Compost And Slate

Afternoon all,
 
My tank did have a sand substrate but I was fed up of the waste showing up on it so easily and the plants were not not doing great.
 
Inspired by the Walstad method, I've replaced the sand with compost, re-planted the best of the old plants, and used plum slate from a hardware store.  It's by far the cheapest re-scape I've done, the slate only cost £7 and I've only used a third of it (although it did need a good wash first) and we already had the compost.
 
The pic is below, I like the rugged look and the bubbles coming through the slate.
 
Anyway, I'd love some feedback:

• Could I cover the heater completely with the slate and still allow enough convection for it to heat the tank?
• Could I get away with removing the filter!?
• Would I need some faster growing plants to completely use the waste produced by the fish?

Thanks,
 
 
Mark
 

Walsted tanks are problematical, you need to consider which fish, what stocking levels, what plants and even what food you're using.
 
I've never gone the full Walsted, at least not intentionally, although the closest I've come is in a pond. They tend to have incredibly low stocking for the size and huge plant masses, to give an example. If you're considering it then read, read, read. It's not for the faint hearted.
 
That doesn't mean that fast growing stems and a Walsted light set up isn't a good thing. I've used those and they've worked very well, so long as you prune. Generally they've gone wrong because of low nutrients causing plant die off, rather than because of water quality failures.
 
Personally, although you can conceal the heaters, I'd leave them exposed if possible. Circulation is always necessary. If you want neat, go for an external heater with a small external filter or a thermofilter and you'll have a nice clean look.

I have my rainbow tank with dirt in the bottom (walstad method) it works great but do ur research before u jump in head 1st. Get it right 1st time. Dont over do ur lights or re scape alot because ur have bad algae algae problems. If u do it correctly it works amazing. I get great growth and I have next to none algae but u have to no what ur doing.

I'm leaving the filter in as I have relatively normal stocking and stable conditions - understand why the stocking in a pure Walstad would be much lower than possible with forced filtration.
 
Hopefully the compost will be a good substrate for my plants to flourish growing their roots into!