Optimus, what a wonderful and instructive video, not to mention beautiful tank! Very tempted to try the method myself. Tell me, do you expect the organic soil to eventually become depleted after several years and need replacing? That was the case with my expensive Aqua-Soil.
Walstad Setup Aquarium.... Pros and Cons? Experience/ Opinions
- Thread starter Eastside Game
- Start date
Thanks, It has grown quite a bit since then.
I asked the same question and was told by one hobbyist that it can last for 10 years plus as the soil breaking down/replenishing is a natural process. I don't know the science behind the 10 year claim so can't really confirm it but while researching I did come across several tanks by one hobbyist (same plant specific forum) who informed me that he dirted 6 years ago and it shows no sign of slowing down.
The difference between gravel and soil is as clear as night and day imo
I asked the same question and was told by one hobbyist that it can last for 10 years plus as the soil breaking down/replenishing is a natural process. I don't know the science behind the 10 year claim so can't really confirm it but while researching I did come across several tanks by one hobbyist (same plant specific forum) who informed me that he dirted 6 years ago and it shows no sign of slowing down.
The difference between gravel and soil is as clear as night and day imo
I am trying this for the first time in my 125g (link in sig). I too am a fish first kind of guy, so I took pretty much the same approach as Optimus. I still run my canister filter and a 30g Sump. I am also going to be running CO2 (kit is on its way). I haven't had it up long, so I can't say a lot for it, but it does appear some plants do better than others, but that may also be because my tank is so new. Several of the sites I saw mentioned the plants tend to melt in the first week or two then come back strong. This is what I am seeing in mine now. Just about everything struggled the first week, but everything that came with roots is coming back very strong. The Stem plants didn't do so well this round though. I will most likely try some more stems after I get the CO2 kit. One pretty good resource is a guy on Youtube.com. (http://www.youtube.com/user/Dustinsfishtanks) He has quite a few dirted tanks.
optimus what is your stock right now? do you have to keep less fish with this method or you dont because you are still using a filter?
6 Rummynoses
trio Ap borellii
2 honey gourami
5 dwarf neon rainbows
3 juli cory
3 green neon tetras, 4 of my neon tetras died from ntd a few months ago. I should be getting 4 more by the end of the week now that I'm sure its passed. 70% stocked but with the plant growth at times the tank looks bare lol. I'm fish first so no, I don't keep less fish. You can adjust the method to keep the same stocking you have now if you convert to dirt.
trio Ap borellii
2 honey gourami
5 dwarf neon rainbows
3 juli cory
3 green neon tetras, 4 of my neon tetras died from ntd a few months ago. I should be getting 4 more by the end of the week now that I'm sure its passed. 70% stocked but with the plant growth at times the tank looks bare lol. I'm fish first so no, I don't keep less fish. You can adjust the method to keep the same stocking you have now if you convert to dirt.
Well, coming home to even more BBA (and something else starting...) has reaffirmed that I'll probably have to do something like this soon.
I started dosing with Flourish Excel daily and Flourish weekly hoping that'd help my plants out-compete the algae, but thus far no such luck. Is it sometimes a "it gets worse before it gets better" kind of thing? Still new to planted tanks, getting frustrated.
I started dosing with Flourish Excel daily and Flourish weekly hoping that'd help my plants out-compete the algae, but thus far no such luck. Is it sometimes a "it gets worse before it gets better" kind of thing? Still new to planted tanks, getting frustrated.
I sympathize, bba is a huge pain.
My advice here would be to stop dosing asap because your not addressing the root cause. Liquid test your silicates and phosphates from the tap and then aquarium. I found those test crucial in planning how to defeat bba.
after watching your video optimus i am really motivated to turn my 20 gallon high into a dirt tank. it looks awesome!
I highly recommend the low tech approach. I went full on Walstad method for my 10g and 20g tanks. No filter, powerhead, lots of plants. I moved to a what I will call a modified low tech on my 30g and 55g. You can see recent pictures of the 55g here:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?249568-quot-new-quot-old-tank
I ditched the CO2, went for much lower lights and I dose about 1/2 of the Seachem recommended for N, P, K, trace and iron each week. I chose not to change out the gravel substrate in those 2 tanks because I really didn't want to tear them up. I never vacuum the gravel. I am trying to find a balance on water changes. The 10g and 20g rarely, if ever, need one. The 30g can go a bit longer. Still figuring out the optimum time frame for the 55g. It has been holding nitrates down well (I let the canister filters go too long in between cleaning at one point). Tom Barr is a proponent of getting enough plant matter in the tank to filter the tank and spends a lot of time discussing how changing water in a "natural" setup introduces fluctuating CO2 levels which promotes algae growth. (Stay tuned...) There are two other forums that deal quite a bit with natural methods - am I allowed to mention those here?
I fought (and I mean fought) BBA for ages in my 55g. There were points where I was ready to pull everything out and put it out at the curb. After greatly reducing the intensity of the lighting and going more low tech, I have achieved a balance where BBA no longer grows. The only trace of it in that tank is what I didn't completely pull out from the java fern jungle. I had some BGA when I first set up the 10g, but once I hit the initial outbreak with Maracyn and the tank had time to settle in once again no algae. Never any algae in my 30g. The 20g has quite a bit of hair algae, but the mollies and the swordtail like to graze on it, so I only take some out when it starts to bug me.
The chemistry and fast growth of a higher tech setup is very exciting for some. I did it for a while but got tired of the constant maintenance. Thanks for starting this thread - I think on this forum the fact there is another path to awesome plant growth sometimes gets lost. Much slower, but still awesome. The chemistry of the natural/low tech setup is cool too - just different. Test. Experiment. Try something new. In the end, go with what you enjoy.
I will post pictures of my 10g and 20g when I get a chance.
Definitely pick up a copy of "The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" by Diana Walstad. Even if you don't use the method she discusses, it is an excellent read. For a real hoot, pick up a copy of the old classic "Exotic Aquarium Fishes" by Innes and you will see that the idea of using dirt/sand substrate and trying to achieve a "balanced aquarium" is a pretty old idea.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?249568-quot-new-quot-old-tank
I ditched the CO2, went for much lower lights and I dose about 1/2 of the Seachem recommended for N, P, K, trace and iron each week. I chose not to change out the gravel substrate in those 2 tanks because I really didn't want to tear them up. I never vacuum the gravel. I am trying to find a balance on water changes. The 10g and 20g rarely, if ever, need one. The 30g can go a bit longer. Still figuring out the optimum time frame for the 55g. It has been holding nitrates down well (I let the canister filters go too long in between cleaning at one point). Tom Barr is a proponent of getting enough plant matter in the tank to filter the tank and spends a lot of time discussing how changing water in a "natural" setup introduces fluctuating CO2 levels which promotes algae growth. (Stay tuned...) There are two other forums that deal quite a bit with natural methods - am I allowed to mention those here?
I fought (and I mean fought) BBA for ages in my 55g. There were points where I was ready to pull everything out and put it out at the curb. After greatly reducing the intensity of the lighting and going more low tech, I have achieved a balance where BBA no longer grows. The only trace of it in that tank is what I didn't completely pull out from the java fern jungle. I had some BGA when I first set up the 10g, but once I hit the initial outbreak with Maracyn and the tank had time to settle in once again no algae. Never any algae in my 30g. The 20g has quite a bit of hair algae, but the mollies and the swordtail like to graze on it, so I only take some out when it starts to bug me.
The chemistry and fast growth of a higher tech setup is very exciting for some. I did it for a while but got tired of the constant maintenance. Thanks for starting this thread - I think on this forum the fact there is another path to awesome plant growth sometimes gets lost. Much slower, but still awesome. The chemistry of the natural/low tech setup is cool too - just different. Test. Experiment. Try something new. In the end, go with what you enjoy.
I will post pictures of my 10g and 20g when I get a chance.
Definitely pick up a copy of "The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" by Diana Walstad. Even if you don't use the method she discusses, it is an excellent read. For a real hoot, pick up a copy of the old classic "Exotic Aquarium Fishes" by Innes and you will see that the idea of using dirt/sand substrate and trying to achieve a "balanced aquarium" is a pretty old idea.
thank you max. very useful information. so for your 20 gallon you never do a water change? and i will most surely try to get a hold of these books. i think my mission this summer might be to transform my 20 gallon high into a dirt tank since i am starting to notice some bba
