Swithing To A Walstad Method

So my 180 l tank has been running for three months and I've been battling with high nitrates, algae and bacteria growth. The tank is not looking good and I'm getting a bit fed up with worrying about it and trying to fix issues. So I want to do a fresh start and try a Walstad method. I read a few posts about it here and it this setup looks more balanced and closer to a natural fish habitat. I am hoping it will mean more enjoying the fish and less trying to fix problems.

From what I gathered the Walstad tank ideally should run for about month before the fish are introduced, but as I have fish and shrimps already I can't really do that, I need to switch over in one day. (I also have a little 22l aqua nano tank, but I don't think it is big enough to keep all my inhabitants for a month.) Do you think setting up the Walstad tank and introducing fish the same day will work or I am setting myself up for different kind of problems down the line?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for advice Richard. Yes, my filter is fully cycled.

I guess if that's what Diana Walstad did, then it should be OK!

I looked at your other posts from a while back and you recommend a garden soil and also mention a couple of retail products suitable for this method. John Innes compost no 1 for the soil layer and Arthur Bowers lime free silver sand for the top layer. Are they still what you would use now after you'd run your tanks for a while?

I actually used my own garden soil and that is the cheapest and easiest unless you have no garden or are worried about contamination.

I thought the ThinkFish style was to steal your neighbour's soil? 

 

I actually used my own garden soil and that is the cheapest and easiest unless you have no garden or are worried about contamination. The John Innes would be best if you have to buy, but only No 1 as Nos 2 and 3 have too much fertiliser.
Be aware that the method is not a cure all, if you had problems with ammonia etc before, you still need to manage your tank correctly to avoid these problems.
You do need a lot of plants, no good putting in five or six. For your tank I might look at 50 plus. I also strongly recommend some floating plants which are very efficient at using up nitrates.

Thanks Richard. My garden soil has lots of chalk, I'm also guilty of an occasional sprinkling of weed killer and ferric phosphate for snail control. Would that soil be suitable? I don't know enough if this could cause problems once in the fish tank, so I thought the John Innes would be a safer bet.

My ammonia and nitrites have been fine, but I have high nitrates in tap water, about 50ppm and while trying to fix the nitrates I managed to get my algae out of control. I like the look of a planted tank, but don't want a high tech/high maintenance setup a 'normal' aquascaping tank seem to require. So I hope the Walstad tank is the right one for me. I'm looking to buy plants from ebay and it's a bit hard to gauge how many to get, as they are sold in stems or multi-stem bunches etc. I guess I'll order more than I think I need, as I'm likely to order too few. I was looking at: Amazon Sword, Echinodorus Tenellus, Hygrophila Polysperma, and Green Rotala Rotundifolia.

Hygrophila corymbosa is another one to consider. Mine has lovely light green leaves which contrast nicely with my other darker plants.

Right, the plants have been ordered, sand washed so it's all on track for the changeover this weekend! Exciting times

The question I have, is it important that the plants are more or less spread over the entire surface of the substrate or is it OK to leave some of the foreground or middle of the tank unplanted. I guess some the grassy type plants will spread a bit over time?

You can leave part unplanted. I've found that Sagittaria spread rapidly by sending out runners, soon covering a large part of the substrate. Pygmy Chain Sword Echinodorus tenellus did the same, but more slowly .

So an update is in order. I switched as planned and I think it went well, all the fish and shrimps are alive! Picture is 1 week on.

I guess it doesn't look like there are that many plants, but there are over a hundred individual cuttings and plants, I hope that's enough and they just need to do some growing!

The plants are: Rotala Rotundifolia, Anubias Barteri Nana, Limnophila Sessiliflora, Echinodorus tenellus, Sagittaria Subulata, Hygrophila Corymbosa. I've also added Amazon Frogbit since to help consume the Nitrates.

The water parameters:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates are a bit high, between 40 and 80ppm, but my tap water has about 50ppm according to my water supplier.
pH has gone down to 7.4 from 8 before the switch.
Hard water: 100 mg/l or 14.01 German deg.

I started to see some green hair algae on the glass, so the good thing is there is food for the shrimp but might be a sign that there is something not quite right.

The lights are on for 5 hours, then off for 5 hours and back on for 5 hours, so I wonder if reducing the lights would help to control algae. Is there anything else I should try doing?

Thanks for that! I'll look then up.