LJ's 75 gallon Walstad inspired planted tank

Hello all!

So, after several months of planning/daydreaming, I finally started to convert my 75 gallon tank into a naturally planted tank using the ideas of Diana Walstad, first time doing this. So let begin, here's what I started with:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Wasn't much to look at. Here's the soil I'm using, about $5 a bag at safeway:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The first step was strain the soil to get rid of the bark, peat, etc...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I went through five or six bags to fill up a 5 gallon bucket of strained soil. Next, I put the strained soil into a large plastic container and soaked the soil to mineralize and release some ammonia...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Mmmmmm, messy. I left the soil for two weeks, adding water periodically to keep it wet, but not too much as to drench it. Then, last night I drained the tank and moved the tank mates into a 20 long for a temporary home. I filled the 20 Long with tank water from the 75, I'll put that water back into the 75 sometime when I'm ready to put the fish in. Once everything was out of the tank, I lined the sides with new gravel about 1.5 to 2 inches high (got tired of the blue gravel, so I got black gravel 1-3 mm diameter), then filled the interior with the soil...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Next, I took a few pounds of unfired raw red clay and rolled them into small chunks:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I buried the clay chunks in the soil through out the tank, then topped it all with about a 1.5 inch layer of gravel and added water up to the gravel:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Next, hardscape:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I got the wood from local fish stores a while back ago The larger piece is hollowed out, very cool piece! I found the rocks nearby the Seattle Center, and large shell at a beach in Ballard. I scrubed and boiled the shell and rocks.
Then the plants...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Plant list:
Dwarf Baby Tears
Narrow Leaf Chain Swords
Red Tiger Lotus
Italian and Contortion Val
A large Rose Sword
A "Giant Mother" Amazon sword along with a few small ones
Hygrophila Corymbosa (Green Temple)
Hydrophila Polysperma 'Rosanervig' (Sunset Hydro)
Hydrophila Angustifolia (Willow Hydro)
Hygrophila Difformis (Water Wisteria)
Cryptocoryne Wendii
Water Sprite
Dwarf Hairgrass
Rotala Nanjenshan
Rotala Indica
Ludwigia Repens

I also have some java fern attached to a couple small pieces of wood I will add later, they are currently in the 20 long.

Here's how it ended up after very slowly adding water:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I'm using a Fluval 405 canister filter. I removed the carbon from it and replaced it with polishing pads. I also added a powerhead with pre-filter spunge. For lighting, I have two duel bulb T5HO fixtures and one standerd T8 fixture. Right now for the T5HO bulbs I'm using a 10,000k, a 18,000k, a 6700k, and an aquaflora bulb. The T8 has an actinic for color. Any suggestions for what bulbs you'd recommend would be welcome. I also have a blue and white LED for night lighting. I will probably dose with Flurish Excel as I have a gallon of it just sitting here waiting to be used.

Well that's where I'm at. I'm gonna moniter the water conditions, water changes as needed, and add the fish once it's safe for them. I'll post updates in the future. Again, suggestions welcome.

Sunset Hydros are beginning to bring out their pink
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I also have a tiger lotus bulb that started sprouting, but I can't get a pic of it in focus. As for water conditions, ammonia level is less than 0.02ppm, PH is at 7.0, however both GH and KH are pretty up there. Gonna continue with water changes, maybe put some peat in an empty media slot in my canister filter

sweet plant journal, are you doing co2 for the HC?

Thanks... This is my first time doing a dirted tank, hoping it goes well... I'm gonna try it without co2 and dose it with flourish excel instead. If that doesn't work then I'll try DIY co2. And if my HC doesn't work out I'll get some Marsilea minuta for the middle foreground, supposedly it's less demanding than HC

Marsilea is way less demanding but a slow grower. It's thriving in a tank I have with amazonia 2 and no ferts at all with decent lighting.

yeah I bought some of the marsilea as well. It definitely is slow. or maybe I'm just extremely impatient =)

It only grows when you're not watching

It's alright, I'm a pretty patient person

Time for an update. I was able to get the water hardness down with water changes, so, I added fish; I put in the six rainbowfish I had in my 29 gallon (two Westerns, one Turquoise, three Australians). There's also a blue gourami, rainbow shark and a spotted raphael catfish (which I'll probably never see) in there that were in there before I started the convertion (I had a big Eclipse catfish, two featherfin catfish, and a pleco as well, but I donated them to Sierra)... I also got three Ren Irians and two Boesemanis from Sierra Fish and Pets. As for the plants, have a look:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
As you can see, the plants have taken off! The sunset hydros and growing like crazy. My big amazon sword has been melting leaves, which I expected to happen. But it's growing new green leaves as it's adapted to the tank. The java ferns have been struggling as well, it maybe due too too much light. The baby tears don't appear to be doing well either, probably cause I'm not doing co2. But for no co2, I'd say the tank is doing awesome, I'm really happy with the results! Here's more pics:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I think it looks great....and nice to know the process too...thank you!

I posted on another thread you posted pics on, but are those Legos you made the legs for your fixture out of?

Lol, yes! I have two big bins of them in my closet from my childhood. The feet that came with one of my fixtures doesn't fit onto my tank, so I had to improvise, I just had to "double brick" it to make sure it was stable. It works out well cause it made hooking up my LED nightlights a breeze

the plants are looking super lush, nice job. The HC could benefit a move away from the shaded area. Those tiger lotuss are big leaves that cast a big shadow. I've seen some folks do well with HC only using excel.

Thank you!!!!! That's a good idea, I'll move the HC closer to the front, they'll be out of the shadow there. I was keeping all of my lights on for 12 hours a day, but resulted in massive algee blooms, so I now have the T5HO with the 10,000k and 18,000k bulbs on for 4 hours a day, while keeping the other T5HO with a 6700k and an aquaflora bulb, and a T8 with an actinic on for 12 hours. It helped dramaticly, virtually no algee growth. But i want to get more light on the HC, so I may extend the 4 hours to 6-8 hours. If I start getting algee again I'll add some java moss to soak up the extra nutriants, and maybe get a few snails

Looks great! HC is picky and snobby... I wouldn't sweat it if it didn't make it.

Thanks! I'm gonna at least make an effort for the HC to work out, but yes, def not gonna sweat it if it doesn't

worse case go with glosso if you want a carpet. They are a bit less finicky than HC and grow faster then marsilea. This is about 13 days worth of growth.

Feb. 8th
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Feb 21
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Ah yes, that's in your 12 long right? I like it! If the HC doesn't work I'll try out glosso

why did you wet the soil for 2 weeks? To release ammonia? Im gonna try and replicate what you did in my 55g, this is the most simply well explined walstad tutorial thing ive seen on the entire internet!

The soil tends to float rather obnoxiously if you don't soak it.

Yes, it will help release the ammonia, as well as letting the mineralizing process start earlier... And like what pbmax says, it'll help the water be less murky when you fill it up. Good luck lars on! A couple things to mention: If you're gonna use any filters, remove the carbon... and make sure you heavily plant the tank, the more plants, the better

Jester,
Definitely a great tutorial. Thanks! And I'm wishing you continued success!

Nub question, but why remove the carbon?

In my experience carbon filtration is an unnecessary expense and requires regular maintenance. Plus it can remove stuff that plans crave.

This page has some good information on the subject:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

So I should replace my GAN with Fairfield Poly-Fil Premium Polyester Fiber, White, 1 Bag, 12-Ounce?
Found that on amazon for like 7 bucks.

Once again pbmax, you are correct. Activated carbon is usually not a good idea for planted tanks.

But I suppose as long as you supply plenty of Brawndo you'd be all set
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Lamental Jester wrote:
But I suppose as long as you supply plenty of Brawndo you'd be all set
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I was hoping someone would catch that reference. I, for one, make sure my plants have plenty of electrolytes.

pbmax wrote:
I was hoping someone would catch that reference. I, for one, make sure my plants have plenty of electrolytes.

Yeah, what do all those suckers out there use... water? Like from the toilet? Ha!


PS- this message officially changes my status from Newbie to Regular... damn I rule

Hahaha, I need to watch that one again.

BillHN wrote:So I should replace my GAN with Fairfield Poly-Fil Premium Polyester Fiber, White, 1 Bag, 12-Ounce?
Found that on amazon for like 7 bucks.

Anything that will filter will get the job done. I've used quilt batting in the past - cheap and effective, though it doesn't last forever. These days I use mostly sponge filters from Swiss Tropicals - low maintenance, great bio filtration, and quite durable.

<-------- Picturing unknowing people googling "Brawndo" to buy for their tanks

It would do everyone some good to watch that movie, I think.

Please keep posting photos of your tank! It's looking fantastic so far.

pbmax wrote:It would do everyone some good to watch that movie, I think.

Please keep posting photos of your tank! It's looking fantastic so far.

^ I second that, I'm making a miniature off of what you just posted man so keep on posting the results xD

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments! I'll try to get some pics this weekend, but until then, here's Data shooting some craps:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

You're welcome

Took some pics today... growth is doing good, although, I did give up on the HC
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The rainbows schooling up:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Rainbow Shark:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And because I've seen a few mentions around the forums, thought I'd snap a pic of my legos, this is how I have my LED night light hooked up:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I've had an outbreak of snails, not sure where they came from as I got my plants from various sources. So far they're not a problem, but if it becomes a problem I'll get some assassin snails to take care of it
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So...jealous! Your tank looks incredible!!

..........words cannot express how beautiful that tank looks Lamental Jester!

Lamental Jester wrote:Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments! I'll try to get some pics this weekend, but until then, here's Data shooting some craps:

You're welcome

Nice.

Lamental Jester wrote:Took some pics today... growth is doing good, although, I did give up on the HC

I've had an outbreak of snails, not sure where they came from as I got my plants from various sources. So far they're not a problem, but if it becomes a problem I'll get some assassin snails to take care of it

Looks great!

I'm very much of the opinion that snails aren't a problem at all. I added red rams on purpose to spiff up the color in my tanks. They largely outcompete my bladder snails, so that worked. Keep the food reasonable and your snails will stay in check.

pbmax wrote:I'm very much of the opinion that snails aren't a problem at all. I added red rams on purpose to spiff up the color in my tanks. They largely outcompete my bladder snails, so that worked. Keep the food reasonable and your snails will stay in check.

I like the snails too, and they don't seem to be hurting my plants at the moment, but I just don't want them to overwhelm my tank. In terms of food I've been intentionally overfeeding the tank to provide more waste for the plants, but I may decrease the food. If I do get assassins, I'll only get a few, only to control population

Lamental Jester wrote:
I like the snails too, and they don't seem to be hurting my plants at the moment, but I just don't want them to overwhelm my tank. In terms of food I've been intentionally overfeeding the tank to provide more waste for the plants, but I may decrease the food. If I do get assassins, I'll only get a few, only to control population

My assassin tank looks like a bone yard I have a ton of them with eggs everywhere, and yet there are still MTS and red rams in the tank (though very few).

Snails will notify you of any plant nutrient deficiencies by munching little holes all over your plants. If they're strong and robust with no deficiencies then you'll be fine. I have tanks on both sides of this fence and with different plants doing great and awful in the same tank.

Lamental Jester wrote:<-------- Picturing unknowing people googling "Brawndo" to buy for their tanks

Time for an update... annnnnnd looks like it's time for a trim:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The amazon sword doesn't melt anymore and is growing some large/long leaves. The Green Temple is coming up really lush too:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I let the Sunset Hydros get a little out of control, gonna be trimming them down next week:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Red Rainbow
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Woooo, loving my tank!!!

OH MY GOSH!!! Your plants look AMAZING!!! <3

Nice 'n bushy; good job!

Lamenetal....Nice! That's the way I aspire to have my planted tanks look. I didn't read back through this thread, but want to ask....are you using CO2?

fishloverRon wrote:Lamenetal....Nice! That's the way I aspire to have my planted tanks look.

Thanks all! fishloverRon: no CO2... The plants I have are pretty low demand, I rarely even dose it with excel

Snapped some pics, so time for an update. Trimmed down the sunset hydro and water wisteria, I think the fish were happy with the extra swimming space.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Got some glass covers online, makes a HUGE difference at slowing down evaporation:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Completely forgot I had some crypts, hiding under all that sunset hydro that got trimmed away:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The green temple living up to it's name: GREEN
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Boesemani rainbow:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That's my kind of tank, Jester!!! Looking good!

man that tank looks good!! some of my favorite non cichlid fish have got to be rainbows/gouramis. nicely done selecting some really gorgeous fish. my only tiff with this whole thing is that your plants are so lush and full it just doesnt look like a 75g (or at least to me )