HotTunaCartel

So back in January I started a Walstad tank... I used a few youtube videos to set it up and was all excited. By the time February came around I started to see algae buildup. I ended up added a fish (guppy) and shrimp in March and by the time May came around it was so filled with so much algae that it killed almost all the plants in the tank... UGH! By the time May came around we were in full force getting out garden ready and all the seedlings (400+) hardened off. The tank took a back seat for a while. Coming back to it in June I figured I would do some research and see what the issue is. I thought it was light so I started adding floating plants but that didn't help, even the roots of the floaters were being coated in algae. I ended up watching a "father fish" video on how he does walstad tanks and it finally popped in my head, the nutrients from the soil were leaching into the water through the gravel. DUH! I pulled everything out, sucked most of the water out and added sand; replanted and OMG everything has been great for a month now. https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzXZUs

Unbelievably the growth has exploded in some of the plants after removing co2. For whatever reason the tannins are being removed by something... Have only done one water change in the last few months and it was only 5 or so gallons yet the water is very clear (might have to add some rooibos tea) I started reducing feeding to once per day around 5pm and the hair algae has died back quite a bit. I never minded it but to have it looking natural as opposed to 4-5in long is nice. The shrimp have exploded, I probably have 40 or more now, need to start thinking about giving them away to people as I've seen 2-3 pregnant shrimp and they have been hiding somewhere today so I'll probably have even more in the next few days. A night shot with the fluval moon lights on

I did until I got them. Now they are all uncovered. I don't mind topping off either. I have enough duckweed that it completely covers the top so I'm not worried about anything jumping out.

@Jawjagrrl thanks for the reply. I did get red root floaters for my walstad tank but I think I added them too early and they melted away due to no nitrates. I know a lot of people don't like duckweed due to the intense growth; but I garden a lot and dry them out and use them in my compost or in favour of seaweed fertilizer.

I ended up get water lettuce from a local place and they sent Salvinia Minima as well. Going to try them in all the tanks and see what happens. I do have a nice slow flow so hopefully the water lettuce does not get wet.

I have a question for you as I'm really enjoying the pictures you included. Are there different types of water lettuce or can I just google "water lettuce for sale"? Thanks

@ange @AndreaW Thanks for your responses, I'm not sure why I'm not getting email notifications anymore which is why I didn't respond back sooner. I would definitely like to mix and match, the covering has really helped all the inhabitants of the tanks feel safer.

I just got duckweed about a month ago for my blackwater tanks and walstad tank. I would like something with longer roots and was wondering if I can add frogbit to the duckweed naturally or if I would have to make airline tubing rings for the different floaters? Thanks

Forgot about this, was doing a short timelapse and totally forgot my phone while I was cooking dinner https://imgur.com/a/x5swU7S

Thanks so much Thank you

I ended up going back to a blackwater tank.... The hightech worked great for the first few months but couldn't get algae under control. Not sure if it was too much/not enough co2, lighting, macro nutes or even food (the harlequins eat like absolute monsters) . Anyway, I slowly turned it back to blackwater and within a week the algae (black hair) started dying back and turning white. Removed a lot of the larger plants that were taking over the left side. Plus... I really love the blackwater look on the big tank. Can't wait for people to ask why it looks dirty lol

@Torrey Thanks! I was thinking that as well, I'm not sure there is enough light for them either. The blackwater has gone away over the last 6 months just due to the leaves disintegrating and the peat really doesn't do much. It wasn't that hard to boil it down, just set a timer for 20 mins, checked and then went another 20 mins. I wish I would have taken a video of when i put it in, was like dirty chocolate milk look as it started to mix.

I do have some "chunkier" tetras in there with larger bellies but not sure how to sex them.

When I had it dark in the past I was trying by keeping the lights low in the morning like @Cory video he has about that. I just put in frogbit a few days ago so I'm excited to get the roots going to offer some breeding areas

hmm that would be interesting, it going to be months before I boil more leaves but maybe someone else that has blackwater tanks can try that.

ummm I think two tablespoons was a bit too much lol might do a 25% water change as I really don't want to kill my anubias

lol nothing devious, I boil them to get them to sink right away. But I usually cool the liquid off and put it in the tank. I thought, hey that would be cool to making something homemade similar to a blackwater leaf extract that many places sell. Its super cool because I used about two tablespoons and for a 20 long and its back to looking beautiful again. I'll take some pics tomorrow as its a bit cloudy currently.

Has anyone made a tannin reduction similar to cooking down a sauce to reduce the water? I just got my new batch of Indian almond leaves, did a first boil and saving the liquid to try to make a reduction to save in a smaller jar. EDIT: Nevermind, it went well, reduced 96 oz down to this

They look good for sure. The I put some in my high tech and the new growth is almost fire red Heavily planted, dirted bottom, no filter and no added fertlizers.

Second update on my walstad tank. Plants have slow down but I think that is due to the algae starting to build up. Started to manually remove it by hand and with a toothbrush. Everything seems like its rooted as brushing off the leaves by hand does not uproot the plants. I did have the Staurogyne Repens die off, not sure if they will come back, I'll leave them in for another week and pull them if nothing happens. I'm pretty sure its cycled as I'm having 0-5-0 the last week with no spikes. The surface film is kind of annoying but the paper towel method helps. I put two nerite snails in to help with the algae and will in the next few weeks pending water quality will probably get some shrimp.

Just picked one up last week. A must for co2, the air pump style check valve kept getting the seal blown out and messing up my bps.

I wish I could give you a straight answer, I get that from time to time after topping my stratum with 2mm gravel. I haven't seen any change in water chemistry though.

They are great for sure! Just got another shipment in about 20 minutes ago. Cold as hell outside (17f right now) but the heat pack was still warm.

Got through my first week with my shrimp I ordered from aqua huna. Gotta admit, I LOVE THEM! It's very funny watching them swim across the tank and stick on to the underside of a plant or just scooting around. I only lost one Orange Rili and I think that was due to a large water change that wasn't mean to be large ( I need to do them when my gf is home and not alone). I got 6 Orange Rili (5 left) and 10 Red Cherry.

Just got my red cherry and Orange Rili shrimp in yesterday. Drip acclimatized them and put them in when the lights were off around 7pm last night. Just checking on this morning and all is well, eating and swimming around happily. I did notice this on one of them a few minutes ago. Is this shrimp poop and if it is should it be that long?