From Walstad To High Tech

Tx! I like the potato idea!

By vacuum, I meant skI'm siphon and where it collects. I just get most of the surface mulm and debris out. No, don't vacuum the vals. I noticed vals don't like to be planted too deep. They like just their roots buried and that makes it hard to get them estsblished. I tie my val plants to rocks, bury the rock and let them root in. That seems to work the best!

I used to remove the film by drawing the film into a cup and dumping. Or some use a paper towel or surface skimmer. I've seen some nice DIY ideas if it's persistent.

It's not a big deal unless it gets so thick it interferes with o2 exchange.

 

Tx! I like the potato idea!

By vacuum, I meant skI'm siphon and where it collects. I just get most of the surface mulm and debris out. No, don't vacuum the vals. I noticed vals don't like to be planted too deep. They like just their roots buried and that makes it hard to get them estsblished. I tie my val plants to rocks, bury the rock and let them root in. That seems to work the best!

I used to remove the film by drawing the film into a cup and dumping. Or some use a paper towel or surface skimmer. I've seen some nice DIY ideas if it's persistent.

It's not a big deal unless it gets so thick it interferes with o2 exchange.

Hadn't thought about it interefering with O2 Exchange!

The vals were doing amazing until I nuked them with Hydrogen peroxide! The vals I am talking about vacuming are the translucent remnants of their leaves.

I have 3 sweet potatoes. One from 1 month ago, another from 2 weeks ago, and the other from today. The first one took 3 weeks, second took 1 week and the last one already had small roots.

I also have a normal potato from less than 1 week ago growing small roots.

I tried a normal potato one month ago but it rotted after a week. Next is some small potatoes and sweet potatoes.

This is where I'm confused as to the potato "rotting". The potato you show with growth there looks like its rotting to me... Isn't that just part of the process when growing a potato in water?

 

This is where I'm confused as to the potato "rotting". The potato you show with growth there looks like its rotting to me... Isn't that just part of the process when growing a potato in water?

I had another potato that was rotting. I didn't take a picture of it. It became squishy and fell apart

 

I had another potato that was rotting. I didn't take a picture of it. It became squishy and fell apart

Gotchya. I just checked and mine is as firm as when I put it in there. So, I'm assuming I'm good to go

The tank's newest inhabitant courtesy of Demeter

He/She needs a name!

 

Be careful with the potato!!!! Mine was "hard" until I squeezed it by the roots and the it came apart in my hand!!

 

Be careful with the potato!!!! Mine was "hard" until I squeezed it by the roots and the it came apart in my hand!!

I squeezed the submerged part (where the roots are growing) and it seemed to be solid, but I'll give her a few pokes this week to make sure!

 

I squeezed the submerged part (where the roots are growing) and it seemed to be solid, but I'll give her a few pokes this week to make sure!

Okay!

 

Okay!

It's also growing leaves (purple and green) out of the submerged portion of the potato I noticed this morning. I have a hard time swallowing the idea that its rotting if it is showing growth

 

It's also growing leaves (purple and green) out of the submerged portion of the potato I noticed this morning. I have a hard time swallowing the idea that its rotting if it is showing growth

If its growing leaves its probs not rotting. Mine never sprouted leaves so....

 

If its growing leaves its probs not rotting. Mine never sprouted leaves so....

Sweet!

I mean, not sweet for you.. Sorry about your potato

 

So many better plants to try then a potatoe. Use bog plants.

 

So many better plants to try then a potatoe. Use bog plants.

Haha. Agreed Jack. I had one in the house already, thought it would be cool, and haven't had time to research which bog plants wouldn't take over my tank in a weeks time.

 

You should name it French Fry (the fish)

Haha. Agreed Jack. I had one in the house already, thought it would be cool, and haven't had time to research which bog plants wouldn't take over my tank in a weeks time.

I agree though - the potato can be a fun experiment, but since they don't naturally grow in water I can't see it being sustainable long term. If you're searching for emergent growth there are lots of full aquatics that will grow parts above water given time - banana plant, water wisteria, creeping jenny, moneywort (I'm putting all these in my outside tub). I think one of the bigger challenges is the emergent plant having enough light, since your tank lights are presumably too low, and most people keep their aquarium in a relatively dark area to avoid algae from external light sources. I think I've heard Chinese Evergreen is a good plant for this purpose as well, since they don't need (or like) a lot of light as house plants.

 

Magicpenny75 Foo the Flowerhorn's potato is still going

 

I agree though - the potato can be a fun experiment, but since they don't naturally grow in water I can't see it being sustainable long term. If you're searching for emergent growth there are lots of full aquatics that will grow parts above water given time - banana plant, water wisteria, creeping jenny, moneywort (I'm putting all these in my outside tub). I think one of the bigger challenges is the emergent plant having enough light, since your tank lights are presumably too low, and most people keep their aquarium in a relatively dark area to avoid algae from external light sources. I think I've heard Chinese Evergreen is a good plant for this purpose as well, since they don't need (or like) a lot of light as house plants.

Luckily I have a big window that lets in bout 2 or 3 hours of sunlight in the late afternoon/evening! After the potato experiment I will probably look into something like those

 

Magicpenny75 Foo the Flowerhorn's potato is still going

He has one of those tanks - lights are way up to clear the plant. Also he has too much time on his hands lol.

 

I thought foo the flowerhorn was retired

He has one of those tanks - lights are way up to clear the plant. Also he has too much time on his hands lol.

 

Maybe it's dependant on how much potato is submerged. I will just submerge the tip if I try it. Can I use baking potatoes?

 

He has one of those tanks - lights are way up to clear the plant. Also he has too much time on his hands lol.

Maybe it's dependant on how much potato is submerged. I will just submerge the tip if I try it. Can I use baking potatoes?

From what I've ready, yes you can, but the plant isn't as pretty. I've kept about a fifth of the sweet potato submerged.

 

I keep just the end of it in the water

 

Do you have any recent pics of the tank? Last one I saw there seemed to be way too few plants for Walstad method to work nicely. I did a Walstad tank in a 5 gallon a year ago, heavily planted (over 85% coverage from viewed from above, back wall also blocked by plants.) Didnt get any algae . I add a surface skimmer for the first couple of months then shut it off.

Also have a 55 gallon Dirted tank now going on its 4th year. Lots of stem plants and hornwort for that one too.

 

There's a riparium section you can plant in substrate and grow above seems great for a walstead.

 

Do you have any recent pics of the tank? Last one I saw there seemed to be way too few plants for Walstad method to work nicely. I did a Walstad tank in a 5 gallon a year ago, heavily planted (over 85% coverage from viewed from above, back wall also blocked by plants.) Didnt get any algae . I add a surface skimmer for the first couple of months then shut it off.

Also have a 55 gallon Dirted tank now going on its 4th year. Lots of stem plants and hornwort for that one too.

Wow! What kinds of fish do you have? Also do you think Diana's method of fertilizing through fish food and fish waste is practical. I added mystery snails to make sure my bioload stays enough for the plants

 

There's a riparium section you can plant in substrate and grow above seems great for a walstead.

What an awesome reference Jack. Thank you!

Do you have any recent pics of the tank? Last one I saw there seemed to be way too few plants for Walstad method to work nicely. I did a Walstad tank in a 5 gallon a year ago, heavily planted (over 85% coverage from viewed from above, back wall also blocked by plants.) Didnt get any algae . I add a surface skimmer for the first couple of months then shut it off.

Also have a 55 gallon Dirted tank now going on its 4th year. Lots of stem plants and hornwort for that one too.

Hey Big. If you read the whole post, I had a ton of jungle val covering the background (probably 3 or for inches thick and 3/4 of the way up the back wall of the tank and some on the sides.
The brown algae was 100% my fault for upping my light schedule and leaving for a week.
The blackbeard algae though, as I understand has to be brought into your tank by a carrier, in this case my amazon sword.
I sprayed everything with H202 like an idiot and the jungle val disappeared, and a few other plants didn't make it. Replanted dwarf sag and jungle val, and a few more crypts since then. Also added red root floaters courtesy of Rtessy .

I'm only 3 months or so into this tank. I'm going to give it a chance to balance itself and the plants room to grow out before I start comparing it to 4 year old or 5 gallon tanks.

 

Update: I have a hard time believing the sweet potato has any affect on nitrate purification. This things roots and leaves have doubled in the past two days and I still have 15-20ppm nitrates in a 38 gallon tank. I'm tentatively calling BS.

Will update with a picture later.

 

The sweet potato I grew has lowered nitrate in a testing tank. I put one that already had roots and leaves. Reduced 40 ppm to 20 ppm in less than a week and grew very quickly.
The second normal potato I tried rotted.

 

The sweet potato I grew has lowered nitrate in a testing tank. I put one that already had roots and leaves. Reduced 40 ppm to 20 ppm in less than a week and grew very quickly.
The second normal potato I tried rotted.

Good To know Abarb. Maybe I'll pay attention to it this week then to see. The potato I currently have in there is really taking off, looks cool, plenty of purple and green leaves.... but no affects on the nitrates so far.

 

I'm pretty sure my potato is doing drugs! This thing is out of control!

 

I'm pretty sure my potato is doing drugs! This thing is out of control!

No fair! Mine rotted THREE times!

 

No fair! Mine rotted THREE times!

I wish I could give advice, but I literally just set it in there and didn't pay attention for a month and a half haha

 

Any update pictures on the tank?

 

How is the pleco, any bristles yet? Has it worked wonders on the algae?

 

Any update pictures on the tank?

How is the pleco, any bristles yet? Has it worked wonders on the algae?

candiedragon Pictures attached!
Demeter No Bristles yet (excluding a few more around His/Her mouth like your older female has) I'll try to take some pictures if he/she will sit still in the open for me. As far as algae goes, the matts were so tough that I had to use elbow grease to get them off. He/She is trying haha, but I ended up clearing off the front glass.

The jungle val doesn't seem to be adapting, almost no growth. Although, there is no melting either... May yank them, and replace with 3 or 4 swords as the Amazon Sword I have seems to LOVE this tank.

 

Looks great! Jungle val takes a hot minute to establish in my experience, then before you know it starts exploding in your tank lol. But ultimately you do what you like, you're the one who gets to stare at this tank

 

I’m by no means an expert but I started my Betta tank with tetra safe start and also had horrifying ammonia readings at first. I read up on others experience and found others had the same issue.

I came to the conclusion that the ammonia they house the bacteria in were coming up on the test even though it’s nontoxic to fish according to tetra.

Did a water test today, exactly a week after adding the tss and all was fine!

Also if you were dosing with prime after the tss it could have stopped it from working by killing off the ammonia that the bacteria eat.

Again not an expert but that’s what I’ve gathered from advice on here and hours of researching because I was worried sick!

Hope it ends up working for you!

 

I’m by no means an expert but I started my Betta tank with tetra safe start and also had horrifying ammonia readings at first. I read up on others experience and found others had the same issue.

I came to the conclusion that the ammonia they house the bacteria in were coming up on the test even though it’s nontoxic to fish according to tetra.

Did a water test today, exactly a week after adding the tss and all was fine!

Also if you were dosing with prime after the tss it could have stopped it from working by killing off the ammonia that the bacteria eat.

Again not an expert but that’s what I’ve gathered from advice on here and hours of researching because I was worried sick!

Hope it ends up working for you!

Hey FloydtheBetta .

I read similar views, just felt super uncomfortable while letting the TSS do its thing. I think I am forever in the "just test and change your water until its cycled" class of fishkeepers. Haha. I know its a viable product that a lot of people have success with, but the anxiety wasn't worth it for me. Also, I almost always have a bag of seachem matrix seeding in one or multiple filters. So, hopefully I'll never have to worry about it again anyway!

Demeter

Pics of Henry/Henrietta from last night. As you can tell, he/she likes the amazon sword!

What do you think? Enough bristle action to declare him a Henry?

Looks great! Jungle val takes a hot minute to establish in my experience, then before you know it starts exploding in your tank lol. But ultimately you do what you like, you're the one who gets to stare at this tank

I agree. That's how it was in my first tank too. I just feel like it has already been a hot minute and nothing is happening!

 

Hey FloydtheBetta .

I read similar views, just felt super uncomfortable while letting the TSS do its thing. I think I am forever in the "just test and change your water until its cycled" class of fishkeepers. Haha. I know its a viable product that a lot of people have success with, but the anxiety wasn't worth it for me. Also, I almost always have a bag of seachem matrix seeding in one or multiple filters. So, hopefully I'll never have to worry about it again anyway!

Demeter

Pics of Henry/Henrietta from last night. As you can tell, he/she likes the amazon sword!

What do you think? Enough bristle action to declare him a Henry?


I agree. That's how it was in my first tank too. I just feel like it has already been a hot minute and nothing is happening!

I have a bag of fluval biomax in mine because I want to avoid the anxiety in my next tank! Great minds think alike

 

Welp.... It was a really fun experiment, but I am growing to despise how the potato grows above water, and the flesh above the water is becoming soft and ripping away from the skewer. So, I'm going to toss it before it becomes a problem and replace it with either pothos or water hyacinth at some point (need to do more research on lighting requirements).

Pictures for documentation.

 

Hey All,

Just wanted to give some updates on my tank.

I felt like some plants weren't thriving, and wanted to add bioload to see if that helped. Especially since some of the plants are definitely thriving.
So, I went to the LFS and got 7 harlequin raspboras and 2 Apistogramma Double Reds (male and female who still need names!)

The red reoot floaters and water lettuce are really starting to multiply.

The tiger barbs laid Eggs!!! We're on day 3 and I'm not entirely sure they are fertile. So, I'll either have babies or something fouling up my water here shortly.

Vishaquatics (Koiman) sent me some really good looking ludwigia repens, super red, Water Sprite, and Hydrocolite Japan (sp) for my betta tank, and there was so much I had leftovers for this tank!

Going to snip the dead portions of the rotala and give it one last month to turn around before I yank it. The jungle val is still there, and still stagnant.

 

Great jungle you got going! Loving it