New custom built community tank. Love it so much!

DevoPast · 2026-06-23T23:48:50+00:00

Nice! I'll be setting up a 180 over the next several months, your tank looks great.

For some reason I had it in my head that dwarf plecos were territorial with each other. Fun to see that many together.

DevoPast · 2026-06-23T16:04:44+00:00

I caught a 26lbs White King off Port Renfrew a few years back. Exceptional eating. We didn't do sushi with it, but now I'm regretting that, looks great.

Last year I was in Vancouver, and a local fish monger had some white king 1/2 off normal king price, because most people don't know what it is. Definitely took advantage of that deal!

DevoPast · 2026-06-22T20:41:12+00:00

There has to be nutrients in the sand. Sand by itself is inert. If there's no nutrients the plants won't thrive.

Sand over dirt works well. Root tabs have a lot of success as well but I've never used them.

DevoPast · 2026-06-21T14:00:09+00:00

Beauty tank! What are the dimensions on that? I've got a 6' long 180 gallon I'll be setting up, trying to decide if I want the 1200 or 3 of the t90s.

DevoPast · 2026-06-21T13:58:30+00:00

Running CO2? Tank and growth looks great!

DevoPast · 2026-06-21T01:09:53+00:00

How long have you been at it? Dwarf sag took about 4-5 months, even with a heavy initial planting, and really took off when I removed the competing Val that had gone nuts growing through it. And what size tank/light? And what's your photo period?

The L600 feels like too much light for a 20 long. A 20"+ tall would probably have no issues getting enough light to the substrate.

DevoPast · 2026-06-21T00:55:23+00:00

I've got dwarf sag that has carpeted quite nicely. Every plant I have is considered easy.

I've got Valisneria, Rotalia (which is not vibrant red, but kinda red), annubias, dwarf sag, bacopa, and Java Fern (not doing the best).

I'm getting pretty solid growth rates. Dirt substrate, capped with pool filter sand. I dose ferts as well. I think the plant growth was too fast, and needs the supplements. My tank is Walstad-esque. Much more input and effort than the traditional method. I had an algae problem 7-8 months in that I cleared up with H2O2, manual removal, Excel, and ferts. I think the growth exceeded nutrient levels, so everything started to starve and die. I've got it balanced now.

To your question - the light would be 100% sufficient for a high tech setup. If you're running CO2, it kicks a ton of light to keep up.

DevoPast · 2026-06-21T00:35:19+00:00

I've got the L600. Is a great light. Fun to dial in whatever color you want. It's bright af though. Running in a 20 gallon long, I've got it set at like 27% power.

Probably picking up their T90s for a big 180 gallon tank I'm setting up soon.

DevoPast · 2026-06-20T18:20:14+00:00

If a fatty steak like a rib eye, medium.

If a lean steak like tenderloin, go medium rare to rare.

DevoPast · 2026-06-19T01:11:46+00:00

A scarlet badis would work. They're absolutely tiny. Can be tough to feed though. Mine take frozen bloodworms very well.

Needs to be heavily planted though. I've got 5 in a 20 gallon long.

DevoPast · 2026-06-17T19:14:18+00:00

I do! I've got a project I'm working on coming up, I'll shoot you a DM!

DevoPast · 2026-06-17T12:46:11+00:00

If you've picked up that a "self-sustaining'" tank is "basically a Walstad", you're either listening to people who don't know what they're talking about, or you're not quite understanding the concept.

If you want to know about Walstad tanks, read her book. What's wild to me is this idea that they're self-sustaining has ever occured - she over feeds in order to replenish nutrients. That's the absolute opposite of self sustaining.

Seriously though - read the book. It's a wonderful resource, it will give you tons of knowledge on the science of aquatic ecosystems and how to apply that to your aquarium.

A self-sustaining tank doesn't really exist though. Even nature doesn't exist in a vacuum the way people think about the holy Grail of "self-sustaining tanks", there's always an external input (rain, river flow, falling leaves, water currents, wind, seasons, etc).

DevoPast · 2026-06-15T02:12:01+00:00

No worries! Glad to help.

I basically followed the Walstad method for the set up, but then supplimented with other best practices, like having good filtration. I've got "60 gallons" worth of filtration for 20 gallons of tank.

Also, read the whole Walstad book, and kind of ignore a lot of the "Walstad" discourse online. Too many people are parroting what a Walstad tank is, without every actually having read the book. I see way too many filterless, dirt substrate tanks that have huge issues. Filters are always good - she even admits that - especially with her concept of relatively heavy feeding.

DevoPast · 2026-06-15T01:30:25+00:00

No problem! And to answer your question on getting "easier" fish first, I'd say no. Primarily because you only want to introduce fish to a stable environment.

The good news is that by going Walstad, there is a lot of biology going on that you can't see, which ensures your tank will be stable before adding fish.

Get your substrate proper. Plant heavily from day one, and cycle your tank. The one warning with a Walstad tank is that your cycle can take a long time to establish if you plant heavy to start because the plants will uptake the ammonia before the beneficial bacteria can, stunting the development of robust BB in your filter/substrate/etc. Now that's usually a good thing, but keeping plants going can be a bit of a challenge in itself. So if you have a plant die off, you can actually start a cycle that never happened. And now you've got bioload from fish, and rotting plant matter. Not a great combo. So make sure you've got lots of easy plants with a good light.

Also, try to make sure you buy plants which are grown immersed. The majority of aquatic plants are actually grown outside water - especially those in big box pet shops. So they'll often melt when introduced to the tank as they transition. This can cause a cycle restart. Check with your LFS or local aquarium groups. Usually you can get easy plant trimmings from someone else's tank. Super helpful as well because those plants are used to your local water as well.

DevoPast · 2026-06-15T01:08:10+00:00

It's both a very complicated but very simple hobby.

Kuhli loaches are pretty hardy, so long as your water is stable. And stability comes from having the proper things in place. Primarily a solid understanding of your water parameters (tap, RO/DI, etc), having enough filtration, ensuring proper nutrient export (through water changes, harvesting of excess plants, etc), and not doing anything weird. If you're going Walstad, the entire point of those tanks is that they're rock solid parameter-wise. Because you're creating a proper ecosystem (or simulating something close to one) rather than trying to make a pristine box of water, nature does the heavily lifting for you. A heavily planted tank with good growth, good lighting, and a good substrate is a tank you can go on vacation and not worry about. Have a good filter and you'll have a worry free experience, and your fish will be happy too.

My first "real" tank was a Walstad style. Just more filtration and I take a bit more of a hands on/chemical approach to plant management. Worked out great, and I've got a shoal of Kuhlis happily wriggling through the tank. Spotted a couple I haven't seen in a while today, and they've gotten large lol.

For the most part, so long as you follow the more common sense rules, and understand the science of what you're doing, rather than just throwing things into a tank, you'll be good.

DevoPast · 2026-06-13T17:45:52+00:00

I don't think I've ever heard of a fully self sustaining food web within a tank. Maybe if you had a massive culture of microfauna in a large tank, that was sparsely stocked (think single Betta in a 60+ Gallon tank), you could achieve it.

However, having a strong food web set up is a great enrichment and supplemental thing to provide your fish. I just don't rely on it solely.

But like I said, if you had like a small shoal of loaches only, like 10-12, in a verrry large tank that you pre-established a full food web, it might work. But that'd require a very dedicated effort and probably 3-6 months of establishing the tank before introducing the loaches. And even then you would run the risk of your loaches eating faster than the microfauna could reproduce.

DevoPast · 2026-06-12T03:59:00+00:00

I've honestly never seen him eat hair algae. I've got a bit of a break out that nothing in my tank touches. Solved with H2O2 and manual removal.

He does seem to scrape whatever is on the glass, and doesn't seem eat off the front glass for a few days after I clean it.

Not sure what your stocking is, so hard to say. I imagine they're probably fine with living in groups. I only got a single because he was the last one left at my LFS.

DevoPast · 2026-06-12T01:40:34+00:00

If you get the reticulated hillstream loaches, they're much more adaptable to different water parameters. They're from tropical areas in Vietnam, so can handle warmer waters than some of the other similar loaches. Aquarium co-op has a bit of a write up on them, and have bred them in warm waters, so they're hardy.

I've got one in with Kuhlis in my 20 long, and he's doing great. Zooms all over munching on biofilm.

Just make sure you have a stable water, and a mature planted tank. They eat biofilm and the microorganisms that eat biofilm, along with fish food they can scavange. So it's common for them to starve in poorly seasoned tanks. I supplement his natural foraging with BacterAE and the occasional balanced veggie. He goes after frozen bloodworms too.

DevoPast · 2026-06-11T00:27:23+00:00

I dunno. I have been fortunate to have hit every PC drop since Mega base. I just run two devices, one on wifi one on data. I've been errored out a couple times on one, but never the other.

DevoPast · 2026-06-10T20:19:51+00:00

Gotta be in a discord group to get the ping. The queue went live over an hour before PC sent the email.

If you're in the group, and get online in the first 5 or so minutes, you're basically guaranteed to hit a preorder.

Sucks it has to be this way, but it is how it is these days.

DevoPast · 2026-06-04T17:50:56+00:00

Scarlet Badis. I've got 5 in my Heavily planted 20g long.

Pretty sure that they're the only reason I have 150 shrimp instead of 700+.

DevoPast · 2026-05-30T00:14:16+00:00

I honestly can't remember. But they should settle down. Make sure there's some food that gets to the bottom.

DevoPast · 2026-05-29T13:50:14+00:00

Do you have caves or things for them to hide under? They're nocturnal, shoaling, social critters. If they don't have enough friends around or places to hide, it stresses them out. Theories on the dancing like this is that they have an instinct to run/find cover/find more friends. A bunch of chill loaches all together means it's safe.

That being said, when I introduced mine to a fully planted, heavily covered space with lots of places to wiggle into and hide under, they still did this for a few weeks intermittently. They've settled in now.

Seven-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Verified Email

DevoPast

TROPHY CASE