Unlocking Aquarium Secrets: The Walstad Hack Nobody's Talking About!
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
- In this video, I discuss how to use a hack from the Walstad Method that can help everyone to reduce the amount of tank maintenance by harnessing the filtration power of aquatic plants to create an aquarium Ecosystem the simple way without a soil substrate. floating plants are a far superior method than their submerged counterparts to help maintain water quality.
Enjoyed your presentation. Floating plants are a very helpful way to establish a balance in the aquarium. I look forward to your development in this amazing hobby.
Thank you @FatherFish! I've seen you did a livestream with @Fishtory and I'm really looking forward to sitting down at the weekend and watching it. I'm an avid fan of ecosystem aquariums and using natural methods of keeping fish and I was trying to think of a way that could introduce new hobbyists to the ecosystem side of things.
Hey Father Fish!
Another great video mate, I totally agree, I did a fish in cycle a couple of months back with slow growing epiphyte plants in the tank but Amazon Frogbit covering the surface and I honestly think the only reason it went well is because of the floating plants.
Thanks! You can get away with alsorts if you use floating plants. The mad thing is, the better they are at their job, the more people seem to hate on them
Hi FF, I am setting up a father Fish tank. Hi to you too. Just enjoying watching everyone I can find. I am learning a lot.
Look after the plants and the plants will look after the fish. My plants let me know if I need more/less food, fish, filtration, flow, lighting. They 100% inform my input to that aquarium. I can genuinely say it's been many years, decades since I looked after my fish and they're all the better for it. I look after my plants.
That sounds cool. I'd love to see a planted aquarium that is so mature! I've been saying in a lot of my videos how plants used correctly are the best form of filtration. What type of plants do best in your aquarium?
@@aquaticfanaticsuk My aquarium are all young, max 6 months, low tech planted with stems and floaters. I recently returned to hobby after all previous tanks died thanks to my own stupidity one cold winter when electric failed and I was away for days. The floaters after blooming upon arrival are now telling me I can add more poop/nutirents(fish+food) to the water column. The opposite advice, less poop or more plants(if possible) well thats what algae is for or if I don't listen to that advice, sick plants/fish eventually. It's maybe a teeny bit more complicated than that, but not much and usually because we make it so. Gonna check out the rest of your videos now.
@@RainwaterAquarium Thanks for sticking around and watching my videos. I really appreciate all the support! And if there's anything you want covering that stands out in my videos, let me know. As far as I'm concerned, the best content I can put out is the ones that people watching my content want to see.
valid points you make but the reason I don’t use floating plants is because I am trying to grow submersed ones. I have noticed outdoors where I live that duck weed only appears in water at the end of a cycle when all the submersed plants have died and the water has become turbid. Always just before the water holes dry up and water quality goes down. Floating plants will aggressively outcompete submersed plants and block their light. Just an alternate point of view.
I agree, if not managed correctly that floating plants will out compete submerged plants due to the aerial advantage. However, if managed correctly they have benefits to low tech planted and natural aquariums because of the 'duckweed index'. This leads us to be able to gauge the levels of light, nutrients and Co2 by comparing the difference in growth between submerged and floating plants. We can then get a far better understanding of the parameters of our planted aquariums than if we used commercial test kits which can be at best inaccurate.
@@aquaticfanaticsuk yes its funny. Since writing that I have started thinking I should try some. My problem is duck weed. It is so difficult to manage. I read somewhere that it can sink onto the substrate which is why it keeps coming back. My back-track is my reasoning that if it is growing in an aquarium it must mean that there is an excess of nutrients in the water (a bad thing - I don’t use liquid ferts because it is the opposite of what I am trying to acheive underwater) otherwise it could not survive. In many ways the aquarium is the ideal habitat for floating plants (ie a high nutrient water). I should try some floating plants in my fish tanks as they are supreme water purifiers.
I can tell you duckweed is hard to get rid of once in an aquarium due to how fast it grows. A leaf can turn into 100 plants in no time. But it is the most effective water purifier because of its rapid growth. If I started again, Salvinia would be my go-to first. It's my preferred floating plant.
instead of FF method im trying an idea with floating plants like you mentiin - in combination with dead leaves on the substrate - hoping it will start to mulch and create its own natural soil over time & house all the good bacteria & micro organisms - I hope / think that naturally breaking down those leaves will also stop the need of ANY fertilizer - as it creates its own nutrients: just add more leaves! when you think they are depleted & build your own soil / substrate permaculture / organic / biodynamic style & no waterchanges needed 👍
Nice and informative Video, Thumbs Up!
Try speeking a litte more freely and natural, and maybe put your notes next to/behind the camera, so you looking at them is a litte more hidden :)
That's one thing I'm currently working on with my videos. I'm trying to make them informative and interesting for you guys watching. It's a little hard at first when you're self-conscious, but the more positive feedback I get off you guys watching makes me more confident!
@@aquaticfanaticsuk Nice! Keep up the work, soon you will get used to it and the natural flow will come on its own. I usually don't subscribe to People, but you seem like a decent person, you earned it ;)
@derschwereGustaf, that's the philosophy behind my channel. I just want everyone to see my channel as a chilled guy who loves the hobby.
How about a list of your favorite floating plants? And do ypu recommend liquid plant suppliments?
Yeah, I'll put together a video for a list of plants. In theory, the Walstad Method states you shouldn't need to fertilise your plants. However, I found that after about 6 months, I'd start seeing deficiencies if I didn't fertilise now and then.
Thanks!!!@@aquaticfanaticsuk
I have a FF setup with plants planted in the sand, super glued to rocks, and floating. Also a pothos with just the roots in the water. I started it around a month ago, and it is doing great. I have a betta, 2 otocinclus, 10 neo shrimp, and 10 neon tetras. Everyone, including the plants are happy and healthy.
Cool, let me know how it goes!
FF substrate to keep microfauna present
My concern with floating plants in the aquarium is that they block the light, making it harder for the plants at the bottom of the tank to carry out photosynthesis. I've opted for terrestrial plants at the top of the aquarium.
I try to remove them daily
FF got me into aquariums, my tank set up 6 weeks ago. I think the kid in me wanted to play with mud. So a river bed look. Lots of plants, fish all happy. Platies and babies, guppies, Tetras., Danios. Water test all top of colour scale. Early on i did 3/4 water changes every 3-4 days. But now about 25% every week. I can see soon i could go once a month, just watch the fish behavior. if i see a lot sipping at surface i change 25% water.
I put 3 fish in 3 days after set up, then every week another four, to gradually build bio load.
Yeah, I love the idea of of dirt aquarium. I've done it so many times in the past. Are you finding the fish are at the surface in the morning? Or is it at random?
Do you find you get a boost in plant growth after adding new fish. Aquarium coop said that 2 weeks after making changes to your aquarium you'll see a response from the plants. I'm curious if adding new fish helps the plants to grow faster?
@@aquaticfanaticsuk Can't say as i have nothing to compare. Already had to remove handful of growth.
@@aquaticfanaticsuk Bit random some rest at the top some at bottom.
I've done a Father fish tank and added floating plants, but I have used fishing line tied to sucker anchors to corral the plants in a line across the rear of the tank, so the rest of the tank gets enough light.
I'd love to see that. Sounds cool!
What floating plants do African cichlids not eat?
I've had success with salvinia when I was keeping Tanganiykan cichlids.
I mix lava rock gravel with the soil, 50/50 mix, I then put 1in of this mix in the aquarium, then I put 1in of pure lava rock gravel and finally I cap it with 1in of sand, the lava rock gravel I use is not as big in grain size like Eco Complete , it’s closer to being sand. I dont use much soil because the lava rock increases the Cation Exchange Capacity, provides a better surface area for Roots to establish on , promotes better Root growth and slightly increases the water flow going into the substrate without sacrificing the benefits of using sand. This is just part of the way I set up my natural aquariums. For water I use RO water and condition it with guppy grass and floating pearlweed ,to much to explain here , I need to make a video on this part.
I can see your logic, mate! In my Walstad set up video, I capped my soil with Moler Clay to see how the high CEC substrate helped the plants, and I found the roots did far better in the high CEC substrate than it did in the soil. In fact, the thumbnail to this video is a 50/50 mix of Akadama and Lava Rock for the same reason. I have been experimenting with Bonsai soils as aquatic plant substrates, and I'm getting amazing results!
Hi if i ues. Just sand for substrate what freshwater floating plants do you think would work for me as a beginner
I'm currently working on a video to answer this question as it appears to be a lot of peoples response to my video!
I use floaters in all of my aquariums indeed
What types do you keep?
@@aquaticfanaticsuk sylvania cucculata, red root floaters, frogbit, Hygrorhyza aristata
Nice, I mean you can't go wrong with floating plants, but they're some of my favourites there
Hi Keith, long time no see, I'm having problems with my floating plants, they keep melting, but all my other plants doing really well. Any ideas?
Hey Bill, great to see you, mate! What type of plants are they? Are there nutrients in the water column?
@@aquaticfanaticsuk water lettuce and salvinia the floaters and java fern, Taiwan moss, Vallis, a number of anubias, a d a good number of Crypto.
They are all doing well apart from the floaters melting, I do feed with a plant fertiliser weekly
@@williammitchell2846 I've never had much luck with Water Lettuce. I hear it likes really bright light, but if you can get it growing its great for removing nutrients from the water. As for the Salvinia, is there any water splashing on the leaves? I find mine melts if the tops of the leaves get wet.
Unfortunately for me my floating plants are absolute nitrate vampires. I had to remove many of them so that my submerged plants don't have to compete so aggressively against them. I have tiger stripe frogbit. I love them so much they have developed rich red leaves and each plant has 6 to 15 leaves,but they make my other plants sad :(
Yes, I had the same issue with my walstad tank but the growth slowed right down to the point I couldn't keep floating plants anymore.
The walstad and Father fish method has help me a lot but it didn’t solve everything for me , I’ve been experimenting to find out what’s the best way to set up a natural aquarium that keeps fish healthy and grows a bigger variety of plants in one aquarium , i use less soil and sand but use something else mixed with the soil and sand that’s been working way better than my Father fish aquariums, my method doesn’t need water changes, not even when it’s a new set up , all I do is top off water and trim plants , I might start making videos soon on my method that works better than FF and walstad,
what is the something else?
I would be interested in this also!