I've been a keeper off and on over my lifetime but no tanks for a few years. I am slow (translate:lazy) cycling a three gallon drink dispenser.
6wks post mud puddle in glass:
1" organic soil
1.5-2" river pebble cap
1 (awesome) Dwarf Water Lily
1 Cryptocornye Lutea-still recovering
1 Cryptocornye Lucens-doing well
1 Echinodorus Vesuvius corkscrew-still recovering
1 small colony of water lettuce
20-ish Malaysian Trumpet snails <--excavation crew
Water as hard as a brick,
some minor NH3+4 fluctuation due to the soil
N02 & 3 0ppm
Lighting: 1 EarthTronics LED equiv=60watt, 5hrs evening+ tank sitting just west of large south facing picture window.
I did everything we tell new aquarists not to do except fishcycling meaning; I added the MTS too early due to early arrival and very late arrival of my API kit. Nope, no idea what my numbers were before adding the MTS. I did drip acclimate them in a separate container and gave them a slice of cucumber, waited 36-ish hours then sink or swim boyos.
I've never intentionally done a 'pure' Walstad but always intended to. Most of my experience has been 5-20gal tanks, the most recent being two 10s & 1 5g. Lowish-light & weekly maintenance until my mom got sick. Then they were neglected for months, like no food, no ferts, no water changes, nothing except lights on a timer and HOB filter. Much of the livestock survived, the plants overgrew as I was only home 1 day in 30 while taking care of mom. I learned from that swampland experience that I was a little to "helicopter-keeper."
Walstad Pros: Low (not no) maintenance, specimen plants and/or livestock, very budget friendly and easier to stabilize with low water volume.
Walstad Cons: speaking for the nano in my case, limited choice of livestock in that I cannot have all my favorites in one tank as I have in the past.
Future: still awaiting verifiable stability before adding any other livestock. However, after a little tweaking I can choose some shrimp. If I want neocaridina shrimp, I have to get my ph down. If not, Sulawesi shrimp are the only realistic choice. Sometime in mid-September I will toss in 3-5 glass shrimp to see how well they do and because I love their personality. If they do well enough, then before it gets cold I'll make the other shrimp variety choice.
So off we go into the freshwater wild lands!
6wks post mud puddle in glass:
1" organic soil
1.5-2" river pebble cap
1 (awesome) Dwarf Water Lily
1 Cryptocornye Lutea-still recovering
1 Cryptocornye Lucens-doing well
1 Echinodorus Vesuvius corkscrew-still recovering
1 small colony of water lettuce
20-ish Malaysian Trumpet snails <--excavation crew
Water as hard as a brick,
some minor NH3+4 fluctuation due to the soil
N02 & 3 0ppm
Lighting: 1 EarthTronics LED equiv=60watt, 5hrs evening+ tank sitting just west of large south facing picture window.
I did everything we tell new aquarists not to do except fishcycling meaning; I added the MTS too early due to early arrival and very late arrival of my API kit. Nope, no idea what my numbers were before adding the MTS. I did drip acclimate them in a separate container and gave them a slice of cucumber, waited 36-ish hours then sink or swim boyos.
I've never intentionally done a 'pure' Walstad but always intended to. Most of my experience has been 5-20gal tanks, the most recent being two 10s & 1 5g. Lowish-light & weekly maintenance until my mom got sick. Then they were neglected for months, like no food, no ferts, no water changes, nothing except lights on a timer and HOB filter. Much of the livestock survived, the plants overgrew as I was only home 1 day in 30 while taking care of mom. I learned from that swampland experience that I was a little to "helicopter-keeper."
Walstad Pros: Low (not no) maintenance, specimen plants and/or livestock, very budget friendly and easier to stabilize with low water volume.
Walstad Cons: speaking for the nano in my case, limited choice of livestock in that I cannot have all my favorites in one tank as I have in the past.
Future: still awaiting verifiable stability before adding any other livestock. However, after a little tweaking I can choose some shrimp. If I want neocaridina shrimp, I have to get my ph down. If not, Sulawesi shrimp are the only realistic choice. Sometime in mid-September I will toss in 3-5 glass shrimp to see how well they do and because I love their personality. If they do well enough, then before it gets cold I'll make the other shrimp variety choice.
So off we go into the freshwater wild lands!