# Walstad shrimp cylinder



## Brich999 (Mar 17, 2013)

That should be really cool soon, vie thought of doing something similar since acrylic cylinder prices are reasonable until over maybe 6"dia. I'll definitely be excited to see this all planted


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Then i added my drift wood and plants

Eleocharis parvula 
A cutting of anubias wrinkle leaf
Ludwigia mini super red
Hygrophilia bold
Phyllanthus flutains 
Awaiting java moss for the drift wood.

I'll be adding some shrimp as soon as i get the moss in


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Nice start! I like how tall it is.


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## DoubleT (Apr 18, 2012)

I love it! What kind of shrimp do you plan on putting in it?


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

DoubleT said:


> I love it! What kind of shrimp do you plan on putting in it?


i would love crystal shrimp but we have very hard water round here and i have read they are not the best beginner shrimp. My lfs do cherry shrimp and a hybrid that is clear with red patches. I might get two of each. Hopefully the moss will arrive soon because i'm very impatient


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

GMYukonon24s said:


> Nice start! I like how tall it is.


Thanks


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Brich999 said:


> That should be really cool soon, vie thought of doing something similar since acrylic cylinder prices are reasonable until over maybe 6"dia. I'll definitely be excited to see this all planted


This is glass  I'm a bit worried it might be a bit thin so i filled it up outside first. Its in the spare room upstairs to avoid my baby lobbing things at it


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

The moss and shrimp are in now. I was a little disappointed with the quality of the java moss but hopefully it will improve once it adjusts









These are my two hybrid shrimp, there are three cherries but they a a bit small at three moment


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## danielt (Dec 19, 2012)

These Walstad tanks don't need to cycle? I think there is and will be a lot of emphasis on how to start a tank and also a shrimp tank. Mostly on the nitrogen cycle which seems to be constantly underestimated.


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

danielt said:


> These Walstad tanks don't need to cycle? I think there is and will be a lot of emphasis on how to start a tank and also a shrimp tank. Mostly on the nitrogen cycle which seems to be constantly underestimated.


Cycling is tied to bioload--you have to cycle a tank to build up the population of beneficial bacteria so they're able to handle the bioload of your stock. 

Ideally the substrate is seeded from an established tank, but the bacteria grow on everything in a tank so even just the small population that comes in with the live plants are sufficient to handle the bioload of a few small snails or a few juvie shrimp.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

danielt said:


> These Walstad tanks don't need to cycle? I think there is and will be a lot of emphasis on how to start a tank and also a shrimp tank. Mostly on the nitrogen cycle which seems to be constantly underestimated.


The gravel is from a cycled fishtank and i have been doing small daily water changes just while everything settles down and the plants take off. I did a lot of research before setting this up. Also the cylinder has quite a large volume and lots of plants. I have a drop tester kit so i will be checking my parameters to


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## danielt (Dec 19, 2012)

The nitrogen cycle is not a reaction. If you view it as an equilibrium you'll be okay. I see many people getting tanks started as quickly as possible, without waiting for all the good micro fauna to settle. Shrimp will die in case you have a spike, and most of the times you will. It's not a case of "it will never happen to me" 

I view a cycled tank (at least 1 month old) as a safety net. "What if one of the shrimp dies? It's ok, I have a huge load of bacteria to take the hit."

This is my angle. Also, this aquarium is way far from a description of "lots of plants" 

Saying you took the gravel from an established tank without any knowledge of how much ammonia those bacteria in the gravel are able to process and how much ammonia is generated in your tank further strengthens the fact that you take for granted something that's particular to each tank. It's not a fixed formula you can use, the only guarantee is provided by waiting for the nitrogen cycle to fully establish which you did not.

Anyway, the harm is already done, keep those daily water changes going and monitor the main killers that signal the new tank syndrome: ammonia and nitrite.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I


danielt said:


> The nitrogen cycle is not a reaction. If you view it as an equilibrium you'll be okay. I see many people getting tanks started as quickly as possible, without waiting for all the good micro fauna to settle. Shrimp will die in case you have a spike, and most of the times you will. It's not a case of "it will never happen to me"
> 
> I view a cycled tank (at least 1 month old) as a safety net. "What if one of the shrimp dies? It's ok, I have a huge load of bacteria to take the hit."
> 
> ...


Thanks for the friendly advice. I have an API drop tester kit and am monitoring my parameters daily and changing the water. I have picked up some nitrite but no ammonia which is why i have been doing little water changes every day.

I could add some rotala indica out of my goldfish tank to bump the plant load up if you think it will help?


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I had read a pdf by Walstad on how to set up a bowl. I think i found the link on this forum

It says nothing about cycling there. Maybe my plant load is a bit light.
I thought it cycles very fast because of the soil?


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## Clemsons2k (May 31, 2009)

You need more plant mass for that to be an effective Walsted tank. The heavy plant mass helps filter out unwanted ammonia and nitrate in the water, sort of giving you a "silent cycle". The tank doesn't really cycle in the traditional sense, but the bacteria in the soil that develop will be the ones breaking down the majority of the ammonia from the shrimp and food waste. The plants are there to suck up the residual nitrate once your bacteria develop so you _shouldn't_ have to do many water changes. But these tanks are an equilibrium that you have to get just right. Not enough plants, or too much bioload and its not going to work.


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## cjyhc4 (Dec 18, 2006)

With only 5 shrimp, you're not going to have a huge spike, as long as you don't overfeed or add any more critters just yet.

I really like the wood you have in there


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

cjyhc4 said:


> With only 5 shrimp, you're not going to have a huge spike, as long as you don't overfeed or add any more critters just yet.
> 
> I really like the wood you have in there


Thanks. I was searching quite a while to find one the right shape.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Clemsons2k said:


> You need more plant mass for that to be an effective Walsted tank. The heavy plant mass helps filter out unwanted ammonia and nitrate in the water, sort of giving you a "silent cycle". The tank doesn't really cycle in the traditional sense, but the bacteria in the soil that develop will be the ones breaking down the majority of the ammonia from the shrimp and food waste. The plants are there to suck up the residual nitrate once your bacteria develop so you _shouldn't_ have to do many water changes. But these tanks are an equilibrium that you have to get just right. Not enough plants, or too much bioload and its not going to work.


Ok cool, i just added some indica and i'll get some more stem plants tomorrow.


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## danielt (Dec 19, 2012)

javajive1981 said:


> I had read a pdf by Walstad on how to set up a bowl. I think i found the link on this forum
> 
> It says nothing about cycling there. Maybe my plant load is a bit light.
> I thought it cycles very fast because of the soil?


The Walstad book is not a practical guide in my opinion. It will explain many processes and reactions in a tank but it's by no means a practical guide on how to start and maintain a tank in good condition.

I haven't seen at least one picture of a tank in that book. The key points mentioned that you need lots of plants to buffer any spikes. Plant take up ammonia before nitrates but they do that too slow to prevent shrimp death. Also, plants will not take up ammonia during the night, bacteria will as they're not light dependent.

You can have a killer ammonia spike that will take out one or two individuals even if the tank is established by over feeding.

I managed to do that in my 10 gal tank:


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

danielt said:


> [/quote
> 
> That's a lovely tank. Mine does look very sparse in comparison.


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## danielt (Dec 19, 2012)

It's sparse according to what the Walstad method advocates as well. What I would do in your situation is to fill the tank with as many fast growing stem plants as I can cram in to it 

Shrimp will not mind the lack of space, they're not keen on swimming too much. The large surface area will provide food for them. Don't feed them at all just put some Indian Almond Leaves in and let them "undress" them.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

danielt said:


> It's sparse according to what the Walstad method advocates as well. What I would do in your situation is to fill the tank with as many fast growing stem plants as I can cram in to it
> 
> Shrimp will not mind the lack of space, they're not keen on swimming too much. The large surface area will provide food for them. Don't feed them at all just put some Indian Almond Leaves in and let them "undress" them.


I'll get on ebay and find some almond leaves and stuff some more plants in. Thank you for your help


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

It is going to look amazing..


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

10gallonplanted said:


> It is going to look amazing..


Thanks 

My friend has given me a cutting of her devils ivy plant to help with the water while i wait for the plants to come. I have just put the roots in with the leaves hanging over the top. Its only a small cutting but is has a few roots.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I am still getting rising nitrite and i am changing the water twice a day.  i feel that maybe the kindest thing for the shrimp would be to put them in a plastic breeder box in my goldfish tank which is fully cycled and stable until the bowl is sorted. I could put some water sprite in there to hide them from the goldfish so they feel safer. Thone naughty fish will harass them if they can see them.

Any thoughts?


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Shrimp are now in a breeder box in the goldfish tank.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Today water parameters. Might do a small water change.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I certainly need more plants in there. Hopefully some will arrive today. 

I have noticed some white fuzzy fungus on the leaves of ny ludwigia but there appears to be a few tiny pond snails in there to so hopefully they will munch it.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I added four more hydrophila stems, three more ludwigia stems and five rotala indica. They are all crammed in at the back because i really would like to keep the eleocharis.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)




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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Seem to be getting a coating of fuzzy white fungus or mould everywhere. It looks like the stuff that grows on drift wood for a while when you first have it. I'm.assuming this is caused by the still water and excess of nutrients??!!

I did a large water change and tried to waft most of it off. I have put an airline in to create a bit of water movement. Not too much though because the red root floated won't like it.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I also swapped my LED 5w bulb for a CFL 13w 6500k bulb in the hope the plants will speed up a bit. The output is apparently 10w extra.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

I've added more red root floaters and a echinodorus ozelot red. The hair grass seems to be doing well and the white fuzz is getting better. I seem to have adopted what i thought were pond snails but they don't look like pond snails.



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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Random snail



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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

That's a ramshorn snail. A very lovely one at that if the leopard pattern isn't lost as it matures. Same MO as pond snails though they can get significantly larger; dime to nickel sized are common.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Knotyoureality said:


> That's a ramshorn snail. A very lovely one at that if the leopard pattern isn't lost as it matures. Same MO as pond snails though they can get significantly larger; dime to nickel sized are common.


Cool! Thanks. There are several in there. They are nice looking

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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Nice cylinder!


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

GMYukonon24s said:


> Nice cylinder!


Thank you 

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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Really pleased with my parameters. Shrimp seem happy. I never see the MTS i hope they are ok! The hygrophila is nearly emergent. I put the LED back in because the plants seem to grow faster. There is still a little fuzz after water changes but nothing to bad.



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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

javajive1981 said:


> Thank you
> 
> Sent from my GT-S5830i using Tapatalk 2


Your welcome


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## Koi Kameon (Apr 25, 2010)

*bowl*

It looks great. It's going to be fine.


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## Nolan (Feb 12, 2013)

Looking great. Seeing tanks like this makes me realize I really need a vertical element to my hardscape in both my tanks.


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## Neptoon'd (Apr 21, 2013)

I really like how this looks. Nice job.


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Koi Kameon said:


> It looks great. It's going to be fine.


Thanks. Its getting there. I've trimmed the plants early to bush them out a bit.







Nolan said:


> Looking great. Seeing tanks like this makes me realize I really need a vertical element to my hardscape in both my tanks.


Thank you. I was going to get a bowl but i saw this and thought it would be a bit different to do something taller.









Neptoon'd said:


> I really like how this looks. Nice job.


Cheers.



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## shambhalove. (Jan 22, 2013)

Lookin awesome! Better than mine turned out haha.


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## Seedreemer (Sep 28, 2008)

Any updates? It was very pretty.


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## jpappy789 (Jul 28, 2013)

Very nice! Love the "tree" look with the moss. Think I'm going to try a setup like this again soon.


....and I just noticed this was bumped.


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## zoragen (Nov 3, 2009)

The driftwood & moss are great!


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## javajive1981 (Feb 20, 2013)

Had to take this down because we needed the spare room for a nursery. I still have the cylinder. Will prob set it up again when the kids are bigger and we have the space.


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## gateman42 (Aug 8, 2015)

*Shrimp won't live in an unfiltered tank?!*

I want to put shrimp in my cylinder but I was told they wouldn't live in it because it's unfiltered. pH is 7.5, hardness is 10, and nitrates are 5.0ppm and ammonia 0. I do a 40 percent water every 2 days with dechlorinated water that sits open for 24 hours. And it's well planted. Any thoughts would help. Thanks!


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## kuro (May 21, 2010)

I had PFR shrimp survive in a moss only tank, no filter or substrate. They breed non stop. I also kept one PFR with few chili rasbora in a Walstad bowl and they love it. Everyone survive in that bowl for about a year before I tore it down and move them to another tank.

PS: Your cylinder about 4 time bigger then my bowl so you can probably keep a breeding colony of shrimp in there.


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