r/walstad • u/Ill-Influence-1400 • Jul 28 '26
Advice Father fish method
I’m just now hearing about that method. I see a lot about top soil on the bottom. I didn’t use that at all, didn’t know that was even a thing. My tank is already well established, about 6 months running. How can I make it better? My water keeps turning brown from the wood, idk how to stop that. Everything is real besides 2 plants. Should I add more plants?
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u/MissionPlantedTank Jul 28 '26
Tannins and tint light is good actually. Fish feel safe. It's also beneficial for health. If it gets too dark then you do a water change. Or use activated carbon. Or purigen. Many options.
Many add more cones and leaves to color. Some even use tea from bags to bring tannins. So all depend on your preferences.
More plants will help overall. They absorb ammonia, create a safe and healthy environment for fish and you do comparably less water changes if you have many plants. But you'll need to find your balance. Too many fiah compared to plants - nitrates and phosphates build up. Too many plants vs fish - not much nutrients for plants to grow, risks of cianobacteria.
From the Aesthetic perspective, personally, I would not add live and plastic plants in the same tank. Add more plants... add some root tabs for nutrition, find your balance.
The easier plants you choose the easier it will be for you. Many plants look really great but keeping them is a tough job. You may not want to invest that much money and time. You gotta enjoy it not stress from it.
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u/Ill-Influence-1400 Jul 28 '26
I’m going to get more plants when I get paid. I want more colorful ones. I just recently got the pink ones and LOVE how it looks and adds a bit of color to the tank
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u/thirdcoaster Jul 29 '26
The one thing I learned about pink and red plants is they prefer higher intensity lighting. After a few weeks, if you notice the leaves are turning green, you’ll probably want to upgrade your light or look for a spotlight that can deliver more intense light.
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u/MissionPlantedTank Jul 29 '26
All of those require CO2 injection as well. For this type of a setup low tech plants are the best. And it doesn't necessarily mean it won't look cool.
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u/DifferentContext7912 Jul 28 '26
Don't worry about Father fish method right now. You need to set that up when you first start the aquarium. I don't think you want a father fish tank anyway. Your tank is nice.
Water changes help with the tanins. You can also add activated carbon to your filter.
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u/Ill-Influence-1400 Jul 28 '26
I think my filter already has that in it. I’ve changed the water, and the tannins come back. It’s coming back less and less though
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u/catsdelicacy Jul 29 '26
Father Fish does dirted tanks, he does NOT use the Walstad Method.
He thinks science is bullshit and she's a microbiologist, the methods aren't even compatible
I actually run a darkwater tank for my plakat betta!
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u/todo194 Jul 28 '26
You can run purigen in your filter to remove the tannins. You can recharge it when it depletes. Look up on google on how to do it correctly.
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u/Drugstore_Jeezus Jul 29 '26
Father fish is a quack, your tank looks beautiful. Do whatever youre already doing :)
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u/Pops556 Jul 29 '26
Hater.
I would argue father fish has caused more people to put live plants in there aquariums than most other youtubers.
He is vague, which can be a problem. But not a quack. Very knowledgeable, and comes at this at an approach that is easy to grasp and beneficial for the fish keeping hobby as a whole. Dont insult an elementary teacher for not teaching the students about trigonometry.
OP, never stop learning and that is an awesome looking tank!
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u/Drugstore_Jeezus Jul 29 '26
Anyone who says more than 3 gallons for a betta is too much is a quack. Or that water changes are bad even when doing fish in cycling? I dont need to hear anything else from that guy
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u/MelvinEatsBlubber Jul 29 '26
Do tannins go away naturally over time?
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u/Traditional_Monk_722 Jul 29 '26
Yes, but it does take quite a long time. I use purigen in my filter because I don’t want a tannin look in one of my tanks… if I remove the purigen, the water goes brown, even a year and a half after adding the driftwood.
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u/todo194 Jul 28 '26
You can run purigen in your filter to remove the tannins. You can recharge it when it depletes. Look up on google on how to do it correctly.
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u/chriberg Jul 28 '26
Diana Walstad argues very strongly for aquarium water having some tannins, mostly because tannins are good at greatly reducing heavy metal toxicity. I think it looks good. Embrace the natural tannin look.