Ryan's "Pete Townsound" style of guitar playing got away from him and he broke it
The HC is a few days old now in that tank and looks fine after flooding.
I think he said is was set up for 6-8 weeks, plenty of time for the bacteria to get established in the sediment and oxidize the majority of NH4 that will leach quickly.
And we know Shrimps are pretty sensitive to most toxins, so they are doing fine as well.
I think Ryan said he used 1 clump that you see to farm this out and waited a few weeks for it to grow in first. Then you just flood the tank and crank the CO2.
If your HC has issues upon flooding, sorry, it's not the method or transition, it's not giving it enough CO2/Excel. HC transitions very well.
A few critics of this method(interestingly who have never tested their own hypothesis/claim/criticisim) suggested that this method is not good because the plants will all melt and go through a transition peroid.
That does not really occur with the emergent plants we get any(which is how most of the aquatic plants sold are grown). Nor does it occur in the tank grown species, which already have nice well established roots.
The plants obviously have enough nutrients via the sediment, enough light etc, the difference when you flood: CO2 mostly.
This method will not save those who cannot grow HC submersed well to begin with.
Or hairgrass, or any other foreground plant.
Regards,
Tom Barr