1 reply to this topic

[Tmac]

I am a retired engineer newly relocated to New Mexico.  I live in a small house and so will be limited to a couple of 29 gal  community tanks.  I have kept killifish and a few natives when I lived in Portland.  I have a couple of storage sheds and some space outside, so I am also planing to grow a collection of live food.  I like native killis and sunfish.

 

I just finished reading Diana Walstad's book: "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium".  Has anyone setup an aquarium following her precepts?  How did it all workout?

 

Tom McLean

 

 

[Michael Wolfe]

Yes sir, I have.  Or I think I should say I have mostly followed them.  I have used dirt substrate under sand  or just dirt substrate (now recognize that here in Georgia, a lot of my "dirt" is highly clay based.  And I use a lot of plants in most of my aquariums.  I struggle a bit with lighting as I believe in a very low tech (almost lazy) approach which limits me in plant selection, but I have found a few that work well in my water with my lighting.  And in most of these aquaria I use minimal filtration other than that plants.  Well I do also use a couple of different species of snails that I have been able to keep that also are part of the cleanup crew.

 

I mostly keep minnows, shiners, chubs etc. and usually do not keep sunfish (although I have and even they do OK as long as they dont decide to "clear the tank".  Smaller sunfish species or swamp adapted species that like plant cover seem to work better.