Dy Start Method or not?

[happydanio123]

Hi all! I'm thinking on starting another aquarium but I don't know whether or not to utilize the famous "dry-start" method that many fishkeepers use to scape their aquarium. I've been doing a lot of research lately on this "Dry-Start" method and I've found out that this method works great on Carpet plants like HG, HC and Monte Carlo. However, I have a few questions to ask any "Dry-Start" Shifus that are used to using this method since this is the first time I'm trying out this method:

1) What is the chances of algae growing since theoratically the substrate is still moist and Algae can still grow on the damp soil.
2) How much lighting is needed for Dry Start method?
3) Will the presence of mould affect this method?
4) How long must one resist the urge to flood the tank after starting on this dry start method?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I would love to hear anything from those with experience!

happydanio123

[Urban Aquaria]

1) Ideally, the soil should not be water logged or submerged at all (that's the biggest mistake that occurs in most DSM setups)... it should just be slightly damp like the soil in potted house plants. It's also okay for the top layer of soil to dry abit between mistings too, especially once the plants grow longer roots into the substrate. Water from lower layers will wick up to them.

Because the soil is not constantly submerged in water during DSM, it dries to varying degrees between mistings, so algae can't establish and grow properly in that type of environment.

2) With full access to Co2 direct from the air, that parameter is no longer a limiting factor, so to take advantage of it, a good 12-14 hours of light photoperiod will help to boost plant photosynthesis and growth. Do make sure there are ample nutrients in the soil to support fast growth too. You can experiment with even longer photoperiods, though results may vary.

3) Fungus and mold can affect certain DSM setups, especially those which rely on totally covering the tank to retain high humidity conditions (less mistings required). Stagnant environments + high humidity levels tend to favour fungus and mold growth. If that happens then try to open the setup and improve air circulation though it regularly... or just switch to non-covered method and lightly mist the soil on a scheduled basis (more regular mistings required).

4) When you flood the tank will depend on whether you feel that the plants have grown out and carpeted enough. Best is when the plants have grown strong roots and lots of new healthy leaves. Setups that add a high density of plants from the start will naturally carpet faster, while other setups that only add a few sparse bits plants will take a much longer time to fill in.

Either way you can choose to flood it earlier or later, just depends on how established you want the plants to be when they are submerged.

[genki89]

Sorry to hijack.
The usual practice whenever u purchase new plants, it must be quarantine.
As u need to soak the plants from emerge form to submerge, some of the plats will rot due to transition (experience it before).
Then again after about 1 to 2 weeks of quarantine, u go back to dsm which will further degrade the remaining surviving good stem/leafs.

How do u quarantine plus dsm the newly bought plant?


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[Urban Aquaria]

Sorry to hijack.
The usual practice whenever u purchase new plants, it must be quarantine.
As u need to soak the plants from emerge form to submerge, some of the plats will rot due to transition (experience it before).
Then again after about 1 to 2 weeks of quarantine, u go back to dsm which will further degrade the remaining surviving good stem/leafs.

How do u quarantine plus dsm the newly bought plant?

Thats just the risk you have to take when buying plants from LFS... how long you treat and quarantine will depend on how "clean" the sources of plants are. You have to physically check the plants before purchase (not all LFS plants are same quality), its like buying fruits and vegetables at the market.

Usually for most plants, its best to treat with anti-pest and anti-algae treatments for a day or two, that shouldn't affect hardy plants too much. Extended quarantine periods will depend on how careful you are, if you are confident the plants are clean enough, can proceed to use. Plant deteriorating due to transition is a normal process, some are just more greatly affect than others. You always have to factor in the attrition rate, if conditions are good they will recover and grow again anyways.

For emersed carpet plants like HC or MC, you could also just quarantine them in a tank or container of shallow water for observation, no need to totally submerge them. That will help maintain their emersed form and reduce the sudden stress effects of transition.

For delicate plants, there will always be more issues with deterioration but then again its all about your source of plants. If the source is full of pests and algae, sometimes its better just to not buy those, no matter how cheap. The time and effort to clean, treat and quarantine them may not be worth it, and in the end you might only have a few surviving plants left.

With all that being said... if you don't want to go through all the hassle of those treatment and quarantine processes (and experience the higher losses in plant density), just spend more and buy the tissue-cultured plants from brands like Tropica, Dennerle, HortiLab etc. Those are lab cultured healthy young plants, able to transition fast, guaranteed pest and algae free, no need to treat or quarantine, can use immediately without issues.

[happydanio123]

Thanks for all your input! However, I've heard that dry-start method exposes the emersed plants to extremely high levels of CO2 and thus when the plant is immersed, CO2 needs to be flooded in order to prevent the plants from melting. Is this true? And if so, what is the amount of CO2 we need to dose in order to kickstart the tank? Thanks in advance for any advice rendered!

[Urban Aquaria]

Well, while the plants are exposed to ambient Co2 in the air... its no different from when the plants were grown emersed at the plant farms, in a sense, they were already growing there via DSM all along anyways. DSM in a tank is just a continuation of emersed growth for them.

When the tank is flooded, the plants go through the same transition process from emersed to submersed, same like when you buy plants from LFS and put then directly underwater in a tank. The difference here is the plants that have gone through DSM in the tank have already grown extensive roots into the soil and increased in density, so they are much stronger and more established, hence can adapt faster, compared to newly bought emersed plants from LFS.

Co2 injection will definitely help the plants transition even faster, so if you are running a high tech tank, it's okay to crank up the Co2 injection bps to a level that makes the drop checker turn yellow color (for how many bps you just have to adjust and see, there is no fixed value), that ensures that the plants get ample supply of Co2 during the transition and cycling period (later the bps is adjusted lower to safe levels before livestock are added). This is the same process for any high-tech planted tank start up anyways, whether from DSM or not.

If you run a low tech tank, then just expect to see a longer emersed to submersed transition period after DSM, but since the plants are already established during DSM, they will usually suffer from less melting and recover faster.