# When to add livestock? (Walstad method)



## gabi.loraine (Dec 8, 2021)

The Walstad book doesn't answer this question for me (or at least, I haven't found it and I've really looked) and in the book she does mention that she sets tanks up and adds fish right away. I've read elsewhere that the tank needs to "cycle" first and to wait 2–3mo.
As a super newbie, I'm not confident, and really hesitant to add fish (I'm thinking probably a betta with like coridoras and an apple snail) because the last thing I want is to kill them or make them sick. There is actually a baby snail that appeared 2 weeks after buying the plants... I'm not sure what species... he always seems to be on the walls of the tank or skimming the surface, only once have I ever seen him on a leaf.
My tank is starting to present some... muck? I feel like I can tell some of it is algae but some of it is brown or white... definitely too much for our little friend. Also I'm like counting on the fish/fishfood to fertilize the plants so they can become happy and algae can go away? But when to add fish? You get my dilemma.
The bowl is receiving plenty of natural light and I lower a curtain for about 3 hours at midday per the "nap" thing...
The levels I've been testing seem fine or "not that bad" though my kit is about to expire so I need to get a new one (recommendations?)
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0–2ppm
PH 7.2–7.6

Also I've noticed not a lot of answers in this forum, maybe a recommendation for how to get better help or get people's attention on here?


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## gabi.loraine (Dec 8, 2021)

here are some photos of the setup, please disregard the Qatari flag which is an inside joke with a friend 😅


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

How large is the bowl?

Your set-up looks good. Are the plants actively growing? If so, I think you could do a large water change and add livestock. Be conservative with numbers of fish--one betta or a trio of guppies would probably be enough. Keep testing the water and do water changes as necessary to keep ammonia and nitrites low. BTW, corydoras catfish are highly social and you don't have room for a group of five.

Walstad tanks do not "cycle" in the way that is meant in most aquarium how-to information. Healthy growing plants remove ammonia and you don't need to wait for enough beneficial bacteria to colonize the tank/filter. This is what "cycle" refers to, and it mostly applies to all fish, few plants, heavily filtered aquaria.


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## gabi.loraine (Dec 8, 2021)

Michael said:


> How large is the bowl?


The bowl holds between 7–8 gallons, I haven't quite measured it.




Michael said:


> Your set-up looks good. Are the plants actively growing?


Thank you! The plants are definitely growing. Yesterday my husband was saying how impressed he is that none of them are "DEAD" ... Some are growing fast and some are stagnant but holding on. The vallisnera lost about half of it's leaves, they were dead/dying so I cut them out.




Michael said:


> If so, I think you could do a large water change and add livestock. Be conservative with numbers of fish--one betta or a trio of guppies would probably be enough. Keep testing the water and do water changes as necessary to keep ammonia and nitrites low. BTW, corydoras catfish are highly social and you don't have room for a group of five.



lol I'm so terrified of killing the livestock!!! My API liquid test kit is about to expire. I think I'll get the same one again?
Good to know about the corydoras, I didn't actually know that they were social!




Michael said:


> Walstad tanks do not "cycle" in the way that is meant in most aquarium how-to information. Healthy growing plants remove ammonia and you don't need to wait for enough beneficial bacteria to colonize the tank/filter. This is what "cycle" refers to, and it mostly applies to all fish, few plants, heavily filtered aquaria.


You have no idea how much I needed someone to tell me this.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Wow, the bowl doesn't look that big. You can definitely put more fish in it than I suggested. Yes, keep using a test kit, but the behavior of the fish is your most important indication of their health. Are they actively eating and swimming throughout the tank? (Depends on species of course.) If so, you are good.

Are they inactive, not eating, staying near the bottom or top of the tank all the time? Are their fins clamped together and not spread out? These are signs that something is wrong. Try a water change as the first fix.

"You have no idea how much I needed someone to tell me this. " Happy to oblige! Many beginners share your confusion. It is one of the important differences between a Walstad tank and other methods to estabish an aquarium.


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## gabi.loraine (Dec 8, 2021)

I’ll do the online calculator again tomorrow to try to guesstimate the gallon allowance with measurements just to double check… but in the meantime here’s a photo from before I filled it surrounded by regular sized things for scale hehehe “I don’t have a banana”


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## gabi.loraine (Dec 8, 2021)

Michael said:


> Wow, the bowl doesn't look that big.


Ok, I've double-checked with the calculator and currently it's at almost 8gal filled to the very top. So so far it's been about 5-7gal depending on how high I've filled it. And I'm counting the soil+gravel, should I not be doing that? It's also super irregular...




Michael said:


> "You have no idea how much I needed someone to tell me this. " Happy to oblige! Many beginners share your confusion. It is one of the important differences between a Walstad tank and other methods to estabish an aquarium.


I almost hope that she does a new edition to the book so she can add the answers to more common questions like this one...

Still, I am hesitant to add the fish... My husband keeps reminding me that we're moving (in a couple of months) and that he's afraid of the complexity/traumatizing the fish/etc with the move...


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Moving a bowl like this is pretty easy. Bag the fish and put the bag in a small cooler to reduce temperature changes. Drain the bowl as much as you can, then cover the plants with a wet towel, several layers of paper towels will also work. The towel keeps the plants wet and prevents the sloshing of wet substrate that does most of the damage during a move.


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## gabi.loraine (Dec 8, 2021)

Michael said:


> Moving a bowl like this is pretty easy. Bag the fish and put the bag in a small cooler to reduce temperature changes. Drain the bowl as much as you can, then cover the plants with a wet towel, several layers of paper towels will also work. The towel keeps the plants wet and prevents the sloshing of wet substrate that does most of the damage during a move.


Sigh.. it might be worth it to rip it all out and restart though, to better position the driftwood to make sure it's less probable for the soil to go anaerobic? The more I think about it the more complicated it gets lol ...I'd be afraid to crush the plants with towels? At the store I bought them the lady had them fully submerged but I transported them home in plastic bags full of air and then didn't fully submerge them for about two days ... most of them have recovered pretty well...
yes we definitely do not want soil and gravel sloshing around


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