H.K.Luterman Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) This thread is to document the setup, care and lifetime of my newly created 20 gallon long Walstad deep sandbed tank! I've been planning this project for a while now, and after assuring that the cabinet the tank was destined to sit on was sturdy enough, I took advantage of the latest Petco sale. My husband was a total enabler on this one, which was fun! I've been fascinated by Walstad tanks (and other dirted tanks that use plant-only filtration) since I restarted in this hobby a few years ago, and though all of my other tanks are dirted, none of them have that deep substrate or the no water changes / no filter rule. So this will be a new experience. The planned live stock will be a colony of bloody mary neocaridinas, a vampire shrimp, and perhaps some rabbit snails (among my usual hitchhikers). Edit: It's come to my attention that what I'm doing is slightly different than Diana Walstad's method, but the idea is still the same. After spray painting the back black, I was sure to center the tank and the runner it sits on as best I could. I might have to move that hyena picture above it... it looks off center now! This is the brand of dirt I chose to use. I've never used it before, but I couldn't find the cheapo stuff I used before. I didn't bother sifting the dirt, I just pulled out bigger pieces of wood if I found them. I spread an inch deep layer and pressed it down, and then sprinkled some crushed coral over it, as my water has pretty low Kh. I then sprayed the dirt down with a spray bottle to get it wet, before capping it with two inches of Black Diamond blasting sand - my go to substrate, I like the black color and how cheap it is. I didn't bother washing it, because I'm convinced it doesn't matter. I used a wooden skewer with an inch and three inches both marked off, so I could ensure I had the proper layer depths. Now to fill 'er up! I put a ziplock bag on the sand to soften the water flow. Worked like a charm. As it began to fill, I sorted out the air pump and bubblers. I used Aquarium Co-Op's black airline tubing that they sent me in my care package, and I gotta say it hooks up like butter. Very nice. The bubblers are these fancy ones that came with my Eheim pumps. I wanted lots of flow for the vampire shrimp, so I added two bubblers. Time for hardscape. I'm keeping it simple, and just used some slate pieces I had sitting around. And then it was time for more filling. This time I used a bowl to disperse the water flow. I filled it almost all the way, and then decided it was planting time. I grabbed out a bunch of Val from my 29 gallon. Here's how it looks with the plants in. I do intend to get some moss or maybe Susswassertang. If my new pink flamingo crypt settles in the 75 well I might put some in here too. But for now, I'll let the val fill in The first inhabitant - a pink ramshorn hitchhiker. I'm sure there's eggs on the plants, too. It's getting too warm to safely order livestock here in AL, so this has all summer to get grown in and seasoned. I'll post updates on plant growth and whenever I add a new plant for now. Edited February 16, 2022 by H.K.Luterman 10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 the tank looks great 🙂 so the plan is no filters? sounds like my kind of tank 😁 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 Just now, quirkylemon103 said: the tank looks great 🙂 so the plan is no filters? sounds like my kind of tank 😁 No filters, no water changes; only top offs. I will add a heater eventually since vampire shrimp need it to be in the mid 70s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betsy Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I am beyond pumped to follow this...thank you for the detailed step-by-step!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) Awesome! I'm wanting to learn more about Walstad method, but I have too much going on in life to read through that book! So many things to do/learn in life, so little time!! EDIT: Oh BTW, what is an "invert" tank? Edited May 23, 2021 by Martin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 16 minutes ago, Martin said: Awesome! I'm wanting to learn more about Walstad method, but I have too much going on in life to read through that book! So many things to do/learn in life, so little time!! EDIT: Oh BTW, what is an "invert" tank? Invertebrates. 🙂 Going to just be shrimp and snails. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Sweet! Have fun with this. I will be cheering you on! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Yay! Looks great so far! For the brief time I had an invert-only bowl, I found so many random little creatures I’d never seen before. Without fish to eat them, the wiggly life really flourishes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted May 24, 2021 Author Share Posted May 24, 2021 18 minutes ago, Hobbit said: Yay! Looks great so far! For the brief time I had an invert-only bowl, I found so many random little creatures I’d never seen before. Without fish to eat them, the wiggly life really flourishes! I'm really looking forward to that! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 Didn't take long for the water to clear up. I added a couple Malaysian trumpet snails for substrate aeration. This one's being acrobatic. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac M Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 This is awesome @H.K.Luterman! The tank is looking great, I will definitely be following this journal along! Thank you for sharing this aquarium and your experience with it with all of us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted May 27, 2021 Author Share Posted May 27, 2021 I changed the title after it was brought to my attention that Diana Walstad uses a different combo of substrates in her method. I'm going with a dirted, deep sandbed tank, using malaysian trumpet snails for soil aeration; with the simple outcome of a stable environment that needs no filter or water changes. Sorry if this caused any confusion! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Looks great so far! The Neos will love it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 I believe you said you didn't completely sort your soil, so you might have some bits of wood emerge. Your shrimp will love any of those small bits of wood from the substrate! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChefConfit Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Looks awesome! I'll definitely be following this one! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 Before bed last night I noticed the inside of the cabinet was wet. The cloth runner under the tank was soaked, and upon further investigation, I found the source was a seeping leak on the bottom seal. The water level hadn't dropped at all, so I must have JUST caught the disaster in the early stages. Cue me dismantling the tank at midnight, salvaging the plants and as much sand as I could. I did find both the trumpet snails and the pink ramshorn, so they're in a bucket with the rocks and plants. I left the mud at the bottom of the tank and had to wake my poor husband up to help me move it to the back deck outside. He was a good sport about it, and is going to call Petco for me to see if we can exchange the tank. What a nightmare. But as tank disasters go, I was very lucky; the tank only had a few snails in it, the leak was slow and I had just discovered it in the early stages. Whew. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betsy Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 Holy Canoli! Noooooo!!!! I'm glad you caught it early...that stinks! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 Yikes, glad you caught that nightmare early! Was it a new tank? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 2 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said: Yikes, glad you caught that nightmare early! Was it a new tank? Yeah, I got it just a few weeks ago during the Petco half-off sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 1 minute ago, H.K.Luterman said: Yeah, I got it just a few weeks ago during the Petco half-off sale. I switched my homeowners insurance just for this potential nightmare. Scary! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 Update: Petco said we can exchange the tank no problem, but both stores in the area are currently out of 20 Longs. So, we're going to check back this weekend. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Hey @H.K.Luterman were you able to exchange the aquarium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 11 minutes ago, James Black said: Hey @H.K.Luterman were you able to exchange the aquarium? Not yet! They're still out of 20 Longs. We were told they get their tank shipments on Fridays, so we'll check again on Saturday. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted June 12, 2021 Author Share Posted June 12, 2021 20 longs were back in stock! Finally was able to trade in the leaky one for a new one. Just got it set up and running again. The val is a little sad from being in a bucket for 2 weeks, but I'm hopeful it will bounce back. I made sure to get all the snails back in as well, and added a few more. 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 (edited) Got a dwarf red aquarium lily bulb from the Co-Op, and it already has little doo dads emerging. Does that mean I should flip it over? Are they roots? They're kind of pinkish. Also got the ammonia testing strips and tried them out. No ammonia was detected in the tank, and I guess that's not very surprising since it's empty save for the snails. However, there's the deepest pink color's worth of nitrite in there! I would have thought some ammonia would need to be present for that much nitrite. There was a lot of nitrate as well. Edited June 17, 2021 by H.K.Luterman forgot the photo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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