it seems its a bacterial bloom.. There isn't any algae in the tank what so ever.

So now I have learned what has caused it.. Too fertile dirt.. I feel like a dope 

So big water changes till it calms down.. I can do that thanks!


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## Martino4

I read in other posts that you should let your soil "air out" for as long as possible in order to avoid situations like this in which the soil is too fertile for the tank


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## usgetata

Hi Mezuri,
Just read your tank development. Keep fighting!


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## Mezuri

Hey everyone!

Ill post a tank pic tonight.
So over testing my tanks water

Over the past few days including water changes the tank has been
Ph 7
Gh 8
Kh 6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Even with the bloom no losses in fishies.
However not much growth and it seems my plants are very fragile.. Could they be dying or melting? Since the addition of pennywort.. It has gone crazy its one of the plants i see growth in.. also it looks like some of my plants are shooting roots out of the stems.. is that normal?

The gas hasn't stopped but it doesn't smell no where near as bad. I'm stabbing with a chopstick a few times a day


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## Mezuri

No pic sorry guys.. not happy with the fact my gourami died.. at midnight nye...

Anyway im looking to upgrade this tank in the next few months and head to a 5ftx2ftx2ft 150 gallon ish tank. I want to go the same way as in walstad style. Any advice on lighting?

I wont be using the same soil I will use mts in the next.
Thanks heaps and happy new year!


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## Luffy

It's totally normal to have those roots on your pennywort and on other stem plants too. Sorry about the gourami! Gouramis are my favorite fish, hands down, but they can be sensitive. In the future, you probably want to wait until your tank is all stabilized before adding those. 
When I have a chance to upgrade my tank I'm going to get a nice group of sparkling gourami together. They are so neat and have such great personalities!


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## majorwoo

When you go to upgrade your tank, don't dispose of anything from the old tank. You can use filter media/gravel/etc to really jump start the nitrogen cycle in your new tank. 

Sorry about your fish


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## Mezuri

Day 21.
Progress:
Plant growth
No fishie death since
Stabilized water quality
Small rearrangement of the driftwood
No algae
Using spray bar to agitate the water surface
Since doing that fish seem much happier and pearling has started too!

Happy fish and happy plants woohoo!!

The plant near the blue car.. little green with now alot of leaves.. No idea what that plant is but its thriving.. Can anyone help me ID it?
(Its upfront near the cars front right tire. Little bushy thing)


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## majorwoo

I can't help with the plant, but it looks good!


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## Mezuri

Anywho a little off topic
As above I want to upgrade my tank, however I wont tear down my old one till the new one is fully ready.
I dont care how long it takes case now I can say the current tank is become a heck of alot more stable and is providing good new stems which im replanting in my 50ltr balcony pond 

Im thinking of this light over the to be 150 gallon:
http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=3976&catID=86
With 2x 96 watts
Thoughts?


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## Mezuri

Hey guys!
Tank has been up a little over a month (33 days) haha! Here's an update:









My big boy making his nest.. yet no female in the tank:








And my other boy:








Very camera shy lol.
Also added:
X1 female betta
X2 bristlenose catfish

All seems to be going well no deaths fair amount of growth.
The unknown plant is blue stricta and is growing like crazy as well as my wisteria! 

I removed the large driftwood and the rock. Added smaller driftwood with anubias and threw in some large amazon swords. The gas is still happening but has slowed right down. Tank looks great fish seem happy and as do my plants.

Had a small bloom of datoms on my pennywort but my cats seem to of cleared that up fast.
Thanks for reading will post much later with pics as it matures more.

Filter is running 90% bio and 10% mechanical and the tests keep coming back perfect! Sooo happy thanks again for everyones help!


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## Mezuri

Hey guys!
Tank has been up a little over a month (33 days) haha! Here's an update:









My big boy making his nest.. yet no female in the tank:








And my other boy:








Very camera shy lol.
Also added:
X1 female betta
X2 bristlenose catfish

All seems to be going well no deaths fair amount of growth.
The unknown plant is blue stricta and is growing like crazy as well as my wisteria! 

I removed the large driftwood and the rock. Added smaller driftwood with anubias and threw in some large amazon swords. The gas is still happening but has slowed right down. Tank looks great fish seem happy and as do my plants.

Had a small bloom of datoms on my pennywort but my cats seem to of cleared that up fast.
Thanks for reading will post much later with pics as it matures more.

Filter is running 90% bio and 10% mechanical and the tests keep coming back perfect! Sooo happy thanks again for everyones help!


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## JayBloke

Looking good mate,the work is starting to pay off.I bet once the tank starts to mature this will look right nice.

Keep us updated.

Oh and sit back and enjoy.......


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## Mezuri

Thanks Jay,
It has been alot of work and hairy situations but thats cause I was impatient.

As I have come to learn npts require alot of patients something I am slowly developing haha.


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## Mezuri

Dbl post please remove


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## Mezuri

Tank update:








Ammonia ph kh gh nitrite nitrate all perfect. Its a little cloudy cause of a dose or iron I did (plant leaves were yellow.) There not now! Hehe


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## majorwoo

Looks great! You might be able to move your heater more towards the center to hide it more behind the big bunch of plants (I'm on a heater hiding kick in my own tank, don't mind me  )


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## Mezuri

Personally I would prefer a sump to minimalize the equipment in my tank. Thats just me haha but I read somewhere a sump would remove too much organic carbon. Dont know if thats true tho.


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## majorwoo

I've thought about a sump myself, but my tank isn't drilled and the overflow's look just as bad as my canister lines. You can get an inline heater (Hydor makes them http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11369) and then all I have is my canister in/out anyway.


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## Mezuri

I personally dont mind the sumps overflow and return. Looks neater then having a heater n that in there.. probably personal preference.. my 550l (160 gallon) will be sumped. No questions asked lol. 5x2x2 tank.. custom with overflow box and drilling pre installed.


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## majorwoo

If I had one that big I think I would sump it for sure too! With my 65 cabinet I don't really have room for a sump under there anyway.

You better post pics!


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## Mezuri

When I finally get all my gear including the tank for sure i will show case it currently now i am so very proud of my current tank. My aquatic green thumb seems much better then my actual green thumb


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## Mezuri

Hey guys,
Update tank not doing so well had my eheim 2213 die on me. Had to get another filter had the eheim off for a day and a half and everything went haywire nitrites trates and ammonia spike up on me
Just finished full install of a fluval 206 canister 2 dYs ago and hit some issues. After playing arounf with filter media I finally got somewhat of a success.
Added a small amount of my old filter media and added seach matrix (some old some new) the new filter.sidnt hold as much as the eheim did.. One major 40%+ water change and 2 25% water changes later finally some calming of the ammonia nitrite and nitrate.

We only lost 1 neon tetra so far. I don't want ro loose anymore fishies. Im primeing daily and stabilitying daily too.. My whisteria has turned a little brown and my pennywort and baby tears have died off.. Along qith a little amount of my cryptocrane. My other plants seem to be thriving not sure what exactly is happening but yet again hitting yet another hurdle
Any advice will be appreciated.


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## Mezuri

Dbl post sry.


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## majorwoo

I think your fish will be ok if you stick with the prime until the bacterial cycle catches up. You could dump a bottle of live bacteria in if you wanted to jump start it again, as I suspect a good portion of the bacteria died while the old filter wasn't running. (Seachem also makes product called stability with is bacteria in a spore form that seems to work for some people, I had good results with it when I tried it)

The plants I think shouldn't have suffered when the filter was off for a few days though. I am new to plants of course, but I don't think in 1.5 days that would have even cared at all, so someone will need to chime in for you besides me.

Hang in there!


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## Mezuri

Thanks man yeah im using stability. Great stuff! I have a feeling my lfs is less then reputable when it comes to plants. We will see in time.
Heres a pic of my tank now


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## majorwoo

Your swords are doing much better then mine! I'm waiting to see if they are just adjusting to submersed as I hear they are often grown emersed. I'm worried someone is eating them though as they have some holes


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## Mezuri

Has your swords got any yellowing around the edges, are the holes big or more like pin pricks?
Do you have any snails? I didnt till i had 2 hit hikers now i have 20 of the little guys lol


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## majorwoo

No yellowing, it's a brown/wilting I think - mostly along the edges. I do have some Malaysian Trumpet snails, but the holes were before I added them - and they are fairly large. The new growth leaves don't seem to have them, so I'm hopeful that it's just that they were grown emersed. Don't mind the food in the picture, I had just fed them when I snapped this.









(link to larger)
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i120/majorwoo/Fish/photo_zpsfa6196d8.jpg


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## Mezuri

Sounds a bit like a potassium issue. Are your swords deeply planted? Also don't quote me on the potassium issue. As i am still learning too.. There is a great thread on this forum about plant deficiency have a look at that. Im sure a npt guru will come to your aid soon!


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## majorwoo

I should have enough potassium, as I am dosing EI. I stuck some root tabs near them, and they are planted and the roots seem to be growing well (i went to move one once, lol)

I'll have to check out the thread - thanks!


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## Mezuri

Is cool mate, anything to help. If your new growth isnt showing the issues then its getting used to your tank. Btw your tank looks really nice!


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## Mezuri

Hey guys, I dont want to start a new thread till I absolutely need to..

Problem, I am heavly over run by snails. I remove squish atleast 50+ daily. I feel guilty for slowing down my feeding rate to once every 2 days. I have gone as far as adding x2 clown loaches! I cant keep up there is too many. Advice of any kind would be much appreciated!!


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## majorwoo

clown loaches get very big, I don't think you can keep 2 in your tank 

You may want to look at other loaches, I love my yoyo loaches, and they eat any snail they can find 

What kind of snails? Assassin snails I hear can work well too.


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## Mezuri

Clown loach size doesnt bother me, ill be buying a 160 gal tank in the next few months. As for the snails.. i have no idea they are hitch hikers from my lfs im blanching lettus of a night time but still been a 3 week battle


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## 1077

Clown loaches ,other's when small aren't much of concern in planted tank's, but as they grow larger,they frequently uproot plant's while searching for food .
Plant's with extensive root system like sword's ,crypt's,can usually hold their own against the loaches, but carpet plant's,delicate stem plant's,are another matter. 
Assassin snail's would be my choice.:usa2:


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## Mezuri

Just an update for those who were wondering.
I don't bother testing or any water changes (last test was perfect) fish seem happy plant's are happy. What more could you ask for? Hehe, my loaches are being lazy still haven't gotten ontop of snail infestation but there is less snails then 2 weeks ago.


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## majorwoo

Looks good! I need to get some red plants in mine now.


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## Mezuri

Hello guys. Im having some difficulty understanding what is going on.
Yet another dwarf gourami died on me. Not sure if:
A: They arnt suitable for walstad method. And/or
B: They are simply too fragile.

My water quality is perfect..
Ph: 7-7.2
Gh: 8
Kh: 6
Ammonia: 0-0.25 (ok for npt right?)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

Plants are growing strong and healthy.
Other fish (rainbow shark, loaches, bristlenose, tetra, female betta) are all happy.
My last dwarf gourami is not so happy.

I dont know what to do?! Im at a loss here.
Should i take him out and qt him for a while see if he gets better? He has a small injury on his side from something i dont know what happened.

Please help!


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## Extrame

you can try assassin snails for your snail problem.
they will eat the other snails first, then eat each other if there are no other types of snails in your tank and they would also eat dead fish or sinking pellets.
also have a dwarf gourami in my tank.. he's pretty happy in there


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## Mezuri

Hey guys, I know its been a while.
I am completely discouraged by my tank.
I just lost my 3 1/2 inch bristlenose. Substrate won't stop gassing even though I have been poking it.
Water Params are always perfect. I don't know what is going on in there but something isn't right. My other walstad tank has been up for 2 months now and hasn't gassed or anything the only thing I did differently was use a smaller gravel 2-5 mm instead of 4-7mm I didn't think the larger gravel would be an issue or is it one? I am completely lost n confused right now. Plants in both tanks are happy healthy and strong.


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## majorwoo

Sorry to hear this. Is it possible you lost the fish for another reason? (It was sick, fighting with another fish, got himself cut on a rock, etc)


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## Mezuri

I don't think so he was very happy swimming around sucking on the glass. Eating as normal. I think he may of gulped a gas bubble cause his stomach area exploded


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## Mezuri

Well it seems I'm again having issues with this tank. My setup has been going on for 4 and a half ish months. I cannot seem to figure out what is happening. - Since the tank is still in my mind "New setup" and not fully established then I can see there is indeed some issues that I need to address. I am refusing to put up pic's due to no update just consistent issues that keep on keeping on..

1. My substrate hasn't stopped bubbling. -not exploding!
2. Rainbow Shark has just started flashing against the gravel, driftwood, glass.
3. My female fighter has been "Jumping" out of the tank. Once onto the floor, put her back in and she started swimming - Then jumped hit the glass lids (that I had to place back on my tank due to her recent jumping).
4. Tank param's:
PH 7
GH 8
KH 6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
5. No signs of injury, no spots, no gasping for air.
6. Tank temp 78 degree's f. (25.5 degree's C)
7. Plants arn't looking healthy. I can see algae on parts of the leaves. Not growing either. leaves turning yellow and clear.

I can't work out the problem. Spent hours doing research to no avail. I have been doing water changes about 10 - 30% every 3 to 5 days..

Personally I think I have completely stuffed up the tank. I hate to think if I have and my fishy friends are suffering from it.

So you don't have to go back and read other posts here is a short list of spec's:
40 Gallon (150 ltr) tank
80 watt's of t8 10000k - 8 hours a day with 4 hr sesna
Filter is bio and still running.
Heated not left at room temp.
gravel - 4 - 7 mm
dirt - Scotts Osmocoat
plants:
Blue Stricta
Amazon swords
Wisteria
Anubis on log
Crypts.
Bacopa

Help please!


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## SBS

Sorry to hear about your issues mate. Hopefully the tank will stabalize.
You mentioned your substrate is Scotts Osmocoat?
Doesn't it contain ammonia naturally?
You mentioned also several issues when you had ammonia readings, filter being broken, etc..
Constant trace levels of ammonia and ammonia spikes will weaken fish's immune system, can lead to diseases too. Ammonia readings of anything above 0 intermittently isn't normal and needs addressing.
If your fish are acting like they want to jump out of the tank or flashing, I'd start daily water changes for a week and see if that helps. It would dilute whatever toxins are bothering them. The soil could be realeasing something. Flashing could be caused by either some irritants in the water, or fish have parasite infection of some sort.
The snail infestation is due to too much debris hanging around for some reason. They must be feeding on something.
If you've got algae, you can try descreasing the light intensity a bit for a while. In this type of setup it's hard to know what exactly is lacking so the easiest solution is slow down the growth by less light which at the same time will slow down the nutritient uptake and CO2 uptake, possibly stabalizing the tank. Stick to it for a while to see if it works.

And you also said you used larger gravel. This could be an issue because stuff that is toxic to fish can escape easier and there surely will be enough to kill fish while a tank stabalizes. You possibly need to stick to max 4mm gravel for this type of setup. It's better for the plants too.


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## Mezuri

Hey mate,
Thanks so much for your promt response to my post.
Its tough to figure things out I know. But what you said makes me think you are right with the gravel I didn't think of that.
Do you think my soil has gone bad? I'm in the process of setting up my spare tank to house my fishes and thinking of redoing my tank.


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## SBS

It's hard to tell really. The combo of this type of soil andthe size of gravel could be the reason but I am just speculating. I would imagine any type of substrate may have development of certain things at the bottom that when it escapes would be a problem for the fish.
Maybe the batch of soil you got just contained too much of something not agreeing with the fish.


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## Mezuri

SBS mate, I really think your right. Sorry about the long waits between posts. Being aussie and all I just woke up! haha. every water test I do whether its been 5 mins after water change or 5 hours between the results are now always the same..
PH 7
GH 8
KH 6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

So from what I have worked out as you have stated


> Maybe the batch of soil you got just contained too much of something not agreeing with the fish.


Most probable way of looking at this is the fact that my soil was "Too Rich" in the begining and my gravel is "Too Big" and lets all the nasties out way too quickly and not slowly disperse them into the tank.

I want to get this right as I am going to venture into a much larger tank. Whats stopping me from doing so now isn't the money or anything its just the fact I am not getting this method right.

I honestly think the price of "Co2 Injection" is far too expensive.
The cost of a High Maintenance Planted aquarium borders on the cost of a marine setup.

I like my tropicals. I do admit the thought of Marine sounds pretty damn cool to me but the excess cost is too great.

I hate plastic/silk plants, ornaments, etc. I admit I have 1 ornament in my tank however its hidden in the plants and my loaches and shark love it.

Over the past few days I have noticed a small amount of growth in the tank however.. But that's my wisteria... Doesn't stop growing no matter what!

So the way I'm looking at it is, I'm going to attempt to catch all my fishies, give them a temp new home.. and do some major work on the main tank. It is probably in some dire need of TLC or a complete tear down, so here's my current thoughts:

Catch fish - Re-house.
turn off filter, heater.
Drain down low and let the water sit over the gravel by about an inch for about an hour.
Test the water that's just above the gravel and see if there is any signs of nasties coming out. If there isn't I'll be completely confused!

Anywho, I turned up the heat in my tank to around 80 F and my fish seem to have calmed down. no more jumping/flashing!

But that's just avoiding the issue I want to Fix it!


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## SBS

Good luck with everything. That's a lot of work to do.
My guess would be your soil is too rich for underwater use and the gravel size didn't help. I am not sure which of the Scott's Osmocote you used but they seem to contain a lot of fertilizers which are not desirable in an aquarium.


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## Mezuri

Well it has begun! Tank is torn down man.. the soil stank! Re graveled with 3mm gravel new dirt.. I found a worm living in my old dirt! He seemed happy so I put him in the renewed dirt 
I have planted a bit better this time I hope and slowly refilling will post update once clear water is achieved!
Also acquired another filter a hob that I will fit on the tank since I think I don't have enough flow per hour.

Current flow is 100 gph according to manufacture. This hob should do 200 gph so 300 gph should be around 7.5 times my tank an hour


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## SBS

Great job!!! I don't want to imagine what effort that took 
At least you've found the source of the problem. If the soil stank, then that was the culprit with the fish. What type of soil did you use this time?
I'd leave the tank running for a while without fish in it so the initial spikes and realease of nutritients slows down a bit. The plants will establish better with no one to uproot them too.
And you probably need to give the fish a break to recover from their previous enviroment and build up their immune system back.


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## Mezuri

Boiled some garden soil and let it cool down. I live in an apartment so the mineralisation wasn't a option for me. I also added a heap of red clay.
Capped it off with 3mm gravel. Tank is still cloudy but I think that's due to me not cleaning the gravel enough.
Water quality is how it always is.
My major issue now is the hob doesn't fit on the tank! But my mature canister is working a lot better now I fixed the plumbing Haha just have to wait and see


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## majorwoo

My experience with substrates has always been cloudy at first - give it time to settle in (filter floss in your filter will help a ton - it did w/ my canister). I'm no substrate expert but I hope that this helps with your problems!


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## Mezuri

Well it cleared up. Which I might add is great. No photo as of yet. Phone getting repaired.. Lol and I have no other camera.
When I get my phone back I'll take some photo's sorry for the delay!


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## Mezuri

Just got my phone..








Not the best pic.. too late for me here.
I just baught some liliaeopsis not sure how to plant it lol


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## majorwoo

Plants look good. You'll have to work on your phone's camera skills


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## Mezuri

Here's a better photo haha










I moved the tank


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## majorwoo

Looks good. I have a bit of OCD so if I was you I'd flip the heater so it's hidden behind what looks like a sword or a java fern in the back left?

What's the smaller foreground plant? Looks like a micro sword? Those things took over my entire foreground, watch out  The runners on them are aggressive!


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## Mezuri

No java fern. Plants are:
Amazon sword
Blue stricta
Wisteria
Bacopa
Crypts
Lilaeopsis - I want it to do well.

As for the heater, I will hide it.. once I redo the cabling its at max length.
Back left is amazon sword
Foreground is lilaeopsis.


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## majorwoo

Looks good, Lilaeopsis is also known as micro sword (at least around here anyway). That's what I thought it was - be careful, the stuff spreads like wildfire once it's going!


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## Mezuri

I hope it does spread I like the look of carpet.
Since moving the tank in the afternoons I get around 4 hours of sun! Woo! So its receiving 2wpg for the most part and a few hours of sun with the lights cranked back to 1.5wpg if I remember to turn my back fixture off lol.


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## majorwoo

Get yourself some timers! They are like $5 here, though I prefer the $10 digital kind.


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## Mezuri

Here's my balcony project that I haven't posted anything about.
It is another 40gal but with no artificial light at all running goldfish









Fish:
Comet
X2 ryukin
X2 baby fan tails
X6 cloud minnows

Plants:
Baccopa
Blue strict a
Amazon sword
Wisteria
Pennywort.
Filter is just bio
Tank has been up for about 5 months
Has been a success just a fight with algae


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## Mezuri

Tank escape and happy plants n fishes









My newest edition:









And my little female fighter that loves my new loach and hates everything else!:








She is actually purple not blue no idea what happened!!
I wanted a school of Otos in my tank.. You guys can get them for like $2-$3 each.. I am so envious of that cause we pay like $15-$20 each.. $60-$90 for 6. Just a rip off. Us Aussies pay premium for our stuff ;(
Just like the new tank I'm planning on ordering.. the tank will be like $2000 rimless and stand... or like 1-1.5 grand for a standard rimmed tank..
Eh ignore my rant enjoy!


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## majorwoo

Looks great. Just remember that clown loaches are social fish and most people say 3 is the minimum (and others say 5-6 minimum) for a proper group. They also get quite large and I fear may have their growth stunted in your tank.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/clown-loach-chromobotia-macracanthus


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## Mezuri

I know they get big and prefer 3+ but I will get another one or 2 when I get my bigger tank in a few months


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## majorwoo

They are fun to watch. I had 3 and they were amusing, but I rescued 2 more from a friends 20 gallon tank and with 5 of them they are really comical


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