Glass Box Diaries

This is my filterless guppy and cherry shrimp tank, which is 625 days old as of today. It’s set up using the Walstad Method, with a thin layer of topsoil capped by fine gravel as the substrate.

The plants handle the vast majority of the filtration, and even after recently removing all of the duckweed from the surface, the water parameters have remained safe and stable, with no signs of toxin spikes.

My yellow cobra guppy and two blue lyretail Endler guppies are all doing well, although I haven’t seen my dark blue guppy for about a week. That said, I’m not convinced he’s definitely passed away—he’s disappeared into the plant cover before, only to resurface days later at feeding time after quietly helping himself to shrimp food.

The tank is heated to 22°C, or 72°F, which is slightly cooler than the ambient temperatures it experiences during the summer months. Even so, the shrimp have adapted well. While there are still a few females carrying eggs, breeding activity has definitely slowed over the past month or so.

Overall, the plants are doing well, but I want to briefly touch on the Rotala, as it’s been showing a potential issue for several months. I recently received a comment asking whether the smaller leaves might be due to a lack of CO₂, but I believe it’s more likely related to the age of the stem plant itself. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the leaves become progressively smaller on new stems that grow after trimming.

This wasn’t an issue during the tank’s first year, but it’s become increasingly noticeable over the last couple of months.

Aquascapers often reference Takashi Amano, who suggested trimming stem plants around seven times before removing them and replanting the healthiest tops. I’m not sure if that guideline exists for this exact reason, but the new stems in this tank are significantly smaller than they used to be—and the Rotala rotundifolia here has been trimmed far more than seven times, as the tank is now approaching two years old.

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #plantedtank #plantedaquarium #walstad

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2 days ago | [YT] | 542

Glass Box Diaries

This is my 25-litre (6.6 US gallon) budget-friendly, filterless and heaterless pearlweed jungle tank, and it officially turned 600 days old today.

The tank uses a simple dirt substrate capped with sand and is lit by an entry-level Seaoura SR616 light. Everything you see here was grown from a single pot of pearlweed, keeping the setup as affordable as possible.

Even in winter, with water temperatures sitting around 18 °C (64 °F), the pearlweed grows fast enough to naturally purify the water, keeping my Bloody Mary Neocaridina shrimp colony safe and healthy.

I recently moved the two Medaka rice fish that were in this tank to my larger 45-litre (12 US gallon) mixed Medaka setup. Once my local aquatic shop has them back in stock, I plan to restock this tank with orange Medaka only.

For now, the tank is home exclusively to my Bloody Mary shrimp colony, and despite recently moving eight shrimp to my shrimp bowl, the colony is thriving—you’d never notice the difference.

I know some people believe Neocaridina shrimp require tropical water temperatures, but this is now my third winter keeping multiple colonies at room temperature with no issues at all.

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #plantedtank #plantedaquarium #aquariumplants #aquaticplants #walstad

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5 days ago | [YT] | 651

Glass Box Diaries

Throwback to one of my old guppy tanks. I’ve recently become aware that a South African guppy breeder has been using photos of this tank to advertise and sell their own guppies.

Since they aren’t using photos of their actual fish, I can only assume their guppies look nothing like this—so if you’re in that area, don’t expect anything resembling these fish from that seller.

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #guppy #guppies #guppyfish

1 week ago | [YT] | 257

Glass Box Diaries

With so many people asking whether I have a Discord server, I decided to finally set one up as a place for the community to hang out and interact with each other.

Here’s the join link: glassboxdiaries.com/discord

I’m new to Discord and haven’t used it much before, so this will definitely be a learning experience.

Everything should be set up correctly, but there may be a few early teething issues along the way!

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #plantedtanks #plantedaquariums #aquaticplants #aquariumplants

1 week ago | [YT] | 169

Glass Box Diaries

Here’s a quick update on my room-temperature golden white cloud mountain minnow tank as we head into winter, with the water temperature now down to around 18 °C (64 °F).

At this temperature, all of the fish, shrimp, and snails are doing just fine. This is the second winter for this setup, so I’m not worried about the livestock. What I am interested in, though, is how the plants continue to perform.

So far, water parameters have remained safe and stable, which tells me the microorganism colonies in both the tank and the filter are handling the temperature drop without issue. Over the coming months, however, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the plants. As temperatures fall, dormancy can begin, enzyme production can slow, and some plants may start to show nutrient deficiencies — but only time will tell.

It’s also worth noting that white cloud mountain minnows are a temperate species and actually prefer these cooler conditions compared to the warmer temperatures this tank reaches in summer. As a result, their activity levels have noticeably increased as things have cooled down.

Both Neocaridina and Amano shrimp also tolerate temperate temperatures well, but last winter I noticed that Neocaridina breeding slowed significantly in my room-temperature tanks, and I’m expecting a similar trend this year. Meanwhile, the pink ramshorn snail population is starting to pick up again, and I’ll be removing some of them over the next few weeks.

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #plantedtank #plantedaquarium #aquariumplants #aquaticplants

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 568

Glass Box Diaries

Here’s a quick 5-month update on my self-cleaning planted aquarium! 🌿🐟 This tank has become one of the lowest-maintenance setups I’ve ever run. The plants, shrimp, snails, and natural microorganisms all work together to handle the majority of the maintenance tasks for me. That’s the beauty of a well-balanced, semi-Walstad-style system—nature really does the heavy lifting when you set things up right.

My Celestial Pearl Danios are thriving, and they’re definitely breeding because I keep spotting juveniles that I never added! It’s always exciting seeing a tank become self-sustaining like this. I’ve been debating adding more fish soon, but I still can’t settle on a species. Maybe another schooling fish, or something unique that fits the vibe of this setup.

The Helanthium tenellum carpet is growing a lot slower than I expected, mostly because my floating plants have been blocking out a ton of light. I’ll be removing most of the floaters soon so the carpet can finally fill in. My Ludwigia has been dropping some lower leaves, but that’s normal for this plant, especially in lower-light spots. I’ll be trimming and replanting the healthy tops this month to keep it looking full and vibrant.

I also added several houseplants—Peace Lily, Fittonia, Monstera, Arrowhead, and Polka Dot Plant—to grow aquaponically along the rim. Their roots hang into the water and help absorb nutrients, giving the tank an extra natural filtration boost. The shrimp colony is thriving too, though I need to track down some male orange neocaridina because I’m pretty sure my entire colony is female and I’d love to get them breeding.

The hair algae bloom is finally under control after lowering the light and letting the floaters soak up excess nutrients. Water parameters are perfect as well: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and very low nitrate. This tank is truly settling into a stable, self-sustaining ecosystem. 🌱✨

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #plantedtank #plantedaquarium #walstad #walstadmethod

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4 weeks ago | [YT] | 458

Glass Box Diaries

Here’s a quick update on my filterless jungle betta tank, which is now approaching 300 days old.

Marmalade, my betta, is still doing great after recovering from dropsy a couple of months ago, though she did give me a bit of a scare last week.

She barely touched her food for about three days, and I was worried the dropsy might be returning.

Looking back, I probably panicked over nothing—she eats plenty of the shrimp food in this tank, so she was likely filling up on that when I wasn’t watching.

Thankfully, she’s back to normal now and happily eating whatever I offer.

The plants in this tank are thriving, and I’m especially happy with how the Eleocharis carpet is filling in.

Since this is a filterless setup, the Limnophila sessiliflora and Amazon frogbit handle most of the natural filtration, and both are growing beautifully.

The yellow neocaridina shrimp colony is also doing great.

There’s another batch of babies in the tank, so I’d estimate there are at least 40 shrimp in here now.

The pink ramshorn snails are doing well too, but since the betta and shrimp eat most of the food, the snails haven’t had a chance to explode in number—thankfully!

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #betta #bettafish #bettatank #bettafishtank #plantedtank #plantedaquarium

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1 month ago | [YT] | 484

Glass Box Diaries

Quick update on my 40-gallon planted community tank! 🌿🐠

It’s been a month of changes — I sadly lost my two honey gourami and a pair of corydoras. They were some of my oldest fish, and they passed before any equipment changes, but things have stayed stable since with no more losses.

I also downsized from a Fluval FX2 to an AllPondSolutions HOB500, and even with the smaller filter my parameters have stayed safe and steady.

On the brighter side, my Skittles neocaridina shrimp colony is booming, and most of the babies are coming out red ❤️.

The horned nerite snails have settled in great and wiped out the last of the green spot algae on my anubias.

Plus, after adding more potassium-rich foods like mulberry leaf, dandelion leaf, and blanched spinach, my java fern has finally bounced back — the healthiest it’s looked in months! ✨🌱

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #plantedtank #plantedaquarium #communitytank

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1 month ago | [YT] | 324

Glass Box Diaries

It brings me great sadness to discover that Jacob Thompson, of the Thompson Aquatics channel, has unfortunately passed away.

Jacob was one of the most knowledgeable creators in the aquarium hobby. He consistently backed his content with solid research, always striving to give his followers the best advice possible.

He also made a genuine effort to reply to as many comments as he could, helping countless people troubleshoot their aquarium problems and learn more about the hobby he loved.

Losing Jacob is a huge loss for the aquarium community, and he will be deeply missed.

Here is the TikTok post from Jacob’s mother confirming his passing and sharing details about the memorial:
www.tiktok.com/@thompsonaquatics/video/75756225501…

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1 month ago | [YT] | 130

Glass Box Diaries

Japanese Medaka rice fish are one of the most fascinating and beginner-friendly species you can keep. 🐠

Read the full care guide here: glassboxdiaries.com/medaka-rice-fish-care/
🌿

These peaceful fish thrive in a wide range of environments — from indoor aquariums to outdoor summer tubs.

They’re incredibly hardy, can live without a heater, and show stunning colors in every season.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to set up their ideal tank, the best foods for health and color, and simple breeding tips.

If you want a low-maintenance, active, and rewarding fish species, Medaka rice fish are a perfect choice for your aquarium.

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #medaka #ricefish #nanofish

1 month ago | [YT] | 343