Hey all, looking for some advice with my 2 week old dry start. Panic is slowly starting to creep in so any help is well appreciated!
Full view of the setup
As mentioned, I'm at the 2week mark in my Monte Carlo dry start and the problems I currently have are as follows:
TL/DR
Here is a monte carlo clump closer to the font of the tank (lower substrate height)
These ones seem to be doing alright? But they are also at the front of the tank so I don't know if the slight 'pooling' is actually the issue?
This clump is towards the back so no visible pooling of water, but most of the clump is already brown, sadly.
This one is right in front, pooling visible. The stem is growing upwards which I thought was a good sign. However, the leaves are all but dead.
Water Misting: On the advice of a LFS owner (who has said to have done dry starts for years), I installed an atomizer (fogger/humidifier) that looks like this. It was initially set at the lowest setting on a timer. 15min misting session every hour mark. About the frequency, I chose this timing because I was initially concerned with the lack of condensation on the glass (seemed to be a keymarker in some DSM guides)
Plant: TCulture Monte Carlo
Cover/Air Circulation: I cover about 93% of the tank with plastic wrap. There is one 3x3 inch gap around where the driftwood protrudes out of the tank. And another 1x1 inch gap where the Atomizer hose enters the tank. Every night, I open a quarter of the plastic wrap for about 30mins.
Substrate: I'm using Chihiros aqua soil with the 2Hr Aquarist APT Jazz Root Tabs
Lighting: I have a Chihiros WRGB 2 that runs on 60% for 12hrs
Humidity: Humidity is in the range of >95%
Notes: I do suspect that I might be overwatering the whole setup? So every night I use a syringe and draw out about just under 300ml of water. Because of the 'hills' cause by my substrate, water tends to slightlyyyy pool towards the front of the tank. At the start, the 'higher hills' towards the back of the tank would dry out (substrate would look almost grey) within half a day, thus why i thought of watering it more.
TL/DR
- Some guides on reddit suggest that 2 weeks is too short a time to get a good measure of how things are going. Should I leave my parameters as mentioned above and just wait it out?
- Other guides online mention that this browning and mushy monte carlo is just the plant getting used to the new environment, and should bounce back after a few more weeks?
- Should I remove the plastic wrap, stop the atomizer misting, allow the substrate to dry out much more. Then begin misting at much shorter intervals?
- IS THIS ALL NORMAL AND AM I JUST OVERREACTING?!
Thank you for reading my DSMonteRant, I know there are much more knowledgeable individuals on this site. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Full view of the setup
As mentioned, I'm at the 2week mark in my Monte Carlo dry start and the problems I currently have are as follows:
TL/DR
- Some monte carlo clumps are starting to yellow and brown
- Some monte carlo clumps have turned to mush! So I've removed them completely.
Here is a monte carlo clump closer to the font of the tank (lower substrate height)
These ones seem to be doing alright? But they are also at the front of the tank so I don't know if the slight 'pooling' is actually the issue?
This clump is towards the back so no visible pooling of water, but most of the clump is already brown, sadly.
This one is right in front, pooling visible. The stem is growing upwards which I thought was a good sign. However, the leaves are all but dead.
Water Misting: On the advice of a LFS owner (who has said to have done dry starts for years), I installed an atomizer (fogger/humidifier) that looks like this. It was initially set at the lowest setting on a timer. 15min misting session every hour mark. About the frequency, I chose this timing because I was initially concerned with the lack of condensation on the glass (seemed to be a keymarker in some DSM guides)
Plant: TCulture Monte Carlo
Cover/Air Circulation: I cover about 93% of the tank with plastic wrap. There is one 3x3 inch gap around where the driftwood protrudes out of the tank. And another 1x1 inch gap where the Atomizer hose enters the tank. Every night, I open a quarter of the plastic wrap for about 30mins.
Substrate: I'm using Chihiros aqua soil with the 2Hr Aquarist APT Jazz Root Tabs
Lighting: I have a Chihiros WRGB 2 that runs on 60% for 12hrs
Humidity: Humidity is in the range of >95%
Notes: I do suspect that I might be overwatering the whole setup? So every night I use a syringe and draw out about just under 300ml of water. Because of the 'hills' cause by my substrate, water tends to slightlyyyy pool towards the front of the tank. At the start, the 'higher hills' towards the back of the tank would dry out (substrate would look almost grey) within half a day, thus why i thought of watering it more.
TL/DR
- Some monte carlo clumps are starting to yellow and brown
- Some monte carlo clumps have turned to mush! So I've removed them completely.
- Some guides on reddit suggest that 2 weeks is too short a time to get a good measure of how things are going. Should I leave my parameters as mentioned above and just wait it out?
- Other guides online mention that this browning and mushy monte carlo is just the plant getting used to the new environment, and should bounce back after a few more weeks?
- Should I remove the plastic wrap, stop the atomizer misting, allow the substrate to dry out much more. Then begin misting at much shorter intervals?
- IS THIS ALL NORMAL AND AM I JUST OVERREACTING?!
Thank you for reading my DSMonteRant, I know there are much more knowledgeable individuals on this site. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
