Timeframe for growth?

[The Big Figfetti]

On average, with healthy plants and a healthy tank, how long does it take for plants to take root and start feeling established once transferred from the store to the home aquarium?

 

[Archerfish]

What type of plants? Is the substrate new or well established? How many fish (and type) are in the tank? Type of lighting? These questions are all part of the equation. The answer is probably not what you want to hear. It depends.

 

[The Big Figfetti]

What type of plants? Is the substrate new or well established? How many fish (and type) are in the tank? Type of lighting? These questions are all part of the equation. The answer is probably not what you want to hear. It depends.

The tank is new, only about 2 weeks old. Going for a wasteland tank…no filter, skimmer, powerhead, etc. only heater and led lights. It’s a 10 gallon tank with a betta and 3 otos.

I have a lot of different plants. Anubias, Java fern, Sagittaria Amazon sword, red ludwigia, hornwort, frog bit, red root floaters, pennywort, Monty Carlo (that isn’t doing well) and a few that I’m not sure of their names…one of them is mermaid something I think.

The substrate is gravel on bottom, fluval soil? On top of that, root tabs, and sand.

 

[GaryE]

How long does it take for the plants in your garden to flower?

There's the problem - each has a different growth rate, flowering time, hardiness, etc. The same plant in Texan gardens may work differently than in my garden. You asked a gigantic question.

 

[10 Tanks]

On average, with healthy plants and a healthy tank, how long does it take for plants to take root and start feeling established once transferred from the store to the home aquarium?

Hello The Big. If you've got strong lighting and plenty of NPK, you should notice growth in a couple of weeks. Floating plants will grow much faster since they're up next to the light. Swords, some Anubias and other taller plants grow faster than Crypts, Petite Anubias and small Java Fern. Add to the lighting and ferts, an aggressive water change routine and you're good.

10 Tanks

 

[connorlindeman]

Going for a wasteland tank…no filter, skimmer, powerhead, etc.

I have seen you use this term numerous times so I figure I should correct you. It's not a "wasteland tank", its a Walstad tank. Named after Diana Walstad author of
Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: a Practical Manual and Scientific Treatis.

The result is far from being a wasteland

 

[10 Tanks]

On average, with healthy plants and a healthy tank, how long does it take for plants to take root and start feeling established once transferred from the store to the home aquarium?

Hello again Big. Did you know you'll still need to change the tank water in this Walstad tank?

10 Tanks

 

[The Big Figfetti]

Hello The Big. If you've got strong lighting and plenty of NPK, you should notice growth in a couple of weeks. Floating plants will grow much faster since they're up next to the light. Swords, some Anubias and other taller plants grow faster than Crypts, Petite Anubias and small Java Fern. Add to the lighting and ferts, an aggressive water change routine and you're good.

10 Tanks

Thank you for that answer. It helps me to gauge when I should notice some growth, as I’m still dealing with trying to keep my plants alive. I appreciate the feedback!

 

[The Big Figfetti]

I have seen you use this term numerous times so I figure I should correct you. It's not a "wasteland tank", its a Walstad tank. Named after Diana Walstad author of
Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: a Practical Manual and Scientific Treatis.

The result is far from being a wasteland

Ha! I had no idea. Someone mentioned this in another thread of mine and I had no idea what they meant.
I have been following one particular UK YouTuber that has done several low tech tanks. Basically nothing but lights. And they refer to the tanks as ‘low tech’, ‘ecosystem’, or ‘wasteland’. That’s where I got the term. Good to know there’s actually a method to this. Thanks for informing me.

 

[The Big Figfetti]

Hello again Big. Did you know you'll still need to change the tank water in this Walstad tank?

10 Tanks

I actually wasn’t aware of that. I’ve literally only just found this forum. I have been YouTubing with one main YouTuber, and a few random others that I’ve seen use this method (that I now know is called Walstad, thanks), and in the beginning, they change the water daily until the tanks are cycled. Once that happens, they do it much less. And eventually go months without a water change. 9 months, over a year even.

So yes, that is news to me. And I’m wondering how they’re able to do this with such great success.

 

[The Big Figfetti]

How long does it take for the plants in your garden to flower?

There's the problem - each has a different growth rate, flowering time, hardiness, etc. The same plant in Texan gardens may work differently than in my garden. You asked a gigantic question.

I appreciate your take on my broad and open question. Thankfully 10 Tanks was able to provide a great answer that helps me gauge, more or less.
Just here, as green as can be, learning what I can in the small amount of time I have between daily life. Thanks for your input though.

 

[GaryE]

The whole Walstad thing isn't without complexity. There's a reason this method comes from a book and not an article. There are details. I have decades of fishkeeping and running tanks, and the method doesn't interest me. So much can go wrong, and it can be very time consuming. It's no shortcut.

Plant communities, or gardens or however we phrase it take time to take. If you buy a bunch of mixed plants and try to start with a bang, you'll lose a lot. It seems to me these tanks would take tons of research into the needs of the plants, into how to best place them, into how they coexist chemically - i'm just not that into plants. I see people who think "Wow, I hate doing water changes" and don't realize the plants are more work than they realize.

Youtube videos can be like cooking shows. You don't see the burnt cakes, the ingredients are prepared long in advance, and there isn't always one cake. I've used 2 or 3 different tanks at different stages of development in some videos, not to be dishonest, but because if it doesn't move at a pace people turn it off. If you are really close to a subject and passionate about enjoying it, you don't always stop and show the work. Youtube is for results, with the attention span research that is thrown at you when you work with it.

 

[The Big Figfetti]

The whole Walstad thing isn't without complexity. There's a reason this method comes from a book and not an article. There are details. I have decades of fishkeeping and running tanks, and the method doesn't interest me. So much can go wrong, and it can be very time consuming. It's no shortcut.

Plant communities, or gardens or however we phrase it take time to take. If you buy a bunch of mixed plants and try to start with a bang, you'll lose a lot. It seems to me these tanks would take tons of research into the needs of the plants, into how to best place them, into how they coexist chemically - i'm just not that into plants. I see people who think "Wow, I hate doing water changes" and don't realize the plants are more work than they realize.

Youtube videos can be like cooking shows. You don't see the burnt cakes, the ingredients are prepared long in advance, and there isn't always one cake. I've used 2 or 3 different tanks at different stages of development in some videos, not to be dishonest, but because if it doesn't move at a pace people turn it off. If you are really close to a subject and passionate about enjoying it, you don't always stop and show the work. Youtube is for results, with the attention span research that is thrown at you when you work with it.

I see and appreciate that there is a lot of research and learning to do with this method of the hobby, and that’s why I’m here to learn.

Many moons ago, before kids, I kept saltwater tanks and mainly soft corals. I never had an interest in freshwater. Only a couple months ago, after seeing a beautifullly planted freshwater aquarium in person, have I started to want to get into this aspect of fish keeping.

Yes, one of the reasons I gave up saltwater, was due to the water changes, mainly on my 55gal tank. It was a lot! And the smaller tanks just added to that daunting task. So obviously the idea of keeping an ecosystem type tank, where little (or at least much less) maintenance is required, is intriguing to me.

I see there is a lot of learning to do still, and I plan on it, with the help of the good people here…willing to lead a newb in the right direction. I will gladly go read certain threads or buy a couple books, to help me on my way. I honestly just dove in head first, before being fully prepared, and that’s on me. But again, this is why I’m here.

Thank you for any actual guidance you may have to offer, if any, since plants aren’t your thing.

 

[Back in the fold]

On average, with healthy plants and a healthy tank, how long does it take for plants to take root and start feeling established once transferred from the store to the home aquarium?

Forever.

 

[10 Tanks]

I actually wasn’t aware of that. I’ve literally only just found this forum. I have been YouTubing with one main YouTuber, and a few random others that I’ve seen use this method (that I now know is called Walstad, thanks), and in the beginning, they change the water daily until the tanks are cycled. Once that happens, they do it much less. And eventually go months without a water change. 9 months, over a year even.

So yes, that is news to me. And I’m wondering how they’re able to do this with such great success.

Thank you for that answer. It helps me to gauge when I should notice some growth, as I’m still dealing with trying to keep my plants alive. I appreciate the feedback!

Hello again Big. A thought occurred to me. If you're really interested in a tank that will require minimal work, then you could be interested in a book by D. Crosby Johnson. The title is "Never Change Your Fish Water Again". It's an old theory that has to do with using specific house plants that don't require any type of soil. They'll live with the roots immersed in the tank water with the leaves above the water. Apparently, you feed the fish, the fish provide nitrogen from their waste and the plant roots remove the nitrogen. The only water you replace is what's lost to evaporation. You use distilled water, so there's no mineral build up to harm the fish. The trick is, you need to test the water frequently in the beginning, until you get enough plants into the system to remove all the dissolved fish waste. Could be interesting and fun.

10 Tanks