Dry Start Method, question and photo journal of the progress.

[Whiskey]

Hello All!

I've never done a dry start before so I'm going to give it a try with my new tank setup.

First a question, this is a 48X18X20 inch tank with 4x54 W Tek T5's. Should I run all 4 bulbs for the dry start? Or is that too much (meaning it will burn the and I should only use 2?

Tank Specs
75 Gallon, 48" by 18" Wide, by 20" Tall.
Substrate - Fluorite Red
Additional ferts - I plan to dose the small ammount of water I leave in the bottom using EI Recommendations for a 30 ish gallon tank.
Lights 4x54 W Tek T5 retro mounted 4" above the tank in a hood.
Cover - the tank came with glass tops, I plan to use those.

Plants I plan to dry start:
HC
Couple variations of crypt
one Anubius that may not stay when I flood.
Unknown plant - maybe you can help ID when I post pics.

The plan is to have no standing water, keeping the water line under the substrate, keep the humidity as high as possible (Make glass fog) and run the lights about 10 hours per day. I also plan to mist the plants with a fert infused water every couple days.

The tank is currently full of water for leak testing the tank, and the CO2 reactor I have built but in the next couple days (maybe tonight) I'll drain it and start with the dry start.

Pics to come, but here's a pic of the tank empty showing the lighting setup.
TankShowingLighting.JPG

Thanks for taking a peek!
Whiskey

[Whiskey]

This is where the tank is right now:
DryStartStart.JPG

The spray bar and intake will get painted black before the end of this.

Note the remote weather monitoring thing in the tank, this will tell me tank temperature and humidity. I haven't put any plants in yet, I'm waiting to see what the numbers will be like before I do.

Does anyone know what humidity levels I should be looking for?

Thanks for reading!
Whiskey

[Tom Barr]

Condensation a little but having the inside too humid is the problem for many, it needs a small vent or dried out at least once a day etc.

[Whiskey]

Thanks for the advice Tom!
I can remove the plastic back part of the glass tops I have, this will allow me to slide that back and forth to create the size vent I need to keep the condensation to reasonable levels, I'll keep it low like you suggest.

So! Call me impatient, but I can't stand staring at a lit up tank with nothing in it, so I trimmed a tiny bit of HC out of my 30G and put it in there. This will serve as my tester plant, if it starts doing well I will add more.

Here's the tank now:
I think I have too much water in there, because I can see it in some areas. What do you think?
Drystartfirstplant.JPG

Thank you!
Whiskey

[Whiskey]

Hmmmm.

Something just occurred to me. I once got fungus in my Cigar Humidor (It was a disaster) and it was caused by having the humidity too high. Since then I have prevented a re-occurance of this event by keeping the humidity to 70% and no more, I have also made sure that there is NO standing water on the wood, or on the plastic parts of the humidity sponges, and that the sponges themselves are kept only lightly damp.

Is that the kind of effect I'm going for here? An area with humidity, but not a tropical rain forest type environment where everything is constantly wet?

It concerns me that the plants may dry out if not kept constantly moist, should I be concerned about that? Is it okay if the leaves get dry?

Thanks!
Whiskey

[Whiskey]

Here's where my tank is at now, I'm excited to say that there has been noticeable growth! Since everything was doing so well I added some more HC, and even threw some crypts in there about a week ago. The crypts have been a little slower to adjust, but even one of those has put off a new leaf.

Take a look!
Whiskey

EditedDryStart 7-23-12.JPG

[Matt F.]

I'd keep the substrate wet (water line just beneath the surface) and let the plants do the rest. You're right not to have the enviornment too humid. What happened to your humidor happens in the DSM often if there is too much water. I grew e. belem emersed in aquasoil with a piece of plastic wrap loosly over the top of the tank. Air circulation is a good thing. Just keep an eye on the plants maybe twice a day. Mist if you think they are too dry. Let them dry a bit as Tom suggested.

Hope you didn't lose too many nice cigars.

Hmmmm.

Something just occurred to me. I once got fungus in my Cigar Humidor (It was a disaster) and it was caused by having the humidity too high. Since then I have prevented a re-occurance of this event by keeping the humidity to 70% and no more, I have also made sure that there is NO standing water on the wood, or on the plastic parts of the humidity sponges, and that the sponges themselves are kept only lightly damp.

Is that the kind of effect I'm going for here? An area with humidity, but not a tropical rain forest type environment where everything is constantly wet?

It concerns me that the plants may dry out if not kept constantly moist, should I be concerned about that? Is it okay if the leaves get dry?

Thanks!
Whiskey

[Whiskey]

Thanks for the info Matt!
I got lucky with the Humidor Fungus, it happened to be almost empty at the time, only one causality.

I'm a bit concerned with the tank though, as I look really close I see lots of little white spots on the top layer of all the substrate, I'm concerned it may be the beginnings of a tank wide fungus outbreak! The plants are still doing well though, what do you think I should do? If it starts to go, should I flood the tank?

That's my best idea so far, I'd love to DSM it for another couple weeks, but given the option I'd rather flood than hope to win agenst the fungus.

For the time being I'm going to pull one of the glass tops which should really lower the humidity, I'm hoping that will help.

Thanks,
Whiskey

[Biollante]

Hi,

With DSM make sure it is not soggy wet, KH₂PO₄ is very effective, sprinkle it around, it is actually hard to overdo.

Actually if you do not have KH₂PO₄, gypsum or corn starch work. If you are using cornstarch, take care as it adds food value and that can, solve one problem and turn into another.

Another trick is if it gets on the dry side is to mist with 1-part 3% Hydrogen peroxide with 4-parts distilled water.

Probably not worth 2₵, but it is my 2₵ anyway.

Biollante

[Whiskey]

Thanks for the tips Biollante! If it works it's worth much more than two cents

Does the Hydrogen Peroxide kill the fungus? What about Excel? Have you had any experience with that killing fungus?

I've got a final tonight after work, I'll pickup some Hydrogen Peroxide on the way home.

Thanks!
Whiskey