Starting a walstead 29g aquarium

Hi yall i have been wanting to do a walstead tank for years and have decided since I am home all the time to go ahead and do it now and so I am doing a thread on the build so I can look back to see progress. I ordered a 10g tank to move my fish and all their stuff and got that done today. Now I'm allowing my 29g to sit with vinegar/water mixture for few days to clean it. I have ordered the finnex planted 24/7 light today and it should be here in about a week. Thursday when I get paid I will be ordering a nice sized, beautiful piece of manzanita wood i have found along with MiracleGro organic soil, amaco mexican pottery clay and black sand. My plan is to use a heater and a bubble boat my kids are determined to keep but no other tech.
Here is a list of plants I plan on ordering:
Amazon sword
Ludwigia
Willow hygro
Rotalia rotundifolia
Anunbias
And as my floater salvinia minima
I really want more plants but not sure what yet but for now this is my stocking. I will be stocking heavily and letting everything settle and adjust/cycle prior to adding cleanup crew and fish.

If anyone has any pointers or suggestions or even some tips from personal experiences please feel free to share them. Thanks

 

HAVE A BLAST! I loved my Walstaad (a little Fluval Edge with the top removed).
Have you watched any of Foo the Flowerhorn's videos on Youtube?
It sounds like you've got all the bases covered honestly.
I had issues with scutariella on my shrimp, I think due to lack of flow. Other than that, the plants did really well and I noticed insane growth from floaters-had to clear tonnes every week.
Can't think of anything to add-your road map looks sound.
I look forward to following your thread.

 

HAVE A BLAST! I loved my Walstaad (a little Fluval Edge with the top removed).
Have you watched any of Foo the Flowerhorn's videos on Youtube?
It sounds like you've got all the bases covered honestly.
I had issues with scutariella on my shrimp, I think due to lack of flow. Other than that, the plants did really well and I noticed insane growth from floaters-had to clear tonnes every week.
Can't think of anything to add-your road map looks sound.
I look forward to following your thread.

No I have not seen their videos but I may have to go check them out. I just am absolutely in love with the natural look and the idea of everything takes care of each other.

 

No I have not seen their videos but I may have to go check them out. I just am absolutely in love with the natural look and the idea of everything takes care of each other.

The greatest tank I have ever seen was a dirt tank. They're really fun especially the self sustaining ones. If you're looking for additional inspiration search "Tom's bucket o mud."

You will not be disappointed.

 

I just bought grapevine wood online vs manzanita wood, the soil, sand and clay. My light is already here. Once I receive the items I just ordered then I will be placing an order for plants. I just don't want to order my plants and have them arrived before the rest. I cannot wait to get this started!

 

Update:
I have recieved my wood, soil and sand but I am still waiting on my rock cave which should be here hopefully next week. I ended up going with miraclegro high performance potting mix as the initial stuff I wanted was unavailable. Today I sifted all the wood bits out and put about 1.5 inches in the tank. I did not wet it at all as I am not quite ready for any water. Once I get my plants I will be wetting it and cleaning the sand to add prior to filling with water. I finally made an official plant list as follows
Ludwigia repens
Hygro willow (augustifolia)
Rotalia rotundifolia
Salvinia minima (floater)
Echinodorus Aflame Purple Knight Amazon Sword

I will be ordering them in 2 weeks when I get paid as it will be about $200 for them for the amount of each I want. That also gives me time to soak my wood so it doesn't float and to release most of the tannins.

 

So I have had a bit of trouble with the wood i ordered. First the grapevine practically feel apart in the water. My fault for not researching it prior to buying (normally I do) but I assumed the stuff was safe as I bought it from an aquarium store online and have heard of people using it. I ended up ordering spiderwood (which I did do research on this time) and after receiving the package yesterday i found the store sent me gravel and not my wood. I have contacted them and it will be about 2 weeks for my replacement package to arrive. Uggh. I really wanted this wood first so I could soak it to get rid of most of the tannins and so it would sink prior to getting plants. I really wanted to use the wood as sort of a centerpiece and plant around it. I think tomorrow I am going to just order the plants I know will be background and won't affect the placement of the wood and once my wood is here and ready I will be adding more plants or I may just go to petsmart and see if I can find some wood that will work. Worst case I have extra wood in my aquarium cabinet for another time.

 

So last night I went to petco and found this amazing piece of spiderwood (pics attached) for only $15. It is now soaking in my bathtub. I also just placed my initial order for plants. I have a total of 51 plants coming sometime next week! I plan on seeing how stocked it is and decide if I want to order more once they arrive. My next update should be the setup and stocking of plants. So excited!!!!

 

That spiderwood looks AMAZING! I've never seen anything like that at my petco/petsmart. Haha

 

That spiderwood looks AMAZING! I've never seen anything like that at my petco/petsmart. Haha

Thanks! This was the first time I have seen it too.

 

So I got my plants!!!! Yay!. Basically I put about 1.5 inches of the dirt (previous post) and covered it with an inch or so of sand. I ended up boiling the wood for 4 hrs and siliconed it down onto tile and placed under the substrate. I then filled the tank (2 days ago) and let it run with a large filter. Today I planted and took the filter out after doing a nice water change due to debris. I still have lots of plant debris floating around but I'll be doing a few more water changes this week. I did end up putting a sponge filter behind the wood for now. My plans are once the plants adjust and take off I want to remove the sponge. A few of the plants do look deficient so I did order ferts to use as needed. I guess I went away from the walstead method a little but I got the general idea down and will be working my way towards going filterless (if possible). I will be posting updates as the plants start doing their thing.

 

Good luck w the walstadt. I do modified walstadt...you may have to try a few different plant combinations. I would add beaucopa and hornwort. If you live near freshwater lakes...they can be a good source for plants and are less expensive.
Have fun and post some photos when it is all grown out.

 

Good luck w the walstadt. I do modified walstadt...you may have to try a few different plant combinations. I would add beaucopa and hornwort. If you live near freshwater lakes...they can be a good source for plants and are less expensive.
Have fun and post some photos when it is all grown out.

Thanks! I'll have to look into beaucopas. I've had hornwort before and wasn't a huge fan. I do have water spangles coming as my floater but it won't be here until the end of the week or I can plant them or both. Still deciding on which way I want to go with them.

 

Did you read/ own the book?

 

Did you read/ own the book?

No but I did probably 6 months worth of research prior to this.

 

You can DL it for next to nothing. I think I found ot in PDF for around 8-10 dollars.
Its worth a look. The FAQ section in the back and water chemistry parts are pretty good.
Walstadts not an easy way to go for some people- hope you stick with it and enjoy it.

 

You can DL it for next to nothing. I think I found ot in PDF for around 8-10 dollars.
Its worth a look. The FAQ section in the back and water chemistry parts are pretty good.
Walstadts not an easy way to go for some people- hope you stick with it and enjoy it.

Thanks! I'll have to look into it.

 

Is this kind of aquarium based off of Diana Walstad's book?

 

Is this kind of aquarium based off of Diana Walstad's book?

Yes

 

So 4 days in and getting some plant melt which is normal I know. Did a nice amount of trimming on the augustifolias and the rotalia (5 out of the 6 are not doing good at all but waiting to see if they come back from it before tossing) 1 has new growth already and pretty; starting to brighten up. The Ludwigias are doing great with new growth and so are the anubias. The swords are doing good so far with one already starting to grow and only 2 having 1 dying leaf each. Will be doing a water change as the debris from melt is everywhere.

 

Update:
About a month in from planting and so far the rotalia didn't make it. I wasn't a fan of the ludwigia as I felt there were too many stem plants so I moved them to my 5g. My becopa in the back actually reached the surface so i did major trimming and moved the clippings to my 5g also.(wish I would have thought about a pic first). My hygro in the right are finally growing in but the left are at a standstill (at least it feels like it). Will be adding a tiger lotus sometime next week to breakup the stem plant look and add a bit of diversity but all in all it is coming along. (Sorry got a sunset pic)