# Plants to avoid



## diskoerekto (Dec 12, 2011)

Hi everybody, 

I will revive an old project since my carpenter finally built my stand.

I wonder especially which plants are to avoid in a walstad setting. I will have 3 watt per gallon light, and of course no CO2. Are there plants that never thrive no matter what? 

Cheers, 
Emrah

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## tantaMD (Dec 23, 2011)

there is no plants to avoid  , but u will need some amount of fast and easy growing plants for walstad tank. especially in the begining. btw i think ur light is too much for an walstad type tank, because the amount of CO2 in walstad tank does not sufficient for that much of light. its better to have light around 1,5-2 watt/gallon. although actually watt/gallon is not so reliable measurement, it still give some easy and practical guidance


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## ThinkTank (Aug 2, 2011)

Some plants are more difficult than others but there's nothing that should be avoided.

The sensitive plants may need additional CO2, ferts, etc.


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## jmn (Jun 28, 2012)

I am really glad to see this thread as I have wondered this myself. 

As a beginner to Walstad, I find that there are plants to avoid -- anything that is just a stem plant that has no roots. I've set up about 8 tanks and 5 containers in the last 8 months and stem plants from the local pet stores just rot at the base then float regardless of light or filtration. 

Walstad method does not seem like a good method for high light plants in general as it's low-maint. success depends on lighting being no more than 2W/gal. The Walstad's ability to "instantly cycle" a tank depends on having a very large number of good quality plants with extensive root systems and then very heavily planting the tank at the start. My tanks still take 3 wk to cycle as I do not have access to anything except what I can buy at the local PetCo/Pet Smart and I can only do it in limited qualities.

If you are having to add ferts and CO2, then I don't think it's a Waldstad-style tank, strictly speaking. It could still be a beautiful dirt bottom tank, just not Walstad style.

The best advice given to me so far by one of this sites moderator's: start with low light plants with developed root sytems: echinodorus, anubias, java fern, Val spp. (mixed results with this last) Anubias barteria "nana" seems to be the Hosta of the aquatic gardening world -- looks great no matter what tank or substrate it's in.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

We have not found the limits of what can be grown by the Walstad method. I encourage people to experiment, and report what they find.

It is difficult to predict with 100% accuracy what will grow in a given tank, even for experienced people. For example, I consistently fail with floating species that are supposed to be easy in Walstad tanks. I deliberately try to keep all the nutrients in the substrate and almost none in the water, so floating plants starve to death in my tanks. But I have very little trouble with algae, so it is a good trade-off.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I find that fast growing plants tend to grow better with Walstad's method such as Ludwigia repens, Sagittaria subulata, Elianthium tenellum, etc.

As for slow growing plants such as anubias and ferns, they will not be dead but they will be covered by algae which is a very ugly sight. Cryptocoryne wentii is fine though.


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## Skizhx (Oct 12, 2010)

I wouldn't exactly call "wpg" practical... When you've factored in type of lighting, reflector or none, quality of reflector, in some cases quality of ballast, and distance between the substrate and the lighting, "2WPG" can really fall anywhere between "not enough light to grow plants" and "scorched leaves". Even between two fixtures of the same type, there can be significant difference due to the reflectors or underpowered ballasts. Doesn't exactly give people the information necessary to help you, or to give advice that's been correctly tailored to your setup and demands.

With that said, the rules are pretty much the same for a walstad tank as they are for any tank... Don't pick plants that need more light than you can provide, and make sure you can provide nutrients to the plants you have. Of course the intensity of the light changes in depth of the tank, and there have been some plants considered to be better off with brighter lighting that have done well in lower light setups, so nothing carved in stone. A much easier question to answer would be which plants seem to be well suited.


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## Luffy (Aug 23, 2012)

I've really enjoyed how Pennywort has grown in my walstad tank. It has had very nice broad round leaves twisting diagonally across the tank and has been my best and quickest grower. You can see it here in the front:








My crypt undulata has done well too. It's a real slow grower but it looks good and it hasn't had any algea (could be because it's my otto cat's favorite plant and he keeps it incredibly clean).


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