Aquarium Setup using Walstad Method.

Aquarium after 1 Month without water change.

After some interesting results of growing Aquarium plants in fine gravel. I moved my attention to try out the Low-Tech Walstad Method.

The Setup:

Here is the under gravel setup:

As you can see in the above image, I have created a L-shape boundary using some scrape marble stones. Aquarium plants would be planted inside this L-shaped Boundary. The boundary is 1 inch in height. This boundary was filled with red soil and normal organic fertilizer (30:60 ratio). So far there is no water in the aquarium. 

Organic fertilizer is the one we get in packets in a normal outdoor plant nursery.

Once the above setup was complete, it was covered with gravel. I preferred the fine white gravel to cover the L-shape and coarser gravel at other places where I wont be planting any aquarium plants.

Planting Aquarium plants: 
Just dig up a small hole in the L-Shaped gravel area and plant your aquarium. See to it that the gravel forms a half inch covers on the soil. If you don't cover the soil then the water will get muddy once you add water to the aquarium. 

The white gravel cover stops the soil from getting into the water column, thus avoiding the water to get red(due to red soil)/muddy. 

Adding Water and Fishes:

Once you have planted all your aquarium plants, you can start pouring water. See to it that your gravel cover on the soil is not disturbed.

Fill up almost 70% of the water. Now you can arrange/add the stones and other aquarium ornamental stuff inside the aquarium. 

You can then let the fishes inside the aquarium.

Here are some more images of the arrangement after 1 month. I forgot to take pics when the first setup was done.

Points to note:



1. The layout of plants is not that great. Need to check up aquascaping concepts.


2. The tall grass kind of plant is showing no signs of growth. It has been in this state for almost 3-4 months now.


3. Amazon and Anubias seems to be thriving good. Cabomba is also showing good growth.


4. Cabomba has a weak stem. Try to keep them in water as long as possible. Ideally plant them at the last, just before filling up the aquarium with water. If you keep them our of water for long in a bend state, they form natural bend for which I do not have a cure. All the new shoots should be fine and will be pointing straight upwards.

5. Once the plants are planted and water has been filled. you cannot change the location of the plant since it will expose the soil and will make the water muddy. It can be a messy experience.


6. I had a problem of Brown Algae in all the previous aquarium setup. That problem is now in control. This could be due to Walstad method or due to less number of fishes (3-Danny and 1 Snail).   

Planted Aquarium After 2 months.

Planted Aquarium After 2 months.

Anubias and Amazon seems to be growing fine with some new baby leaves. 
Cabomba(with roots) has shown around 1-2 inches of minuscule growth. I got some more Cabomba which has no roots and they seem to thriving better in my tank, showing almost 1-2 inches of growth in 2 months. 


Weekly 20% water change facilitates new growth, seems like my tank is low on some dissolved nutrients. Need to work on this aspect.


I lost all my snails (4) expect 1, seems like the ecosystem had gone bad.

Aquatic Plants For Beginners.

Some plants, like the Anubias, Java Fern and Java Moss, require only low to moderate lighting.

Java Moss and Java Fern are some of the most common aquatic plants and they are very suitable for beginners. Initially, Java Fern should be attached to a piece of driftwood or rock. After the roots are formed it will stick to its surface. Java Moss and Java Fern are very hardy plants that can thrive in a wide range of soft and hard waters and even do well in a brackish aquarium. These plants will also tolerate a lot of different pH-values. New plants form on the older leaves of existing plants. The new plants will break themselves
off from the original plant, but can also be cut away. These shoots can then be replanted.They grow quickly and give a very lush appearance to your aquarium.

The Amazon Sword is another very popular aquatic plant. Just like Java Moss and Java Fern, the Amazon Sword is a very hardy plant that is popular both among beginners and expert aquarists. Amazon Sword grows pretty fast and therefore prevents algae formation.

Wisteria is yet another example of a beautiful and undemanding plant that is suitable for your first aquarium. The plant grows quickly and also helps to inhibit algae growth. But Wisteria also sucks a lot of nutrients from the water. Pale leaves indicate that there is a shortage of nutrients in the aquarium, and that fertilizers need to be added to the substrate.

The Anubias Nana plant is also popular among beginners, since this plant
thrives in virtually all conditions. Best results are obtained by tying the plant to a tree root or stone. This plant often flowers in water and is usually left alone by herbivorous fish.

The Cabomba, being a rapidly growing plant, requires to be pruned regularly. It is an excellent oxygenator and propagation takes place by replanting the lower leaves. Anubias do not grow enough to dominate any aquascape and they easily fall prey to algae infestation. Old leaves should be removed immediately after they show sighs of weakening.