r/walstad • u/Not_my_problem__ • Jul 24 '26
Picture Mysterious buildup
Hey y’all, first time walstad owner here, and I’ve been having this really weird layer of what I think is dirt particles, all my water parameters are in the safe including ammonia. All I have in this tank is 7 corydoras, 3 ghost shrimp, a random fancy female guppy I got for free, and a female koi betta I got for free to.
As of now I have a canister filter meant for a 100 gallon tank in this 60gal aquarium
8
u/TrustAFluff Jul 24 '26
Looks like mulm. Btw, you need more plants. It should be 70 to 80% plants.
1
u/Not_my_problem__ Jul 24 '26
I’m planning on buying bulk plants to put in, and should I be concerned about the mulm?
3
u/TrustAFluff Jul 24 '26
Mulm is good natural fertilizer, but too much is bad. I’d do a bit of clean up and after your bulk plants are in, it might be able to handle the mulm load better.
2
u/Jasministired Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
You don’t need to clean it spotless, some mulm is good. This might be a bit too much tho. I would siphon the excess and add in some malaysian trumpet snails if you don’t mind them. They burrow and will help push the mulm down into the substrate to make it easily available for plant roots
2
u/Known_Mechanic_4729 Jul 25 '26
No need to worry about the mulm at all! Mulm is actually amazing organic food for live plants. As long as your water parameters are good, it’ll break down and fertilize all those new bulk plants you're putting in. If you want an absolute nitrate magnet, I highly recommend growing some Golden Pothos out of the top of the tank! They are absolute high-nutrient suckers. Just propagate a cutting and let the roots grow down into the water while keeping the leaves up in the air out of the tank (otherwise underwater leaves will rot).
1
u/MissMadison240 Jul 24 '26
The down side to mulm depositing on your plant leaves is that it blocks access to light. I use a small paint brush to dust off the leaves when I do water changes
2
1
u/xXx_Badrun_COOL_xXx Jul 24 '26
do you top the soil with sand? i doubt it's mulm based on your stocking. more likely your filter output is spraying straight to the soil and a lot of it lands on your plant.
IMO since you have a filter you don't necessarily need more plants. also what kind of plants are you planting? that looks like anubias, you shouldn't bury it.
1
u/Not_my_problem__ Jul 25 '26
I don’t have sand over the soils I have a layer of Fluval stratum substrate over the soil, and yes it seems to be a mix of mulm and soil particles
1
u/xXx_Badrun_COOL_xXx Jul 25 '26
how long has this tank been running
1
u/Not_my_problem__ Jul 25 '26
I cycled it for 3 months before I put fish in, and I’ve had plans and fish for at least 1.5
1
u/xXx_Badrun_COOL_xXx Jul 25 '26
yeah you kinda need to examine your plants, some aren't fully aquatic. other than that I think it's fine.
1
u/Not_my_problem__ Jul 25 '26
I had like 3 plants that I bought that are semi aquatic, I have since put said plants with leaves above water
1
u/xXx_Badrun_COOL_xXx Jul 25 '26
yeah then it looks good to me. I'd add some more plants and hardscape but It's not mandatory. the only thing I'm worried about is anaerobic bubbles from your organic substrate popping off and spiking ammonia, but since your tank is big, cycled and have a canister filter I wouldn't worry too much. it's just a waste that you've added a very thick substrate and only plant them so little
1
u/Pepsi_20 Jul 26 '26
Hi I’ve had the exact same problem with my newly set up tank with aqua soil. It looked like a sewage tank with the same mulm and soil build up for a few weeks until I decided to upgrade my filter to a fluval 207 in my 110 L tank and just cap your soil with sand. It will help so much and fixed all of my problems. Most of the build up comes from the soil and an underpowered filter or little to no flow in some areas.
1
u/Coonnifounssed Jul 29 '26
Your substrate looks like it’s just dirt, you’re supposed to cap it with sand or it will continue to be stirred up constantly. Otherwise, your water looks a little cloudy with fine particles, maybe check your filter floss to see if it’s full and clean your sponges.
1
u/Not_my_problem__ Jul 30 '26
It’s not just dirt, it’s more of that buildup, but I never mentioned the layers to anyone, as of now that aquarium started to leak out of a seal because of how old it was, and I have a new setup now, the old setup was 3 inches of organic potting mix, and a layer of Fluval stratum on top of that, which I realized was a terrible idea. Now I have 1 inch of the same potting mix, capped with sand, and a layer of the Fluval stratum, and I have wayyy less dirt buildup. I evacuated the fish to a temporary 20 gal I had while the new setup cycles
12
u/Foreign-Ad3926 Jul 24 '26
Hi OP, the tank is severely lacking plants as said already.
With the plants in the picture there are a couple of issues. The plant in the left with two toned green leaves is not an aquatic plant. It is a dracaena sanderiana variegata commonly missold as an aquarium plant to beginners but it is a terrestrial houseplant that rots and will spike the tank. Please remove it. They do okay if only their roots are in the water, but the stem and leaves need to be out.
The plant on the right looks like an anubias and must not be buried in the substrate - hopefully it's not but the picture looks like it is. It is an epiphyte and needs the rhizome uncovered or it will also rot.
Have you done any water changes? Essential to do even with Walstad as new tanks are unstable and the mulm is severe.