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15 litre dry start

castle

Member
Joined
19 Dec 2015
Messages
1,325
Location
UK
Wanted to create a nice simple tank on my bedroom windowsil that gets sun most of the morning, and I think i'll add a nano light after pay day. Aiming for emergent growth, and a wild selection of plants at the front of the tank. Probably won't work like that though, I don't plan on adding any livestock.

Day one:
Basics with rotala rotundifolia planted.

DSC_0082.JPG


Day two:
w\ added Micranthemum monte carlo, and Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini'
DSC_0089.JPG



Dimensions: 35 x 20 x 20
Tank: Old, Clearseal.
Light: Sunlight, for now.
Filter: None


If this turns into a journal, I'll speak to a mod about moving it. Really I just wanted to share my first attempt at a dry started tank.

Suits a journal setting better, mods move me please.
 
Great fun although this might not be the best time of year to start a natural light experiment.
My window sill tanks are just staring to slow down, I don't see hardly any growth over the October to March period.
I have found the best results come from just making a small hole in the cling film & just leaving it alone, no spraying or removing the film required.
 
@foxfish Do you heat those tanks?

I'm thinking I will add a nano LED for the winter, one of those 11w dennerle ones or similar. Interesting you say about not spraying, I think I've sprayed enough, it's really high in humidity, so I'm going to leave it alone now, probably flood in late October.
 
Yes I heat them with a heat mat, I find the difference in growth and lushness considerable!
I only lift the lid, plastic sheet in my case, when I trim but I tend to leave them grow to jungle status before I uproot and start again!
The key is to get the inside warmer than the outside, this will cause condensation.
If you get it just right, the condensation will drip from the underside of the lid so you don't need to spray at all.

P1110098.jpg
 
It's growing in a bit now, rotala rotundifolia has a good inch of growth, and larger leaves. Definitely emergent leaves, but w/e. Micranthemum monte carlo looks like it's putting out runners. And I've just set my raspberry pi to take an image every 10 minutes during daylight hours (I love timelapse growth videos).

Still planning to flood sometime around Halloween.

And @foxfish you're right, drips are forming on the cover, and I haven't sprayed it in a week. Ordering an LED strip today :)
 
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