At last, Pearling...

[jimbooo]

Hi Everyone,

i have just upgraded my lights (again..) i now have 4x30W on a RIO 180 tank (180L/40G) i make that 3WPG.

After 12 hours of installing the new tube i have bubbles on everything (even my java fern plantlets! and the red plant i bought last weekend which i was assuming would die.)


one question though. if a plant is producing O2 bubbles on its leaves does that mean it's thriving or is there other things i should be looking for?

 

[a.i.m]

Did you get another juwel lighting system to take it to four bulbs?
Is there a lid that still fits on?
It is impressive and your fish colours are fantastic !!

 

[jimbooo]

may i pass on this to everyone who has a Juwel tank with centre brace.

How to get more light in a Juwel tank (note the attached image of my tank "before upgrade")

in particullar gf225's comments and picture.

i copied that setup pretty much exactly after a bit of pondering. i thought it looked a bit dodgy at first but honestly it's totally stable the wires and centre brace keep the tubes secure and the original lid still fits.


all you need is an arcadia flourescent lighting controller (£18 for 30W tube size) pic

a tube (£13 for 30W) pic


and reflectors at £10 each pic

if you fit a reflector to both the original tubes the additional tubes with a reflector attached will sit snugly on top, they are also suported by the centre brace across the tank and tension in the wire.

if you're unsure about any of that feel free to PM me and i'll do my best to help.

if you can spare a few quid i'd definatly do the upgrade as the difference is HUGE for only £41 per extra tube so for £82 quid i have gone from an average looking tank with er half living plants to a much improved (no way near perfect) planted tank.

to illustrate this my water sprite was 6 inches tall when i planted it 2 weeks ago.

it is now touching the sides front and back of a 40G and almost growing out of the water. Also my Vallis grows about 1 foot a week.

 

[a.i.m]

So youve bought 2 new control gears ( arcadia flouresent controler) + 2 new tubes and have put reflectors on all lights (4) . and you still have left the juwel lighting systemin place. The new lights are being balanced on the curved strut either side of the exsisting juwel lights.

 

[jimbooo]

exactly right. couldn't have put it better myself.

 

[George Farmer]

Glad to see you're having success.

I beleive pearling is the best way of telling your plants are growing well. The true test is if they pearl regularly until your next water change. In my experience plants will pearl like mad just after a water change (high levels of CO2 in tap water apparently), with the rate slowing gradually until the end of the week. I assume this is because the plants are using up the nutrients supplied by my weekly addition of fertilisers. Changing my CO2 (yeast/sugar) mixture obviously has an impact too.

In short, if your plants are pearling still after a few days then you're doing well IMO.

 

[jimbooo]

in the last week i have experienced your boiling tank water thing.

EVERY plant is pearling within 2 hours of lights on and gets more and more intence throughout the day.

my water sprite is more of a bubble tree and the java fern plantlets have a coating of bubbles under every leaf.

my valis is planted in the corner by the filter outlet which "blows" through the plants. the water flow is full of bubbles coming from the vallis leaves.

and even the java moss has bubbles