Walstad Tank yellow water - how to fix?

I have a walstad tank running for 3 months now, and I don't do much water changes. My RCS are growing well (not reproducing though because water temp is 32C...). But my water has turned yellowish over time. I did some water changes to try to get crystal-clear water so I can see my shrimp better, but that doesn't seem to help much. It is normal for walstad tank water to be yellow over time? Can crystal-clear water be achieved? How can it be cleaned up (since I have no filter and I probably can't use purigen)?

 

Did you use soil and driftwood? It could be tannins that’ll eventually go away after more WC’s. Do you have a picture of your setup?

 

Hi, thanks for the response. I use ADA aquasoil, and no driftwood. The only thing I have in there is a coconut husk with java moss growing on it (on the left side in front of the rock). I am not sure if that might be causing the leeching of tannins. It's not too yellow yet, but compoared to the clear water in the mini bubble tea thing on the right, there's a difference.

 

Hi IWANSHRIMP
I use coconut shell in tanks.
Yes it’s a good way to put tannins in a tank.
It takes about 6 years but eventually the coconut becomes paper thin and crumbles to the touch.


You could run a filter with just floss for 24 hours that would remove the solids ( tannins) from the water column?
If it’s green water you are culturing in there the floss will not get all of it and it will soon grow back. That is what you are seeing after water changes I believe? . I see lots of light in the picture, is the tank near a window?

With 32 centigrade it’s probably green water you are growing/ culturing? A form of floating algae. Actually it can be made up of many different plants and single cell animals like plankton . Completely harmless and a good fry food.

 

Thanks for the quick response. Time to get rid of the coconut husk then! I prefer crystal clear water without much tannins so I can enjoy the view.

I don't have a filter at the moment but I am thinking of building one myself. Along with a DIY chiller. Probably combine both together. Cuz it's so hot here and I want my shrimps to breed. Everywhere around the house is 32C.

Yep it's beside the window. Not intentionally growing green algae, I drew the curtains to block out the light most of the time. Great that it's good fry food. I got quite a bit of RCS fry from my last shrimp purchase so I want them to grow well haha.

 

I live in a hot climate as well. Admittedly it’s winter down under now but I can get a fortnight of high day and night temperatures In summers. My experience is 30 c is the limit for java moss if it stays up there day and night for to long. It often grows back but can look terrible in summer.
Have you considered growing pothos outside the tank with only the root in the water ? It might help lower the nutrients in the tanks? ATTACH]881413[/ATTACH]
There is a little monstera and penny wort mixed in this indoor tank picture.
I play around with outdoor tubs/ tanks without electric filters. Plants with there leaves in the air not only grow faster but are able to consume nitrates faster.





I have not noticed cherry shrimp not breeding in the heat but then again I don’t take much notice of the population numbers. They are a live food culture I have in all tanks. Shrimp survive water temperatures of 42 centigrade no worries.

 

Wow thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately I don't have space outside for tanks. But I was considering experimenting with sweet potato shoots - roots in the water, stem and leaves outside. I grow water lettuce in my tank and I find it effective in reducing nitrates, but it's not doing so well, melting a bit (probably because of low sunlight in the shelter or really not enough nitrates/micronutrients -I don't fertitlze my tank).

Cool that at 42C your shrimp can still live in all your tanks and the population can sustain itself while being live food for your fishes. Here I have been trying to get them to breed at 30-32C for 2-3 months (since I first started keeping shrimp). I was thinking there would be no way for the shrimp to breed at such high temperatures (most sources say 26-28 C is the limit), but your experience gives me hope!

 

I have tried sweet potato after watching a few videos. I did not find it grew terribly well under artificial lighting compared to pothos. It will stay alive but at least for me I was not having to cut meters off every few months as I can do with pothos.
Cherry shrimp live under ice no worries. Sure 26-28c may be the ideal temperature but it’s certainty not the limit.


It’s not uncommon to have to wait 5 months to get young shrimp to breed. You may not even see the young at first as they are almost invisible on day one and instinctively hide once they are big enough to be able to swim under their own power.

 

Nice. I'll be a little more patient then. I see saddles in the original adult shrimp that I bought, but none berried yet. Thought it was the temperature or something. Anyways, will wait it out and see how it goes at the 5+ month mark. In the meantime, my baby RCS will probably reach maturity by then, and hopefully I will have one of those overwhelmingly thriving colonies of RCS I see on youtube so often muhahaha.

Thanks for the help!

 

Are you using fans on your tanks to help keep them a few degrees cooler than the air temperature?

You can find them in the salt water section of a good aquarium store however any fan will work .

 

Tried testing it out using my huge fan blowing on the surface of the tank. Reduced the temperature by a few degrees, but at 32C, I could only get it to 28.8C lowest. I don't think evaporative cooling is going to get it down to 26C in my climate unfortunately

 

No need to get the water temperature down as low as 26 c for neocaridina shrimp . But getting it down by a few degrees is possible for little effort with a couple of small fans.
The 4 or 5 inch fans used inside computers are ideal and don’t look to bad ether? Imo.

 

Cool. Do you think 29/28C would be enough to breed? I was thinking that might be the lowest I could get them if I were to use those type of fans. My tropical climate has 80-90% humidity. And with the evaporation, more top ups and humid surroundings, because my room is small and indoors

 

I do not know if cherries breed successfully at 28-29c . Nature finds a way.