about 50% of my waking thoughts are dedicated to this one month old wet box - ThreadSky

swoletergeist.bsky.social • 137 days ago

about 50% of my waking thoughts are dedicated to this one month old wet box

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oliviawhen.bsky.social•135 days ago

Omg??? This is incredible??? Beautiful color! Love the pothos just vibin.

swoletergeist.bsky.social•134 days ago

thank you Olivia!!! im glad you appreciate the warm tea color!! for some reason some people don't want it in their tanks?

jackswoozy.bsky.social•135 days ago

building and maintaining an aquarium must be so rewarding. i love watching those little critters float around

swoletergeist.bsky.social•137 days ago

I haven't kept an aquarium since high school, and I had no idea how much I would learn when I started this tank. I knew I wanted to keep a tank with a robust ecosystem, and it's been SO MUCH FUN watching the ecosystem in this box grow!

swoletergeist.bsky.social•137 days ago

I used Diana Walstad's book (https://dianawalstad.com/aquariums/#BookFacts) as my guide. Fishkeeping research on the internet is an absolute pit of contradictory advice, so it was such a relief to have a single reference point with actual scientific sources.

swoletergeist.bsky.social•137 days ago

The Walstad method uses no filter. Instead, garden soil topped with gravel supports fast-growing plants to do all the filtration work.

I let the method lead me in the direction the ecosystem wanted to go, starting with tons of tiny filter feeders and some tiny baby snails!

swoletergeist.bsky.social•137 days ago

Day 1 vs day 36! Tannins from the soil dyed the water this gorgeous rich amber color.

swoletergeist.bsky.social•137 days ago

The plants also went crazy, especially the floaters. There were huge populations of copepods, worms, and tons of other critters I couldn't identify. I wish I took more photos, but I did get this video of some weird stuff on a zucchini slice.

swoletergeist.bsky.social•137 days ago

I waited for about a month before adding fish. I wanted to ensure the plants did their job, and I hoped the microfauna would build a robust population. (Spoiler, the fish ate 99% of them).

brianwolven.bsky.social•137 days ago

Are those “Red Root Floaters” I see up top there? And some pothos outside the tank but rooted in it?

swoletergeist.bsky.social•137 days ago

A few red root floaters, but mostly salvinia natans! And yep, some pothos as well! I've since gotten some clip on holders for them so they're not loose.

brianwolven.bsky.social•137 days ago

Nice. May I ask what other plant species you’ve had good luck with so far? I’m still constantly battling algae in a 20 low I set up last year, despite vigorous growth of some plant species. I already have a copy of Walstad’s book on hand, and think I’ll try adopting her style more closely.

swoletergeist.bsky.social•136 days ago

The majority of it is rotala, which is definitely doing the best of all the aquatic plants. I had a little hair algae in the first few weeks, but it's since vanished. It's only been one month so I'm not sure how algae will be in the long term, but so far walstad's method has served me well!

brianwolven.bsky.social•136 days ago

Have you sourced all your plants from local stores, or do you have to order online to find them? The local store that carries a decent selection of plants in this area is a bit of a drive, so I don’t get over there often.

swoletergeist.bsky.social•136 days ago

I get mine locally, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. I've ordered a few from Buceplant, but they've been hit or miss.

breelundberg.com•137 days ago

Wow looks amazing!!

franzanth.bsky.social•137 days ago

DAMN DUDE

swoletergeist.bsky.social•137 days ago

I kinda slayed didn't I

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