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Save the excel for when you flood the tank,
HC shoundt need any fertilizer if the fertil soil is a good one
Well, Excel is mainly designed to provide an alternative carbon source for plants, but in a DSM the plants already have full access to all the Co2 they want direct from the air, so its not necessary to supply them with Excel during this period of time.Originally Posted by itsnotsobad
Do note that Excel can melt plants if not diluted enough, so make sure its diluted to recommended dosage accordingly to avoid any issues.
Save the excel for when you flood the tank,
HC shoundt need any fertilizer if the fertil soil is a good one
Ah, thanks for the advices!
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Excel is liquid carbon and not a fertilizer.
Inspired by AmanoLimited by Yusof Ishak
Hi UA, had to dig up this thread.
You mentioned your HC was able to survive and grow without CO2 with the siesta period of your lighting?
I am just starting DSM and would be really glad that if I can grow it without CO2.
You can refer to my tank journal to see how the scape developed after flooding (including some additional pointers on issues that i encountered):
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...cape-quot-Tank!
Do note that although the HC was able to still sustain growth using the siesta regimen for the lighting after being flooded, the growth rate when submerged without Co2 injection is very slow. As the plant growth is slow, your main challenge will be to keep everything constantly in balance to maintain growth but yet prevent algae taking over.
Hi UA, I'm planning to start a HC DSM method as well and would need your advice about the lighting system. I am currently using the odyssea lights with:
3 T5 tubes, 39 watts each, 6500k daylight. 3ft tank.
Are the lights sufficient to do a DSM?
Would the lights be sufficient when I eventually flood my tank to grow other plants?
Your lights should be fine for the DSM stage, only thing to watch out for is not to seal the tank completely (let fresh cooler air circulate in the tank), as the heat output from T5 lights can be very hot and create very high temperatures in the tank if it was covered. Best if the tank is not sealed or covered at all, just lightly mist the plants regularly with a spray bottle to keep them hydrated.
After the tank is flooded, the lights should still be sufficient to maintain and grow the HC further, but whether its too much or too little will depend on whether you are using Co2 injection and additional fertilizer dosing, you'll need to keep everything balanced during that post-flooded stage.
Hi UA, thanks for your input. I will be having co2 injection after flooding. I heard that for for the first initial months from using ADA soil, we do not start with fertilizer dosing. Is that true?
Co2 injection will definitely help alot, it lifts most of the limitations when growing HC carpets, makes maintaining its growth way easier.
ADA amazonia aquasoil does have sufficient nutrients for the initial few months of plant growth, but do note that the DSM period also counts in this period, so after you flood it, a portion of the nutrients would also have been used up. After flooding, it would be recommended to dose K and micro/trace ferts (which tend to be quickly depleted) to further support the plant growth.
Btw, since you have Co2 injection, maybe just consider starting the tank already filled and plant the HC submerged. Just crank up the Co2 injection and grow the HC carpet and other plants while the tank cycles. Once the tank is fully cycled and stable, and your plants all grow out nicely, then you can introduce the fishes and shrimps.
So you would recommend to grow submerse instead with co2 injection? Can you recommend a fertilizer as well for the plants and hc?
Yeah, with pressurized Co2 injection, you can crank up the Co2 during the initial grow out period so it doesn't become a limitation anymore.
The benefit of growing HC submerged is that your filter will also be able to operate and cycle the tank at the same time, and you can also grow out your other plants too.
If you are using brand new ADA amazonia aquasoil, it will already contain a rich nutrient content so for the first few months, you'll usually just need to dose potassium (K) and micro/trace ferts to support the plant growth and avoid deficiencies (those nutrients are the ones which get depleted quickly).
For my own planted tanks with active bio-loads, i currently use Tropica Premium ferts (contains K and micro/trace, but no N & P) and it works well... though for older planted tanks with very low or no bio-load, i use Tropica Specialized ferts instead to supplement the plants with the additional nitrogen and phosphorus content.
just curious , what is a good time frame for HC DSM before flooding? My HC DSM is like coming to 6 weeks and there are growth as well some brownings..
It depends on the soil and light setup, and the amount of HC being planted initially counts too... but generally once most of the HC has grown new leaves and established roots securely into the soil, it can be flooded.
I'd estimate with a dense enough amount of HC initially planted, like at least around 70-80% of the intended carpet area planted from the start, along with good soil substrate and ample lights, it'll usually take around 4-6 weeks for the HC to establish and carpet well enough to be flooded.
Though i've also seen some chaps start with just tiny patches of HC and actually wait like 7-8 months for it to slowly grow into a full carpet before flooding... i must say that really requires the ultimate skill in patience.
Thanks for the advice bro. Looks like I will be growing my plants submerge instead. Now ti think of a nice background plant for my scape.
wow.. 7~8 months really needs lots of patience...It depends on the soil and light setup, and the amount of HC being planted initially counts too... but generally once most of the HC has grown new leaves and established roots securely into the soil, it can be flooded.
I'd estimate with a dense enough amount of HC initially planted, like at least around 70-80% of the intended carpet area planted from the start, along with good soil substrate and ample lights, it'll usually take around 4-6 weeks for the HC to establish and carpet well enough to be flooded.
Though i've also seen some chaps start with just tiny patches of HC and actually wait like 7-8 months for it to slowly grow into a full carpet before flooding... i must say that really requires the ultimate skill in patience.
Did any one try DSM with Monte Carlo? I had filled up my tank recently and MC leaves seems started to melt even with plenty of pressurize CO2 injection.
Is it a normal for MC from emerge to submerge? My UG seems doing well on it until now.
I actually have Monte Carlo growing emersed around house plants in outdoor containers, its quite an easy plant when grown this way.
I guess most Monte Carlo from LFS are grown emersed too, so there is a transition period for them to adapt to submersed growth. Ample Co2 injection should help in the transition process, the older emersed growth will usually melt and then newer submersed growth will gradually replace them.
Thanks for the info. I got the MC from emersed form and doing DSM for about 4 weeks time. This is my first time to plant MC and wonder it need more transition period from emersed to submersed. Hopefully it grow well after a while.
Hi Urban Aquaria, recently just started the DSM with HC on my nano tank 13L, exact same setup as yourself with ADA Amazonia Powder Substrate and Pro Z LED with no coverage. Natural Air and Misting a few times per day with 14 hours light period. It has been almost a week liao and I can see that the HC has browning (not completely) but at the same time, there are runners as well.
Question is, is there such thing is misting too much? I did not flood/pond the substrate but mist it like with 10 squeezes from the bottle so that the top soil is very wet.
Is the HC browning common and to wait for the new growth as suggested in your blog?
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