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Another go to planted tank but ... with DSM

strolgen

Seedling
Joined
3 Mar 2009
Messages
20
Hey guys,
I will begin with :
Tank spec : 10US gallons ( All glass ) LxDxH : 20x10-1/2x12
Filtration : Fluval 205
Lights : 15 watts at first, I can bump it up to 30w if needed
Substrate : Flora base ( red sea)
CO2 : none but will be using seachem flourish excel
Fertilizer : I wil be asking question when I get there for dosing and so on :?

I want to give a go to the dry start method (DSM) but I'm not sure what plants are suitable for this method.
plants: eleocharis acicularis, cryptocorine sp., microsorum pteropus sp. and Sagittaria subulata. (all in a "quarantine" tank while I figure out hardscape and DSM)

IMG_3475.jpg


I think eleocharis acicularis is suitable for DSM. Do I have other candidate? ( I was thinking Sagittaria subulata could work too ... )

Hairgrass that I will be starting with. ( not a lot I know )
IMG_3473.jpg


Tonight, I will be doing the eleocharis acicularis. Pictures to follow ;)
 
Re: Another go to planted tank

why DSM?
DSM is normaly used for HC carpets ..
 
Re: Another go to planted tank

DSM can be used on any plants that are able to survive emerged, so i think you are safe with all your lants, but the only one i am unsure on is the Microsorum
why DSM?
DSM is normaly used for HC carpets ..

it can be used for anything, it is ideal because you get no algae :D
 
Re: Another go to planted tank

All your plants are suitable for DSM. Over 90% of available aquatic plants are. Most are grown in the suppliers' nurseries emerged, so you are basically replicating this in your aquarium using the DSM method.

Commonly available species that aren't are Vallisneria, Egeria, Cambomba.

Good luck with your set-up!

It would be great to see another DSM success from start to finish. I haven't seen many.
 
Re: Another go to planted tank

microsrum can grow emersed too, only the roots have to be wet.
 
Re: Another go to planted tank

Jur4ik said:
why DSM?
DSM is normaly used for HC carpets ..
I've been trying to get a carpet growth with eleocharis acicularis for quite awhile now and never succeded. DSM seems to be the magical method for it. Since I'm not in a hurry, this method suits my needs.

aaronnorth said:
it can be used for anything, it is ideal because you get no algae
Algae is something I need to work on and I'm not in a hurry to fight it...

George Farmer said:
All your plants are suitable for DSM. Over 90% of available aquatic plants are. Most are grown in the suppliers' nurseries emerged, so you are basically replicating this in your aquarium using the DSM method.
Commonly available species that aren't are Vallisneria, Egeria, Cambomba.
Great, just what I was looking for .
George Farmer said:
Good luck with your set-up!
It would be great to see another DSM success from start to finish. I haven't seen many.
If I succeed, anyone could succeed !!

Thanks you all for your comments.

So I planted the eleocharis acicularis last night.
IMG_3476.jpg


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I just finished planting the Sagittaria subulata.
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Even though the cryptocorine sp. are suited for it, I think I'm going to pass on it due to the melting which occurs ( I think) usually with this plant when transitioned from emerged to emersed.

Anyway here is the plan :
Use DSM for a few weeks ( 3-4weeks) then flood up the tank.
Currently light are on for 9 hours a day and the tank also receive indirect sun light.
Tanks is sealed with plastic film and I spray water 3-4 times a day to keep plants moist.

Thanks,
 
Ok may be I'm getting a little too existed here but it's GROWING !! :D
Having a few shots of eleocharis acicularis 1 in long already after couple days is very satisfying 8)
following are some of my crappy photos :oops:

IMG_3501.jpg


IMG_3494.jpg

I think I have too much water too in there :?. I will try to drain some later today and add more plants !

I changed my mind (as always ) and will plant the cryptocorine sp.. I will just hope I will not have too much melting when flooding the tank.

Thanks for looking.
 
I have been doing a lot of surfing on emersed growing this last week. So please note that my advice here is from research rather than experience. I think it is good info though or I wouldn't post it :D

strolgen said:
I think I have too much water too in there :?. I will try to drain some later today and add more plants !

I've read in a few places that ideally, the water should be just below the top of the substrate, rather than just above.
Otherwise it is not really a DSM method, but a very small amount of water submersed method :lol:

I think the lower water level makes it less likely that you get algae on your substrate.

The main thing is that your humidity looks good (you can tell this as you have lots of condensation).

strolgen said:
I changed my mind (as always ) and will plant the cryptocorine sp.. I will just hope I will not have too much melting when flooding the tank.

The crypts will definitely lose their emersed growth when you flood the tank. If they are in emersed form already then I would go ahead and plant them anyway! Crypts produce a lot of rhizome and roots under the surface. So planting them now gives them a chance to start establishing in your tank and building up this energy. So even when the melt starts this energy will be useful to help them put forward new growth. Also, when you flood they will use up the energy in the emergent leaves before they shed them. So any emersed growth is not a waste.

strolgen said:
Thanks for looking.

Thanks for showing :)
 
Tom barr reported that the water level should be lower than the surface of the gravel to achieve best growth, might be something to consider.
 
Update on DSM

Thank you everyone for advises and comments. Very appreciated.

So I guess it is time for an update ...
So far so good, I'm having some issue with one plant as you will see in the pictures below but overall I'm relatively satisfied with where it's going. I do have to trim though to remove some of the dying leaves from few plants.
The Eleocharis acicularis is starting to spread out finally !
As my wife and I are in the process of buying a house, the tank will not be flooded in the coming days so hopefully I will get more growth than as now.

Now the pics. I tried my best to put them in chronoligic order but it might be wrong. ( fell free to let me know, I will re-order)
1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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10
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11
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Reminder : the plants in there are eleocharis acicularis, cryptocorine sp., microsorum pteropus narrow leaf and Sagittaria subulata. Everything is doing great except the Sagittaria subulata on which I have "a lot" of die off ; leave tip turn brown then the complete leave need to be removed ( cannot say if it is on older leaves only )

Kind regards,

Strolgen
 
Re: Update on DSM

strolgen said:
Everything is doing great except the Sagittaria subulata on which I have "a lot" of die off ; leave tip turn brown then the complete leave need to be removed ( cannot say if it is on older leaves only )

Strolgen

Is it still growing? i've never heard of Sagittaria subulata growing emersed, although their are other Sagittaria that can definitely grow emersed, so you'd think it should be possible.

Tank's looking great! Got any whole tank shots?

Mark
 
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