Dry starting....good idea?

[ryguy76]

I've been reading about dry starts and it seems to have lots of pros with this method, are there any cons that are associated with this method?

I like that it gets good plant growth and you end up with a "cycled" tank once the water is added, but I am weary....

Thoughts?

 

[aqua_chem]

The wait is one... Sometimes it doesn't work for whatever reason.


And you pretty much need to co2 the tank when you fill it.

 

[ryguy76]

The wait is one... Sometimes it doesn't work for whatever reason.


And you pretty much need to co2 the tank when you fill it.

Could excel not be used instead of co2 with this method?

 

[aqua_chem]

The problem is that the plants grow such that they have nearly unlimited supply of CO2 from the atmosphere. Once they're submerged, they're suddenly denied that, which might cause them to go into shock and completely melt off. Happens to a lot of emersed setups, sadly.

Excel is no substitute for CO2, sadly.

 

[ryguy76]

Ok, thanks!

 

[BigJim]

Many commercial plant nurseries grow their plants emersed, then they die back when you submerge them. I'm not even sure it's a question of CO2 availability. Many plants have different structures depending on whether they're grown immersed or emersed.