Added 110w and plants STOPPED pearling?

[Tiggs]

110w over 350 litres + c02...plants pearl like lemonade after a few hours.

added another 110W and now plants dont pearl till late in the day and even then its not much.......what effects plants pearling?

T

ohh....tank is hot (about 30) and i have to change 10% to keep it at that each day....would water temp effect pearling?

 

[zig]

Pearling will normally happen when your water column is saturated with o2 it usually happens after a few hours after the lights have gone on.

My plants only pearl after the lights have been on for a few hours, i have my lights on for 5 hours and find miminal pearling, the lights then go off for 2 hours, and then they go back on for 5 hours and i get lots of pearling.

So i suppose its the buildup of o2 in the water column, but having said all that i think the conditions have to be ideal also, high amounts of light, enough co2 and a nutrient rich enviroment, if you meet those criteria your plants will pearl, but i wouldnt expect my plants to pearl all the time.

 

[jimbooo]

i'm no expert but i'd imagine adding the extra light will kick start a big growth phase hence doubling the rate of nutrient uptake in your water. did this happen as soon as you put the light in or after a few days. if it's the latter your probably low on iron, nitrate or something. (iron is my personal problem, it goes down to 0 in 48 hours after adding pure iron fertaliser, at this point the plants wont pearl till i get the levels up again. apart from riccia of course that pearls 24/7)

it would be worth doing a few water tests just in case there is a simple explination.

Edit: my tanks are 31 and 32 degrees at the moment. fish are having a hard time of it (just added Mylar, idiot) but the plants are still pearling like mad so i dont think temp is the problem.

 

[Tiggs]

that makes sense......nitrate was always 0 anyway and never tested for iron.


i will start by just increasing my liquid feraliser dosing (from once a week to twice a week) and see what happens

T

temp is now 31...only prob i find is my cardinals run out of 02 at night unless i run an airstone - i assume as the water holds less o2 when hot and the planst use of the o2 that is there at night does them in!

 

[George Farmer]

I would agree with Jimbooo. The increase in light has inceased your plants nutrient uptake leading to possible deficiencies. This has limited your plant growth = no pearling.

Be very careful now - algae loves slow growing plants and lots of light. You have been warned! Does your fert contain nitrates - I would suggest this is what you need more than any other nutrient. Aim for at least NO3 5ppm (preferably 10 to 20ppm).

Temp. shouldn't bother the plants too much - mine has been 28 to 30C over the last week with no apparent ill effect. Running an airstone sounds like a good idea through the night though - for the fish.

 

[jimbooo]

out of interest does the fact that my riccia holds its bubbles 24hrs a day mean that the oxygen levels are fine through the night (never tested for it)?

 

[Tiggs]

i have just noticed that the hair algae is spreading (used to effect only one plant and wasnt an issue - now very fine on 80% of plants)

i assume this could be plants stunnted by lack of fertz so algae takes hold?

if so i better look at dosing...bit of a hassle really - would rather i could just up my liquid fertz stuff but it has no nitrates or phosphates in t.

T

 

[George Farmer]

if so i better look at dosing...bit of a hassle really

True, but a lot less hassle than having a massive algae infestation!

If you are inclined against using dry ferts i.e. KNO3, KH2PO4 then you may have success with Nutrafin Plant-Gro. This contains N, P and K, all three of which are normally absent from most liquid ferts.

In the long-term though I highly recommend buying some dry ferts - Potassium nitrate (KNO3 for N) and Potassium phosphate (KH2PO4 for P) minimum (you may need Potassium sulphate (K2SO4 for K) too). I buy mine from here - http/www.gardendirect.co.uk/

 

[Tiggs]

ok....dry stuff it is.


so i just order my nitrate , sulphate and phosphate and the dose as per the various guides that float around the net........do i still use my leafzone liquid stuff as well? and is there any other stuff i should add (if im doing some i may as well do all........and the hair algae is getting a grip!)

 

[Tiggs]

just checking i have these correct?

http/www.gardendirect.co.uk/product.asp?...a=any&PT_ID=all

phosphate

http/www.gardendirect.co.uk/product.asp?...a=any&PT_ID=all

nitrate

cant find sulphate?

 

[George Farmer]

cant find sulphate?

Those are the ones.

I can't find Potassium sulphate anywhere in the UK. Let me know if you do.

You will need to use your Leaf Zone too as this provides micronutrients i.e. iron. The dry ferts you have linked are known as macronutrients. API Leaf Zone actually provides Potassium (K) too (look at the bottle) so you may not need potassium sulphate anyway. I don't dose it presently and my plants are just fine.

Good luck. Use this calculator to determine you dosage levels - http/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_dosage_calc.htm

Increase NO3 and PO4 slowly to the required level.

 

[Tiggs]

ok.....so i carry on with leaf zone (does the dose on the bottle assume a certain amount of planting...for example if i have heavy planting is it ok to over dose from the bottles guide?)

i add nitrate and test for it (its 0 right now)

i add phospahet and test...thats 0 as well

and i leave sulphate...can i even test for that anyway?


also....i use standard test kits....are there better ones out there considering the importance of checking these levels?

 

[zig]

There are better test kits but the standard ones will be ok i got by on them, my tank also started off with my nitrates reading 0, you have to be careful here when first doseing Kno3 (potassium nitrate) if you dose to much all in one go you will probably kill your fish, for example if you go from 0 to 10ppm in a single dose you would probably kill the fish.

Initially if your tank is heavily planted you want to get to a nitrate level of 10ppm, when you get the Kno3 it will be a powder form, and i made a solution with this useing the online calculator for my tank size, your tank will be different so just work it out on the calculator, i made up 500ml of solution and kept the rest of the powder until i run out, if your unsure just ask questions here and somebody will help you out, but i dont think you will have a problem, but better to double check if your not sure.

This is what i did to bring my levels up to 10ppm, just remember slowly does it, for the first 4 days i added enough Kno3 to give my tank 1ppm of nitrate, i did this each day, on day 5 i started to add 2ppm of nitrate and did this for 3 days, after this length of time i was now getting readings for nitrates on my test kit, on day 9 i started to add 3 ppm for the next 3 days (testing everyday at this stage so as not to over do it) my test kit was now reading over 5ppm (probably somewhere around 7ppm) and at this stage i slowed down the doseing everyday and only dosed every second day, so every second day i kept doseing 3-4ppm of nitrate and this has worked for me so far to keep my levels at 10ppm.

But you really have to judge it your self, your plant uptake of the Kno3 may be much faster or slower than mine but you have to be patient and add it slowly or you will have problems.

So basically it took me probably a little over 2 weeks to get my levels up to 10ppm, without any ill effects on my fish, if it took you a little longer i wouldnt worry about it, slowly does it.

And then at that stage you will have a fair idea of how much you should be adding to keep your levels at 10ppm, once you get to 10ppm only dose every second day from thereonin.

Anyway thats what worked for me, good luck with it

 

[iggy01]

I can't find Potassium sulphate anywhere in the UK. Let me know if you do.

I think Potassium Sulphate and Sulphate of Potash are the same thing. I could be wrong though, so it could be worth doing a bit of research before deciding to buy.