jamesbarr Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Anyone out there doing this? I started one on Sunday night. Just looking for someone else who has tried this out? Also, if you are familiar with the method, you will know that the tank is heavy in tannins. The water chem is supposed to be similar to blackwater. Not exactly but close. Any one know what kind of fish would do well in a 20 gal blackwater? Im wondering about serpae tetras or something else close to that size. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 I spawned wild Apistos in a Walstad 20 about 15yrs ago - actually, the one tank was even lit by the sun; no canopy or light! My experience with Walstad tanks is that they go gang busters for the first several months, then taper out for a while; but, after a year or so, deficiencies were quite apparent. You can try to recharge the substrate if you want, but most people end up tearing the tank down and restarting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 The green tea look isn't for everyone so if you did want to go that route 'green tea' a glass jar and see if you really do like that look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 i have it running now. I wasnt too sure whether I really liked the look at first, but I think its growing on me. Especially when I see my plants looking better in there after 2 days than they did after months of being in my 60. Im still not too sure what was/is missing from the 60...but thats another thread. I think that I will end up making another tank like this one in the future. Only Im thinking that it will end up as a biotope. More likely amazon. The look of the water if very close to that of an amazon.....Makes me pretty excited. Ive always wanted to do a region based aquarium. This is definitely inspiring me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Throw in some gnarly wood for an added blackwater scape. Glad you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 (edited) started last sunday. my camera on my phone doesnt seem to pick up my swords for whatever reason, but the are spaced out about 1.5-2 inches apart. theres a bunch of junk floating about cuz i just planted a few more plants in there. Edited March 2, 2013 by jamesbarr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 added hygrophilia pinnatifida and bacopa monnieri to the tank. stem plants are recommended for high nutrient up take so i added them. Like them anyhow. Also bought a test kit, turns out my parameters are all crazy out of wack. ph 7.6, ammonia was high along with all the preceding values. Did a big w/c. Just rollin with the punches:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 To keep ahead of the nitrogen cycle, you really want to pack your tank full of fast growing plants... your tank is what I'd call 'barely planted'. For now, you'll have to manually keep ahead of the cycle until your plants are established: especially if you want to add fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) today test. ph between 7.4 and 7.2 todays ammonia test reads at between .5 and 1 ppm. still high, but way down from the other day at 4ppm Did 25% w/c. Added acid buffer and plan to test pH again tomorrow. close up to show sword developement. Edited March 5, 2013 by jamesbarr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 To keep ahead of the nitrogen cycle, you really want to pack your tank full of fast growing plants... your tank is what I'd call 'barely planted'. For now, you'll have to manually keep ahead of the cycle until your plants are established: especially if you want to add fish. Im going to have to slowly populate it off my other planted, since our lfs here in town doesnt sell plants. So until that happens, you are right, I will have to manually manage it, tho my declining ammonia levels over the past couple days give me hope that this tank is on the upswing. Will continue to do ammonia test every other day and ph tests daily. My town has high ph water, dont have an exact measure on it, but its in the high range, so I have to slowly bring it down. Im using acid buffer from seachem to do this. Seems to be working. Im having to do this on my other tank as well. I expect that I will take another few days to a week to get neutral water. Taking it slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Znaika Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 (edited) Do not add acid buffer straight to the tank with fishes or else it will cause huge pH swings and may kill the fish! I know, Seachem recommends to add acid buffer straight to the tank, but they ask to do it little by little, so that pH does not drop by more than 0.1-0.2 at once. The problem with this approach, however, is that it takes up to a week to bring the pH down to 6.6, by which time a water change is due, the pH bounces back to 7.6 and the fish get stressed. Better prepare the water in a pail by adding required amount of acid buffer into it and aerating for a day, so that chemical reactions are complete quicker. Test pH before adding to the tank, adjust the dosage as required. Edited March 5, 2013 by Znaika Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I personally wouldn't bother messing with the PH. For several reasons. It costs money. It costs time. Any fish you want to keep will acclimate to your water coming out if the tap. I have bred wild caught plecos (l260, l134, l066, l204) and a few others u have forgotten in Red Deer tap water. From time to time I will use rain water but this is not very often. PH swing effects fish on a cellular level and causes stress. Stressed fish aren't happy. I would go with consistent water, mire frequent water changes and happy fish. Just my $.02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geleen Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I personally wouldn't bother messing with the PH. For several reasons. It costs money. It costs time. Any fish you want to keep will acclimate to your water coming out if the tap. I have bred wild caught plecos (l260, l134, l066, l204) and a few others u have forgotten in Red Deer tap water. From time to time I will use rain water but this is not very often. PH swing effects fish on a cellular level and causes stress. Stressed fish aren't happy. I would go with consistent water, mire frequent water changes and happy fish. Just my $.02. Nah Jay that is worth .05. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Cool. Ive looked into it, with this perspective in mind and have found that you guys arent the only one not worried about it. Ill begin doing small w/c to slowly return my pH to tap. Todays Walstad tests Nh3/4 .25ppm No2 2ppm No3 5ppm Things are looking up as far as this goes. Day 9. Planted my HM rather than allowing it to float around. Did this yesterday. I anticipate having to trim this one often once its established. Other than that, should be a good foreground IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 ok so my tank has held an NH3/4 value of .25ppm for the last couple days now. The next reading below this in my API test kit is 0ppm. Anything above that will read .25ppm. Would you guys recommend that I continue my daily w/c or should I start to space them out, knowing that the end goal for a walstad is the infrequent/never occurring w/c? In my mind .25 isnt high, or any sort of a spike. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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