r/walstad

I only have 4 shrimp and bladder snails in here right now. I don’t feed this tank. My two female shrimp are pregnant. What do I do?? I’ve never seen these in real life before

Hi all! I just set up these tanks a week ago and I need some advice about water parameters.

The big one is 6.3l and the small one is 4l

They have Tropica substrate capped with 3-4 cm of gravel.

The plans inside are:

Limnophila sesilliflora

Bacopa caroliniana

Lobelia cardinalis

1 Marimo ball each

The big one also has Microsorum pt. 'Narrow'

I have not used any bacterial starter. I did use Aquarian "Tap Water Safe" dechlorinating solution to treat the water before starting.

I don't have any animals inside. Plan is eventually to have a few snails and some shrimp.

I live in a very hard water area. My current water parameters are:

Useing WOLMDS 8 in 1 testing strips:

pH 8.4( Maxes out my test strips)

Total Alkalinity 360 mg/l (maxed out)

Carbonate 300 mg/l (maxed out)

Hardness 450 mg/l(maxed out)

Free chloride 0 mg/l

Nitrate 25 mg/l

Nitrite 1 mg/l

Ammonia 0-0.5 mg/l

A control of just filtered tap water shows the same, but Nitrite and Ammonia are 0 mg/l.

My questions are:

1. Are my plant choices good? Do I need to add more ?

I was thinking about some Duckweed floaters and dipping in some Pothos plant cuttings and letting them send roots in the water.

2. Should I get some bacteria starter or just be patient and wait for the tanks to cycle naturally.

3. Do I need to do anything about the hardness and the pH of the water?

4. Is there a point to using the dechlorinating solution if my filtered tap water already doesn't have chloride in it as per the test strips.

Thank you for your advice!

As far as I know, those are: Limpet, Ostracod, Springtails, Green Hydra, Detritus worm and Rhabdocoela. I kinda get excited every time a new creature pops up😂 The hydra worry me a bit though, since I have shrimp.

Setting up my first walstad tank! This was the best option at my hardware store, just wanted to check if its a good option?

Just a quick rundown of my setup- supplies so far :

I’ve got a 20g long tank

1.5 inches of organic potting soil

1 inch of coarse sand

.5 inches of 1-2mm gravel

5000k daylight set on a 10hr timer

So far all that I’ve done is fill the tank..

I have a bacteria starter, water conditioner and numerous types of food/algae pellets for my filtered tank.

I have ~60 red root floaters ready to be planted.

Can I add the bacteria and RRF plus some food/algae pellets to start cycling? I plan on a very heavily planted / no tech shrimp-snail- guppy tank.

I’ve read that planting as you go is less than optimal but I dont mind the extra maintenance that can bring- it’s actually sort of cathartic to clean/tweak water parameters.

after running a 5 liter shrimp jar for over a year with wonderful black tea-like water, i am taking a chance with this 30x30x30cm found piece. the nautilus is just a sentimental object which might not stay in. i plan on afding more plants, possibly some floaters and after the ammonia cycle sets in, shrimps will inhabit this microworld, as well. the piece of forrest wood found by my mum is brushed of all soft decaying matter and boiled. looking forward to this journey!!

My 2.5 gallon shrimp tank has been running with completely safe water parameters for about 2 months now with no water changes. I was wondering if it would be safe to remove the filter?

This is a beach at southern Lake Superior, would this sand work well for doing a Walsted aquarium? If not why?