luckyjim
Member
- Joined
- 26 Jan 2015
- Messages
- 156
Hi,
I've been searching the net for an answer to this question and I have tried searching this forum, but I haven't found an answer that fills me with confidence yet! I am hoping you guys can help.
I am starting up (what will end up as) a mid-tech nano aquarium and I've decided to go for a dry start to see if I can at least partly establish a carpet.
My question largely concerns the substrate I have on hand (eco complete) but I would be grateful for any other words of advice. Full specs to follow.
My understanding is that eco complete (new out of the bag) is inert. It does not actually have any source of nitrogen (i.e. ammonia, nitrates, etc) although it does contain necessary micronutrients. Given I want to dry start (i.e. no fish waste), what is my best option to "fertilise" the eco complete so the carpet plants actually have macro-nutrients to feed on whilst growing in?
I have plants arriving tomorrow so am in a bit of a panic as to what to do! I've bought 20 osmocote root tabs on ebay which should be arriving tomorrow. Other than that, my options seem to be:
1) When moistening the substrate prior to putting the plans in, use some water from the tank I'm already running (little planted nano that is currently cycling). I'm skeptical as to whether this will last the 6 - 8 weeks I plan for the dry start though.
2) Add a thin layer of compost under the eco complete. I'd really rather avoid this as I'd prefer not to have a "dirty" tank.
3) Dose the eco-complete with KNO3 in powder form.
Tank specs:
Tank: eheim aquastyle 35 litres
Lighting: eheim LED (3100 lux, 6.500 Kelvin)
Filter: Stock internal eheim filter
Heater: Interpet Aquatic Heater - 100W Deltatherm Heater
Substrate: eco complete (20lb new bag, should give 3 inches across tank)
Hardscape: Dry driftwood that looks like a kind of root system
CO2: I plan to get a CO2 injection system from CO2art to arrive before I end the emersive start and fill up the tank
As a supplementary question; it is quite cold at the moment. Should I think about using my heater inside a bottle of water inside the tank (at say 22C) to keep heat / humidity up inside?
I've been searching the net for an answer to this question and I have tried searching this forum, but I haven't found an answer that fills me with confidence yet! I am hoping you guys can help.
I am starting up (what will end up as) a mid-tech nano aquarium and I've decided to go for a dry start to see if I can at least partly establish a carpet.
My question largely concerns the substrate I have on hand (eco complete) but I would be grateful for any other words of advice. Full specs to follow.
My understanding is that eco complete (new out of the bag) is inert. It does not actually have any source of nitrogen (i.e. ammonia, nitrates, etc) although it does contain necessary micronutrients. Given I want to dry start (i.e. no fish waste), what is my best option to "fertilise" the eco complete so the carpet plants actually have macro-nutrients to feed on whilst growing in?
I have plants arriving tomorrow so am in a bit of a panic as to what to do! I've bought 20 osmocote root tabs on ebay which should be arriving tomorrow. Other than that, my options seem to be:
1) When moistening the substrate prior to putting the plans in, use some water from the tank I'm already running (little planted nano that is currently cycling). I'm skeptical as to whether this will last the 6 - 8 weeks I plan for the dry start though.
2) Add a thin layer of compost under the eco complete. I'd really rather avoid this as I'd prefer not to have a "dirty" tank.
3) Dose the eco-complete with KNO3 in powder form.
Tank specs:
Tank: eheim aquastyle 35 litres
Lighting: eheim LED (3100 lux, 6.500 Kelvin)
Filter: Stock internal eheim filter
Heater: Interpet Aquatic Heater - 100W Deltatherm Heater
Substrate: eco complete (20lb new bag, should give 3 inches across tank)
Hardscape: Dry driftwood that looks like a kind of root system
CO2: I plan to get a CO2 injection system from CO2art to arrive before I end the emersive start and fill up the tank
As a supplementary question; it is quite cold at the moment. Should I think about using my heater inside a bottle of water inside the tank (at say 22C) to keep heat / humidity up inside?