there are misquito fish, not sure if they are cold water or not but many use them outside in containers and ponds to control well.... misquito's
self sustaining ecosystem log
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Thats it...knew the name ended in an "a"
But I do believe she was all about the top-offs and annual or bi-annual WC's could be wrong though, been awhile since I've seen the topic come up.
Maybe I'm reading too much into "self-sustaining". A Walstad tank still requires (infrequent) water maintenance, like you mentioned, and you still have to feed your fish. I would call that low-maintenance, rather than a true self-sustaining system.
Dont worry, im using a bufferer. I just wanted to mention that i use ro water. Oh wait... whoops!! lol i just realized that that was how I was adding electrolytes and minerals into the aquarium... hehe
I can't remember what the name of the magazine was, but last month there was an article in there about one of these tanks. The author had it going for about 2 and a half years with endlers, IIRC it was a smallish tank and heavily planted. It said that for the first year he fed them very lightly, but for the second year wanted to push things a little and fed them regularly (and heavily) and that the tank remained stable.
I think heat was provided by having it in an area that had a lot of sunlight, but said something about not being in too direct of a sunlight to prevent algae. There was some information about it being easier with a smaller tank as well, Either way it was an interesting read and shows it can be done.
I think heat was provided by having it in an area that had a lot of sunlight, but said something about not being in too direct of a sunlight to prevent algae. There was some information about it being easier with a smaller tank as well, Either way it was an interesting read and shows it can be done.
With plants, I would expect nitrate readings to be low/zero, but I would be very interested in seeing a history of TDS readings on a tank like that.
I've had a 20G tank kept outside (tropical climate here) with wild guppies for 6 months now. Its literally filled with elodea and one big argentine sword that grows mostly out of the water. No cover, no artificial light. No extra aeration, no filtration.
[edit:]
I change 50% water every week. Not done a gravel vac as there is no open space of gravel left. I used to feed them once a week but now I feed them every other day. I also have a few ramshorn snails in there. Initially I had 6 wild guppies. Now they have multiplied to 20+, most them very small. I've moved 4 molly fries from a tiny tank inside into this one and they have started growing much faster here. I've also got 2 female facy guppies last week and one is already showing a swollen belly. The temperature varies a lot more than the inside tank. In the morning its quite cold and at mid-day its warm.
Its really satisfying to watch them. They are very active and look really happy. Havent had a single death or desease yet. Water parameters always read perfect. Even nitrate is always at 0. It does not look good because of the green water. The water is completely green because of the amount of daylight it gets. I don't think there is anything I can do about it. I don't add any chemical to the tank apart from water conditioner during water changes. I change the water to be able to see through the tank more than anything. The tank has been through heavy rainfall for 5 consecutive days and the only consequence was that the tank was crystal clear after that for a couple of days, before turning green again.
I'm thinking of getting a bigger tank for them, kept in the same way, as the population is increasing too much for that 20g.
[edit:]
I change 50% water every week. Not done a gravel vac as there is no open space of gravel left. I used to feed them once a week but now I feed them every other day. I also have a few ramshorn snails in there. Initially I had 6 wild guppies. Now they have multiplied to 20+, most them very small. I've moved 4 molly fries from a tiny tank inside into this one and they have started growing much faster here. I've also got 2 female facy guppies last week and one is already showing a swollen belly. The temperature varies a lot more than the inside tank. In the morning its quite cold and at mid-day its warm.
Its really satisfying to watch them. They are very active and look really happy. Havent had a single death or desease yet. Water parameters always read perfect. Even nitrate is always at 0. It does not look good because of the green water. The water is completely green because of the amount of daylight it gets. I don't think there is anything I can do about it. I don't add any chemical to the tank apart from water conditioner during water changes. I change the water to be able to see through the tank more than anything. The tank has been through heavy rainfall for 5 consecutive days and the only consequence was that the tank was crystal clear after that for a couple of days, before turning green again.
I'm thinking of getting a bigger tank for them, kept in the same way, as the population is increasing too much for that 20g.
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