[Padres1234]

I'm gonna be dry starting a 29g with blasting sand. Am I gonna need aqua soil or will I be fine without it? I have EI dosing materials if it helps.

Also, I will either be doing baby tears, hairgrass or glosso.

 

[Joshism]

Some members have success with Azoo aquarium soil. I'm just using Miracle Gro potting mix under my Petsmart substrate, and my haigrass DSM is growing a lot of runners. I also have Osmocote under my substrate. Who cares, as long as it works.

 

[Padres1234]

Some members have success with Azoo aquarium soil. I'm just using Miracle Gro potting mix under my Petsmart substrate, and my haigrass DSM is growing a lot of runners. I also have Osmocote under my substrate. Who cares, as long as it works.

So do you think it is necessary to put miracle grow under blasting sand in order for the dry start to work?

 

[Mikevwall]

No.

 

[Joshism]

Nope. There are a lot of options out there. In my situation, I have a 150 gallon, and if I were to get that much Amazonia soil, it would not be very affordable.

 

[latchdan]

Any reason why you want to dry start? Glosso grows like a weed and roots fine as well. I regularly pull all mine up and replant it, fills in fast too.

 

[Kperro]

I just picked up 3 bags of aquasoil and a bag of power sand and it's definitely pricey. I found it at a local store in Seattle that has a lot of beautiful tanks and their main display has probably a 4" bed of aquasoil and it looks incredible. Might be worth getting a bag of power sand to use as a base under the sand.

 

[randym]

I've dry-started both HC and dwarf hairgrass in plain sand or gravel, and it's been fine.

 

[Padres1234]

Nope. There are a lot of options out there. In my situation, I have a 150 gallon, and if I were to get that much Amazonia soil, it would not be very affordable.

OK cool. And it's doing good? By any chance did you dry start?

Any reason why you want to dry start? Glosso grows like a weed and roots fine as well. I regularly pull all mine up and replant it, fills in fast too.

Well I want to do this tank right. Everything I read has said there are a ton of benefits when dry starting. It seems easier to carpet, no CO2 during those months.

No algae issues while I get a thick carpet and no plants floating out.

I just picked up 3 bags of aquasoil and a bag of power sand and it's definitely pricey. I found it at a local store in Seattle that has a lot of beautiful tanks and their main display has probably a 4" bed of aquasoil and it looks incredible. Might be worth getting a bag of power sand to use as a base under the sand.

Power sand to add some nutrients? Are the Sands gonna mix?

I've dry-started both HC and dwarf hairgrass in plain sand or gravel, and it's been fine.

Did you use anything to supplement themy at all? Root tabs, osmocote, EI dosing in spray bottle?


Thanks everyone!

 

[JuanPeces1508]

i would dry start the tank with soil and capped with blasting sand. Even though is not necessary it will help, by the time you fill the tank it will have all the root established and it will trasition better. Carpeting the tank will take you a while.

 

[Padres1234]

I was thinking about this but someone told me the soil will eventually create a huge mess if I ever rescape.

I could just sprinkle osmocote in the middle of the blasting sand around the whole tank and EI dose the spray bottle.

 

[randym]

Did you use anything to supplement themy at all? Root tabs, osmocote, EI dosing in spray bottle?

I used Flourish root tabs once. Didn't seem to make much difference.

The other times, I just used water from one of my established tanks to keep the substrate moist.

IME, both DHG and HC like it really, really wet. They seemed to grow best in the wettest parts of the tank (before I flooded it).

(The humidity was quite low at the time. If you live in a high humidity area, you might have trouble with mold or BGA if you keep the substrate too wet. But for me, semi-flooded worked best.)

 

[Joshism]

My grass grew well without spraying. I just kept my water up to the tip of the substrate. I didn't even cover the tank with plastic. I suggest planting only 3 to 5 strands of grass to have maximum CO2 exposure

OK cool. And it's doing good? By any chance did you dry start?

Yes, mine is a dry start. I just flooded my tank 2 days ago. The clock is ticking, so I gotta pull out my CO2 reactor. I'm supposed to blast my CO2 now, but I already threw some fish in there.