No tech tank

[PaulG]

25G. Unheated. Unfiltered. Eledoa Crispa and Duckweed taken from the pond.

Will probably change to a daylight spectrum bulb soon enough.

Dirt. Gravel. Wood. Done.

[GMYukonon24s]

Is this just to grow plants?

[PaulG]

No.

[BBradbury]

Hello Paul...

Nice idea. Low maintenance. The light is heating the water, and the plants are filtering it. You have natural CO2 injection from the surrounding air. Actually, it's pretty high tech.

You will need to replace the water that's lost to evaporation too.

B

[Silmarwen]

I would like to see how this turns out, I hope you keep us posted as time goes on! What fauna are you thinking?

[PaulG]

Originally Posted by BBradbury

Hello Paul...

Nice idea. Low maintenance. The light is heating the water, and the plants are filtering it. You have natural CO2 injection from the surrounding air. Actually, it's pretty high tech.

You will need to replace the water that's lost to evaporation too.

B

Low wattage tank?

[PaulG]

Originally Posted by Silmarwen

I would like to see how this turns out, I hope you keep us posted as time goes on! What fauna are you thinking?

I can't decide/Still researching.

WCMM would be perfect but I think they'd prefer some water movement.

Zebra Danios I think would prefer more swimming space.

Bloodfin Tetras? Gold Barbs maybe? Or I could just have RCS.

[Silmarwen]

Zebra danios would defiantly prefer some more swim space, but gold barbs might work well. I haven't kept them myself. And shrimp are always an fun option! Good luck deciding

[caoder]

try some minnows from your local pond since most seems to be from there anyways.

[NeoCaesar]

Paul. Is that an 18X10X10? I have the exact same tank sitting with dirt soaking in it right now as my first foray into planted. Would be interested to know how you get on.

[AVN]

Ah, the Walstad method, giant-sized.

I say you should just go shrimp, either that or solitary fish, like a Betta. With 25g and no mechanical filtration you have limited options for stocking. Unless you maintain diligence in water changes and have nitrogen-hogging plants, you wouldn't be able to keep anything larger than a small school in there at optimal parameters. Of course you can always get away with letting things slide, as fish are highly adaptable... I wouldn't recommend it though.

Shoot for small bioload stock, and overkill the waste with fast growing plants, what you have now is not enough to filter a 25g for stock. You have Duckweed, but Ricca looks nicer and isn't a huge PITA when it comes to rescaping your tank or removing it entirely.

Many of the mosses are great for this kind of tank, they grow fast (under higher PAR), filter pretty well, and are pretty nice looking. Taiwan, Java, Xmas, are all good fast growing mosses.

I like the glowing tetras for set ups like this, my go to is the Cardinal, you can easily keep a school of 10-15 in there with no problems. CPD are always a nice choice, but that depends on what kind of fish you want.

I would go with loaches or other bottom dwelling fish that don't require a lot of water movement or light.

But before anything, get more plants in there! It is not densely planted enough for stock!

[GMYukonon24s]

Any updates with this tank?

[bbroush]

I'd recommend pothos vine, if you REALLY want a good fast growing and nitrogen using plant. I have that on all my tanks and it's great, as long as you like the look.

[PaulG]

Originally Posted by NeoCaesar

Paul. Is that an 18X10X10? I have the exact same tank sitting with dirt soaking in it right now as my first foray into planted. Would be interested to know how you get on.

Nope, bit bigger. 30 x 15 x 12.

[PaulG]

This is my 2nd Walstad in fact, definitely need more plants I know. Put some L. Repens and H.Polysperma in behind the wood, only tiny cuttings so far but they always grow super fast for me. Other than that the only thing that's changed is some massive duckweed growth, it's close to covering 2/3 of the tank now.

I know, slow progress!

Not sure about adding pothos, may add some emersed plants once it develops a little. It's a north facing window so maybe I'll even wait until the summer so they can benefit from the natural light.