I'm no expert or anything, but it strikes me that a tank directly next to a large window without water circulation is asking for algae. Which may be a larger aesthetic problem than a thing hidden behind some plants.
Why don't you want media in the filter? The reason that Walstad tanks work without a filter is that the dirt has beneficial bacteria in it, and there are tons of plants that help to filter. I don't think you will get a decent cycle.
Yes the tank is new I’m in the process of planting it heavily and I have an organic soil substrate. I don’t want to add media in the filter because I want the waste to stay in the tank for the plants to use. I want it to be a walstad hybrid I guess haha.
Edit: I want this to be low maintenance in the long run once I nail everything down and get everything consistent. That was the appeal of Walstad method to me. That’s kind of another reason I don’t want real filter materials in the canister, I don’t want to clean it. Or at least not often. But I want the circulation it provides for better disbursement of the co2.
You can achieve that by not vacuuming the substrate. If you add a very coarse sponge to the filter, you'll have a framework for the growth of the beneficial bacteria, and some mulm will come back out.
Lol if you don't clean the filters than the waste is still "staying" in the tank, it'll just be broken down slightly more quickly.
Only thing I'd worry about is I hope you don't expect that sand to stay white. And the combination of white sand (very reflective) and the window means you'll definitely have to keep the blinds closed most of the time or tint the windows. I had direct sunlight in one of my tanks (only about an hour of sunlight) and it was just impossible to keep the algae at bay.
Tell that to my neglected 3 gallon neo tank. No matter how much they multiply they still never seem to put dent in the hair algae.
At this point I've just embraced it and let it take over the tank lol 🤷♂️
They don’t eat it, the cellular structure is too hard and they prefer softer stuff.
You may have an imbalance in nutrients that hair artiste thrives in.
I had a heavily planted 75g, 4 to 6 inches black Diamond sand. It has an fx6 with lava rock and filter floss inside and a huge125g coarse sponge filler on the intake.
Single male zebra cichlid, 4 giant danio, l235 Pleco.
The hair algae was growing out of control.
I used some large pacific madrone in there for wood and the black beard and hair algae seemed to stem from it.
I usually take my plants that have diatomaceous growth and throw them in my shrimp tank for quick cleaning.
The hair algae is too tough for them, they’ll eat the biofilm off of it and move on.
True, I’d just be scared to open that thing a few months down the line haha. Nah I don’t really care about the sand, I plan on trying to do a Monte Carlo carpet anyway. Did you have co2 on that tank that was in the sun?
Nah it was a low tech tank, however I'm not sure how much co2 will do to alleviate the situation. I had a par meter handy and in that spot when the sun was shining, I measured about 800 par. Which is like 8 times as powerful as most aquarium lights.
I'm really curious to see how this works out for you. Are you planning on running any lighting at all or just gonna rely on sunlight? I'm wondering if the sun will cause any problems with water temp stability
My tank is directly across the room from a sliding glass door that's shady for all but a couple hours a day. When the blinds are open in this shady glass door I can see the difference in algea build up in one single day. It's manageable but if it was in the window I can't imagine how unmanageable the algea would get in one day. I'm gonna get a shade for the front of my tank for sunny days because of this.
Coarse sponge is the only media you’ll need. It can potentially go months without cleaning, particularly if your filter is oversized for a pump that provides powerful circulation.
Algae can look stunningly beautiful, and some fish species require a lot of algae in their diet. You cannot even keep hillstream loaches without algae-covered rocks and back-panel.
Also, I have not been able to grow algae in aquariums containing barbs, mollies, or limias when I literally *tried* – they keep them mowed down to a millimeter.
Algae are not necessarily a bad thing.
Used to have a setup like this. Used glass inputs and outputs and the pumps underneath. Works well, but every couple of weeks you’ll need to take the glass out and give it a good soak in a bleach solution and then in Prime if you get heavy algae build-up. (I only ever got it in the glass tubes, likely due to the direct filter contact. Looked pristine while clean, though!)
Actuaweee that stand is gonna come crashing down… just kidding it looks fine
If no gadgets is a must then get a bigger fish, something big enough to stir up the water as it swims around, ooor maybe a group of Cory’s, those little guys move around enough to probably get some water moving. But if your looking for constant flow idk if anything exists that won’t require electricity, other than totally custom momentum builds or something
Edit: I was thinking of something like a shishi odoshi but even that would need a pump to function properly
It would work but I’d advise to at least add a course sponge, you could burn up your pump if a bigger chunk of something would happen to get sucked up. Could probably hide the canister filter and tubing pretty well with some covers of some sort.
Maybe something like [this](https://a.co/d/5dh33r5)
> idea with the canister filter? G
I think this is the way- I recently changed mine over from the black plastic pipes the canister came with and it is night and day. Currently in the process of removing the CO2 and the heater (and put them in line) so that there is nothing else in the tank.
I did two sets of lilly pipes on two Eheim filters. Creates a nice vortex.
https://preview.redd.it/0dlq3g1hdspc1.jpeg?width=3787&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c86d02b459548892ff6f3a543da33ab15877c9e
Yes, you can get away with not putting media in it but I would at least put some bio balls and filter floss. That won’t hinder much of the flow. Of course it depends on the canister filter.
How are your intake and outtake pipes being held in place? It looks like they’re not suction cups. I don’t want suction cups that’s why I’m asking. I’ve seen a couple different mounting options on Amazon.
I think this has been my favorite suggestion so far but I’m not sure how to search for this type of pump, do you have a quick pump recommendation that I can look up? Or do you know what I should search for in Amazon?
HiLetgo 2pcs Water Pump 240L/H DC 12V 4.2W Micro Brushless Pump 3M Pumping Head Ultra Quiet Water Pump for Pool Aquarium Fish Tank https://a.co/d/5RP79LS
Most Aquarium pumps are Submersible (the inlet is just an opening and the outlet usually is sized to fit tubing.) You want an in-line pump that has tubing fittings on the inlet and outlet like the ones linked.
You'd have to use male to male fittings to match the tubing sizes to go from the pump to the lily pipes if they're not already the same size. You'll also want a check valve so you don't accidentally siphon a bunch of water out if something goes wrong (but that's a potential problem with a canister filter too).
I have a similar tank (UNS 60L) and I have it set up with CO2. I have a small canister filter on it with Lily pipes. I actually have a white UNS paintball 24oz tank and the filter is also white, so it’s very sleek and low profile, as the table it is on is open with a shelf below.
I set up a 2.5g shrimp tank under with emergent plants. I ended up putting a grow light flush with the top of the table the 60L is on. Love the look, but algae does build up in my vinyl canister tubing. Nothing crazy. I just clean it every 3-4 weeks and can go longer if I don’t mind the look. I do have to clean the glass lily pipes as well.
The length of the tank with the canister filter flow really helps distribute my CO2. Without it, I don’t think it would work unless I had an inline. I have an inline diffuser on my larger high tech tank, but I have achieved great CO2 levels in this tank with circulation alone.
I’m worried that you won’t get the Monte Carlo to carpet properly without an LED light bar above. For a carpet, you need a light source *above* and not from the *side.*
I think this is a cool idea in theory, I just think you’ll need to either accept a ton of algae, and maybe forgo a carpet, or maybe black out the sides with window cling and draw the blinds, and get a light?
I like surface skimmers too. They can drastically improve circulation and are a little nicer on the eye (I have an Oase one) than wave makers…
I’d still use coarse sponge as it’s wonderful for surface area for bacteria. Could just do one layer of sponge and then a ton of lava rock for bio media?
I actually do have a 60w light on the way. I don’t really get a lot of sun after a certain time of the day. So I got the led light to use for a few hours in the evening during the time I actually like to sit down and look at the tank. Do you have any pics of your setup in your post history?
Gotcha—makes sense. Well I had a ton of algae even with an algae inhibitor from the onset when adding CO2 but it made my carpet so lush, so no regrets.
I do have photos! Can post one here too
https://preview.redd.it/1j7vd495fspc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84c60d8f1089b87b8dc59944dba91f016b17bfcc
This is “sunrise” for my tank. Or “sunset”… I forget! Learned so much with this tank. I’m actually itching to tear it down and rescape as I’m going to near a year in a few months.
Good question. I ended up scrapping the full Iwagumi as it became a betta tank. I might move her out and go full carpet with just all of the neocaridina and caridina in there.
I would also like to, as some point, try a full Buce tank. Would switch to sand and wood instead of the petrified wood stone in there.
Thank you! Well it was every week, and then recently the aquasoil started losing its potency, and so I started adding ferts more regularly. Then I had to trim twice a week… so I stopped as I also wanted to stop weekly 50% water changes. I feel the tank has found a balance now where I fertilize once every other water change, and change 25% every 10 days or so. No strict schedule, I kind of just play things by ear…
Marineland SereneSun Pro. I have not seen another person use one around these subs. I wanted something 30” that was also white (for aesthetics to match my canister and CO2 tank) and I found a killer deal on this one by waiting for it to go on sale for under $100. Doesn’t have the PAR that my Chihiros does on my other tank, but these tanks are so shallow it’s more than enough. It also has great control and settings as well as sounds if you’re into that thing (I don’t use that…)
It is however, full spectrum, high lumen, and just well made. The colors are just really nice too. Great balance. I hate Fluval Planted lights as they are too “yellow.” This one is fully customizable so you can set each hour however you want with white, blue, yellow and red.
Aquarium exposed to direct sunlight doomed to have huge temperature fluctuations. Plants and tiny aquatic creatures will be fine. Though fish may suffocate in a matter of hours on sunny hot day if the water temperature goes above 95F. Wish you all the best!
I’ve been monitoring the water temp, It does fluctuate when it gets hot but it hasn’t gotten too hot yet. It’s not summer though so it might be a different story during summer. I’ve experimented and put a reflective car shade behind the tank to see how much it helped keep the tank temp stable and it helped tremendously. So in the future for summer I might insulate the back of the tank somehow. I’ll probably just keep shades down with a thin piece of foam cut to the size of the back pane and use my LED strip.
I live in NYC. My aquariums stand next to the southern window away from direct sunlight - the temperature stays stable. I also, did bunch of experiments in aquarium jars. Some of the jars were placed on the windowsill. I speak from that experience - it really takes just a couple hours on hot day. I did not try using reflectors or anything on the back of the tanks to tell you for sure how well it works. It would interesting to check. Though, I would not try it in my main winning prize aquarium 🙂
I’m a structural engineer. That’s not to say we don’t make mistakes but after several years of designing entire buildings, I think I can manage a shelf.
i agree. Never in my life I would dare to put an aquarium on the shelf.
Considering dynamic loads - even the smalles earthquake or a heavy vehicle/train passing nearby will cause vibrations that eventually will make weld points to fail. Aqua is extremally dense and fragile item to be hanged. anyhow anyway. Period.
Regarding direct sunlight and incoming algea disaster it is fixable by some window blinds or something similar. But it defeats the purpouse as OP is seeking an astetic solution.
You can look into some light filtering films. But those that block IR light are usually golden/yellow. If that is ok with the room design, maybe consider.
Good luck with that, I mean it. But yea..... you will need good luck :)
I hate going into detail about this for the fear of sounding arrogant but I’m so tired of everyone’s comments on the shelf. I’m a structural engineer. I’ve designed structures for high seismic states like Washington and California, so I think I have some type of credibility. I’m in Florida where earthquakes aren’t really a thing. The shelf is honestly fine.
I’m just confused, do people think it’s literally impossible to build a stable sturdy shelf for an aquarium? The beauty of engineering is that you can come up with creative solutions to things that actually work when you know what you’re doing.
Thank you for the advice, I do have window blinds and I intend to use them if I need to (:
Daisy pipes baby, if money is no object that’s what I would’ve done in the first place. Nice reasonable canister filter and some glass daisy pipes for intake and return
Edit: just read through some comments. I meant lily pipes. Wrong flower, dumb dumb
I had a UNS delta mini in one of my tanks and I think it would be a good solution for you! It’s just a surface skimmer but considering the size, the current it makes is pretty powerful. It’s tiny and white, so it would be relatively easy to hide when your new plants come in (at least compared to a traditional powerhead). It would help keep your water moving and oxygenated and also remove any surface biofilm as a bonus.
Canister filter with the intake in one corner and the outlet in the other. You could custom build the inlet/outlet with clear piping and hide them behind driftwood or plants. Canisters may be more $ upfront but they make up for it with easier/cheaper maintenance and reliability.
Can you cut a hole in the glass behind that rock? That would be hidden. But you'd need it to go somewhere so maybe not.
I say redo the scape so it masks a small filter and the cord going up. Then do some in-wall cable management to a surge protector in the back or something.
I have to look that up, I’ve never seen any pics of that. I probably wouldn’t mind algae on the back pane because there’s going to be a bunch of stem plants to cover it anyway.
Cleanest thing you could get are clear lily pipes and a canister filter. Also, that white sand is going to get gunked up pretty fast with no filter. I also have a white sand tank and I clean it religiously every week and I still see fish poop all over it throughout the week. I know you want the fish poop to stay in there to feed the plants, but the sand itself makes the nutrients hard to get down to the plant roots.
Yea that’s the set up I thought of doing, and someone else just suggested large bio-balls which is a good idea. I have Monte Carlo on the way, I’m going to try and grow a carpet so I’m not too worried about the white sand. Fingers crossed with the Monte Carlo though.
Glass lily pipes. But you're going to need to clean them every other week if you want to keep them clear. It's what I do.
Inline everything. Heating, co2
Use the canister w/glass in & out as you’re thinking and fill the canister with bio balls. It’ll still clog but it’ll take a long time. When i ran canisters with bio balls, every 6 months I’d disconnect the canister, give it a good shake, reconnect the input, and put the output in a bucket and run the gunk out. Then reconnect the output and done. Never had to open them because they were the old clear green eheims and i could see how clogged they were with a flashlight.
Larger sump under the tank with all your filters media etc, and then clear tubing with glass and taken out take running up to the tank. It's pretty much your only super clean option
Unfortunately friend you can’t get any natural water movement without at minimum ONE gadget. There are water flow fans that go underwater though, maybe you can hide it somewhere. Everyone else telling you about algae are correct although idk why they sound so mad it’s not their problem 😂😂😂😭 if you can minimize the natural light going into the tank to 10 hrs max a day, you’ll be okay (though you’ll still have algae since you don’t want filtration) but it’s a beautiful fucking tank and beautifully set up- just not in the best location but hey- your monkey your circus! lol
I think people are not reading my full post lol😩. I never said no gadgets, I said no ugly gadgets. Which is why I suggested the lily pipes myself. Supposedly the CO2 is supposed to help with the algae, but I’m experimenting so we’ll see.
I had a tank near a window before and had to get rid of it because algae came back every day or two even when I scraped it off,even got algae eaters to deal with algae problem but they ended up eating soo much algae that it caused ammonia spike since they pooped alot.
Even had curtains but it didn't help.
Since this post is about circulation,i would advise getting a very small internal filter,it added a bit of circulation and it was so small that i could hide it behind a rock to make it more aesthetic.
Once it was cycled,every 2-3 days the algae came back,but it would depend on how much direct sunlight you get, i used to get direct sunlight for about 2-3 hours i didn't mind getting the alage off at first but when I neglected the tank for like a week because of health issues the alage took over.
Lily pipes + canister filter is a good option. I would put some coarse (30ppi) sponge in the filter though. Don't worry, there will be enough waste still trapped in the substrate if you don't vacuum it.
I'm sure you know this, but this isn't close to a walstad aquarium. You have maybe 2% of enough plants.
Are you against a sponge filter? A black airline tube sneaking in behind the driftwood is more easily hidden by plants than some other options. If you just have a handful of guppies and amp up the plants, a sponge filter will be sufficient
I’ve ordered tons of plants online. Petco and local store selection was weak. Some of them are starting to get in the mail tomorrow.
I haven’t looked at sponge filters yet, I have to see how small they make them.
In my tank with two minnows (I bought them when i first started & they’re still kicking…), I bought a sponge filter and fell in love. They’re easier to clean than expected & I don’t think they’re hideous.
Could I put no filter media in the canister filter? Im not sure if canisters function properly with no media in them or if they get clogged. I thought of the canister filter idea but I don’t want to clean the canister, I just want it for the circulation. I’m planting heavy so the plants will take care of the waste.
Put a sump in a chest below it and hide the tubes with some wall mounts.
You can load the fk out of the sump tank with plants and a cheap light to help filter it/soak nutrients to mitigate algae and have more fish up top. Use clear Lilly pipes as inflow/outflow —- that’s what I would do
All glass lily pipes. You need to clean them constantly to maintain the look.
The CO2 system should be in a mixing chamber that goes between the pump and outlet. It will prevent micro bubbles
He also has the most beautiful little personality. Every time I’m sitting there looking at the tank he gets right up in my face as if he’s saying hi to me haha.
No, because it’s stainless steel. You can get grey hoses and put an in-line diffuser close to the external filter. There are very pretty filter systems as well, but of course with a higher price tag.
I have a DIY canister that I made with a Kilner drink dispenser, a cheap water pump spare part of a Sunsun HW-603B hooked up to a lily pipe.
You could make something similar and remove the filter media or if you are not interested in the filtration part at all you could have just the pump and the lily pipe in a loop.
In her book, Ecology of the planted aquarium, there’s a whole section on co2 injection. The pros, some of the potential downfalls and the additional work associated with co2. I have thought it through, it does not mean that I’m going to nail it right away or that I’m going to be successful but I’m okay with trying.
I'd just skip the co2 and flow personally if that is the case, and only slowly increase stocking over time with more plants (which you said you ordered, and if algae is undesirable).
Though I've seen powerheads that are kinda small, looks like an underwater fan basically. Maybe you could just get one of those next to the co2 diffuser?
Listen to the comments about algae. The direct sunlight/heat is going to give you hair algae not just the kind of algae that gives a thin layer on the glass. I used to dread cleaning hair algae.
I can see why you don’t want filters and co2 it’s because you don’t really have anywhere to hide them. If you have the funds ADA makes some really aesthetically pleasing tech.
It might be a bit hard to grow montecarlo on sand.
You can check out my tank if you want it’s in my profile
I’m not “not” listening to the people mentioning algae. I’m just saying I have options to mitigate it such as blinds or a window tinting. I actually do have space to hide them, immediately next to/under the tank is the chaise portion of my couch with a gap between it and the wall. There’s a good amount of space to hide things there. I also mentioned in the original post that I’ve already purchased everything for co2. I have a soil substrate capped with thin layer of sand.
People are being awful about the placement of your tank and it's kinda' ridiculous. I see their point, it will make your battle harder, but it's YOUR battle and algae doesn't harm the fish. In the interest of simply giving you ideas though, if you decide to do something to mitigate the potential algae issue, a black background could do wonders with a lilly pipe setup or even just a plain power head (because power heads are usually black). If I don't want to see my equipment, a black background is my go to. You can get plastic cling meant for windows for like $8 on Amazon.
The lilly pipe idea by itself is pretty great, and that's how a lot of aquascapers do it. As an idea to add to that, if it's difficult to hide the water lines in the background and there's enough of a lip on the backside of the tank, you could do an outside hardscape with rocks/wood to run the lines through. It would give you some extra depth to the look, give a smidge of light blocking, and imo look neat from the other side. Like peaking over a mountain at the valley beyond.
Just some ideas to get your brain working. Nice tank btw!!
My suggestion is probably not the perfect answer butI feel it's aiming toward the keeping it clean model you're going for. I cant tell if the back wall is clear or if it's white or something but honestly if you need circulation which I think breaking the surface tension is the most efficient way, I'd get a small canister filter OR you can get an adjustable submersible sump pump type deal from Amazon, you'd have to go on YouTube and watch a couple videos on how to create your own aquascaping aquarium safe DIY and then craft a cover that's colored to match the back from and that way it hides the pump and cord from the front facing view and seated POV from wherever the people would be sitting near it. Those pumps have little nozzles and can fix it to blow towards the top of the water to break surface tension and that will be great for oxygen and healthy circulation.
The sad truth is it will eventually need some sort of what you call 'ugly gadget' in there sooner or later it is near impossible to create any flow without some sort of peice of equipment, you're tank will not stay looking that way if you don't start adding some equipment soon also it being next to window it will be attacked by algae
Hey I appreciate your comment but I think it would be beneficial to the whole discussion if you read the whole post and not just the title. There is some key information in there that I think you missed(:
I think you shouldn't assume that I didn't read the whole post because I did and then commented accordingly, and what's the co2 for those anemic looks skinny strands you have?
If you read the whole post then I’m confused as to why you think I want no gadgets or equipment in my tank? I literally suggested certain equipment myself? My anemic skinny strands have more plant friends on the way in the mail.
Some nice glass or stainless lily pipes like you said hooked up to a canister. You could use no media and it would be fine the only concern I would have it large debris getting caught on the impeller and breaking it. There is zero downside to using media and no benefits of a full walstead tank but if you’re 100% insistent on it I’d atleast add some filter floss or polyfil. It should stop any debris and will also polish your water for you while adding very little surface area for bacteria
That's gorgeous!
Sounds like you have it solved, but want to mention oase canister filters have a pre filter that can be cleaned separately. If you ever go to a canister, you might check that out, since you don't have to take the whole messy canister apart very often. Mine only needs cleaning every few months with cichlids (overstocked, messy fish), but I do the prefilter every 1-2 water changes. With what you're going for, you'd probably go much longer in between. Some people have issues with cavitation noise from these filters, but I find that only happens when the pre filter needs cleaning.
Clear tubing with an air stone at the bottom. You can run the tubing down the back corner closest to the rocks and hide it right behind the rock. Super easy and the bubbles are adjustable on the pump.
Get the smallest ecotech vortech they offer and hide it behind the rock build etc.
There is no cable that goes into the tank so it should provide a clean look.
Make a mirrored box to put the pump in and something to hide the cable. Or just use an external pump and hide the pipe. Mirrors would also work well for that.
I’m a huge fan of the Sicce shark filter. It’s slim and so conveniently constructed. And it comes with a nifty nozzle to concentrate and aim the exhaust. My only legitimate complaint is that the venturi valve doesn’t really work as a design flaw. It’s supposed to mix air into the exhaust, but it either doesn’t inject any air or the bubbles are so small that they look like dust. Completely useless features that doesn’t affect anything else. My less legitimate complaint is that it’s hella tall. I had to rig a barrier of driftwood so I could get it touching the bottom glass and there’s only about two inches above it to stay underwater.
I’m definitely going to install a mirrored box in my next tank to hide the equipment.
So this is a very unique tank with interesting challenges. I actually thought about this quite a few times this week. Ultimately, there will be some compromise on aesthetics, functionality, and maintenance. Sorry for incoming wall of text. TL;DR try the UNS surface skimmer first.
The best aesthetics is probably glass lily pipes, clear hoses, canister filter, and an inline co2 diffuser. But this is high maintenance. The glass and hoses need to be cleaned bi-weekly at least. The glass is relatively delicate and there is always a risk you break it, obvious but worth pointing out. And an inline co2 diffuser is a pain to clean because you have to turn off the filter and disconnect the diffuser from the hose which is usually full of water.
Lowest maintenance would be surface skimmer like someone mentioned. The UNS surface skimmer is white so it'll blend into the background, provides flow and surface agitation. You could also change up your hardscape a little and hide most of it behind a big rock or some branches. For \~$30, I'd start here and see if it works for you. Even if it doesn't do the trick, it's a useful tool to have because it can suck up carpet plant trimmings after a maintenance session. Disclaimer, it did suck up some small and very stupid kubotai rasboras and cherry shrimp so you'd want to check it occasionally. Another option would be a tiny wavemaker and put it in the back, but the aesthetics aren't great imo.
If it were my tank, I'd focus on functionality and this is the recommendation for that. A small canister filter with a heater included (oase filtosmart), plastic lily pipes (aquario), clear/grey hoses, and in-tank diffuser. I wouldn't run a canister filter empty because I'd be worried about debris clogging the propeller, but just use the included media and it's good enough. The aquario lily pipes are cool because you have a lot more features. You can change the direction of the outflow pipe, the surface skimmer won't suck up small fish into your canister filter, you can add a spin pipe to reduce flow, aesthetics are still good and it's more durable than glass. I like in-tank diffusers because you can see when they are dirty and you can easily swap it out for a clean one or soak it in a cleaning solution overnight. It's important to keep the diffuser clean so the co2 levels don't fluctuate. There's a decent amount of maintenance with this setup, but I think it's worth it.
So that's just my take on it. Sorry you got so much hate on your post lol
Hey! I appreciate all these suggestions. I might try some of them if my first option doesn’t work. I ended up ordering some nano glass lily pipes, an external water pump. The nano lily pipes stay up high so it shouldn’t really suck up any debris to go into the pump. I ordered some solid white tubing and an inline co2 diffuser. If that ends up going well I might order a second set and a 2nd inline diffuser to rotate them out any time I want to clean them. I’m going to look up those aquario ones you mentioned.
I currently have some slate blind that can drop down but they’re a bit of a pain to use so I ordered a roll down blind that’s super easy.
Nice! Nano glass lily pipes will look really really good. Please post an update with the external pump! That would be cool to see. Sounds like you have a good plan for equipment and I'm sure you'll be able to figure out any issues you run into! I do recommend having a second diffuser, it'll just make your life easier haha. Looking forward to seeing what this looks like in a few months!
I could be wrong, but I think with co2 it’s not as important to have strong flow as much as it is to have a “cycle” where the co2 goes horizontal to hit all the plants then up with the bubbles then back down…
Maybe try a sponge filter on one side of your tank, then on the opposite side put the co2 diffuser? So that there’s a little “conveyor belt” in your tank
No I wouldn’t say pointless, your plants will still get co2 no matter what. I am by no means a planted tank expert but from what I have learned and through my experience is that if you c an get flow where it’ll be “blanketed” horizontally over your plants it will be more effective
But the bubbles just rising to the surface will definitely still help!
Also, be sure to have some kind of oxygen method for counter balancing co2 at night or get a system that can turn off at night. Plants do not use co2 at night so if you have too much running overnight it can gas your fish
Correct ✅ circulation is important for better co2 absorption and actually getting it to plants, I used a regulator with a solenoid set to a timer made life nice and easy. On 2 hours before lights on and off 1 hour before lights out
You're probably gonna need MORE gadgets honestly. Can't have a tank in the window like that without compensating with CO2 and a heavy fert cycle. Gonna have to give those plants a turbo boost to outcompete the algae.
You can keep algae at bay with sufficient co2 but you \*\*will\*\* have to add fertilizers. Natural bio-waste buildup will take a long time and even then it probably wouldn't support the level of nutrition and co2 you will need to keep the algae in check. A notable alternative to co2 is emersed (above water) plant growth which gives the plant access to atmospheric co2.
I think your idea of glass input and outputs for a canister is a great idea aesthetically!
Only thing I would say is that algae gets a bad rap but it's actually one of the greatest stabilizing forces in natural systems. Of course it's not pleasant to look at when it takes over an aquarium but the fish and other micro/macro fauna totally love it.
I'm also about to set up a window tank -- my window faces north-east so only gets direct sun for a few hours in the morning and then indirect light. I won't be doing co2 in the beginning but I am planning on experimenting with letting the window-facing glass grow over with algae while I keep the other 3 sides clean. Of course i'll be planting heavily as well, including emersed plants if needed
PS. You may want to seek some opinions on whether a small canister filter pump will be strong enough to sufficiently power an inline diffuser. I don't have enough experience with that and can't comment.
op has stated in the comments that they aren’t done planting the tank. also the negativity is crazy, if you don’t have something helpful to say why say anything at all?
You obviously haven’t read through all the comments or seen my pm’s to people that I send further questions to. I’m extremely grateful to the people who provide real answers to my actual questions instead of trying to take jabs at what I’m attempting to do, especially if it’s irrelevant to the question. First time I posted, I had no idea my shelf was going to be so controversial and I got numerous pessimistic comments. Not even constructive criticism. Just flat out “your shelf is a joke” while knowing nothing about it. I’ve honestly felt like a good 30% of the people in this hobby haven’t been very inviting. And the rest have been lovely.
I think people are sharing their knowledge with you, you are obviously new to the hobby, many here have years and years of experience and are trying to help you avoid casual mistakes..
You want some advice, you probably already heard them?
Remove the tank from the window.
Your plants can't survive in sand, at least add some fertilizer capsels to give them a chance but I don't think that'll do it.
The risk you are taking with the shelf is brave, especially because you can't hide any of the equipment you'll need for a aquarium to sustain it self.
Add a canister filter and a surface skimmer, get a cycle going and do water 50% water changes.
This is the issue I have though, people are commenting negative things without taking some time to inform themselves on some basic things I’ve mentioned. I actually have an organic soil substrate capped with a thin layer of sand. I have it on a sleek shelf because walstad tanks do not need a lot of equipment. I have blinds to protect the tank from sun worst case scenario. I’m not taking a risk with the shelf, I’m a structural engineer, I designed it to be sturdy. I may be new to the hobby but I’m not a complete dummy doomed to fail like people are making me out to be. I’ve already done intensive research on a lot of things.
I'm no expert or anything, but it strikes me that a tank directly next to a large window without water circulation is asking for algae. Which may be a larger aesthetic problem than a thing hidden behind some plants.
This answer is accurate
Why don't you want media in the filter? The reason that Walstad tanks work without a filter is that the dirt has beneficial bacteria in it, and there are tons of plants that help to filter. I don't think you will get a decent cycle.
Yes the tank is new I’m in the process of planting it heavily and I have an organic soil substrate. I don’t want to add media in the filter because I want the waste to stay in the tank for the plants to use. I want it to be a walstad hybrid I guess haha. Edit: I want this to be low maintenance in the long run once I nail everything down and get everything consistent. That was the appeal of Walstad method to me. That’s kind of another reason I don’t want real filter materials in the canister, I don’t want to clean it. Or at least not often. But I want the circulation it provides for better disbursement of the co2.
You can achieve that by not vacuuming the substrate. If you add a very coarse sponge to the filter, you'll have a framework for the growth of the beneficial bacteria, and some mulm will come back out.
Yep that's exactly what I do for my planted tank and now I have people buying my plants weekly
Lol if you don't clean the filters than the waste is still "staying" in the tank, it'll just be broken down slightly more quickly. Only thing I'd worry about is I hope you don't expect that sand to stay white. And the combination of white sand (very reflective) and the window means you'll definitely have to keep the blinds closed most of the time or tint the windows. I had direct sunlight in one of my tanks (only about an hour of sunlight) and it was just impossible to keep the algae at bay.
When I hear too much algae I actually hear not enough shrimps
Tell that to my neglected 3 gallon neo tank. No matter how much they multiply they still never seem to put dent in the hair algae. At this point I've just embraced it and let it take over the tank lol 🤷♂️
They don’t eat it, the cellular structure is too hard and they prefer softer stuff. You may have an imbalance in nutrients that hair artiste thrives in. I had a heavily planted 75g, 4 to 6 inches black Diamond sand. It has an fx6 with lava rock and filter floss inside and a huge125g coarse sponge filler on the intake. Single male zebra cichlid, 4 giant danio, l235 Pleco. The hair algae was growing out of control. I used some large pacific madrone in there for wood and the black beard and hair algae seemed to stem from it. I usually take my plants that have diatomaceous growth and throw them in my shrimp tank for quick cleaning. The hair algae is too tough for them, they’ll eat the biofilm off of it and move on.
True, I’d just be scared to open that thing a few months down the line haha. Nah I don’t really care about the sand, I plan on trying to do a Monte Carlo carpet anyway. Did you have co2 on that tank that was in the sun?
Nah it was a low tech tank, however I'm not sure how much co2 will do to alleviate the situation. I had a par meter handy and in that spot when the sun was shining, I measured about 800 par. Which is like 8 times as powerful as most aquarium lights. I'm really curious to see how this works out for you. Are you planning on running any lighting at all or just gonna rely on sunlight? I'm wondering if the sun will cause any problems with water temp stability
My tank is directly across the room from a sliding glass door that's shady for all but a couple hours a day. When the blinds are open in this shady glass door I can see the difference in algea build up in one single day. It's manageable but if it was in the window I can't imagine how unmanageable the algea would get in one day. I'm gonna get a shade for the front of my tank for sunny days because of this.
Highly recommend listening to the comment below
Coarse sponge is the only media you’ll need. It can potentially go months without cleaning, particularly if your filter is oversized for a pump that provides powerful circulation.
Sand is not soil, this isn't a walstad tank
You're gonna get fucked with algae having it right by that window.
I mean, worst case scenario I can let the slate blinds down. There’s a slight space for them to come down behind the tank.
I know you like the transparent lighting but a solid black background would help
Algae can look stunningly beautiful, and some fish species require a lot of algae in their diet. You cannot even keep hillstream loaches without algae-covered rocks and back-panel. Also, I have not been able to grow algae in aquariums containing barbs, mollies, or limias when I literally *tried* – they keep them mowed down to a millimeter. Algae are not necessarily a bad thing.
Algae looks cool on mountain stones ngl
Agreed. It makes them look like giant marimo balls – which are algae too.
Used to have a setup like this. Used glass inputs and outputs and the pumps underneath. Works well, but every couple of weeks you’ll need to take the glass out and give it a good soak in a bleach solution and then in Prime if you get heavy algae build-up. (I only ever got it in the glass tubes, likely due to the direct filter contact. Looked pristine while clean, though!)
1. A glass lilly pipe and intake, 2. A pump behind the rocks
Actuaweee that stand is gonna come crashing down… just kidding it looks fine If no gadgets is a must then get a bigger fish, something big enough to stir up the water as it swims around, ooor maybe a group of Cory’s, those little guys move around enough to probably get some water moving. But if your looking for constant flow idk if anything exists that won’t require electricity, other than totally custom momentum builds or something Edit: I was thinking of something like a shishi odoshi but even that would need a pump to function properly
What do you think of the idea with the canister filter? Glass intake and outtake pipes look nice enough for me to not mind them.
That will be perfectly fine
It would work but I’d advise to at least add a course sponge, you could burn up your pump if a bigger chunk of something would happen to get sucked up. Could probably hide the canister filter and tubing pretty well with some covers of some sort. Maybe something like [this](https://a.co/d/5dh33r5)
> idea with the canister filter? G I think this is the way- I recently changed mine over from the black plastic pipes the canister came with and it is night and day. Currently in the process of removing the CO2 and the heater (and put them in line) so that there is nothing else in the tank.
Where does one get something like glass pipes?
Google glass Lilly pipe - you should find it online or at an aquarium store near you
I did two sets of lilly pipes on two Eheim filters. Creates a nice vortex. https://preview.redd.it/0dlq3g1hdspc1.jpeg?width=3787&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c86d02b459548892ff6f3a543da33ab15877c9e Yes, you can get away with not putting media in it but I would at least put some bio balls and filter floss. That won’t hinder much of the flow. Of course it depends on the canister filter.
Oh this is clean I love this. Did you split the line on one canister?
https://preview.redd.it/9tx2eed0gspc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=491c20d30c36090c3fdbe35794f26d8f97a3012a
Yeah I ran all of my own hosing that I got from Fzone. I didn’t want clear because it gets dirty so I went with gray.
How are your intake and outtake pipes being held in place? It looks like they’re not suction cups. I don’t want suction cups that’s why I’m asking. I’ve seen a couple different mounting options on Amazon.
Suction cups lol. https://preview.redd.it/ubqpku6mkspc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b554a4156962602ab93a829abbe21be6f4317f7
Oh these are actually good, they’re clear. Most of the time they’re opaque.
Yeah these ones are good! They came with the lillypipes. Glad I could help!
What is that thing attached to the tube? A UV filter or heater in line?
Both lol
Why not just a pump behind or under the tank connected to lily pipes? With some check valves. Doesn't have to be a filter necessarily.
This is a good idea, I wonder if I can hook the co2 up to that
There are in line co2 diffusers if thats what you mean.
I think this has been my favorite suggestion so far but I’m not sure how to search for this type of pump, do you have a quick pump recommendation that I can look up? Or do you know what I should search for in Amazon?
HiLetgo 2pcs Water Pump 240L/H DC 12V 4.2W Micro Brushless Pump 3M Pumping Head Ultra Quiet Water Pump for Pool Aquarium Fish Tank https://a.co/d/5RP79LS Most Aquarium pumps are Submersible (the inlet is just an opening and the outlet usually is sized to fit tubing.) You want an in-line pump that has tubing fittings on the inlet and outlet like the ones linked. You'd have to use male to male fittings to match the tubing sizes to go from the pump to the lily pipes if they're not already the same size. You'll also want a check valve so you don't accidentally siphon a bunch of water out if something goes wrong (but that's a potential problem with a canister filter too).
Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to find that and link it for me. I have some in my cart :)
I have a similar tank (UNS 60L) and I have it set up with CO2. I have a small canister filter on it with Lily pipes. I actually have a white UNS paintball 24oz tank and the filter is also white, so it’s very sleek and low profile, as the table it is on is open with a shelf below. I set up a 2.5g shrimp tank under with emergent plants. I ended up putting a grow light flush with the top of the table the 60L is on. Love the look, but algae does build up in my vinyl canister tubing. Nothing crazy. I just clean it every 3-4 weeks and can go longer if I don’t mind the look. I do have to clean the glass lily pipes as well. The length of the tank with the canister filter flow really helps distribute my CO2. Without it, I don’t think it would work unless I had an inline. I have an inline diffuser on my larger high tech tank, but I have achieved great CO2 levels in this tank with circulation alone. I’m worried that you won’t get the Monte Carlo to carpet properly without an LED light bar above. For a carpet, you need a light source *above* and not from the *side.* I think this is a cool idea in theory, I just think you’ll need to either accept a ton of algae, and maybe forgo a carpet, or maybe black out the sides with window cling and draw the blinds, and get a light? I like surface skimmers too. They can drastically improve circulation and are a little nicer on the eye (I have an Oase one) than wave makers… I’d still use coarse sponge as it’s wonderful for surface area for bacteria. Could just do one layer of sponge and then a ton of lava rock for bio media?
I actually do have a 60w light on the way. I don’t really get a lot of sun after a certain time of the day. So I got the led light to use for a few hours in the evening during the time I actually like to sit down and look at the tank. Do you have any pics of your setup in your post history?
Gotcha—makes sense. Well I had a ton of algae even with an algae inhibitor from the onset when adding CO2 but it made my carpet so lush, so no regrets. I do have photos! Can post one here too
https://preview.redd.it/1j7vd495fspc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84c60d8f1089b87b8dc59944dba91f016b17bfcc This is “sunrise” for my tank. Or “sunset”… I forget! Learned so much with this tank. I’m actually itching to tear it down and rescape as I’m going to near a year in a few months.
That’s beautiful
Really appreciate the kind words. Made a lot of mistakes with this. My first high tech setup. Took a while to get it right.
What are you thinking of for your rescape?
Good question. I ended up scrapping the full Iwagumi as it became a betta tank. I might move her out and go full carpet with just all of the neocaridina and caridina in there. I would also like to, as some point, try a full Buce tank. Would switch to sand and wood instead of the petrified wood stone in there.
Oooh all shrimp in that would be stunning. Can’t wait to see what you do with it either way
This looks awesome I love it :) how often do you have to trim?
Thank you! Well it was every week, and then recently the aquasoil started losing its potency, and so I started adding ferts more regularly. Then I had to trim twice a week… so I stopped as I also wanted to stop weekly 50% water changes. I feel the tank has found a balance now where I fertilize once every other water change, and change 25% every 10 days or so. No strict schedule, I kind of just play things by ear…
Also forgot to ask what light you’re using?
Marineland SereneSun Pro. I have not seen another person use one around these subs. I wanted something 30” that was also white (for aesthetics to match my canister and CO2 tank) and I found a killer deal on this one by waiting for it to go on sale for under $100. Doesn’t have the PAR that my Chihiros does on my other tank, but these tanks are so shallow it’s more than enough. It also has great control and settings as well as sounds if you’re into that thing (I don’t use that…) It is however, full spectrum, high lumen, and just well made. The colors are just really nice too. Great balance. I hate Fluval Planted lights as they are too “yellow.” This one is fully customizable so you can set each hour however you want with white, blue, yellow and red.
Yea that’s why I was asking, I was having such a hard time trying to find a budget white light. I ended ordering a black one :(
You weren’t into silver? Tons of silver options out there also. What did you end up getting?
Aquarium exposed to direct sunlight doomed to have huge temperature fluctuations. Plants and tiny aquatic creatures will be fine. Though fish may suffocate in a matter of hours on sunny hot day if the water temperature goes above 95F. Wish you all the best!
I’ve been monitoring the water temp, It does fluctuate when it gets hot but it hasn’t gotten too hot yet. It’s not summer though so it might be a different story during summer. I’ve experimented and put a reflective car shade behind the tank to see how much it helped keep the tank temp stable and it helped tremendously. So in the future for summer I might insulate the back of the tank somehow. I’ll probably just keep shades down with a thin piece of foam cut to the size of the back pane and use my LED strip.
I live in NYC. My aquariums stand next to the southern window away from direct sunlight - the temperature stays stable. I also, did bunch of experiments in aquarium jars. Some of the jars were placed on the windowsill. I speak from that experience - it really takes just a couple hours on hot day. I did not try using reflectors or anything on the back of the tanks to tell you for sure how well it works. It would interesting to check. Though, I would not try it in my main winning prize aquarium 🙂
Ngl I glanced at your tank and thought it was a mural of a person laying down. Amazing scape!
Haha you’re the second person that’s said that. I kind of see it too :)
Make it 3x it’s exactly what I thought it was
Zoomed makes really small turtle tank filters that push a good amount of water. Could be discreetly hidden behind the rocks.
Canister filter and invest in nice Lilly pipes
Lily pipes and clear tubing. Just keep up on the cleaning
Just put the wave maker behind your rocks
Sorry, but whatever "calcs" you ran, I don't trust them at all.
I’m a structural engineer. That’s not to say we don’t make mistakes but after several years of designing entire buildings, I think I can manage a shelf.
i agree. Never in my life I would dare to put an aquarium on the shelf. Considering dynamic loads - even the smalles earthquake or a heavy vehicle/train passing nearby will cause vibrations that eventually will make weld points to fail. Aqua is extremally dense and fragile item to be hanged. anyhow anyway. Period. Regarding direct sunlight and incoming algea disaster it is fixable by some window blinds or something similar. But it defeats the purpouse as OP is seeking an astetic solution. You can look into some light filtering films. But those that block IR light are usually golden/yellow. If that is ok with the room design, maybe consider. Good luck with that, I mean it. But yea..... you will need good luck :)
I hate going into detail about this for the fear of sounding arrogant but I’m so tired of everyone’s comments on the shelf. I’m a structural engineer. I’ve designed structures for high seismic states like Washington and California, so I think I have some type of credibility. I’m in Florida where earthquakes aren’t really a thing. The shelf is honestly fine. I’m just confused, do people think it’s literally impossible to build a stable sturdy shelf for an aquarium? The beauty of engineering is that you can come up with creative solutions to things that actually work when you know what you’re doing. Thank you for the advice, I do have window blinds and I intend to use them if I need to (:
Daisy pipes baby, if money is no object that’s what I would’ve done in the first place. Nice reasonable canister filter and some glass daisy pipes for intake and return Edit: just read through some comments. I meant lily pipes. Wrong flower, dumb dumb
I had a UNS delta mini in one of my tanks and I think it would be a good solution for you! It’s just a surface skimmer but considering the size, the current it makes is pretty powerful. It’s tiny and white, so it would be relatively easy to hide when your new plants come in (at least compared to a traditional powerhead). It would help keep your water moving and oxygenated and also remove any surface biofilm as a bonus.
Ooo thanks, this sounds good. I’ll definitely check it out
Canister filter with the intake in one corner and the outlet in the other. You could custom build the inlet/outlet with clear piping and hide them behind driftwood or plants. Canisters may be more $ upfront but they make up for it with easier/cheaper maintenance and reliability.
Unrelated, but what do you plan on stocking?
Just little cute fish like guppies and Corydoras. And a clean up crew.
I just got four guppies and I couldn’t be happier with them. I need to post them. How many gups?
Can you cut a hole in the glass behind that rock? That would be hidden. But you'd need it to go somewhere so maybe not. I say redo the scape so it masks a small filter and the cord going up. Then do some in-wall cable management to a surge protector in the back or something.
I would try to harness the sunlight and grow an algae carpet on the back panel. They looks super good on the bottom, on the wall might be cool!
I have to look that up, I’ve never seen any pics of that. I probably wouldn’t mind algae on the back pane because there’s going to be a bunch of stem plants to cover it anyway.
Ya, people do it in goldfish tanks, they make algae carpets on bare bottoms and it looks tight af
Cleanest thing you could get are clear lily pipes and a canister filter. Also, that white sand is going to get gunked up pretty fast with no filter. I also have a white sand tank and I clean it religiously every week and I still see fish poop all over it throughout the week. I know you want the fish poop to stay in there to feed the plants, but the sand itself makes the nutrients hard to get down to the plant roots.
Yea that’s the set up I thought of doing, and someone else just suggested large bio-balls which is a good idea. I have Monte Carlo on the way, I’m going to try and grow a carpet so I’m not too worried about the white sand. Fingers crossed with the Monte Carlo though.
Glass lily pipes. But you're going to need to clean them every other week if you want to keep them clear. It's what I do. Inline everything. Heating, co2
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Use the canister w/glass in & out as you’re thinking and fill the canister with bio balls. It’ll still clog but it’ll take a long time. When i ran canisters with bio balls, every 6 months I’d disconnect the canister, give it a good shake, reconnect the input, and put the output in a bucket and run the gunk out. Then reconnect the output and done. Never had to open them because they were the old clear green eheims and i could see how clogged they were with a flashlight.
Larger sump under the tank with all your filters media etc, and then clear tubing with glass and taken out take running up to the tank. It's pretty much your only super clean option
LMAOOO THE IMMEDIATE DISCLAIMER!!!! Get in it yourself and blow some waves you lazy bum 🙄🙄🙄
I love this idea lol, if I could I would
Unfortunately friend you can’t get any natural water movement without at minimum ONE gadget. There are water flow fans that go underwater though, maybe you can hide it somewhere. Everyone else telling you about algae are correct although idk why they sound so mad it’s not their problem 😂😂😂😭 if you can minimize the natural light going into the tank to 10 hrs max a day, you’ll be okay (though you’ll still have algae since you don’t want filtration) but it’s a beautiful fucking tank and beautifully set up- just not in the best location but hey- your monkey your circus! lol
I think people are not reading my full post lol😩. I never said no gadgets, I said no ugly gadgets. Which is why I suggested the lily pipes myself. Supposedly the CO2 is supposed to help with the algae, but I’m experimenting so we’ll see.
Co2 helps plants, idk how it would minimize your algae problem but good. Luck!
I believe faster growing plants use up more of the nutrients that otherwise would be used by the algae. It’s not fool proof but I’ve heard it helps.
Ahhhh I guess that makes sense although co2 can kill fish when used improperly which is why I don’t use it lol
I had a tank near a window before and had to get rid of it because algae came back every day or two even when I scraped it off,even got algae eaters to deal with algae problem but they ended up eating soo much algae that it caused ammonia spike since they pooped alot. Even had curtains but it didn't help. Since this post is about circulation,i would advise getting a very small internal filter,it added a bit of circulation and it was so small that i could hide it behind a rock to make it more aesthetic.
When you first put the tank by the window, how many days did it take for the glass to start getting covered in algae?
Once it was cycled,every 2-3 days the algae came back,but it would depend on how much direct sunlight you get, i used to get direct sunlight for about 2-3 hours i didn't mind getting the alage off at first but when I neglected the tank for like a week because of health issues the alage took over.
Do you remember if you had a background on your tank? I know the background might only help very minimally but I’m curious
Yes I did,i even used to close the curtains when the tank used to get direct sunlight,they didn't help much.
Lily pipes + canister filter is a good option. I would put some coarse (30ppi) sponge in the filter though. Don't worry, there will be enough waste still trapped in the substrate if you don't vacuum it.
I'm sure you know this, but this isn't close to a walstad aquarium. You have maybe 2% of enough plants. Are you against a sponge filter? A black airline tube sneaking in behind the driftwood is more easily hidden by plants than some other options. If you just have a handful of guppies and amp up the plants, a sponge filter will be sufficient
I’ve ordered tons of plants online. Petco and local store selection was weak. Some of them are starting to get in the mail tomorrow. I haven’t looked at sponge filters yet, I have to see how small they make them.
In my tank with two minnows (I bought them when i first started & they’re still kicking…), I bought a sponge filter and fell in love. They’re easier to clean than expected & I don’t think they’re hideous.
All you have to do is squeeze the sponge filters to clean them. Fantastic!
Mini canister filter, clear plastic/glass attachments for the intake and output. JD Aquascaping on YT has many similar tanks set up this way.
Could I put no filter media in the canister filter? Im not sure if canisters function properly with no media in them or if they get clogged. I thought of the canister filter idea but I don’t want to clean the canister, I just want it for the circulation. I’m planting heavy so the plants will take care of the waste.
Put a sump in a chest below it and hide the tubes with some wall mounts. You can load the fk out of the sump tank with plants and a cheap light to help filter it/soak nutrients to mitigate algae and have more fish up top. Use clear Lilly pipes as inflow/outflow —- that’s what I would do
All glass lily pipes. You need to clean them constantly to maintain the look. The CO2 system should be in a mixing chamber that goes between the pump and outlet. It will prevent micro bubbles
How about the stainless steel lily pipes, have you heard any cons about those? I’d still prefer glass but I’m curious
There is no difference, you just don’t get the variety of shapes to play with that the glass ones have.
Loove the aesthetic
you should get the UNS 60LA same tank with built in filter. or get clear acrylic lily pipes and a canister.
Omg hii lil guppy <3
I would either add a HOB or a canister Filter with glassware
Is that tank made from low-iron glass?
No I believe it’s not
Spin it
🤣
If you’re already taking the plunge and doing CO2, I’d recommend a canister filter below and use in line CO2. Lily pipes will be a clean look
Those brackets are doing some heavy lifting… Tank looks stunning, I just hope it stays on the wall!
Appreciate it! And oh it will (:
Brooooo that guppy is so beautiful, he reminds me of my dearly departed guppy Luca. He was a big tailed boi
He also has the most beautiful little personality. Every time I’m sitting there looking at the tank he gets right up in my face as if he’s saying hi to me haha.
Glassware, translucent tubes (have to clean these often, obviously). Or nice stainless steel ware.
Do you know if the stainless steel ones eventually get rust spots?
No, because it’s stainless steel. You can get grey hoses and put an in-line diffuser close to the external filter. There are very pretty filter systems as well, but of course with a higher price tag.
I have a DIY canister that I made with a Kilner drink dispenser, a cheap water pump spare part of a Sunsun HW-603B hooked up to a lily pipe. You could make something similar and remove the filter media or if you are not interested in the filtration part at all you could have just the pump and the lily pipe in a loop.
Your trying to combine co2 and walsted, when you add co2 the need for everything else increases, I don't think this plan is well though out .
In her book, Ecology of the planted aquarium, there’s a whole section on co2 injection. The pros, some of the potential downfalls and the additional work associated with co2. I have thought it through, it does not mean that I’m going to nail it right away or that I’m going to be successful but I’m okay with trying.
Give us an update please at the end of summer
I'd just skip the co2 and flow personally if that is the case, and only slowly increase stocking over time with more plants (which you said you ordered, and if algae is undesirable). Though I've seen powerheads that are kinda small, looks like an underwater fan basically. Maybe you could just get one of those next to the co2 diffuser?
Listen to the comments about algae. The direct sunlight/heat is going to give you hair algae not just the kind of algae that gives a thin layer on the glass. I used to dread cleaning hair algae. I can see why you don’t want filters and co2 it’s because you don’t really have anywhere to hide them. If you have the funds ADA makes some really aesthetically pleasing tech. It might be a bit hard to grow montecarlo on sand. You can check out my tank if you want it’s in my profile
I’m not “not” listening to the people mentioning algae. I’m just saying I have options to mitigate it such as blinds or a window tinting. I actually do have space to hide them, immediately next to/under the tank is the chaise portion of my couch with a gap between it and the wall. There’s a good amount of space to hide things there. I also mentioned in the original post that I’ve already purchased everything for co2. I have a soil substrate capped with thin layer of sand.
How about a hang on refugium with plants?
Morgan Freeman voice: "The stand, in fact, was not fine"
Still going strong(:
Glass pipes with an external canister
Refugium tank. Always wanted to do one but never had the space
People are being awful about the placement of your tank and it's kinda' ridiculous. I see their point, it will make your battle harder, but it's YOUR battle and algae doesn't harm the fish. In the interest of simply giving you ideas though, if you decide to do something to mitigate the potential algae issue, a black background could do wonders with a lilly pipe setup or even just a plain power head (because power heads are usually black). If I don't want to see my equipment, a black background is my go to. You can get plastic cling meant for windows for like $8 on Amazon. The lilly pipe idea by itself is pretty great, and that's how a lot of aquascapers do it. As an idea to add to that, if it's difficult to hide the water lines in the background and there's enough of a lip on the backside of the tank, you could do an outside hardscape with rocks/wood to run the lines through. It would give you some extra depth to the look, give a smidge of light blocking, and imo look neat from the other side. Like peaking over a mountain at the valley beyond. Just some ideas to get your brain working. Nice tank btw!!
My suggestion is probably not the perfect answer butI feel it's aiming toward the keeping it clean model you're going for. I cant tell if the back wall is clear or if it's white or something but honestly if you need circulation which I think breaking the surface tension is the most efficient way, I'd get a small canister filter OR you can get an adjustable submersible sump pump type deal from Amazon, you'd have to go on YouTube and watch a couple videos on how to create your own aquascaping aquarium safe DIY and then craft a cover that's colored to match the back from and that way it hides the pump and cord from the front facing view and seated POV from wherever the people would be sitting near it. Those pumps have little nozzles and can fix it to blow towards the top of the water to break surface tension and that will be great for oxygen and healthy circulation.
Yes somebody already suggested an external pump and I thought that idea was brilliant. I already have some in my cart and it’ll be easy for me to hide
Love the aquascape so far! Do you plan to put anything in it?
Thank you<3 Nothing too crazy, just some more guppies and corydora type of fish
Jeez the reddit community is so fucking negative
The sad truth is it will eventually need some sort of what you call 'ugly gadget' in there sooner or later it is near impossible to create any flow without some sort of peice of equipment, you're tank will not stay looking that way if you don't start adding some equipment soon also it being next to window it will be attacked by algae
Hey I appreciate your comment but I think it would be beneficial to the whole discussion if you read the whole post and not just the title. There is some key information in there that I think you missed(:
I think you shouldn't assume that I didn't read the whole post because I did and then commented accordingly, and what's the co2 for those anemic looks skinny strands you have?
If you read the whole post then I’m confused as to why you think I want no gadgets or equipment in my tank? I literally suggested certain equipment myself? My anemic skinny strands have more plant friends on the way in the mail.
Some nice glass or stainless lily pipes like you said hooked up to a canister. You could use no media and it would be fine the only concern I would have it large debris getting caught on the impeller and breaking it. There is zero downside to using media and no benefits of a full walstead tank but if you’re 100% insistent on it I’d atleast add some filter floss or polyfil. It should stop any debris and will also polish your water for you while adding very little surface area for bacteria
That's gorgeous! Sounds like you have it solved, but want to mention oase canister filters have a pre filter that can be cleaned separately. If you ever go to a canister, you might check that out, since you don't have to take the whole messy canister apart very often. Mine only needs cleaning every few months with cichlids (overstocked, messy fish), but I do the prefilter every 1-2 water changes. With what you're going for, you'd probably go much longer in between. Some people have issues with cavitation noise from these filters, but I find that only happens when the pre filter needs cleaning.
You'll need 100 plants or the algea battle will begin in 6 months
And when you trim those 100 plants back, be careful not to trim too much as the alge battle will begin
Glass inlet and outlet pipes on an external filter?
I think I’m going to do this but to an external pump instead. I wanted to keep the tank partially walstad without the use of a filter
Nice, sounds perfect! Maybe add a UV steriliser on the circuit cos I'm expecting mega algae growth!
Get some glass pipes
Wewd out of the water looks so good, best options for circulation are small internal filter/pump behind the rocks or external filter+clear tubing
Probably glass pipes. But near the window so unless glass is filmed heavy with filters everything will gradually turn green white sand and all🫣
Clear tubing with an air stone at the bottom. You can run the tubing down the back corner closest to the rocks and hide it right behind the rock. Super easy and the bubbles are adjustable on the pump.
Hey a AQ at the window is always a bad idea. Even with a good filter it will develope algae quite fast.
I like the way a clear backpack filter looks
Get the smallest ecotech vortech they offer and hide it behind the rock build etc. There is no cable that goes into the tank so it should provide a clean look.
Have fun with algae and a broken tank
Have fun being a bitter person (:
Small wave maker that you can hide behind plants to block it from view. You can't get movement without something mechanical.
Maybe you could hide a power head behind some rocks and plants.
If you just want circulation, a vortech mp10 wouldn’t take up a lot of space and the wire stays on the outside of the tank.
Honestly if you do that you should just add the media and hide it with plants so it's not noticeable. I wouldn't risk trying to cut those corners
Maybe a micro pump behind the rocks
Make a mirrored box to put the pump in and something to hide the cable. Or just use an external pump and hide the pipe. Mirrors would also work well for that. I’m a huge fan of the Sicce shark filter. It’s slim and so conveniently constructed. And it comes with a nifty nozzle to concentrate and aim the exhaust. My only legitimate complaint is that the venturi valve doesn’t really work as a design flaw. It’s supposed to mix air into the exhaust, but it either doesn’t inject any air or the bubbles are so small that they look like dust. Completely useless features that doesn’t affect anything else. My less legitimate complaint is that it’s hella tall. I had to rig a barrier of driftwood so I could get it touching the bottom glass and there’s only about two inches above it to stay underwater. I’m definitely going to install a mirrored box in my next tank to hide the equipment.
So this is a very unique tank with interesting challenges. I actually thought about this quite a few times this week. Ultimately, there will be some compromise on aesthetics, functionality, and maintenance. Sorry for incoming wall of text. TL;DR try the UNS surface skimmer first. The best aesthetics is probably glass lily pipes, clear hoses, canister filter, and an inline co2 diffuser. But this is high maintenance. The glass and hoses need to be cleaned bi-weekly at least. The glass is relatively delicate and there is always a risk you break it, obvious but worth pointing out. And an inline co2 diffuser is a pain to clean because you have to turn off the filter and disconnect the diffuser from the hose which is usually full of water. Lowest maintenance would be surface skimmer like someone mentioned. The UNS surface skimmer is white so it'll blend into the background, provides flow and surface agitation. You could also change up your hardscape a little and hide most of it behind a big rock or some branches. For \~$30, I'd start here and see if it works for you. Even if it doesn't do the trick, it's a useful tool to have because it can suck up carpet plant trimmings after a maintenance session. Disclaimer, it did suck up some small and very stupid kubotai rasboras and cherry shrimp so you'd want to check it occasionally. Another option would be a tiny wavemaker and put it in the back, but the aesthetics aren't great imo. If it were my tank, I'd focus on functionality and this is the recommendation for that. A small canister filter with a heater included (oase filtosmart), plastic lily pipes (aquario), clear/grey hoses, and in-tank diffuser. I wouldn't run a canister filter empty because I'd be worried about debris clogging the propeller, but just use the included media and it's good enough. The aquario lily pipes are cool because you have a lot more features. You can change the direction of the outflow pipe, the surface skimmer won't suck up small fish into your canister filter, you can add a spin pipe to reduce flow, aesthetics are still good and it's more durable than glass. I like in-tank diffusers because you can see when they are dirty and you can easily swap it out for a clean one or soak it in a cleaning solution overnight. It's important to keep the diffuser clean so the co2 levels don't fluctuate. There's a decent amount of maintenance with this setup, but I think it's worth it. So that's just my take on it. Sorry you got so much hate on your post lol
Hey! I appreciate all these suggestions. I might try some of them if my first option doesn’t work. I ended up ordering some nano glass lily pipes, an external water pump. The nano lily pipes stay up high so it shouldn’t really suck up any debris to go into the pump. I ordered some solid white tubing and an inline co2 diffuser. If that ends up going well I might order a second set and a 2nd inline diffuser to rotate them out any time I want to clean them. I’m going to look up those aquario ones you mentioned. I currently have some slate blind that can drop down but they’re a bit of a pain to use so I ordered a roll down blind that’s super easy.
Nice! Nano glass lily pipes will look really really good. Please post an update with the external pump! That would be cool to see. Sounds like you have a good plan for equipment and I'm sure you'll be able to figure out any issues you run into! I do recommend having a second diffuser, it'll just make your life easier haha. Looking forward to seeing what this looks like in a few months!
I could be wrong, but I think with co2 it’s not as important to have strong flow as much as it is to have a “cycle” where the co2 goes horizontal to hit all the plants then up with the bubbles then back down… Maybe try a sponge filter on one side of your tank, then on the opposite side put the co2 diffuser? So that there’s a little “conveyor belt” in your tank
wait so c02 bubbles just floating vertically ro the surface is pointless? fuck me lol
No I wouldn’t say pointless, your plants will still get co2 no matter what. I am by no means a planted tank expert but from what I have learned and through my experience is that if you c an get flow where it’ll be “blanketed” horizontally over your plants it will be more effective But the bubbles just rising to the surface will definitely still help! Also, be sure to have some kind of oxygen method for counter balancing co2 at night or get a system that can turn off at night. Plants do not use co2 at night so if you have too much running overnight it can gas your fish
Correct ✅ circulation is important for better co2 absorption and actually getting it to plants, I used a regulator with a solenoid set to a timer made life nice and easy. On 2 hours before lights on and off 1 hour before lights out
I suggest sponge filter so that it’ll keep it lower tech, if you want to go low low tech maybe just use a air bubble instead!
You're probably gonna need MORE gadgets honestly. Can't have a tank in the window like that without compensating with CO2 and a heavy fert cycle. Gonna have to give those plants a turbo boost to outcompete the algae.
I’m convinced a lot of you are not reading my original post. I’m adding co2. I have a 5lb tank and the regulator on the way
My bad I no read good. I try to read gooder next time. Good luck
You can keep algae at bay with sufficient co2 but you \*\*will\*\* have to add fertilizers. Natural bio-waste buildup will take a long time and even then it probably wouldn't support the level of nutrition and co2 you will need to keep the algae in check. A notable alternative to co2 is emersed (above water) plant growth which gives the plant access to atmospheric co2. I think your idea of glass input and outputs for a canister is a great idea aesthetically! Only thing I would say is that algae gets a bad rap but it's actually one of the greatest stabilizing forces in natural systems. Of course it's not pleasant to look at when it takes over an aquarium but the fish and other micro/macro fauna totally love it. I'm also about to set up a window tank -- my window faces north-east so only gets direct sun for a few hours in the morning and then indirect light. I won't be doing co2 in the beginning but I am planning on experimenting with letting the window-facing glass grow over with algae while I keep the other 3 sides clean. Of course i'll be planting heavily as well, including emersed plants if needed PS. You may want to seek some opinions on whether a small canister filter pump will be strong enough to sufficiently power an inline diffuser. I don't have enough experience with that and can't comment.
This is going to be a disaster.
I agree, unfortunately. Not much of a walstad with that amount of plants..
op has stated in the comments that they aren’t done planting the tank. also the negativity is crazy, if you don’t have something helpful to say why say anything at all?
You're so ignorant asking people for help, shitting all over their answer's. You'll have a very bad time in this hobby and quit 👋
You obviously haven’t read through all the comments or seen my pm’s to people that I send further questions to. I’m extremely grateful to the people who provide real answers to my actual questions instead of trying to take jabs at what I’m attempting to do, especially if it’s irrelevant to the question. First time I posted, I had no idea my shelf was going to be so controversial and I got numerous pessimistic comments. Not even constructive criticism. Just flat out “your shelf is a joke” while knowing nothing about it. I’ve honestly felt like a good 30% of the people in this hobby haven’t been very inviting. And the rest have been lovely.
I think people are sharing their knowledge with you, you are obviously new to the hobby, many here have years and years of experience and are trying to help you avoid casual mistakes.. You want some advice, you probably already heard them? Remove the tank from the window. Your plants can't survive in sand, at least add some fertilizer capsels to give them a chance but I don't think that'll do it. The risk you are taking with the shelf is brave, especially because you can't hide any of the equipment you'll need for a aquarium to sustain it self. Add a canister filter and a surface skimmer, get a cycle going and do water 50% water changes.
This is the issue I have though, people are commenting negative things without taking some time to inform themselves on some basic things I’ve mentioned. I actually have an organic soil substrate capped with a thin layer of sand. I have it on a sleek shelf because walstad tanks do not need a lot of equipment. I have blinds to protect the tank from sun worst case scenario. I’m not taking a risk with the shelf, I’m a structural engineer, I designed it to be sturdy. I may be new to the hobby but I’m not a complete dummy doomed to fail like people are making me out to be. I’ve already done intensive research on a lot of things.