Natural Planted tank

[adal]

Since my tang tank is on hold till I sell my 29g and get a bigger one (you can never have a big enough aquarium) :spoton:
Im starting one of these little setups. http://thegab.org/Plants/setting-up-a-walstad-natural-planted-tank.html
Im using a big flower vase, holds about 1.5g which I think will be ok for a betta or maybe a couple white clouds.
I also want to plant the heck out of it and only use a supplement table light, maybe one of those nice ones with CF bulb, i dont know yet.
I've read a few articles online but I was looking for more examples on how different people have set up these tanks from some of you guys

 

[Mikey]

Thanks for the article. It was really interesting, and I'm sure your setup will be interesting as well. Should be fun. Post pics if you get a chance

 

[Vic]

I have several Walstad tanks. Her book is a wealth of info - very dense - but still enjoyable and understandable. I learn more every time I read it. But I think no matter how much you read, you will still make mistakes - it's part of the learning process. Starting with a small tank means smaller mistakes that are easier to recover from. The article you linked was a good basic summary. There is another here: http://www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/00388Shrimp.pdf written by Diana herself. Depending on the soil you start with and the growth rate of your plants you may not see an ammonia problem, or you may. On some tanks I have been OK right from the start, and others needed frequent, large water changes for perhaps the first month. After that, though, it gets really easy. Feed the fish, prune the plants, and top off the water lost to evaporation. Change water when you feel like it, when the fish seem to need it, or maybe twice a year if everything seems OK.

One more thing, OK, two. Bettas really need a heater - if you have no heater the WC will do better. Also, a tall skinny vase tends to be a bit more difficult than a more squat design. The small surface area makes using floating plants more difficult and the water temp stratifies a lot unless you use an airstone or something to stir the water.

Have fun with this and do let us know how it goes.

 

[adal]

That is one awesome article unk:
I already have a bunch of RCS and I could put a few of them in the bowl
with maybe 2 white clouds, I looked at pearl danios too but I dont know about keeping them
in such a little space.

 

[Fyurae]

I did one of these. I just took it completely apart because it was starting to stink. I didn't want to disturb the soil/substrate layers, so I couldn't stir them up during cleaning, and I think it was starting to take its toll.

 

[adal]

fyurae, for how long did you have it set up before it started to smell bad and do ou think it was normal or do you think there might have been something wrong with the set up?

vic, did you see this smell problem in any of your set ups?

 

[Fyurae]

I can't remember exactly how it went.

First, I set it up to be a plant nursery. but then I got better lighting on my main tank so I didn't need to do that anymore. So Ive been using it as a betta tank, and now a betta and baby cories. Always with lots of live plants.

At some point, before the cories went in, I had dumped the substrate into a bucket and lightly rinsed it, but decided to leave some of the soil in it.

This was all over a course of months.

I don't know if the substrate was the total cause, or if it was because of the fact that I have snails (dead snail shells stink). I didn't notice it until this weekend when I was going to remove some of the larger plants to make room for smaller ones, and was doing a large (50%) water change, and stirred up the substrate, that it was smelly.

Also, I didn't use bagged soil, I used composted soil from our old chicken yard (hasnt had fresh compost or chickens in 6 years) which I sifted through a rock crusher screen, and then a collender. So it didn't have much matter left in it to decay, but maybe more than is proper.

I do regular 30% changes, and this is a 4-ish gallon tank.

 

[sidekicking]

I've had try this method before and had never had a problem with my tanks smelling bad
maybe it was all the chicken shit that was making your tank stink lol
but definitely give it a try you wont regret it

 

[Anthraxx]

i recently did one of these out of a useless ten gallon i had sitting around. working out well so far. the plants arent growing as fast as i would like but it all works out. the shrimp and snails keep it clean for the most part. i also boiled my soil for like 4 hours. after sifting and all that jazz. i have an article for making the soil check it out. (note ahead of time, dolomite lime is fine and potassium chloride from super supplements will also work) ull know what i mean once u read it.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/library/52554-how-mineralized-soil-substrate-aaron-talbot.html
heres the 10 gallon setup i used for those shrimp i got from you.

and then a 2nd 2.5 gallon betta setup i did for fun

on a side note: i have extra raw materials for you if you decide to try it out (no soil tho sry)

 

[adal]

oh thats what you where doing with it 8)
yeah man I'll take some of the extra supplements!
by the way man, the discus is doing really good!
hes not one bit shy anymore, handfeed him everything, even hikari food
I think if I come over to get supplements from you im just going to buy the other discus off you. I found another guy who is also selling discus n CL and might buy 2 off him as well. how many did you keep in your tank?

 

[Anthraxx]

i had 6. pretty over populated just gotta make sure to keep nitrates low and temp high. a lighter substrate helps so they can feed off the bottom. glad to hear hes doing great tho. the other one is urs for sure if you do decide to come by for some supplements.

 

[adal]

So finally got a couple of these set ups going the first one is a large cylinder vase, its a bit over a gallon. Im probably going to add a delta betta or maybe 2 white clouds
it has potting soil, eco complete gravel and trimmings from my main tank

close up of plants

 

[adal]

and I also set this 5g hex

about 8 cups of soil

Lined the front with eco complete, so you cant see the soil from the front

Putting the plants in was harder than I thought, the hex is small and can barely fit both hands in there and you have to really cover the entire top with gravel or else the soil will float to the top and make a mess

added about 30 rcs and like 30 tiny rcs babies, I will be selling some of these guys soon. about 10 of them for $1 each. I also have a some nice Red guppy fry in there, Ill be selling those too for $0.50 each, if anyone is interested.

Excuse the old filter, will take it out in a couple weeks