WinterSoldier's Walstad Tank Journal

Finally! It is done! I have replanted my entire 20 gallon tank. I did it walstad method, using dirt. I capped it with fourite red, the dirt was a 1/2 1/2 mix of dirt from my yard and natures care miracle gro organic. I am so excited, I planted Broad leaf Ludwigia, A cardinal plant, jungle val, corkscrew val, Spiralis, Java moss, amazon sword, rotala, bronze crypt, and water wisteria. Pictures to come tomorrow, it looks a little sorry now, but I am sure everything will grow well, I plan to plant one more plant, narrow leaf ludwigia. Any suggestions for plants are welcome. Any suggestions overall are welcome too!

 

Do you have any driftwood? I’m excited to see tomorrow’s pics

 

Will post more pics today!!! HECK it looks so much different!

UPDATE: 11/27/18































Ludwigia Repens 11/27/18

 

Whoo! It looks to pretty and clean! All my walstad tanks are big messes right now for various reasons.

 

Wow, what a change! It looks like a totally different tank

 

All the plants grew in, I added more fish, and I added a bunch of new plants too!

 

Looks awesome!

 

Beautiful!

 

It looks great!

 

Day 94




Day 94

 

Your tank looks lovely! Walstad tanks are a load of fun and it looks like your plants are doing great!

 

That's an awesome transformation!

Sorry for the somewhat unrelated question, but what are all the fish that you have stocked in there?

 

That's an awesome transformation!

Sorry for the somewhat unrelated question, but what are all the fish that you have stocked in there?

I have 2 guppies
3 platys
1 oto ( I am getting more as soon as my store gets a shipment)
1 rescued glofish
5 neons (I am getting more a soon as I rehome the glofish)
1 danio (also being rehomed hopefully)

 

I have 2 guppies
3 platys
1 oto ( I am getting more as soon as my store gets a shipment)
1 rescued glofish
5 neons (I am getting more a soon as I rehome the glofish)
1 danio (also being rehomed hopefully)

Nice! Any further plans besides the new Otos?

 

Reed M

Yeah! I might get a new guppy, or a new platy, or maybe a couple more neons after I rehome the fish I plan to

 

Its been a while since I updated this! 2/10/19







































The Amazon Sword got HUGE! And I ripped out some ludwigia that wasn't working and planted ancharis instead, I plan to phase out all the red ludwigia and replace it with more anchrais and more chinese ivy as well as some unknown stem plant. Fish are happy and healthy and I am planning on starting a guppy colony with some endlers and a ying-yang male. Hope that works!!

 

Its been a while since I updated this! 2/10/19

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The Amazon Sword got HUGE! And I ripped out some ludwigia that wasn't working and planted ancharis instead, I plan to phase out all the red ludwigia and replace it with more anchrais and more chinese ivy as well as some unknown stem plant. Fish are happy and healthy and I am planning on starting a guppy colony with some endlers and a ying-yang male. Hope that works!!

So far so good! I love how everything is growing, especially with all the floaters you have. (Also is it just me or did the pictures upload multiple times?)

 

So far so good! I love how everything is growing, especially with all the floaters you have. (Also is it just me or did the pictures upload multiple times?)

I am sorry about that...!!! Please forgive me for that, things on the computer don't like to work

 

I am sorry about that...!!! Please forgive me for that, things on the computer don't like to work

Don’t worry! It’s all good lol

 

Day 4 (Jan 31, 2020)


Substrate: 1" miracle gro nature's care organic soil, 1.5" spectrastone gravel
Plants: water lettuce, cabomba, christmas moss, elodea, rotala (+like 4 pieces of duckweed that were stuck to the water lettuce that I'm really hoping will multiply)
Light: nicrew LED light, set on white for about 10 hours then blue for 2 more hours
Water temp around 76, plus airstone for a bit of water movement

So far everything looks pretty good, there was a tiny bit of cloudiness to the water on day 1 but it has cleared up and no signs of algae at all. I just took out the water lettuce because it was looking really bad/melty and the roots were dropping all kinds of root bits all over the tank so I want to get some other kind of floating plant instead (prob frogbit or duckweed). Not sure why the water lettuce was doing poorly because when I got it I split it between this tank and my shrimp tank (they have essentially the same water params, temp, and lighting), and the ones in the other tank look fine.

The other plants are looking good, the rotala which I took from my other tank definitely has new growth on it and I think the cabomba does as well (hard to tell if the moss is growing but I want it to end up being ground cover).

I'm trying to follow Walstad's advice of throwing a bunch of different plants in and seeing what thrives and what doesn't.

Next step will be getting some hardscape elements to make it look less boring, going to get some mopani wood and dragon stone from my lfs prob tomorrow, as well as some torta val.

(S.I.P Tweaker the ghost shrimp who died of old age I think, ???? - Jan 31, 2021)

 

If you don't plan keeping anything voracious, you could try red root floaters. For something called floaters they are pretty bad at floating, so if you have larger fish that pick on them they get all messy and flipped upside down etc., but without flow and with small fauna they could be a nice addition, and easier to manage than duckweed.

 

If you don't plan keeping anything voracious, you could try red root floaters. For something called floaters they are pretty bad at floating, so if you have larger fish that pick on them they get all messy and flipped upside down etc., but without flow and with small fauna they could be a nice addition, and easier to manage than duckweed.

Thanks for the suggestion! I only plan to have shrimp and possibly a betta in this tank once it's established so sounds like that would be perfect.

Day 6, February 2, 2020


As per V1K's suggestion I got some red root floaters to replace the water lettuce, as well as some torta val. I didn't end up getting any driftwood because all the stuff that was available at my LFS were very small pieces.




Loving the new plants, hopefully they do well

 

Wow, those red root floaters have some impressive roots! Mine are like an inch at best. I wonder what determines the difference .

 

After a bit of googling: "Floating plants with a large root to leaf ratio have usually grown in a fairly low nutrient environment"
Not sure what kind of conditions they would have been kept in before I got them but they seem healthy enough ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

After a bit of googling: "Floating plants with a large root to leaf ratio have usually grown in a fairly low nutrient environment"
Not sure what kind of conditions they would have been kept in before I got them but they seem healthy enough ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hm, I consider my tank to be low nutrient, as the nitrates never reach 10 ppm... I even ordered some macro ferts, because my water lettuce got real tiny, and I couldn't think of any other reason as the lack of nutrients...

 

Day 8, February 4, 2021


The red root floaters are already starting to get more red, though some of them have these grey spots. Might just be from trying to adjust to new water?


Also I lost another shrimp from my shrimp tank (so creepy how the others will eat the dead one ), I think they might be stressed because my ph is high so I'm getting some almond leaves to put in there




I forgot I wanted to have a picture of my shrimp tank so here it is along with one of the shrimp. They were listed as ghost shrimp when I bought them but since then have they have developed a lot of colour, some are more orange or yellow like this one and some have kind of dark stripes/spots

 

I was under the impression they only eat the moult skeleton not the dead as they need the nutrients.

 

They were listed as ghost shrimp when I bought them but since then have they have developed a lot of colour, some are more orange or yellow like this one and some have kind of dark stripes/spots

Hopefully that's their actual colouring and not a moulting issue...

 

I was under the impression they only eat the moult skeleton not the dead as they need the nutrients.

Unfortunately I’m sure it was a dead shrimp as it wasn’t transparent like the moults are

Hopefully that's their actual colouring and not a moulting issue...

I didn’t know moulting issues could effect their colouring, I’ll have to look into that

Day 13 (February 9, 2021)


The seemingly inevitable algae bloom has begun...

To counter it I've been turning the light off earlier, and also not setting it to the blue light setting at all (though I've read conflicting info as to whether that causes algae or prevents it).
I also took out the elodea because it was dying and I didn't think it fit with the rest of the plants. Took some more rotala from the other tank and stuck it where the elodea was
Then I took out the christmas moss, it was doing fine and had new growth on it but I didn't like the look of it on the bottom of the tank and I wanted something that would make a good carpet so I replaced it with dwarf sag.

The heater keeps getting this weird white/grey stringy film over it every couple days too

 

You need to get more plants, way more.

 

You need to get more plants, way more.

I want to but its hard to find places to get plants in my area unless I want to drive a few hours or get them shipped, both of which are expensive options (although I guess I should have expected to spend a bit of cash-or a lot- when I got into this hobby lol)
I want to get pearlweed, ludwigia and some more kinds of rotala, just got to find somewhere I can buy them

 

I want to but its hard to find places to get plants in my area unless I want to drive a few hours or get them shipped, both of which are expensive options (although I guess I should have expected to spend a bit of cash-or a lot- when I got into this hobby lol)
I want to get pearlweed, ludwigia and some more kinds of rotala, just got to find somewhere I can buy them

Have you checked local ads and aquarium groups? I don't know if I'm lucky or aquariums are very popular in my country, but I usually can find simple plants like these walking distance from home. I bought all my plants from random hobbyists, not a single one came from a shop.

 

Have you checked local ads and aquarium groups? I don't know if I'm lucky or aquariums are very popular in my country, but I usually can find simple plants like these walking distance from home. I bought all my plants from random hobbyists, not a single one came from a shop.

All except for the torta val have come from local ads, but I kind of live in the middle of nowhere unfortunately so even the closest town is a 30 minute drive away (yesterday I drove an hour to get the dwarf sag). Maybe I will post a "wanted" ad so if anyone nearby has trimmings they can contact me. I'll look around on facebook and see if there are any local groups too.



I have acquired more plants, red ludwigia and scarlet temple. Really wishing lockdown would end in my area so I could go buy some driftwood, I think that would make the tank look less empty. I know I could order it online but I'd rather see it in person so I can make sure I like the piece

 

I don't know the other plant, but Ludwigia is great! Really fast growing, just what you need. Just make sure floaters don't block its light. It's very sensitive to weak lighting. You can fix floaters in one place with air tube and suction cups.

 

Day 20, February 16, 2021


Finally got my driftwood, and I also made a lid using a clear plastic tupperware container and cutting out the shape with an angle grinder.




I switched the airstone out for a HOB filter because I didn't feel like the water was getting enough movement and the surface was getting a film over it.

Then I took out the red root floaters because they were losing all their leaves and had green algae growing on the bottom of them, though earlier I had moved some into my other tank and they are doing fine (just like the water lettuce).
The red root floaters had some giant duckweed attached when I got them, which has been multiplying along with the duckweed I got with some of the other plants

I'm thinking of adding some cherry or amano shrimp for algae eaters, I don't think there would be any problems with ammonia because the HOB filter I just added came from my cycled tank (-1 sponge that I left in the other tank to keep it cycled) so there should be lots of beneficial bacteria in it. I have been testing the water and never test above 0ppm for ammonia or nitrite.



This driftwood is looking awesome :0

Day 22, February 18, 2021
Added 10 blue dream shrimp

https://imgur.com/SVQXffB

Day 25, February 21, 2021
Added 2 zebra nerites



Day 28, February 24, 2021


Apparently some snails somehow survived the bleach bath I did for all the plants . I've been seeing baby ramshorns and mts the past few days.


The shrimp are getting less shy, they spend a lot more time around the front of the tank now.


The scarlet temple is a very nice color

Day 33, March 1, 2021
Noticed this morning that one of the shrimp is berried!



Day 39, March 7th, 2021


everything is doing great still, I’ve seen 4 or 5 berried shrimp and all the plants are growing fast

 

Day 39, March 7th, 2021
View attachment 772668
everything is doing great still, I’ve seen 4 or 5 berried shrimp and all the plants are growing fast

Gorgeous tank!! I'm glad everything's alright. Send pictures of shrimp babies!

 

Gorgeous tank!! I'm glad everything's alright. Send pictures of shrimp babies!

thanks, definitely will do, I'm so excited to see them. My camera roll is already so full of shrimp pictures/videos I can't imagine what it will be like after the babies arrive lol

 

Now they have started there will be no stopping them. Won't be long before your looking for somewhere to get rid of the excess.

 

Day 42, March 10, 2021


Big trimming today. Also got some water sprite in the mail, but the roots were so short I am going to float them for a bit until they're long enough to plant easily. Took out almost all of the duckweed and added the cut off rim of a tupperware container as a floating ring to keep a clear area once duckweed comes back.

Been thinking about what I'm going to do with all the baby shrimp, and I'm wondering if I can feed them to my betta?(as in the very small ones) I think he would like the stimulation of catching live food, but I'll have to so some research to make sure they would be ok for him (obviously I wouldn't give him a huge amount of them, just a couple every now and then for some variety in his diet etc.)
Other than that I guess I'll post an ad for them, or maybe see if my lfs would buy some from me

Day 48, March 16, 2021


First shrimp eggs have hatched, I'm going to have to sit and stare at the tank for a bit to see if I can see any of the babies lol.
I think all except two of the females are carrying eggs, but there is quite a large variance in the number of eggs that they have. The one pictured above looked like she had about 40 but there are a couple others who seem to have about half or less than that. Either way theres going to be a shrimp population explosion soon ~

Day 49, March 17, 2021




I caught a couple pictures of the baby shrimp! They are actually bigger than I was expecting.
Also pretty sure one of the other berried female's eggs are hatching atm, she was sitting still for a bit and looks to have fewer eggs than last time I saw her

 

Won't be long before you are asking when will they stop.....lol.

 

Day 65, April 2, 2021


The shrimplets are getting bigger, they have probably doubled in size since they first hatched.


As you can see the tank is getting very overgrown, even though I trim the cabomba back a lot it grows like crazy. I love the way it looks though, like a jungle with one open spot at the center front where you can look in and watch the shrimp.
I'm going to have to do a water change later as I just got a tds meter and the tds is almost at 400 ppm.

 

Day 65, April 2, 2021
View attachment 779602
The shrimplets are getting bigger, they have probably doubled in size since they first hatched.
View attachment 779603
As you can see the tank is getting very overgrown, even though I trim the cabomba back a lot it grows like crazy. I love the way it looks though, like a jungle with one open spot at the center front where you can look in and watch the shrimp.
I'm going to have to do a water change later as I just got a tds meter and the tds is almost at 400 ppm.

Wow, nice growth! And photography skills.

 

Shrimp love that jungle look. It provides security for the younger ones and plenty of grazing area. How are the numbers going.

 

Wow, nice growth! And photography skills.

Thanks!

Shrimp love that jungle look. It provides security for the younger ones and plenty of grazing area. How are the numbers going.

Yeah, they seems to love it in there. I think there's maybe 70-100 shrimplets, based on how many berried females there were. Its hard to tell because if you sit down and look in there it seems like more keep appearing the longer you look lol

 

Your water must be good for them to breed so quickly. Mine continue to go crazy.

 

Your water must be good for them to breed so quickly. Mine continue to go crazy.

I think the main thing is that the water parameters are super stable because up until today I haven't had to change the water at all (and only now because of the high tds). I've read that they like tannins as well, this is the water I took out of the tank, I was so surprised to see how brown it was

 

You are right mine seem to do way better in older tannin waters than crystal clear water. A few times I have relocated them into another tank and they go off the boil sort of thing. It takes a while for the water to colour up with a bit of driftwood and they settle back into breeding again when the water colours up again.

 

Day 70, April 7, 2021


I've got the tds down but I noticed today that there are baby shrimp in the filter :0
Guess I'll have to get a finer sponge to cover the intake...
Also I caught one of the nerites making an escape attempt, it was on the back of the tank (the outside), must have got out through the hole in the lid where the filter outflow is

 

Day 75, April 12, 2021


The family together for feeding time lol


I threw in two amanos from my other tank because my betta wouldn't stop bothering them

 

Day 99

https://imgur.com/a/iv8Ok8B