# Taking the plunge



## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

Hubs got me a 125gal aquarium for my birthday...this makes #23. My others are mostly low-tech planted tanks with mattenfilters, but I've been wanting to try a NPT, so, in the spirit of "go big or go home," I decided to bypass the experimental shrimp tank and just jump right in and do it for the first time on my new giant tank. 

Rather than duplicate my efforts, since it's 2AM and I've got to work tomorrow, and I've already documented my progress so far on my FB page, I'll just link to it for now: Geek2Nurse's 125gal Walstad Adventure


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC! I think it was a good call to use your garden soil.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

Thanks! Happy to be here.


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## dcutl002 (Jan 3, 2015)

I like it. I have never tried a "dirted" tank before.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

I clouded it up again adding more plants, but even so I'm really happy with how it's looking so far! The angelfish seem a little in awe of all the space, but the normally shy neons are loving it, racing back and forth from one end to the other! 

And yeah, I know keeping neons and angels together doesn't work for most people. For me, it always has. My theory is that it's because I always introduce them when the angels are too small to eat them. By the time they get big enough, they seem to have forgotten they could try.


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## redthumb (Apr 17, 2014)

I love those angels are just beautiful especially the calico with the bright orange....


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

Thanks!


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

*Siesta timing automated...still need to find the right light fixture.*

I got a starter set of SmartThings home automation gadgets for Christmas...The smart outlets (also available on Amazon) seem like a great alternative to using a timer for turning tank lights on and off--my timers always end up needing adjustment because of power outages, daylight savings shifts, etc. That won't affect the SmartThings settings, since they access the actual time via the Internet, plus if I want to adjust times I can do it right from my iPhone instead of having to crawl around behind/underneath tanks. 

The "siesta" timing had me stumped for a bit, since I haven't had the time to sit down and learn the programming language for customizing settings, and the basic stuff only allows for one ON time and one OFF time per device per day. But then I discovered that IFTTT has a SmartThings channel...problem solved! I set the morning ON time and evening OFF time via the SmartThings app, and the OFF/ON times for the siesta period are handled by IFTTT. Done!

Now to complete my quest for appropriate tank lighting for a 6' long x 18" deep aquarium...I don't want to use shop lights, because this is in my living room and I want it to look nice. I prefer LED for the size / energy savings advantages. Any suggestions?


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## ObiQuiet (Oct 9, 2009)

*Re: Siesta timing automated...still need to find the right light fixture.*



Geek2Nurse said:


> Now to complete my quest for appropriate tank lighting for a 6' long x 18" deep aquarium...I don't want to use shop lights, because this is in my living room and I want it to look nice. I prefer LED for the size / energy savings advantages. Any suggestions?


I use clamp-on desk lamps, arranged left-to-right. Five for a 5 foot long tank. Since there are many styles, you may find something that fits your criteria for looking good. Even reading lamps mounted on the wall behind could work.

These fixtures also make it easy to change bulb types as your tank requires. Screw-in LEDs come in various color temps and frequency mixes, even LED grow lights. Of course, CFLs do too.

Since you have a lot of control over the lights now, one thing you could take advantage in the L-to-R arrangement is turning lights on in a slow sequence. I do this in the morning, at 15 min intervals in a vague simulation of sunrise. I doubt the plants or fish care, but it makes the tank more interesting.

In the evenings, each light turns off at a random time within a 2 hour span. I did that for two reasons:
1. I didn't like the tank lights to act like a class room bell, announcing "it's now 10pm".
2. I like the variation in looks as all different combinations can appear at the lights go out in random order each day.

I do this now with a ReefKeeper, but it would work with IFTTT too. Could be keyed to sunset/sunrise even.

Have fun with the variations!


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

*Re: Siesta timing automated...still need to find the right light fixture.*

Cool ideas, thanks!


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

*Lights!*

I couldn't find any definite PAR values at 18" for any of the lights I looked at, but based on some rough extrapolations from what info I could find, including this graph I decided to try the Finnex Fugeray Planted+ fixtures. This is the tank with two 36" fixtures on top. I'm not totally sure it's enough light, so I'll just have to watch the plants and see how they fare.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looks bright enough. I guess it depends on the plants. I grow a lot of plants with a lot less light than people seem to think I need. I leave most of my lights on for at least 10 hours.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

*One is never enough!*

I had to rearrange my whole fish room to accommodate the 185g tank when I moved it in. The 55g that it displaced ended up next to the south-facing window, which, of course, made it a perfect candidate for a second Walstad-style setup. Of course, that could also just be an attempt at rationalizing my obsessive tendencies. :roll eyes:

This one has a 48" Aqueon Modular LED fixture with two daylight white tubes and one ColorMax tube. Based on this thread that may not be enough by itself, but since it will get a decent amount of sunshine as well, I'm hoping it will be adequate.

_Oops, photo didn't attach correctly...see below!_


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

There are a number of small Island nations which are threatened by rising ocean levels who are counting on you to fill up as many aquariums as possible!
Taking advantage of sunlight is a really good idea. I find direct sunlight hard to manage but early morning and late afternoon work well. Mostly I use a north east window that gets only direct light in the mornings.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

BruceF said:


> Looks bright enough. I guess it depends on the plants. I grow a lot of plants with a lot less light than people seem to think I need. I leave most of my lights on for at least 10 hours.


Same here, on both counts!


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

BruceF said:


> There are a number of small Island nations which are threatened by rising ocean levels who are counting on you to fill up as many aquariums as possible!


I'm doing my best! 



BruceF said:


> Taking advantage of sunlight is a really good idea. I find direct sunlight hard to manage but early morning and late afternoon work well. Mostly I use a north east window that gets only direct light in the mornings.


I live in Washington State, so I'm not too worried about it getting too much light. There are lots of trees around the house, so even in the summer the light through that window is pretty well filtered, and the hoya vine strung in the window will have grown in more by then, too. If necessary, though, I can always hang a cloth over the back of the tank if it's too much.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

Hmmph. Just noticed my photo didn't get attached for the 55g tank I was talking about up above. Trying again!


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

Walstad #1 (125g) is progressing well; just beginning to look a little bit green with algae bloom. Nitrates have been staying at 20-40 (can anybody actually tell the difference between those two colors on the test kit card???), with zero ammonia / nitrites.










Walstad #2 (55g) is also doing well; no algae bloom yet, but one of the swords I transplanted into it immediately sent up a bloom stalk, which I'm taking to mean it approves.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Beautiful!


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## AteItOffTheFloor (Oct 8, 2014)

Gotta love sword flowers.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looking good. Do you use fertilizers at all?


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

BruceF said:


> Looking good. Do you use fertilizers at all?


Not so far. But I'm only a month in.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

Time for an update, I guess! These photos are actually a month old already...

Walstad #1 (125g):









Walstad #2 (55g):









Meanwhile, I've set up two more, a 40g and another 55g. I think I'm hooked.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

I don't have a photo to post yet, but the 40g Walstad setup I'm working on is a little bit (more) of an experiment. I am using it to house 5 pelvicachromis pulcher ("kribs") for a growout contest I'm participating in with our local aquarium club (Greater Portland Aquarium Society). I know pelvicachromis like to do some digging, so when I put the soil in, I pressed "egg crate" (the plastic grids used in fluorescent light housings) into the surface before adding my layer of pool sand, to let the plants take root but (hopefully) keep the fish from digging into the soil layer. They're just juveniles now, so it will be a while before I'll know whether it's going to work.  I'm using pseudomugil furcatus (fork-tailed blue-eyed rainbowfish) as the "dither" fish in the tank, mostly because I was looking for an excuse to have some.  I'm starting with 6 of them.

My concern at the moment is whether it will be heavily stocked enough to support the plants. I'm still working on getting my brain wrapped around the chemistry aspects of this approach, and only just got the book and have started reading it. If it's not as heavily stocked, do I compensate by not planting as heavily? That's kind of how it works for my greenhouse aquaponic system, but I kinda suspect it's not quite as simple with this method.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

Walstad #2 (55g) in the sunshine, during the afternoon "siesta" lights out period. (Sunshine, y'all. In Washington State. In March. Days and days of it! )










Here's how it looks with the lights on:


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

Walstad #3, 40g, very lightly planted, at the moment. I'm digging into the book to find out whether I can plant more lightly for a less-stocked aquarium before I add more plants, because this one will only have a few fish in it. (Advice welcome!!!) Also, I have to buy more plants, or wait for more to need pruning in my other tanks.


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## Geek2Nurse (Jun 10, 2014)

And Walstad #4...because I never seem to be able to do anything "just a little bit." This is a 55g growout tank for my baby angelfish, and is also awaiting availability of more plants.


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## Kerry (Sep 5, 2013)

Geek2Nurse said:


> Walstad #2 (55g) in the sunshine, during the afternoon "siesta" lights out period. (Sunshine, y'all. In Washington State. In March. Days and days of it! )
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Love all your tanks! I really like the pic of the 55 with the window light behind it! My tanks have to rely on artificial light since all my windows are shaded, but, I do like the look. The angels are gorgeous!


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

My understanding is that if you don’t have enough plants you should buy more. When you have grown enough plants to need to thin them out then you should buy more tanks. If this is not enough plants to fill the tank then again you should buy more plants. When you have grown enough plants to need to thin them you should buy more tanks…………………..


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## BBogdan (Mar 1, 2015)

Nice tank , it's very jungle like . 
How many angels do you have in there ?


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