Diana Walstad's Experiment Part 2

This is a continuation of my Diana Walstad's experimental fish tank. I really set up the tank this time. The items used are:

1. Holland Sand - RM20+ (RM3 per kg)
2. A packet of garden soil called Top Soil - RM5 (I don't use the whole packet)
3. About 15 U.S. gallon of water (figure out the price yourself)
4. A clean plastic bag (free of charge) - you will find out the purpose later
5. Five teenage Endlers (supplied to me free of charge by my friend, Alfred)
6. A 36 watt PLL with bracket (Too heartache to list down the price)
7. Cryptocoryne Affinis (supplied to me free of charge by a new found friend, Edmund)
8. Standard 2 feet 15 U.S. gallon tank (used to cost RM18 about 5-6 years ago I think)
9. Water wisteria I believe (supplied to me free of charge by my friend, Alfred)

The plan is to fill up the grey area of the tank from top view with Holland sand to hide the mud (aka Top Soil). Then fill up the white section with mud (Top Soil).







After that, fill up the entire top section of the mud and sand with more Holland sand (the entire grey area of the diagram). The main purpose is to prevent the mud from causing murky water.





Add some plants by planting the roots of Cryptocoryne Affinis into the mud/sand. Also plant some Water Wisteria into the mud/sand.



Now fill up the tank with some water. Put the clean plastic bag covering the sand/gravel/plants, so that the water from the hose won't stir up mud and mess up the tank.





After several days of running the tank, you may add some hardy fish. In my case, I use Endlers. Yes, I have decided to avoid using Black Mollies that I initially plan because most of them have ended up in heaven. Thanks to the bad quality livebearers from LFS.

Now, sit back and wait for several weeks for the progress of the tank. Don't forget to keep the light on for about 6-8 hours per day. Ideally, you may use a timer.
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Updated on 1 March 2009: This is how the tank looks like as of 1 March 2009 after adding some Hornwort I took from my outdoor tank and some Narrow Leaf Fern as well as tiny Philippines Fern tied to a rock. I am still undecided whether to leave the rock of plants there. I may remove them if I change my mind.

Kuala Lumpur Walkabout

I organised a walkabout photography session with some new found friends in an Olympus photography forum, My Chiaroscuro, which we often nicknamed as Screw Screw. 7 participants turned up at the event. After meeting up at 8am at Masjid Jamek Star LRT station, we proceeded to Dataran Merdeka, followed by Central Market. Of course, we took some street shots along the way as well. The session ended with a meal as usual.

Here are some photos. They're not necessary shot using my lens. I think I have fall in love with Zuiko 12-60mm lens but it costs over RM3000 #@*^%. By the way, the group photo was not shot by me but I like it very much.

Diana Walstad's Experiment

To those who does not know Diana Walstad, she is one of the famous people in aquascaping hobby utilising simple, cheap and natural way.

After several years of reading about her articles as well as various people who utilise her method to setup their aquarium. I have decided to try it myself with the help of a fellow American friend from FishGeeks forum who happened to be someone named Diana as well. This is a useful diagram I got from Diana of FishGeeks forum. So the credit goes to Diana of FishGeeks and FishGeeks Forum



I did the experiment 1 - 2 weeks ago but I lost my mood to update my blog because an ex-colleague passed away. Also along the way, I got pissed off with my job and the whole damn corporate world.

I started by selecting 2 types of soil in my experiment. The main reason is to identify which soil is suitable and which soil may cause murky water as well as the PH. I don't really have anything to measure the PH. So my experiment is based on my own eyes.

In the experiment, I fill up some soil in a bottle. Take the measurement of the soil's level in the bottle and mark it. Add some water into the bottle with soil and shake it. At 30 seconds, mark the level of the soil. At 2 minutes, mark the level of the soil again. See how murky is the water and look out for floating organic stuff as well. The amount of clay is the difference between the original level before the bottle shaking and the level at 2 minutes.

The red garden soil I got from my mother-in-law:
Not much organic stuff in the soil. The water is consider very clear. The issue is it may not have sufficient fertiliser.



The black soil I got from an abandoned pot at my mother-in-law's garden:
Full or organic stuff floating on the water. The water is too murky to suit the fish. Probably too acidic too.



The result of the red soil and black soil:



Top Soil:
I was not satisfied with both of the soil, so I bought the third one called Top Soil. It is also a garden soil. An ex-colleague recommended to me because he had tried it in his aquarium tank as well. The water is more murky than the red garden soil but not as bad as the black soil. Not much organic material floating. I conclude that I will use this soil for my Diana Walstad's aquarium setup.



As of 22 Feb 2009, this is the bucket of Top Soil I have been rinsing 10 times for the usage of my upcoming Diana Walstad's influenced tank. Currently waiting for the murky water to go away.



Even before the tank is set up, I have lost a number of Black Mollies I intend to use in this experiment. Even the fry died by more than 50% of them. It's a disaster! I believe it is a wrong decision to use Black Mollies because:

1. They prefer some salt in the water but the plants do not like salt.

2. I cannot have black background that I want. Otherwise, I cannot see the fish.

3. Livebearers from the shops/farms are generally full of disease. I could not find any home breeder.

If they all die, I will consider switching to Endlers that my friend offers me.

There Goes My Island Setup Tank

I have finally destroyed by island setup 3 feet tank by turning it into a jungle after accepting some plants from two of my friends. I still remember a friend kept asking me, "are you sure you want an island setup?", when I first started setting up this tank. Based on his experience a lot of people destroy the "island" eventually (this is exactly what has happened to me now). It takes a lot of discipline to stick to the "island" concept. For a regular rules breaker like myself, the "island" will not last.

These are the photos of the tank after destroying the "island".