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Time to start over! | Currently on DSM but will be Hi-tech fully planted nano

LukeDaly

Member
Joined
3 Jan 2014
Messages
106
Hey ladies and gents,

I have been out of the hobby for about 2 years now and have decided to jump back in! This build will eventually become a fully planted tank hopefully home to some form of dwarf cichlid. This time I thought I would try out the dry start method and see if I can get my moss to attach before I fill the tank as I have not been overly successful with using thread to tie it too the wood in the past.

Here are some of the items I have collected over the years that I intend to reuse for this build:
Dennerle Scaper's tank
Dennerle Scapers light 24W
Fluval 306 Canister filter
Hydor inline heater
C02 fire extinguisher with C02 Art regulator
C02 Art lily pipes
Hydor Koralia 900lph
Aquarium plant food dry ferts
Clear filter hosing & clear c02 tubing
JBL Sansibar river sand
Dragon stones
And last but definitely not least is my wood, im not sure on the type but I love this piece of wood I personally think it looks awesome.
I also have some catappa tea bags, oak leaves and small pine cones

My plant list currently consists of some java moss, some chopped up and painted on (with de-chlorinated tap water) & some just wrapped around/sitting on the wood. I am also looking for suggestions on planting, what sort of plants do people think would look good in this tank/my scape? I would love to give dwarf baby tears a go for the front left of the tank to create a sense of scale (I think DBT looks like very very small tree tops).

I am a complete noob when it comes to the dry start method so any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

I am not at home at the weekends and was wondering if I would be fine to leave the tank unattended for that long if I use a reptile fogger on a timer? I was thinking the fogger should turn on for 2 mins every hour or so? If I choose to use this method should I peel a corner back on the top of the tank because currently it is fully sealed with cling film. I have also read that with the DSM I can give about 10 hours of light but I am scared to dry the moss out to much? My moss seems to dry out very quickly, especially closer to the top.

You can also choose to rate my scape as it stands, although some of the rocks have moved due to the sand becoming wet but I will be sure to fix this before I flood the tank!

I have some photos and a video to better explain what I am talking about (Sorry for the phone photographs):

Some shots to give an idea on the scape:

iRQT2Ey.jpg


TG4HzyE.jpg


A translucent piece of perspex I actually got cut for the back of the tank I thought would reduce the intensity of the light for the Moss:

sFjgXLA.jpg


Some close ups of the moss (In the second photo you can see I have an air pump hooked up to a few different fittings to help circulate the mist in the tank not sure if I should leave the air pump on all the time for gas exchange tho) :

oE2Bltm.jpg


95k4X1x.jpg


Misty shot:

KufrT7I.jpg


And finally a small video showing the fogger in action (before I added the air pump to blow it around)

https://imgur.com/EdMIVsM

EdMIVsM.mp4

Thank you for taking the time to have a read at my thread and for replying to any of my many questions!
I plan to update the thread as often as people request or as often as I make changes.

Luke
 
I'm not an expert but think the dry start works best with and is aimed for plants planted in the substrate (ie not tied to hardscape).

What other plants are you considering to use?
 
I'm not an expert but think the dry start works best with and is aimed for plants planted in the substrate (ie not tied to hardscape).

What other plants are you considering to use?

Yeah I thought that was the case, but theoretically it should attach eventually right? I would like to try DBT as I stated above but im not sure how long that would last in this tank Im not to sure if my light would cut it unfortunately. Hydrocotyle sp japan is another personal favourite of mine that I would like to add eventually, possibly some Fissidens mini too and any other neat suggestions I get! :)

Always good fun to experiment :)
However I think you might see better results if you seal the lid with something clear to allow more light & keep in the humidity, then spray the plants every other day with a diluted fert mix.

That's the plan hopefully I can get something out of the experiment tho! ;) I have since removed the perspex and I am now just using clear plastic wrap and have my reptile fogger set to mist every 2.4hrs for 10 mins. Also the fogger mist has actually got a small amount of profito in it! I could mix up some dry ferts if it would be beneficial tho.

Dry start and moss don't usually go too well... I would seal the top with cling film. Also, won't the air pump make the air drier inside the tank?

Good luck!

That sucks to hear, have you tried this method before? The air pump is on a timer to come on with the fogger every 2.4hrs for 10 mins, this is just to circulate the mist around the tank better.

-

On other news there seems to be a white fungus of some sort starting to appear on my wood, should I dose some concentrated easy carbo and kill it? or will it disappear or over time?
 
I have grown moss of many types very successfully, I use a tried and tested method that has worked very well over and over again.
You need to seal the top & get the inside warmer than the surrounding air. You could fill your tank with 50 mm of water & add a heater, or as I do, use a reptile heat mat under the tank.
One spray of weak fert every few days or even once a week, use lots of light for 12 - 14 hours a day.
The tank will mist up real good & condensation will form over the glass & top so you cant actually see much!
You should see fast growth & attachment to the wood in a couple of weeks but I like to go for around six weeks if you have the patience!
 
I have grown moss of many types very successfully, I use a tried and tested method that has worked very well over and over again.
You need to seal the top & get the inside warmer than the surrounding air. You could fill your tank with 50 mm of water & add a heater, or as I do, use a reptile heat mat under the tank.
One spray of weak fert every few days or even once a week, use lots of light for 12 - 14 hours a day.
The tank will mist up real good & condensation will form over the glass & top so you cant actually see much!
You should see fast growth & attachment to the wood in a couple of weeks but I like to go for around six weeks if you have the patience!

The top is sealed shut! ;) Unfortunately I do not have a reptile heat mat, would the light not make it warm enough on the inside? If not how about placing a cup of semi-warm water in the bottom after airing out for an hour each morning? Is the spray of weak fert you are talking about excluding the daily sprays of water?

Also the white moss stuff... any ideas?

I appreciate your help! And if there is any photos or anything that you need to help me, let me know.
Luke
 
If the top is sealed you don't need to spray, you don't need to air the tank, it will work as a closed system.
Closed bottle gardens can survive for years on end without ever opening the top..no ferts or any other attention.
I think the record is something like 40 years!
I have posted many pictures on this forum but unfortunately they were stored on photbucket, they no longer show up due to photobuckets new policy!!
 
If the top is sealed you don't need to spray, you don't need to air the tank, it will work as a closed system.
Closed bottle gardens can survive for years on end without ever opening the top..no ferts or any other attention.
I think the record is something like 40 years!
I have posted many pictures on this forum but unfortunately they were stored on photbucket, they no longer show up due to photobuckets new policy!!

The tank is air tight! although it does not seem to be misting up for some reason. The moss also looks quite dry to me, if I can get you a few photos would you be able to help me troubleshoot?

Thanks again for the assistance,
Luke
 
I did try it before. Had to flood the tank early because the moss was starting to die. I did a couple mistakes, so that probably didn't help as well. Hope you are luckier than I was.

Im not to sure if the moss is dying or not to be honest with you, it looks dry but when I touch it, it is damp :crazy: Anything i should know to avoid the same mistakes?
 
Like I say, you need to get the inside warmer than the surrounding air.
You don't seem to have any ground plants, so you can add 4-5 inches of water or enough to cover a heater?
As soon as the internal temp rises it will start to condensate, the glass & the top cover will start to accumulate moister & drip it back down like a mini rain forest!
 
Im not to sure if the moss is dying or not to be honest with you, it looks dry but when I touch it, it is damp :crazy: Anything i should know to avoid the same mistakes?
f it's turning yellow, then it's dying. I had the same setup you have and was spraying twice a day and leaving the top open for about 10 min in order to aerate the tank. I forgot to close it once, that was probably the biggest mistake, and probably forgot to spray a couple of times. After a couple of weeks it was turning yellow, so I flooded the tank.

You can check my One Tree Hills Journal to see how it went.
 
Hi LukeDaly
You can cut plastic bottle,fill water and put heater in it.It will warm up the air and keep moistute level up.
Regards Konsa
 
I've recently completed a DSM and was similarly worried about the moss drying out too, but it did very well.
I reckon that if the tank is at room temp there won't be much in the way of evaporation therefore the tank won't mist up so much.
However, I noticed that as the plant biomass increased the tank tended to mist up quicker and more heavily. I put this down to an increase in transpiration rather than evaporation.
 
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