[derbyfb10]

Hello everyone!

I am here to ask for some help/advice. I am currently trying to dry start a Fluval Chi with dwarf baby tears which I took from another small tank which I had a carpet growing in (immersed). I have about a 3/4 in. layer of water which I can see in the substrate and it is about 1in. or so below the top of the substrate, so no standing water. I sprayed a small amount of my EI water from my other tanks in the beginning and am running a Fluval Aqualife & Plant light. It is saran wrapped during the night and uncovered during the day.

My problem is that my dwarf baby tears look like their wilting, the substrate is wet and I can feel that it is relatively humid in the tank so Im not sure why they're doing this. Maybe it needs to be even more humid, I am concerned about getting the white fungi/mold which I have gotten in my 20 gallon dry start. Any thoughts/suggestions? I will post photos.

Edit: For lighting I have them on for 8 hours a day (Noon - 8PM)

 

[GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy]

Following, I'm about to dry start with dwarf baby tears.

 

[LuckyCharm]

I just planted my baby tears in a small fish bowl !
So gonna follow this, I hope some helpful tips comes soon. Before my baby tears die lol

 

[TDV]

I've also been doing DSM with dwarf baby tears. I would say you have the perfect amount of water in your tank. The wilting is probably because they are converting from immersed form to emmersed form. If you see new growth then you are fine.

To prevent mold it is a good idea to open up the saran wrap and just let the tank breath for 5-20 minutes every day. That gets rid of some extra moisture, plus allows for gas exchange.

Because you are doing DSM you don't need to worry about algae, so you can increase your photoperiod to 12 hours a day if you want.

Finally, if you can I would spread a lot more pieces of baby tears around the tank. When I did mine I had them spaced so that there were no bare patches bigger than 1 inch, and after almost 2 months there are still a few empty spaces. With only three starting pieces it is going to take a looooong time to grow in, even with DSM.

Good luck!

 

[derbyfb10]

Thanks everyone for the posts. Glad to hear there are others trying it

TDV thanks for the tips, Ill go ahead and only uncover them for 20 minutes or so instead of 8 hours. See if I cant do my best to split them up

Im going to be doing this for about 2-3 months as I am moving soon, so thought it best to start dry.