# Noob Attempts a Walstad Thread



## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Alright, everyone! I thought I would just make my own thread to post updates on my tank and things that I've run into that are problems. The tank is 10 gallons, small air pump filter, we ordered a new light from Current USA, their Freshwater LED Plus, and we have a heater I think 50W. Right now the light isn't here and we just set up the aquarium today it was really good at first but then went terribly wrong once we started adding more water. We had been doing the bucket method for 3 days now around 6 water changes. Threw the cheapest topsoil at home depot in a 5-gallon bucket and filled it with water. Stirred the dirt up and let it sit overnight or for the day. Then in the morning or night would skim the surface and discard and also pour out the water and then put in the new water and repeat. We mixed this soil after the 3 days with Safe T Sorb for a 50:50 ratio. Then we dropped it into our tank just under an 1" all around. We then capped the soil with river stone gravel, about an 1" as well. I am going to go get more gravel in the morning because I would feel better with a thicker cap.

Ok we planted all of our plants and had our two large spider-wood pieces and rock in the places we wanted them to be in and then we planted everything. We had 3 rhizomes of Anubias Petite, 3 Christmas moss bunches, 3 Vallisneria Nana, some Micranthemum Micranthemoides, a Helanthium 'Vesuvius' culture cup, and 3 dwarf grass bunches. Then we went to fill up the water, we used a bowl that rested on the gravel and poured it into the bowl as to not disturb anything. After about 3/4 of the way up our spider-wood decided it was a good time to start swimming and floated and ruined everything. 5 of our plants came unrooted and currently, everything is a mess. We can't see the orientation of the spider-wood because the water is too cloudy but it is in the water and all the plants are planted or glued/tied to the hardscape. the heater is in and the filter is running on as low of a bubble/second as it can.

I am not sure how long the water will be cloudy or what it is going to look like when it does clear up. The picture without the water was what we wanted before the floating wood incident. The cloudy water pictures are the current state of things. Heater on the front, way too big of light, and complete mayhem in my head.

Any advice on the cloudiness of the water, current cap size, or solutions for floating wood? I'm hoping everything will end up ok even though it started out crazy.
Also, I need a heater guard I think because of all the plants, I have a 50 W Aquatop. Amazon.com: Aquatop GH50 Aquarium Submersible Glass Heater, 50-Watt : Pet Supplies


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Make sure that when you pour in the water that you are not stirring up the soil/STS. Use something (Al foil, small plate) to cover the gravel when you pour in the water. You should be able to remove the cloudy water shown in your picture down to the gravel cover. Then GENTLY add new water. The new water should be relatively clear and get fully clear by next day. 

From your post, you mentioned "stirring" the soil. This is not the way to treat soil. I never stir the soil--before or after adding to tank. 

Also, I see more driftwood than plants in your new tank. Driftwood can introduce problems and complicate a new tank setup. Since you are a NOOB, I would get rid of the driftwood until the tank is established successfully.

I hope your tank turns out well, but I'm skeptical. Please read my book or at least the free article 'Small Planted Tanks for Pet Shrimp' on my website.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Ok, here we are! I did a full water change and add some gravel in the low spots. I then refilled the tank with the tube I use to clean the water out of the tank, that way the water came in nice and slow. It is looking a lot clearer than before so now we can see all the pretty plants. I think that the water was super cloudy because we didn't clean the gravel yesterday enough and so all the dust and fine particles came into the tank with the gravel. I attached the Anubias Petite and the Christmas moss to the driftwood and rock. The driftwood is not floating anymore after we rearranged it and I got the bubbles to slow down quite a bit for the filter. I need a heater cover so I don't burn any of the plants so for now the heater is staying in the front away from the plants.

We stirred the soil just so that all the stuff that floated to the surface could be removed from the soil as it would have been either pearlite or organics. I was reading the thread for mineralizing the soil and got the stirring method there to clean up the soil of floaties before putting it into the tank. 

What problems does driftwood cause to the tank? I didn't know that was the case.


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## jatcar95 (Oct 30, 2019)

dwalstad said:


> From your post, you mentioned "stirring" the soil. This is not the way to treat soil. I never stir the soil--before or after adding to tank.


I believe this is described in the pinned "suitable soils" thread a few times, such as here: Suitable soils for the Walstad method, as a sort of "cheaty" way to quickly mineralize the soil without doing multiple soaking/drying cycles. My understanding is it drains off some of the excess nutrients from the soil to it's not so hot, and therefore less prone to causing issues.



snake90890 said:


> What problems does driftwood cause to the tank? I didn't know that was the case.


Driftwood and rocks can both cause anaerobic soil if they are placed on top of the substrate. They reduce the flow of oxygenated water to these areas. It is less of a problem if they sit on the bottom glass of the tank and the dirt/gravel is poured around it. For driftwood specifically, since it is organic it will continue to break down in the tank and can cause excess dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The decay can also allow slime molds or fungus to grow in your tank, which seems to usually be harmless but unsightly.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Alright, it has been a little while. The tank seems to be doing good there is a lot of fungus or brown algae growing on everything in the tank currently. I was going to go get some ramshorn snails to put into the tank to help deal with this a little bit but I'm also going to try and let the tank do its thing for the next week. I have done 3 full water changes over the last week. The first two times was because the water was dirty from the gravel we didn't wash too well. The last two times were to try and solve the algae/fungus but it seems to have done nothing. I think I'm done doing the water changes for a little while to let the tank balance. The plants are covered in algae/fungus but they don't look too bad otherwise. A few questions are, should I be poking my substrate to release bubbles? I read that I should do that somewhere. Do you think this is algae? It started growing on the driftwood and smelled of heavy sap/driftwood when doing water changes. I'm thinking it is due to the driftwood releasing sugars and the fungus/algae, eating it up. Do you think that the water will clear up eventually? Do you guys think the plants look ok?


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## maico996 (Nov 6, 2016)

I think you're gonna need a lot more plants, planted in your substrate, not just tied to the driftwood. And you can add some floating plants like Water Lettuce to help absorb some of the excess nutrients.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

maico996 said:


> I think you're gonna need a lot more plants, planted in your substrate, not just tied to the driftwood. And you can add some floating plants like Water Lettuce to help absorb some of the excess nutrients.


Do you think that the water lettuce sucking up the extra nutrients along with the snails would help the plants already in the tank? To allow them to grow in and start populating the tank more? We spent around 120$ already on plants and thought this would be enough. Also, how long should I wait to start expecting visible growth from my plants?


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## florida phish fan (Dec 3, 2020)

Hi there just curious about something. You stated you're setting up a Walstad tank, and @dwalstad HERSELF chimed in with advice, and it seems like you're completely ignoring it. 

If you want to set up a Walstad tank, it would be in your interest to read the book first. Your local library may have a copy, or check out Ms. Walstad's website for tons of free info. Or just buy the book. There's a ton of information - I had to read it three times. 

You're missing a fundamental concept - you've got to plant heavy (in the soil) from the start. Just some cheap hardy plants that will develop strong root systems and grow fast. That's step #1. 

I'm not sure why Diana suggested you remove all the driftwood till the tank's established. Oh wait - is the wood treated (as in, aquarium safe?). But you should get clarification on that. I never had any trouble with spider wood - maybe beginner's luck. 

For sure, the water column feeders attached to the wood aren't helping your cause. That tank's going to wind up causing you nothing but headaches and money down the drain. Highly recommend to re-read @dianawalstad 's comment in this thread. 

One more fundamental - not sure why you're not comfortable with the max recommended cap of 1 inch? I didn't use a cap at all. But I found out the hard way that aquasoil settles, so attempt #1 didn't have enough soil (realized w-a-y after the fact) what a pain. 

Good luck with your tank. I wound up with a more or less "self sustaining" tank, which was awesome, but I made a lot of expensive mistakes along the way. The biggest mistakes involved plants. I learned that plants that work well for someone else, may not work for me. I found it helpful to source plants locally, and those beautiful little ($$$$$) mosses hated the tank's warm, acidic water, etc. Yet some supposedly "difficult" plants grow well for me, while certain supposedly "easy" ones fail. So go figure.


Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

Between the 50-50 Safe-T-Sorb mix and the inch and a half cap, you have very little soil from what I can tell. So, I'm not anticipating a lot of bubble activity. It's an intriguing setup for an anoxic filter experiment, but that's probably not what you had in mind. What are your lighting hours?


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## jatcar95 (Oct 30, 2019)

snake90890 said:


> Also, how long should I wait to start expecting visible growth from my plants?


Within the first week or two you should start noticing plant growth. It obviously depends on the type of plants though - slow-growing plants may take longer to show signs. In my tank, the micro-swords and vall had started sending off multiple runners within a month of planting.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

florida phish fan said:


> Hi there just curious about something. You stated you're setting up a Walstad tank, and @dwalstad HERSELF chimed in with advice, and it seems like you're completely ignoring it.
> 
> If you want to set up a Walstad tank, it would be in your interest to read the book first. Your local library may have a copy, or check out Ms. Walstad's website for tons of free info. Or just buy the book. There's a ton of information - I had to read it three times.
> 
> ...


I have read Diana's post multiple times and value and appreciate the time she took to write it. I understand that things will go wrong and I'm trying to end up with a tank that I will enjoy and love building and owning. We planted a lot of plants and probably not the type of plants that we should have according to the book, which I haven't read. I do however have a biology major and a love for ecology which is why is was so excited by the Walstad method in the first place. I figured why not give it a try and see what happens, with my twist on the method and experiment a little. I did a lot of research on soil and plants and the Walstad tanks and am happy and proud of my tank and all of its algae. I'm asking for help on the forum because I do respect others' opinions and experiences and want to learn from that as well as share my own. Thank you for your experiences and post though I do appreciate it. Our water is more basic at 7.4. I'm waiting to see what happens with the mosses and other slow growers. Hoping that the fast growers keep growing. Ordered some water lettuce to help with the growing. 



johnwesley0 said:


> Between the 50-50 Safe-T-Sorb mix and the inch and a half cap, you have very little soil from what I can tell. So, I'm not anticipating a lot of bubble activity. It's an intriguing setup for an anoxic filter experiment, but that's probably not what you had in mind. What are your lighting hours?


That being said, the wood was bought in an aquarium and I wrongly assumed it would be safe to put in but we are moving forward I didn't want to take it out as it had plants already on it. The algae are something that I will be adjusting for already. I'm currently trying to reduce the amount of light given to the plants every day from 12 hours to 10 hours. We got some neocaridina shrimp today that will hopefully start munching and enjoying the algae more than I do. There is an inch around the whole tank of the 50:50 mix. What is an anoxic filter?



jatcar95 said:


> Within the first week or two you should start noticing plant growth. It obviously depends on the type of plants though - slow-growing plants may take longer to show signs. In my tank, the micro-swords and vall had started sending off multiple runners within a month of planting.


I am currently watching for a change it has only been a week and a half but I will keep a careful eye from now on. I drew some lines on the side of the tank to help measure. I ordered some water lettuce to help with nutrient absorption. MTS and ramhorn snails are on the way currently.


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## maico996 (Nov 6, 2016)

I always go back to this post from Diana...


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

maico996 said:


> I always go back to this post from Diana...


Thank you very much that gives me some more valuable information to this fun puzzle.


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

snake90890 said:


> What is an anoxic filter?


Oh, gosh. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it. It's more of an internet phenomenon than anything else in the sense that I don't know of anyone who has ever actually proven it works. You can google it; you'll find references to it dating back ten years or more. At its center is a kernel of truth: that under the right conditions, certain bacteria will convert nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas. The puzzle has always been how to scale up those conditions in an actual aquarium to the point where it can have measurable effects on ppm levels. Why? Because the main problem is that these bacteria can only do their jobs in the absence of oxygen. Somewhere along the way, an internet influencer stepped in and introduced the concept of an "anoxic filtration system" which he claims obtains the same results by running tank water slowly through a layer of baked clay particles - essentially, an old-fashioned underground filter with a thin layer of Safe-T-Sorb and a thick substrate on top of it. However, instead of just calling it denitrification, he and his followers jump the shark and make it sound like a chemical process involving all sorts of ion exchanges between the clay, the water and the nitrate molecules. Scientifically, I have no idea whether it holds water or not.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

johnwesley0 said:


> Oh, gosh. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it. It's more of an internet phenomenon than anything else in the sense that I don't know of anyone who has ever actually proven it works. You can google it; you'll find references to it dating back ten years or more. At its center is a kernel of truth: that under the right conditions, certain bacteria will convert nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas. The puzzle has always been how to scale up those conditions in an actual aquarium to the point where it can have measurable effects on ppm levels. Why? Because the main problem is that these bacteria can only do their jobs in the absence of oxygen. Somewhere along the way, an internet influencer stepped in and introduced the concept of an "anoxic filtration system" which he claims obtains the same results by running tank water slowly through a layer of baked clay particles - essentially, an old-fashioned underground filter with a thin layer of Safe-T-Sorb and a thick substrate on top of it. However, instead of just calling it denitrification, he and his followers jump the shark and make it sound like a chemical process involving all sorts of ion exchanges between the clay, the water and the nitrate molecules. Scientifically, I have no idea whether it holds water or not.


Wow that seems like a crazy thing to try in the first place. I have never even heard of that before! I’m wasn’t hoping for anoxic conditions at all by planting Vals to root and hopefully aerate the soil with the roots and maybe some MTS action. It would be very cool to have an anoxic filter though seems very useful! And it completes the whole cycle! Craziness!


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

snake90890 said:


> Alright, it has been a little while. The tank seems to be doing good there is a lot of fungus or brown algae growing on everything in the tank currently. I was going to go get some ramshorn snails to put into the tank to help deal with this a little bit but I'm also going to try and let the tank do its thing for the next week. I have done 3 full water changes over the last week. The first two times was because the water was dirty from the gravel we didn't wash too well. The last two times were to try and solve the algae/fungus but it seems to have done nothing. I think I'm done doing the water changes for a little while to let the tank balance. The plants are covered in algae/fungus but they don't look too bad otherwise. A few questions are, should I be poking my substrate to release bubbles? I read that I should do that somewhere. Do you think this is algae? It started growing on the driftwood and smelled of heavy sap/driftwood when doing water changes. I'm thinking it is due to the driftwood releasing sugars and the fungus/algae, eating it up. Do you think that the water will clear up eventually? Do you guys think the plants look ok?


No the plants don't look okay. I see leaves covered with algae. 

I recommend that the size of gravel pieces be no bigger than 2-3 mm. You are using small stones that look much bigger. Use a thin sand layer if you can't find decent gravel. Stones are too harsh for plant roots, especially the small plants you are working with. To help these poor little plants out, I would scoop out some of those stones.

Water changes and snails aren't going to help much at this point. I would get rid of the driftwood. The nutrients it is releasing are stimulating the algae/fungus and the situation will probably only get worse. The plants--covered in algae--will start dying and releasing their own nutrients. 

Gently remove the plants attached to the driftwood and then lash them to something more inert--dead coral head, lava rock, rock, plastic driftwood, etc.

I would not get side-tracked by denitrification and anoxic filters. The uptake of ammonia by fast-growing plants make it irrelevant in Walstad tanks.


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

dwalstad said:


> I would not get side-tracked by denitrification and anoxic filters. The uptake of ammonia by fast-growing plants make it irrelevant in Walstad tanks.


That's it in a nutshell. Pay no attention to my house-bound induced mischief.


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## florida phish fan (Dec 3, 2020)

Hey there - asking for help on this forum is a good thing. It's great that more experienced chime in, and it's great that we can benefit. Experimentation on your own is another great way to learn. 

I found the simplist way to ensure success was sticking to the formula of hardy cheap fast growing plants from the beginning. I think you mentioned you'd spent $120 on plants and thought that was enough? 

Here's a Protip - I don't know if referencing other places is allowed on here, so Mods I'm not shilling for Reddit. But there's a subreddit called Aquaswap, and you can get anything you need for cheap. You could put a want add - looking for plants to start a Walstad tank, on a budget. . People on the sub are always trimming and looking to unload these plants rather than throw them out. I've seen plenty of "give away" local pick up only. I've given away handfuls of Subwassertang bcs I don't have time to sell. 

In the beginning I wasted a lot of money on various mosses because they looked so lovely. Discovered mosses hated the warm temp of 68 degrees. As an experiment, I put them in a bowl of cool water straight from the tap (unconditioned) and put the bowl on a drafty windowsill. The mosses thrived! Soon as I put some back in the tank, they went downhill fast.
I thought it might have something to do with the Aquasoil making the water a bit acidic, but it really seemed more about temperature. 

I'd forget about the bowl of mosses, they'd dry out and looked dead - just added cold water and they came back to life. 

I also found a cheap fast growing plant at Petco - called Hygro something + sorry I have to look up the name. I thought for $3.99 why not try it. That thing grew like a weed. 

Vendors matter. I tried Dwarf Sagittaria from several and it was all kinda "meh". Finally gave Aquarium Co-op a try and whoa... received massive plants with huge root balls. They took off right away.

Put a few Java Ferns in as well - and the tank turned into a jungle in short order.

Gotta run but I'll find a pic of that one if you're interested. 


Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

dwalstad said:


> No the plants don't look okay. I see leaves covered with algae.
> 
> I recommend that the size of gravel pieces be no bigger than 2-3 mm. You are using small stones that look much bigger. Use a thin sand layer if you can't find decent gravel. Stones are too harsh for plant roots, especially the small plants you are working with. To help these poor little plants out, I would scoop out some of those stones.
> 
> ...


Should I start scooping the stones out to replace them with sand? Is it ok for the soil to be exposed?


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

florida phish fan said:


> Hey there - asking for help on this forum is a good thing. It's great that more experienced chime in, and it's great that we can benefit. Experimentation on your own is another great way to learn.
> 
> I found the simplist way to ensure success was sticking to the formula of hardy cheap fast growing plants from the beginning. I think you mentioned you'd spent $120 on plants and thought that was enough?
> 
> ...


Thank you for the advice on the subReddit I will give it a try to see if anyone is getting rid of plants! I am not super into the mosses I thought why not give a bunch of different plants a try and see what grows. I knew I didn't like hornwort just not my style. I ordered like 10$ worth of water lettuce and hopefully, that will help take some nutrients out of the water. I think we got a good group of plants currently just hoping that a few of them take off soon. Trying to deal with the algae is a pain but things don't look too bad right now. I'm hoping the shrimp-like to eat the algae and that will help our problems a bit.


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## jatcar95 (Oct 30, 2019)

snake90890 said:


> I'm hoping the shrimp-like to eat the algae and that will help our problems a bit.


Shrimp and snails will eat some algae, but only as a last resort. If there is other food in the tank they will prefer that. In my experience I haven't been able to rely on animals to tackle algae - I always need to address the _cause_ of the algae. In my case it was light intensity and period. After a few months of slowly adjusting, I have my tank on a regimen that keeps the plants happy and the algae at a minimum.

But if I turn the light up too high (I always want it as high as I can get it without issues, because it looks nice), the algae comes back. This despite having hundreds of snails and a handful of shrimp.


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

jatcar95 said:


> Shrimp and snails will eat some algae, but only as a last resort. If there is other food in the tank they will prefer that. In my experience I haven't been able to rely on animals to tackle algae - I always need to address the _cause_ of the algae. In my case it was light intensity and period. After a few months of slowly adjusting, I have my tank on a regimen that keeps the plants happy and the algae at a minimum.
> 
> But if I turn the light up too high (I always want it as high as I can get it without issues, because it looks nice), the algae comes back. This despite having hundreds of snails and a handful of shrimp.


But, to be clear, I'll bet you're dealing with a much more heavily planted tank than the OP, aren't you?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

snake90890 said:


> Should I start scooping the stones out to replace them with sand? Is it ok for the soil to be exposed?


Sounds like a reasonable maneuver. 
You can decide--as you remove some of those stones--whether exposing the soil becomes problematic. In general, soil that has been submerged for a few days/ weeks has increasingly less tendency to float and cause turbidity. In the past, I have run tanks without a gravel cover.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

dwalstad said:


> Sounds like a reasonable maneuver.
> You can decide--as you remove some of those stones--whether exposing the soil becomes problematic. In general, soil that has been submerged for a few days/ weeks has increasingly less tendency to float and cause turbidity. In the past, I have run tanks without a gravel cover.


Ok, I can replace things with sand and I have a few extra rocks to hopefully put the anubias and moss on. I also have a water sprite that I could maybe separate into a few plants instead of just one. I'm not sure how that works though.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

We got some Flourite Black Sand for our cap, we will be removing the gravel and shrimp and driftwood today to do the replacement. Is this a good cap for our soil?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Black sand sounds good. Don't make the sand layer too deep, maybe 3/4 inch for such a small tank and small plants. You don't want the soil layer to go anaerobic.
Glad you removed the driftwood. 
Carry on!


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Ok, awesome I might have done a little much with about a 1" cap for the sand. I ordered about 50 more stems from 10 different species of plants. Cabomba caroliniana, Wisteria (Hydrophila difformis), Alternanthera reineckii, Hornwort, Ambulia, Lloydiella Golden, Potamogeton GAYI, Rotala Nanjenshan, Rotala wallichii, and temple narrow leaf. Hopefully, these combined with the plants already planted and the water lettuce that is coming will help fill out the tank. 

I just received a CO2 drop checker and placed it into my aquarium to check and see if CO2 is an issue. I was wondering how to raise the CO2 if there isn't enough of it? 

Clearly, there are enough nutrients and light so I'm thinking that CO2 is the lacking party.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Ok, also read that I should have my lights at a lower level of brightness, and I should have a schedule that is broken up more, 3 hours on, 3 off, 3 on, 3 off, 3 on, 9 off? Also, since my tank is low-tech I think that my CO2 checker solution is too concentrated and I am going to dilute it so it is half as concentrated, we will see if that helps.


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

A walstad tank doesn't depend on CO2 additives - at least not in the beginning. That's the purpose of having all that soil in your substrate - it isn't so much for the nutrients, it's for the slowly decaying organic matter that will hopefully release CO2 close to the roots. A lot of people misunderstand this. Start reading those Diana articles whenever you're ready.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Yeah I know that there aren't any additives I was just wondering if there was anything I should be doing to make sure there is enough CO2 in the tank. Diana said that I can't have too many bubbles from my filter because it will let the CO2 escape. Also, I poked the sand and bubbles came out I don't know if that is a good thing or if I should be poking the sand to get the bubbles out?


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

snake90890 said:


> Yeah I know that there aren't any additives I was just wondering if there was anything I should be doing to make sure there is enough CO2 in the tank. Diana said that I can't have too many bubbles from my filter because it will let the CO2 escape. Also, I poked the sand and bubbles came out I don't know if that is a good thing or if I should be poking the sand to get the bubbles out?


If the bubbles don't smell, it could be a good sign. It's either H2S which means it's coming from an area that is anaerobic, or it could be CO2.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

It didn't smell like anything, I checked for the smell of eggs and didn't smell any of that. I'm glad it is CO2 that had me nervous! Here are some pics of everything so far.


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## jatcar95 (Oct 30, 2019)

CO2 will almost certainly be the limiting factor, that's just a fact of life for low-tech tanks. There will be an initial CO2 boost as @johnwesley0 mentioned, but even that probably doesn't reach high-tech CO2 levels. It's fine, as most plants don't _need_ that much CO2. Aquarium Co-op has a good video explaining it - CO2 is like plant steroids. It's not necessary, but will give them a growth boost. 

There are some plants which require higher levels of CO2, but those aren't recommended for Walstad anyway.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

jatcar95 said:


> CO2 will almost certainly be the limiting factor, that's just a fact of life for low-tech tanks. There will be an initial CO2 boost as @johnwesley0 mentioned, but even that probably doesn't reach high-tech CO2 levels. It's fine, as most plants don't _need_ that much CO2. Aquarium Co-op has a good video explaining it - CO2 is like plant steroids. It's not necessary, but will give them a growth boost.
> 
> There are some plants which require higher levels of CO2, but those aren't recommended for Walstad anyway.


That makes sense, thank you for explaining that, I will worry less and hopefully plant more as soon as the new plants get here. I put some water lettuce in the other day along with some MTS's and the tank looks so so clear. It is a nice change. Couple of pictures of the snails and shrimp together.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Just tested my water today and it came back with .5ppm Ammonia, .25 ppm Nitrite, and 0 Nitrate. I am going to test the water every day and do water changes if the ammonia gets too high. I'm hoping for the best and that the bacteria is there but if not daily water changes it is.


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

I wouldn't go overboard with the water changes just yet. I barely see any plant growth from two weeks ago. You should be relying on plant growth to control the ammonia in your tank at this point.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Ok, I have more plants coming in tomorrow so hopefully, after planting the tank more, hopefully there will be more growth, and faster-growing plants than what we have right now.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

snake90890 said:


> Ok, I have more plants coming in tomorrow so hopefully, after planting the tank more, hopefully there will be more growth, and faster-growing plants than what we have right now.


Yes, more plants for this tank are the ticket!
I would relax about the water changes. You haven't got any fish, so let your new plants take care of the ammonia and nitrite. They'll enjoy the ammonia and hopefully mop it up quickly. In a Walstad tank, you are depending on plants not bacteria to take care of the ammonia and nitrite. See my website article, 'Potted Plants for Breeding Fish' where I use plants alone for removing ammonia.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

I pulled the molts of the shrimp that I found too and the ammonia and nitrite levels have been stable at .5 ppm and .25 ppm respectively. I added a bunch more plants today as they came in this morning. Cabomba, Wisteria, Alternanthera reineckii, hornwort, ambulia, lloydiella golden, potamogeton gayi, rotala nanjenshan, rotala wallichii, and temple narrow leaf. Around 50 new stems of plants have been planted. Hopefully, I will see a change for the better when it comes to ammonia and nitrite and the shrimp and snails will like the new hiding places. I will continue to let the tank do its thing and avoid water changes.


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## jatcar95 (Oct 30, 2019)

Are these all stem plants? Stem plants are good, but rooted plants are my favorite. They can really utilize the dirted substrate to the fullest, whereas stem plants primarily absorb nutrients from the water column. I see you have _some_ rooted plants - how are they doing? Any signs of growth/spreading?


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

jatcar95 said:


> Are these all stem plants? Stem plants are good, but rooted plants are my favorite. They can really utilize the dirted substrate to the fullest, whereas stem plants primarily absorb nutrients from the water column. I see you have _some_ rooted plants - how are they doing? Any signs of growth/spreading?


We have 3 groups of Vallisneria nana, 3 groupings of Helanthium 'Vesuvius', and 3 groupings of dwarf hair grass which are both rooting plants. Most of our other plants are column feeds I believe. I think that these plants are doing well but I'm not exactly sure if I have seen tons of growth yet. I've only seen visible growth from our floating dwarf water lettuce. I'll attach some pictures of the rooting plants, they look good just not seeing tons of growth so I don't know.


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## jatcar95 (Oct 30, 2019)

They certainly look healthy so far! Hopefully they start sending off some runners in the next few weeks.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

jatcar95 said:


> They certainly look healthy so far! Hopefully they start sending off some runners in the next few weeks.


I am hoping so too! I will post as soon as I see some growth from any of them! Just trying to get the tank to cycle, currently have a bunch of nitrite and no ammonia so I'm thinking we are about half way through.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Alright, quick update the plants seem to be doing very well and there has been noticeable growth from a few plants. Some plants seem to still be settling in but have continuously looked better. I'm not sure if the Helanthium 'Vesuvius' is sending out a runner in the front or what that is but it seems like it to me. No fish yet but the snails and shrimp are loving all the melting plants. No algae that I can see either which is amazing.


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## johnwesley0 (Feb 23, 2021)

I think there's a lot of potential here. Looks a lot nicer than it did 20 days ago.


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

johnwesley0 said:


> I think there's a lot of potential here. Looks a lot nicer than it did 20 days ago.


Thanks, John! I'm pretty stoked about it The tank seemed to be cycling still but it might have just finished. The past couple of weeks the ammonia has been zero but there has been a consistent rise in nitrites about .25 a day so I would have to do water changes. Just checked the water today and there were zero nitrites and ammonia with a little nitrate but pretty close to zero. Does this mean that the tank has been cycled and the plants are just doing their job eating up all the nitrates? Got me super excited thinking that I can get fish soon!


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## snake90890 (Jan 7, 2022)

Alright folks this is around a year update of our tank. We have 4 Habrosus pygmy cories, a bunch of neocaridina shrimp, and ramshorn and MTS snails. I have introduced floaters that have been doing well, I keep trimming and replanting the plants when I can so hopefully the tank keeps getting more and more plants. It seems that the cabomba plants are doing the best, the rotala is growing just not as fast, the hair grass is pretty much gone, i planted some dwarf sag at the front of the glass that seems alright but not the best, the pearl weed seems to be going great. So not much success with rooting plants. Which is sad. Not exactly sure why. 
The water parameters have been 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites, and 0 ammonia every time that I check. I recently started checking the gH at around 200-400 ppm and kH at 160-200 ppm, pH sits higher now at 7.8. I feed 2 algae wafers every 3 days. I have done probably 2 water changes over the past 6 months and just top up every few weeks. The lighting is on a siesta of 4 hours on, 5 hours off, 4 hours on again. 
The shrimp are breeding which is cool and the snails are of course doing well, and the fish have been fine not breeding I'm assuming the snails are eating their eggs. 
I am always looking at ways to improve the tank, I've tried to change things here and there slowly, like switching the light and waiting, or feeding more or less, nothing has really gotten rid of the hair algae in the tank, it grows mostly near the substrate. Also, I wanted to lower my pH somehow but haven't really figured out how, I'm looking into getting an RO filter to mix RO water with my hard Colorado water to maybe reduce pH and gH and kH all at once.


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