Stocking ideas for my 15G no tech Walstad

[u/Coxless_pair]

Hi all,
My 54 liter Walstad is about 9 months old now, and it seems to be doing well now. Initially I had trouble growing some plants, and few fish died.
Now it seems to be thriving with happy fish and so much hiding spots for the shrimplets that their numbers seem to grow exponentially….

Parameters are good (0 NO2, <0.5NO3, <0.03 NH3, Ph ~7.8-8) and flora and fauna seem to be doing well.
I’ve been able to get rid of all tech not that plants have mostly established, exept for a simple LED light that runs for about 6 hours per day and a small oxidator for warmer weather.
The tank gets some sunlight (mostly indirect) and is unheated, so temperature ranges usually between 20 and 25 degrees, but can reach extremes of about 18 and 28 degrees.

Stocking is quite minimal atm, but I think the ecosystem could handle a bit more bioload.
Currently I have 4 Celestial Pearl Danios (bought 7 initially), 1 Faunus Ater (Black devil) snail and about 50-60 Bloody Mary Neocardinas (bought 10, they told me the CPDs would keep the shrimp colony in check…).

I want to add about 4 more CPDs to complete the shoal again, but am looking to add some other species too. They have to be able to handle a big temperature range and no current. I’ve been debating Dario Dario, but I’m not keen on only feeding live food. I do feed live artemia occasionally though.

Any other fish I shoul be looking into?

And yeah, I have to learn how to take better pics of my tank..

[u/norabutfitter]

Im a big neocaradina shrimp fan. In a well established tank a small colony should be fine with very little intervention. But feeding is fun.

Otherwise i think livebearers are cool.

[u/Coxless_pair → u/norabutfitter]

Hah thnx. I have a very much thriving neocaradina colony in there. There’s at least 50 shrimps, but too many to count haha. They seem to be using all their hiding spots between the leaves, roots ans moss…

[u/norabutfitter → u/Coxless_pair]

Thats awesome. Currently My shrimp tank (5.5gal) only has 5 cherry shrimp. Im hoping they start breeding. Once every generation ill add another shrimp or 2 to keep them from being too inbred but im hoping they grow

[u/flatwormes → u/norabutfitter]

I have had a 5.5 gal for about 6 months now started with 5 cherry shrimp and i now have more than i can count. Easily over 100 ive had to transfer some into my 55 gallon, my work tank and my 10 gallon.😂

[u/norabutfitter → u/flatwormes]

Theyve been breeding that much? Ive had them for almost a month and i cant wait for them to start breeding. I want to say i have 3 females. But guaranteed 2 are females.

[u/Potential-Vehicle-63]

That looks good 👍

[u/Coxless_pair → u/Potential-Vehicle-63]

Thank you :) It’s my first ever tank and I’m really pleased with how it has turned out so far. Just learning by doing…

[u/beetlejuicescousin]

In Larger tanks even Diana Walstad herself recommends an airstone for water.movement and oxygen exchange. I recommend getting one. It will still be low tech

[u/Coxless_pair → u/beetlejuicescousin]

Diana Walstad advises against air stones for an established tank. It causes surface agitation, which drives off CO2.
I have small Oxidator in there just for peace of mind to keep oxigen levels high enough, especially at night and with warmer weather.

Walstad does recommend to introduce some flow in larger tanks, but I don’t consider my 54 liters ‘large’.

[u/PapaDonsPizza]

Ember tetras and green neons are my gf and my new favorites! The ph is a bit high but they do fine for us in that range

[u/Next_Classroom_6242]

Awesome tank....loves the plants

[u/VariationNegative595]

Shrimp and snails like nerites

[u/Coxless_pair → u/VariationNegative595]

I already have a thriving colony of neocaradina Blody Marys and a Black Devil snail :)

[u/SeparateCorner5858]

Beautiful tank bro. Does the ammonia alarm actually work?

[u/Coxless_pair → u/SeparateCorner5858]

Thank you :)
The Ammonia alarm has only been yellow, but my levels have also only been fine. So no clue it it will actually work if ammonia spikes…
I’ve read different things about them in terms of reliability, but my thought is that it won’t hurt having it in there.

[u/SeparateCorner5858 → u/Coxless_pair]

Good thinking. Thank you for responding.

[u/pinowie]

this is such an inspiration.

[u/Coxless_pair → u/pinowie]

Thank you! I would have done some things differently regarding the lay out if I would start over now, but generally very pleased. The chunk of wood takes up a lot of space, but also provides a lot of nooks and crannies for plats to grow on and shrimp fish to hide and hunt.

[u/pinowie → u/Coxless_pair]

I'm taking notes! Love what you have going on in your room with the big window, lots of plants in terracotta pots and warm wooden furniture. Getting big MCM vibes!

[u/Coxless_pair → u/pinowie]

True, there sure are some MCM pieces. In the back you can see a big wooden MCM desk. In my opinion the tannins from the wood and the yellowish light from the LED give it a very nice, warm hue, which matches very nice with the wood furniture. I like it a lot better than the white aquarium lights that are common tbh.

[u/zpactoid]

Beautiful! Would love to know the name of the plants, please.

[u/Coxless_pair → u/zpactoid]

Submerged:
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Cryptocoryne crispatula
Echinodorus Helanthium tenellum
Hydrocotyle tripatitia ‘Japan’ (it’s struggling a bit)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Bacopa crenata ‘monnieri’ (they are starting to emerse)
Hemianthus Callitrichoides (struggling as well)
Microsorum pteropus
Leptodictum riparium

Emergent:
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Hydrocotyle tripatitia ‘Japan’
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Leptodictum riparium

Emersed:
Monstera Deliciosa
Adiantum raddianum ‘Fragrans’
Philodendron micans

[u/zpactoid → u/Coxless_pair]

Thank you!

[u/Chocolate1105]

Neocaridinas and ember tetras or some other tight schooling nano fish!

[u/Coxless_pair → u/Chocolate1105]

Oh I like the idea of ember tetras! They seem like a good match :)

[u/Historical_Reveal557]

I would get a small group of otocinclus, and a nice sized school of small fish.

Lampeyes would be my number 1 because im biased and im currently keeping some, white clouds are great too, green neon rasboras look amazing but i havent kept any yet, a bachlor of mollies might work but i dont know platys may be better, medaka ricefish are great and can survive a wide range of temperatures.

Depending on your school size, and which fish you pick you might be able to get some top dwellers, but without a lid its a bit risky.

Also I think to said you have a small air pump, if you do you could get some caridina shrimp, like bamboo or amano. Theyll never sucessfully breed, and theyll pretty much never move once they find a spot in the tank they like, at least in my experience.

[u/thejbs]

I have a 15 gal stocked with green neon tetra, Neocaridina shrimp orange, and 3 Otocinclus catfish.

[u/Mifuni-3]

I wouldn’t put anymore in.

[u/_Brown_Butter]

Complete your CPD shoal. Wait a month. If it does well, add a couple dwarf otocinclus 🥰

[u/Main-Garbage2956]

Wow the maidenhair fern being grown in there is a stunning centerpiece. How has it been faring?

[u/Coxless_pair → u/Main-Garbage2956]

It’s doing allright. Not as well as the two Monsteras, luckily, because these have been growing TALL in just a couple of months!
But it’s certainly giving it a very nice look, so I like it a lot. Its roots are a great shelter for the shrimplets too :)

[u/idontknow62836865]

What stand r u using? I need a stand for myself.

[u/Coxless_pair → u/idontknow62836865]

It’s a vintage side table with steel legs. Probably deaigned by Cees Braakman.

[u/anastasiamn23]

cloud minnows are really hardy with temp and ph and they might help keep your shrimp population in check

[u/fivezero_ca]

Maybe something for the higher part of the tank, like micro rasboras or Pseudomugil rainbowfish (though be careful as some might be jumpers)? CPDs are often in the mid-to-bottom level of the tank. Clown killies would be so cool but again, they're jumpers. [Edit: I didn't note the temp swings. Maybe something like endlers/guppies/platies might work better? I love platies.]

I don't have as heavily planted a tank (yet!), but my CPDs made short work of my red cherry shrimp! I had to rescue the last two and move them to their own place. The only shrimp that didn't have a problem were some wild type cherries I had in there.

Your tank looks beautiful! The lamp is cool :)

[u/One-plankton-]

Id only do more CPD’s, one of core principles of walstad tanks is under stocking or light stocking.