Walstad Jar

Since i set up my planted filterless shrimp bowl I've been itching to do something new. So now I've started putting together a walstad jar which I'll probably put some shrimp and snails in but this one will definitely go with me to my office! Originally the shrimp bowl was meant to be for my office but it's so damn heavy even with just a bit of water in it and because of the shape of the bowl I'm worried everything will slide around and mess up the bowl in the car on the way there.

So the Jar I'm using is around 6L.


Sifted some dirt from the garden to get all the rocks/sticks etc out. (Hope my wife doesn't see i used her sieve lol)

Then i added a nice thick layer of gravel/amazonia aquasoil mix. (Hope my daughter doesn't see i used her peppa pig bucket lol)


Just playing around with rocks atm, not sure what i want to use for hardscape but I've got a few ideas I'll play around with until i find something i like.


Will update as things get done!

Some sand down the middle maybe? It's looking more like a scape than a walstad bowl lol

So I've settled on the layout. I'll have a carpet of dwarf hairgrass at the front and I'll do mini dutch style in the back section with stem plants.

I ordered some plants online for the jar, not sure how i'm going to fit this all in but i'll give it a go haha
Whatever i can't fit i'll put into my community tank.

Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' TC
Bacopa monnieri
Cardamine lyrata
Eleocharis acicularis
Hydrocotyle tripartita Japan
Limnophila sp. Mini Vietnam
Mayaca fluviatilis
Mini Taiwan Moss
Rotala sp. Colorata
Staurogyne repens

Followed this thread! I’m interested in Walstad method for a long time but I have never believed that it was actually sustainable.

Keep on posting! Wanted to see how it turns out!

This is my first attempt at a proper walstad method tank so I'm keen to see how it turns out too! Light and plants should arrive this week so I'll update when it's all done.

Plants came in today so i got to it straight away. I think i went a bit overboard with the order so I've got heaps of leftover which I'll end up putting in my community tank.


Here's the end result! Looks a bit messy but I'm pretty happy with it so far.



I've got it sitting on a lazy susan too so i can spin it around 360 degrees which is an idea i got off a YouTube video. Makes it so much easier to view everything and for cleaning. Now i just gotta get it to my office without destroying it in the car haha

Mick85 said:

Some sand down the middle maybe? It's looking more like a scape than a walstad bowl lol
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Can’t it be both..? I’m thinking that the Walstad is the “how” it works, and the scaling is the aesthetics..? ??‍

NannaLou said:

Can’t it be both..? I’m thinking that the Walstad is the “how” it works, and the scaling is the aesthetics..? ??‍

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Yeh of course. I just decided against that layout because it didn't leave much room for planting stems.

Mick85 said:

Yeh of course. I just decided against that layout because it didn't leave much room for planting stems.

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Why do our ideas always out-size out tanks/jars/water capacity..? ?

NannaLou said:

Why do our ideas always out-size out tanks/jars/water capacity..? ?

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Guess our imagination is bigger than the space and budget we have lol

Finally brought it into work and set it up at my desk!

The light is just temporary, it's warm white and i don't like how it makes the jar look. I've got a white light LED lamp coming!

Awesome! I love your super nano tanks.

PheonixKingZ said:

Awesome! I love your super nano tanks.

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Cheers! This is what happens when you watch too much YouTube lol

ameliashawn said:

The Walstad Method is a method where organic, no-additive soil is placed on the bottom of the tank and capped with a gravel (or sand) layer. Once plants are added, the plant roots will reach the soil and get lots of nutrients that will fuel them to grow.

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Just as my AR mini has done!