My Plants Don't Pearl Anymore

[houndour]

Since I've been using pressurised CO2 my plants do not pearl anymore (while I had bga the bga pearled but not the plants).

Am I adding too much co2? I've been having it too hight for fish...about 50ppm (sorry fish - but all look ok for now...just wanted to keep algae at bay). Anyway, now bga looks like its gone and my CO2 ran out really quick I'm going to keep it at 30ppm if I can.

What other factors contribute to pearling? Does light? I have removed my mylar reflectors. Maybe I should put them back?

Now that bga is gone, plants are growing fast, all look lovely and green apart from baby tears and glosso but I think they are still recovering from being covered by bga.

 

[zig]

Well if you are missing any nutrients NPK Trace or if your GH was very low your plants may not pearl those are probably the main reasons.

Pearling occurs because the water is saturated with o2, pearling will occur when plants are respirating and the water is allready saturated with oxygen, and thats why we see the little bubbles coming from the plants the water is allready full of o2.

Another possibility in tanks with high stocking levels is that fish breath oxygen and therefore lower o2 levels in the water so that it may not become saturated, as far as i know (maybe gf or LL can verify this) that highlight tanks with lower fish stocking levels will pearl more frequently once the correct nutrients are being provided.

But i think the main thing to keep in mind is that once you know you are dosing enough and you dont have algae your tank can still be incredably healthy without any pearling at all.

Im sure there are other reasons maybe others can add some more.

 

[houndour]

oh ok. Well I have added 9 cardinals about 2 days before I started the pressurized CO2 so that could be the explanation.

I'm adding trace as recommended on the bottle. I think its 9 drops 3 times a week.

My plants are looking healthy so I won't worry about it

 

[zig]

Maybe your not dosing enough trace, 9 drops 3x per week doesnt sound very much

I cant remember if your tank is 19 UK or US gallons, anyway the recommended dose for EI would be 5ml 3x per week for every 20 US gallons, if the tank is 19 UK gallons (23 US gallons) i would dose 5-6ml 3x per week regardless of what it says on the bottle, maybe this could be the limiting factor that has stopped the tank from pearling.

Trace element deficiencys can take longer to show up than say NPK deficiencys, anyway give it a try and see if it makes a difference, it could do, before i changed my trace mix to CSM+B my tank didnt pearl that much, but with the changeover my tank pearls a lot more but its still not until the last few hours of lights on that it occurs.

Anyway you may have been underdosing trace id stick with 5-6ml 3x per week from now on, i went up to my local chemist recently and got some plastic syringes for free which i now measure everything with.

 

[houndour]

oh right. So let me make sure we're talking the same thing here...I'm using Kent Fe (7 drops, 3 times a week) and micros is Kent Grow (9 drops 3 times a week).

Should I be upping the Iron too?

edit - yes its 19 uk gal (22 US gal)

Oh just another thing. My tank stats are a bit screwed at the moment. Think its the after effects of the maracyn, think it has killed all my bacteria. Have been doing water changes to get my nitrites down. All fish OK so far.

Anyway did all my tests yesterday _after_ the weekly water change...
NO3: 20ppm
P04 was the highest ever: 2.5ppm
Fe: zero (so maybe not dosing enough Fe)

I didn't dose PO4 and I dosed 5ppm worth of NO3. Should I have still dosed 10ppm??

 

[zig]

Should I be upping the Iron too?

Does the Kent Grow contain any iron?

I would have still dosed 10ppm kno3, maybe the tank is cycling again you could be correct, have you checked the tapwater?

I wouldnt dose any more po4 but i would check your tapwater for this, i dont think a mini cycle would cause this increase (or maybe it does not sure)

Dont forget Fe test kits are notorious for being off, i bet the kent grow contains iron as well as the Fe supplement you have been dosing.

 

[houndour]

yes the grow does contain iron, but not much.

Although I understand that iron test kits are unreliable, I'm certain it's right when it says there is none.

I've been reading my bottles again and it seems i did my calculations wrong ) I worked out the iron correctly, but for some reason I've been underdosing on Grow! Ooops.

I'll test the tap water tonight. I also wouldnt know if a cycle affects PO4, didnt have the kit when I was cycling. I know my nitrates were sky high when cycling. So hopefully they'll go down a bit again in weeks to come and I can confidently dose more KNO3.