# New to aquariums and looking for guidance.



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

Hi! First off, I have to say that I am in love with the Walstad method and had I been aware of this before, I think i would have gotten into Aquariums sooner. I have been keeping natural vivariums for a few years and a recent project had me wanting to create a paludarium. My main requirement: near zero maintenance. My vivs have healthy soil that support micro fauna and flora which balance the cycle to where i only clean the glass and trim the plants to enjoy (and feed my geckos too. lol). So I tried to make this same requirement of the paludarium. This turned out better than expected, though I never capped the soil so my water gets quite dark. [smilie=t:

But this launched me into wanting a proper aquarium so here I am. I bought a 55 gal from Petco during their $1 a gallon sale and also purchased a metal stand which goes really well with my home office, which is where the tank will be. So I guess this will be a bit of a show tank.

I am taking my time to plan this out as best as possible and am hoping to get as much help as I can from you good folks. So far I am looking at a Tank Substrate of Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil
capped with [URL="http://www.turface.com/turface-products/infield-conditioners/turface-pro-league"]Turface Pro League[/URL]. I've read some good things on it and it seems to have a better "dirt" look, which i seem to like. I also picked up an Aquaclear 70 powerhead with the quickfilter attachment and I plan on this being the only filtration other than the plants.

I think the biggest question I have right now is what kind of tank to make? Community? I really wanted to do a rift lake cichlid tank but it seems they don't do well with plants or snails or any of the usual stuff I associate with a low maintenance tank. Is it possible? Any other comments or suggestions are welcome too. Thanks!


----------



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

Bump. Hello? Do I smell bad? I know I just took a bath. :bathbaby: lol


----------



## Franco (Jun 25, 2010)

Turface doesn't make a very good cap because it is too light and also starts to dissolve after awhile. African cichlids have a huge bioload so an NPT with more than just a few of them might be too much for just the powerhead and plants to handle. African cichlids shred most plants so you might have a hard time keeping enough plant bioload to counteract the dirty cichlids. Turface also drops your pH and water hardness which you don't want to do with Rift Lake cichlids.
Community setups usually work well with NPTs.


----------



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

Ah, thanks for the info on the Turface. I will scrap it. Well, I have not fully thought out the design elements but i did list up some of my planned items.. Please feel free to comment or suggest.

1. Light
a. 4 32W T8 bulb shop light (128 watts or 2.33 watts per gallon if i figure correctly) 
b. Bulbs​ a. 2 Cool White
b. 2 Daylight 5000-6700k​ c. 5-4-5 Siesta light timing (as I will not be doing any type of CO2 injection)​2. Tank Substrate
a. Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil 1"
b. 1" Cap of either:​a. Flourite
b. Filter Sand (least favorite option)
c. Eco-Complete
d. Aquasoil​3. Equipment
a. Hagen Power Head 70​ a. Quick Filter option​ b. Timer Power strip for lights - power head running "24-7"​
4. Plants considered, though fish stocking options may change this up a bit.
a. Microsorum pteropus 'Java Fern' (on the rocks BG)
b. Taxiphyllum barbieri 'Java Moss' (attached to driftwood)
c. Vallisneria nana 'Jungle Val' (background accent)
d. Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite' (foreground)
e. Anubias -gigantea (background)​


----------



## Franco (Jun 25, 2010)

Jungle Val is your only fast grower. For an NPT tank to work, you have to have a crapload of fast growing plants that will do your filtering for you since you aren't using a traditional filter. Watersprite, wisteria, floaters, elodea, hornwort, cambomba, swords.
The bulk of your biomass should be fast growers and then you can have your slow growers like anubias and java moss filling in the gaps.
You might also want to consider just finding smaller grained gravel instead of spending a lot of money on a cap like flourite.


----------



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

Franco said:


> Jungle Val is your only fast grower. For an NPT tank to work, you have to have a crapload of fast growing plants that will do your filtering for you since you aren't using a traditional filter. Watersprite, wisteria, floaters, elodea, hornwort, cambomba, swords.
> The bulk of your biomass should be fast growers and then you can have your slow growers like anubias and java moss filling in the gaps.
> You might also want to consider just finding smaller grained gravel instead of spending a lot of money on a cap like flourite.


Ok, so maybe some Val and swords for a background/mid and float some watersprites and maybe elodea. I'll rework it with your advice. Then as the tank matures i can remove/cut back on the watersprites or duckweed.

Thanks!


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

+1 on Franco's suggestions.


----------



## Tuiflies (Jan 21, 2010)

If you're thinking of taking it out eventually, don't use duckweed. Once it's in a tank, it's almost impossible to get rid of it. I had great success with hornwort and watersprite and they're both easy to control.


----------



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

Well, things are moving along now, I decided to play around with a video log of my build so here is a quick overview of the setup..






Thanks!


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Try arranging the rocks in horizontal positions, with maybe one distinctly more vertical than the others. Break your least favorite rock into small pieces so that you have more variety of sizes to work with.

You may find it easier to do an all rock design, or all driftwood design. If you decide to mix the two, make sure that one material is definitely dominant in the design. In other words, lots of rock and only a little wood, or lots of wood and only a little rock.

The standard 55 gallon foot print is difficult to work with because it is so narrow--only 13" front to back. This gives little room to layer hard materials and plants for depth and interest. This is why I think you might find it easier to just have one hard material.

Do several different arrangements, and photograph each one. Then you can compare all the photos side by side and choose the one you like best.

Have fun!


----------



## potatoes (Jun 25, 2010)

Some of my favorite plants for NPTs are sunset hygro, water wisteria, eloda, lilies, vals, and swords. For fast growing nutrient sponges, try water lettuce, water sprite, red root floater, ninja grass, and frogbit. All of these plants seem to do well in low tech conditions, but there are many more i havnt tried. 
What type of rock is that white one? It may effect your water chemisty; it looks a lot like a chunk of coral i found in florida. 
I would also recommended soaking your MGOCPS several times and removing the floaters. This will help with excess nutrients and tannins and save you from some potential headaches in the long run. Plain old topsoil works well to (like the 2$ bag of scotts premium topsoil from home depot) 
For a cap, I used Black Diamon Blasting Grit, which I got from tractor supply co for $10 for a 50lb bag. It is basically black sand. It is sharp, so keep that in mind if you want to have bottom dwellers. Also, get the 20/40 size. I got the finest grade (60/80 i think) and it was too fine, which trapped gas below it. The gas built up then erupted, brining soil into my water coloum. I did not experience this with the 20/40 size.


----------



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

Michael said:


> Try arranging the rocks in horizontal positions, with maybe one distinctly more vertical than the others. Break your least favorite rock into small pieces so that you have more variety of sizes to work with.
> 
> You may find it easier to do an all rock design, or all driftwood design. If you decide to mix the two, make sure that one material is definitely dominant in the design. In other words, lots of rock and only a little wood, or lots of wood and only a little rock.
> 
> ...


This helps a lot! Thank you. I can see your points and i also see now that the rocks I have are WAY too big. I am going to scale it down a bit more in terms of rock size and maybe get some simple driftwood branches or dump the wood altogether but you are right...pick one or the other is much better overall approach.

Potatoes....yes, its what we call coral rock (I am in Florida so I am sure its the same rock.) which is actually the local limestone. I am not worried about the CaCo3 messing with my water chemistry. We already have very hard water (which is what I am using) that soaks in limestone aquifers. Its the joy of Florida I guess. lol Thanks for the plant list, it will help.


----------



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

OK, I think I have a finalist in the looks department for the rock and driftwood placement.










I think i might add 1 or 2 more pieces of mopani (longer stick like) to the left. But so far I like it..sort of reminds me of "fire and ice" with the gnarled look of the wood in the center.

Brutal honesty is welcome!


----------



## 1aqumfish (Jul 28, 2008)

With that rock your water will stay hard. If that is what you want you could work with it. Krib's would love it. My water is hard in LA. I have never experienced the crypt melt here and they always form beds in my tanks. I think getting the substrate right is the most important part in a NPT. If you get deep dirt in the back you will need fast growing aggressive rooting plants like swords and large crypts. I like fine river gravel (.25") for the cap. It's smooth nice looking and cheap.


----------



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

OK well, a bit of an update. The tank is all cycled (fishless) planted and ready for some fish.
Plants consist of:
Java Fern
Java Moss
Anubias nana
Small duckweed
Alternanthera philoxeroides = Alligator Weed
Narrow Leaf Ludwigia
Anacharis
Water sprite

Eventually I want to get down to just java fern javamoss and anubias but I know they are slow growers.

Stocking plans are as follows:
4 Dwarf Gouramis - 1 male and a couple female
6 - 7 Neon Blue Rainbows OR 4-6 Boesemani Rainbow 
10 Zebra Danio - Danio rerio
4-6 corydora

I guess my only question so far is given its a low tech with only a quick filter on a power head, does the stocking seem moderate enough for a 55?

Ill be posting a video update tomorrow, thanks!


----------



## JoeG (Jan 5, 2011)

Bump... Anyone? I am adding stock slowly, giving the tank a chance to grow out the plants as I go, but i don't want to get out of balance with too many fish and end up with a tank where i need to do weekly water changes when its in a mature state because its "overstocked" for a walstad tank.


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

I'm not an expert on stocking rates, but your list sounds reasonable to me.


----------

