Two Bowls, One Table - a Walstad attempt

2420 Views 12 Replies 6 Participants Last post by poppyseed, Feb 1, 2013

poppyseed

Discussion Starter · Sep 24, 2012 (Edited)

I decided to try out the whole Walstad thing, only a little more scaped than some of the jungles I've seen (this probably isn't working in my favor, given that the jungles provide more filtration). I grabbed a couple bowls from home goods that hold a little over 3 gallons of water with everything else in it. Here they are!

scaping:

planted and filled:

(I HATE this view right now. It's so contorted and looks like there are no plants in there at all. Hopefully it will grow in =/)

They will get a little sunlight from the windows, but I have a 24 watt light hanging over them, so I will experiment with light times.

At least one bowl will hold probably cherry shrimp. I wanted to get a baby betta for the other but I kind of feel bad, even though it is 3 gallons. I'm afraid all my plants are going to die, haha.

We shall see!

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Knotyoureality

· #2 · Sep 24, 2012 (Edited)

As long as you're not adding a huge bioload, you don't have to worry about not planting up a jungle.

This is my smallest shrimp tank: it's a stemmed wineglass with a nearly round bowl measuring 3" high x 4.5" diameter. Fluorite base with three chunks granite, a smattering of polished gravel and some tiny chunks of driftwood scrap. Originally planted with about five stems of dwarf baby tear, a few strands of java moss and 2-3 small bits of frog bit. 2x week 20% wc, topoffs as needed. Indirect sunlight. Fauna: 3x juvie cherry shrimp, a couple baby ramshorn snails and one large pond snail.

Over the last three weeks I've added a few more stems of dwarf baby tears. All three shrimp have successfully molted and are thriving.

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rustbucket

· #3 · Sep 24, 2012

Love them, wish I could find some bowls like that, they look so clean and would make a great center piece.

As to the betta, you probably know but they are jumpers.

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poppyseed

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 24, 2012

Knotyoureality said:
As long as you're not adding a huge bioload, you don't have to worry about not planting up a jungle.

This is my smallest shrimp tank: it's a stemmed wineglass with a nearly round bowl measuring 3" high x 4.5" diameter. Fluorite base with three chunks granite, a smattering of polished gravel and some tiny chunks of driftwood scrap. Originally planted with about five stems of dwarf baby tear, a few strands of java moss and 2-3 small bits of frog bit. 2x week 20% wc, topoffs as needed. Indirect sunlight. Fauna: 3x juvie cherry shrimp, a couple baby ramshorn snails and one large pond snail.

Over the last three weeks I've added a few more stems of dwarf baby tears. All three shrimp have successfully molted and are thriving.

good to know you've had success with less plants

I figure since the bowls are a little bigger than usual, that will benefit the inhabitants too

rustbucket said:
Love them, wish I could find some bowls like that, they look so clean and would make a great center piece.

As to the betta, you probably know but they are jumpers.

Thank you! I'm not sure what stores are similar to home goods in Canada, but I'm pretty sure it is a part of the TJ Maxx/ Marshalls chain.. maybe there is a similar chain around you?

And I do know about the jumping, I would cover the light with glass or something similar if I got a betta.

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GMYukonon24s

· #5 · Sep 24, 2012

Them are some beautiful bowls

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poppyseed

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 17, 2012

Added cherry shrimp to the left bowl and a baby betta to the right
also clearly threw in some more plants

sometime hopefully in the future I will be painting my walls a blue, which should work nicely for all the aquariums in my room as automatic backgrounds

figured I should show a shot of the light and hanger

obviously after I took this photo the rest of them came out

a blurry betta baby, looked pale with a tinge of purple sheen at petco, turned into a blue boy! it should be fun to see how he grows up.. or she?

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golfer_d

· #7 · Oct 17, 2012

I am planning to do the same.

Few questions for you.....

1) Do you still have to use the water conditioner for RCS bowl? My guess is yes, but seems not much would be needed if only doing a 20% water change on such a small bowl.

2) How long did you let the bowl "cycle" before you added the shrimp?

3) Do you need to use those little glass trays in shrimp tanks?

Thanks!

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poppyseed

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 17, 2012

golfer_d said:
I am planning to do the same.

Few questions for you.....

1) Do you still have to use the water conditioner for RCS bowl? My guess is yes, but seems not much would be needed if only doing a 20% water change on such a small bowl.

2) How long did you let the bowl "cycle" before you added the shrimp?

3) Do you need to use those little glass trays in shrimp tanks?

Thanks!

1. If you are using tap water you will always need to add water conditioner to take the chlorine out, not matter the amount you are adding to the bowl (just like with tanks). I personally used distilled water in my bowls and added a GH booster to the shrimp one, to avoid buildup and whatnot of minerals.

2. I had the bowls up for at least a couple weeks before I added anything. It seems that with walstad bowls, and planted tanks in general, if you have enough plant mass to absorb whatever the inhabitants put out you don't really need to cycle per se. I let my plants establish themselves.

3. You don't, but I chose to in order to avoid leftover food getting causing problems for me later (planaria, ammonia, etc.)

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Newman

· #9 · Oct 17, 2012

nice to see you are caring for that betta by putting a heater in there

How is the temperature of that bowl's water? it has no water movement so it may be difficult to heat the water, bar the immediate water around the heater.
But hopefully it works!

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golfer_d

· #10 · Oct 17, 2012

Thanks for the info!

Your bowls look awesome...cool little project!!

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poppyseed

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 17, 2012

Newman said:
nice to see you are caring for that betta by putting a heater in there
How is the temperature of that bowl's water? it has no water movement so it may be difficult to heat the water, bar the immediate water around the heater.
But hopefully it works!

It seems to be heating alright, moving the thermometer around to different parts of the bowl doesn't seem to show very much of a difference anyway (a toasty 78 degrees).

I'm a huge sucker for bettas.. it's on the verge of turning into a problem

Still looking to see if I can find a suitable cover for the bowl, but I plan on keeping the water level lower for now (he's so tiny I'm not worried about him jumping super high.. yet).

golfer_d said:
Thanks for the info!

Your bowls look awesome...cool little project!!

You're welcome! I can't claim to be an expert, but just speaking from what I've gathered through experience and the forums.

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Newman

· #12 · Oct 17, 2012

thats a good temp. seems like its working!

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poppyseed

Discussion Starter · #13 · Feb 1, 2013

Just some new pics, nothing special. My father helped me make lids out of acrylic, they are strangely clear! You can't even see them, except for my right bowl fogged it up from the heater.

Watson has grown!

A couple out of focus shrimplets. I need to get better at this photographing thing.

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