Walstad is Up and Running... And it Stinks!

Hi everyone! As some of you may have seen, I've been in the process of setting up a 5G Walstad bowl the past couple of weeks.

Here's what I've done so far:

• Used an organic potting mix without any fertilizers or chemicals.
• Covered it with a rocky aquarium substrate.
• Planted it heavily with all kinds of plants. There's hydrocotyle tripartita, montecarlo, red root floaters, java fern, bacopa, some type of rotala, some type of hygrophila, anubias, and DHG. I know not all might survive here, but I figured I'd give it a try. I have a big thing of plants outside that I can try if any of these don't make it
• I planted it and set it up on Sunday.
• Added a heater at 77 degrees and a 7W light. The tank is in a dark-ish corner but it is close to a window, so it definitely gets indirect light throughout the day. Turning the extra light on about 6 hours a day for now. I had a terrible experience with algae in the past and I'm terrified of it :')
• Given the previous point, should I fertilize? lol
• Water was extremely cloudy at the beginning. I have done 50% water changes every day since to help clear the cloudy water and get rid of excess organic material or melting plants
• Placed five feeder guppies in there to help everything establish and cycle faster
• Added quick start and liquid ammonia to speed up the cycling process, but I'm not sure what's happening here. I'll test the water a few hours after adding ammonia and I get close to 0 readings on ammonia, and 0 nitrites and nitrates. Is the tank cycled already and are the plants clearing out the nitrates that are left over? I find this hard to believe as many of my plants were emmersed and might go through a melting phase before establishing

The main problem I'm having now is that my tank has been smelling a bit funky, like rotten eggs. I looked it up and found out that the soil might be going anaerobic. Some people recommended poking the substrate to fix it, but I'm worried that it will just make the water cloudy again.

Do you have any advice on how to deal with this issue? How long does it take for the soil situation to resolve itself and how can I help? Also, any tips or opinions on the cycling situation and at what point should I bring my betta boy in there? I'm in no rush to do so until I know he'll be safe.

Thanks guys

 

the poking method works the best to not disturb it too much as opposed to stirring. but this smell is usually a sign of gasses (sulfur dioxide) being formed in the substrate from more than normal anaerobic bacteria activity as it's working towards balance. I'd assume the smell you are smelling is the sulfur dioxide that can escape doing it's thing, the poking is just to give release points so you don't get a large pocket of this gas releasing at once, just poking around once in a while to see if you get bubbles.

Kind of normal for a new tank setup, with a deeper substrate, to have this happen as it's balancing the cycles. I've had just aquarium gravel do it to me when I got heavy handed with the gravel bottom. nothing trapped but just an odor for a month or so, much more noticeable during water changes and vacuuming then at other times. Soils and sands have the potential though to hold these gasses in pockets and then "blow off" a big bubble to the tank, that wouldn't be good for the oxygen breathers, hence the "poking around" with like a wooden skewer or something, not disturbing much, but just checking that no large gas bubble pocket is forming under there.

The idea of the deep substrate is that you will have anaerobic areas in the substrate, just that in a new tank set up the anaerobic bacteria multiplies a lot faster than the aerobic bacteria does, so for a period of time they outcompete the aerobic bacteria for real estate, they mutiply 10x faster and theres much more decaying organics than there is ammonia production happening so it's ripe in a lot of cases for a anaerobic bacteria population explosion in the beginning until the balance is achieved and the aerobic bacteria fills all the areas that it can then the "spill over" or anaerobic bacteria doesn't really happen they get limited to their anaerobic (anoxic) zones where they can thrive while the aerobic takes over everything that has sufficient oxygen, the smell is just going to be more prevalent during this time unless you are carbon filtering.

A month or so to let it all get established and balanced out and you likely won't even have that smell anymore, it will smell earthy instead, like how the air is after a short rain.

I don't think you need ferts until the plants have all transitioned to submerged and have started to show new growth and vertical growth.also, additional ferts just create more problems, more resources for the anaerobes.

The poking is so much to get rid of the smell as it is to just make sure nothing crazy is going on under there. It takes what it takes in time to balance out.

 

Need to use sand cap instead of rocks, otherwise soil will just leach out and it'll smell pretty bad

 

the poking method works the best to not disturb it too much as opposed to stirring. but this smell is usually a sign of gasses (sulfur dioxide) being formed in the substrate from more than normal anaerobic bacteria activity as it's working towards balance. I'd assume the smell you are smelling is the sulfur dioxide that can escape doing it's thing, the poking is just to give release points so you don't get a large pocket of this gas releasing at once, just poking around once in a while to see if you get bubbles.

Kind of normal for a new tank setup, with a deeper substrate, to have this happen as it's balancing the cycles. I've had just aquarium gravel do it to me when I got heavy handed with the gravel bottom. nothing trapped but just an odor for a month or so, much more noticeable during water changes and vacuuming then at other times. Soils and sands have the potential though to hold these gasses in pockets and then "blow off" a big bubble to the tank, that wouldn't be good for the oxygen breathers, hence the "poking around" with like a wooden skewer or something, not disturbing much, but just checking that no large gas bubble pocket is forming under there.

The idea of the deep substrate is that you will have anaerobic areas in the substrate, just that in a new tank set up the anaerobic bacteria multiplies a lot faster than the aerobic bacteria does, so for a period of time they outcompete the aerobic bacteria for real estate, they mutiply 10x faster and theres much more decaying organics than there is ammonia production happening so it's ripe in a lot of cases for a anaerobic bacteria population explosion in the beginning until the balance is achieved and the aerobic bacteria fills all the areas that it can then the "spill over" or anaerobic bacteria doesn't really happen they get limited to their anaerobic (anoxic) zones where they can thrive while the aerobic takes over everything that has sufficient oxygen, the smell is just going to be more prevalent during this time unless you are carbon filtering.

A month or so to let it all get established and balanced out and you likely won't even have that smell anymore, it will smell earthy instead, like how the air is after a short rain.

I don't think you need ferts until the plants have all transitioned to submerged and have started to show new growth and vertical growth.also, additional ferts just create more problems, more resources for the anaerobes.

The poking is so much to get rid of the smell as it is to just make sure nothing crazy is going on under there. It takes what it takes in time to balance out.

Wow, thank you so much for all the valuable info! I definitely feel better now I'm just a little nervous because planted aquariums have never really been my strongest area lol, but the Walstad method seems feasible enough to where I could maybe pull it off without breaking the bank!

I just poked the gravel a few times like you recommended and a crazy amount of bubbles came out. Hopefully my five feeder guppies make it a little longer so they can help me get that cycle going.

What do you think about dosing the tank with liquid ammonia and quick start? The person at the LPS was adamant on me doing that (and purchasing his products -_-) but I'm still not convinced. Won't this harm my plants? I'm only bringing it up to around 0.25ppm but still.

Need to use sand cap instead of rocks, otherwise soil will just leach out and it'll smell pretty bad

It's not really big rocks, jut more of a rocky gravel but the pebbles are really little! When I was researching a lot of people recommended against sand because it can easily get mixed with the soil below? I'm not sure is true that is or not, and I really love the look of sand so I would have loved a sandy bottom, but I read it enough times to where I was talked out of it!

 

Wow, thank you so much for all the valuable info! I definitely feel better now I'm just a little nervous because planted aquariums have never really been my strongest area lol, but the Walstad method seems feasible enough to where I could maybe pull it off without breaking the bank!

I just poked the gravel a few times like you recommended and a crazy amount of bubbles came out. Hopefully my five feeder guppies make it a little longer so they can help me get that cycle going.

What do you think about dosing the tank with liquid ammonia and quick start? The person at the LPS was adamant on me doing that (and purchasing his products -_-) but I'm still not convinced. Won't this harm my plants? I'm only bringing it up to around 0.25ppm but still.


It's not really big rocks, jut more of a rocky gravel but the pebbles are really little! When I was researching a lot of people recommended against sand because it can easily get mixed with the soil below? I'm not sure is true that is or not, and I really love the look of sand so I would have loved a sandy bottom, but I read it enough times to where I was talked out of it!

no to the ammonia if you have fish in there, only if it were fishless.
Cherry Shrimp420 is correct in that a sand cap will block the easy escape of the bubble and aalso allow for a slower release which should in theory reduce the smell.

You are also correct that if you have soil and sand and you will be disturbing the bottom, there will be a mixing happening. These types of aqauriums though have all sorts of critters like detritus worms and such that are turning over the soil though as the tank establishes and then matures. you really won't need to mess with the substrate all that much when the workers all get established in the right numbers and get on the job. Idea is to not use sands that compact so air can pass so like a coarser grain of sand, then the anoxic zone is down low, the sand cap allows for some gas passage, but kind of holds in the nutrients to the soil also. something like 1.5" of soil, 1" of sand or so. I'm sure everyone is different though. People really dont' mess with the bottom, if you set it up right, in time, it will manage itself roots will dig, the little fellahs will dig, the bacterias will do their break downs.

Anyways it's your tank, you can do things however you want really, the only wrong way to do it is the way that doesn't get it how you want it to be. That smell will pass once the tank is established.

 

It's not really big rocks, jut more of a rocky gravel but the pebbles are really little! When I was researching a lot of people recommended against sand because it can easily get mixed with the soil below? I'm not sure is true that is or not, and I really love the look of sand so I would have loved a sandy bottom, but I read it enough times to where I was talked out of it!

The pebbles are not small enough unfortunately. Sand will not mix but you will have to be careful. That means no disturbing it, no digging fish like loaches, plecos etc. As long as sand is left alone it will not mix. Look up Walstad Tanks for some examples, as well as Father Fish on youtube

 

What you are smelling might very well be the workings of cyanobacteria.
Use a bubbler for the time being and have it run 24/7.

Also, I'd stop dosing ammonia. No need to turn the Walstad into a temporary sewage. It works counterproductive.

 

Since you used an organic potting mix, the organics are starting to decay once they became wet. Since the bacteria are growing in what is an oxygen starved environment at the bottom of your tank, the anaerobic bacteria that can reduce sulfur compounds to hydrogen sulfide are doing what they do best.

I have you ever been around a stagnant drainage pond. You will always smell hydrogen sulfide, along with other sulfur compounds like methyl mercaptan.

The odor is likely to continue until the organic compounds are consumed.

 

Wow, thank you so much for all the valuable info! I definitely feel better now I'm just a little nervous because planted aquariums have never really been my strongest area lol, but the Walstad method seems feasible enough to where I could maybe pull it off without breaking the bank!

I just poked the gravel a few times like you recommended and a crazy amount of bubbles came out. Hopefully my five feeder guppies make it a little longer so they can help me get that cycle going.

What do you think about dosing the tank with liquid ammonia and quick start? The person at the LPS was adamant on me doing that (and purchasing his products -_-) but I'm still not convinced. Won't this harm my plants? I'm only bringing it up to around 0.25ppm but still.


It's not really big rocks, jut more of a rocky gravel but the pebbles are really little! When I was researching a lot of people recommended against sand because it can easily get mixed with the soil below? I'm not sure is true that is or not, and I really love the look of sand so I would have loved a sandy bottom, but I read it enough times to where I was talked out of it!

Just use sand next time and see how that does for you … The soil will run out of nutrients and will need to be fertilized later.
It is a nice concept, I believe a inert substrate will be easier in the long term.

Purigen in your filter will help to clear the water and more likely to improve the smell very quickly.

hope it goes well.

 

Just use sand next time and see how that does for you … The soil will run out of nutrients and will need to be fertilized later.
It is a nice concept, I believe a inert substrate will be easier in the long term.

Purigen in your filter will help to clear the water and more likely to improve the smell very quickly.

hope it goes well.

Thank you!!

The smell is finally pretty much gone. Here’s an update on how the two bowls are doing

Plant issues.. Feeling discouraged | Aquarium Plants Forum