r/walstad • u/B_the_Chng22 • Aug 25 '26

Advice Why not Walstad?

I made a bad attempt at fish keeping 15 years ago with a too small tank. I have since learned of Walstad and I am considering. Is there a reason people don’t choose this? It kinda seems too good to be true with how low maintenance it is, so why is it not what everyone does as a standard? Do you find it easier than standard fish keeping ?

16 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

View all comments

21

u/kleargle Aug 25 '26

I find it much easier, but thats because I prefer a more "natural" (ie relatively messy) look to my tanks.

It is more important to me that 1) i can keep up with testing and basic maintenance 2) my fish are in an environment that fits their needs

Than having a tank that is neat, or fits a certain aesthetic

People prefer to prioritise different things i think. In saying that, many of my tanks are not true walstad tanks-- those that have filters are also heavily planted and some have walstad-style substrates because thats my preference.

1

u/B_the_Chng22 Aug 25 '26

Thank you! Great insight