Full DSR or start conservative?

you can start in both manners, it does not matter for DSR .
in the beginning you have not yet stocked the tank with corals,  so you have the choice to run very low on nutrients.

The advantage of a Full DSR starts is that you can start controlling the system from the start.
Starting with:

  • zero nutrients and add them yourself when you need them, thereby minimize nutrients spikes and speeding up cycling time.
  • control lighting to minimize nuisance algae growths (no lights first 2 weeks)
  • scaping with dead/cured rock and gradually adding small batches of fresh life rock speeds up the seeding process without the nutrients peeks

Prevent algae growth:
DSR controls nutrients by adding and removing them with NO3+/PO4+ vs CarbonVs/Fe+. During the startup minimizing nutrients is essential, because adding them in this stage will only fuel Algae growth.
NO3 and PO4 supplementation is only needed for corals (with defficïency symptoms) and only when the algae’s are under control by the cleaning crew (snails/urchins/tangs)
ignore NO3+ and PO4+ supplementation during startup phase or change targets to 0,0 ppm.

The Full DSR start:
In the DSR start ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate spikes are undesirable. During these spikes a lot of encrusting dies, rewarding you with a flourishing green algae carpet. I don’t favour green carpets, so this should be avoided. The worst thing to do, is to dump a large amounth of live rock into the system at any time. Many encrusting will die and nutrient peeks will be inevitable. I prefer gradually seeding the system with small batches of liferock.

Translation in progress and to be continued. In the meanwhile read the original dutch topic.