# Ecology of the planted aquarium



## Fishmommy3 (Jan 9, 2017)

Hi everyone
I'm searching for the book by Diana walstad Ecology of the planted Aquarium but it's not available in hard cover and amazon has it listed for $60+. Anyone see it cheaper? I'd prefer to have a hard copy and not an ebook.


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## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

Gotta admit it's a pretty tough read, extremely dry and technical. If you finish it you deserve some sort of award!


If that's your thing, great, good luck, but I'm sure there are more 'eye level' books out there.


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## Fishmommy3 (Jan 9, 2017)

Yeah I heard it was dry. I really want to try to create an ecosystem in my new tank that doesn't require much maintenance. Would you know of any other books that can give me the same results?


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

I was able to find a wealth of information by just google searching 'walstad method' - but i know some people just like their books = )

Most hobbyists have tanks that convert the ammonia to nitrites but nitrates is something they are stuck with.. The only way to remove nitrates is water changes (or some chemical media's)

The Walstad method shows that with enough plants, the plants will remove the nitrates for you... so with a heavily planted tank you no longer have to do water changes to remove nitrates (although you might want to do them for other beneficial reasons) - Your need for WC is drastically reduced

Doing all the reading brought me to aquaponics... which is basically growing vegetables by using fish tank water. In these systems they NEVER do water changes and keep big fish (like tilapia and trout) alive until its time to eat them.


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## Fishmommy3 (Jan 9, 2017)

Thanks Kelli.
I'll search the walstad method first and work from there.


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