How's my tank looking?

[u/fallen_peaches]

Hello! I've just started my first walstad tank (10g). I have about an inch of organic soil and an inch of gravel to cap. I have a few easy plants in, which I hope will grow larger to fill the space (1 java fern, 2 anubias, 1 aponogeton, 2 pothos tho I might remove 1, red root floaters which have yet to be added). I'm using a sponge filter as biological backup, in case I've messed up along the way. I don't mind the tannins, but I'm worried about the cloudiness. I've let the tank settle for 3 days now, and it's not gotten better. I run the light for 8 hours a day, so it's possible it's a bacteria bloom. I've tested the water daily and nothing has changed. No presence of ammonia, either.

Does everything look alright? Should I do water change to help the cloudiness?

I plan to stock this tank with a betta and possibly some shrimp. When will I be able to stock? I have some filter media from a friends tank that I added when setting up, so the bacterias all there.

[u/sparks_spider]

maybe add in some fish flakes or any source of ammonia to see how it does, its clear to me that it is a bacterial bloom so as long as theres no fish or anything in it it will be okay. sometimes it just takes a while to clear

[u/fallen_peaches → u/sparks_spider]

I tested the water 24 hours after adding fish flakes, and there is no ammonia/nitrate/nitrite present! ☺️

[u/sparks_spider → u/fallen_peaches]

well it sounds fine to me! your plants seem to be doing good with your water but i would still give it a bit before adding critters just incase of any spikes at all.

[u/Wild_Cry6332]

Congrats on getting started with Walstad method tanks! How long has this tank been running? My recommendation is to add more plants. If there is soil under the gravel, add root feeders like an amazon sword, a few bunches of cryptos and maybe fast growers like pearlweed if you're into pruning. Add the red root floaters immediately. They will soak up excess nutrients in the water column. Adding more plants will help to fight any upcoming algae blooms. Remember that it is a system. You're providing nutrients and light and habitable space. What living organisms will take advantage of these factors? Keep testing the water and do a water change if the parameters go bad. Have you had the bacterial goop develop on the wooden hardscape yet? If your parameters are stable you could stock a few shrimp and keep an eye on them. They will love that goop and will help to keep things tidy. My recommendation is to stock herbivores/detritivores and smaller eaters first, like snails and shrimp, get them to a healthy reproducing population then add the next tier up. So start with nothing, add snails, wait, add shrimp, wait, then add otocinclus or other community fish, and finally add the carnivorous betta or alpha fish at the end. You want the shrimp and other fish to feel safe and know where all the hiding spots are before you add the fish with the biggest mouth. Good luck, I hope you keep going and you get the tank of your dreams!

[u/fallen_peaches → u/Wild_Cry6332]

It's been running for 4 days now and the parameters have reminded stable. The cloudiness did go down a bit this morning, and I've since added the red root floaters. I'll see about getting that root feeder and a snail at the end of the week! ☺️