# how long til plants pearl ?



## nitromad (Dec 29, 2004)

hi all 

i searched forum but didn't time the info im after  .

main question is how long after lights on do your plants pearl ?

my lights on is 10am and plants just starts to pearl after 3pm is that too long or about right ??? i never got good amount of pearling but lots of algae.i turn co2 up and all fish are garping for air :S even with bit of surace movment also im not have much plant growth at all , any ideas what im doing to cock all this up ?????? getting to point where i starting to give in please help if you can.


just incase its needed heres tank specs
240litres
4X54watts plant blubs
jbl dirt
filstar xp3
pressurized co2 dissolved via JBL C02 Vario +Extension (tryed to find bits for Rex reactor but havn't found bits i need yet) 
ph 6.5
kh 2.2degree
no3 10
po4 over 5 mg/l
rasies ph+kh with baking soda with water change

i dose EI with 
4grams no3 3X week
10.69grams k2so4 3X week
0.34grams po4 3X week
and 3grams dry trace 3X week (1/4 tea spoon per 100l)

thanks for taking time to look at this post and any help or info you was able to give roud: 

Gavin


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## Robert H (Apr 3, 2003)

The greatest pearling tends to be toward the end of the light cycle


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Yep, takes a few hours for the plants to "wake up" and the water to saturate with enough oxygen to allow pearling.

There's still the matter of you not being satisfied with your ratio of plant-to-algae growth, though.

I don't see anything wrong with the setup or parameters you posted. Which leads me to believe the problem lies elsewhere. Can I ask:

1) What kind of plants?
2) What kind of algae?
3) Exactly what's the "plant light" you refer to? Name/model/spectrum?
4) Do you have a heavy load on your biofilter, or detectable ammonia?


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## hir0 (Nov 3, 2005)

my lights come on at 10am also, and by 3 they are slowly pearling. by 6 they are pearling nicely.


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## nitromad (Dec 29, 2004)

DarkCobra said:


> 1) What kind of plants?
> 2) What kind of algae?
> 3) Exactly what's the "plant light" you refer to? Name/model/spectrum?
> 4) Do you have a heavy load on your biofilter, or detectable ammonia?



i don't know names but they mostly stem plants few swords

the algae is black green algae covers everything by end of lights on cycle but dies off over night :S

heres link to info about the tubes http://www.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pid=34&mid=10&lan=en&sub=&id=4.

i got an medum bio load no signs of ammonia when i tested water.

thanks for the replys guys roud: 
gavin


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## medicineman (Sep 28, 2005)

Mine goes pearling in 10-20 minutes, sometimes even under 10 minutes after the MH are on. Steady stream of bubbles from the plants. Is that pearling or what??  

Perhaps my water is saturated all the time due to the fact that I set the CO2 at more than 6-8 bps?


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

medicineman said:


> Mine goes pearling in 10-20 minutes, sometimes even under 10 minutes after the MH are on. Steady stream of bubbles from the plants. Is that pearling or what??
> 
> Perhaps my water is saturated all the time due to the fact that I set the CO2 at more than 6-8 bps?


I also think its the intensity of the MH that give you that effect...nice 

Mine takes about an hour or so before I see the first bubble...then its a mass cloud of bubbles in the tank!! (which I like...others think its distracting). To me its a sign that things are well and the tank is running like a well oiled machine.


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## nitromad (Dec 29, 2004)

Georgiadawgger said:


> Mine takes about an hour or so before I see the first bubble...then its a mass cloud of bubbles in the tank!! (which I like...others think its distracting). To me its a sign that things are well and the tank is running like a well oiled machine.



that what i want  so far no luck just the odd one or two,i doubled my dose today see if it make thing better so far no joy BUT i starting to think it the CO2 that at fault i got the bottle filled for £20 starting to think co2 is poor i found place that an14lb bottle brewery grade co2 (what ever that means lol) £7 for gas and £10 deposit on tank plus free delivery , so far i kept eye on tank all day and saw bubbles on the vario wasn't getting much smaller than when it comes out where should be nearly gone by top just lot of "waste" gas so i see what happens with new gas if that not it my stuck as what poblems is an part from saving up and take all plants out and replant with new dirt too ?!?!?!?!

btw thanks for the help and info so far top ppls

gavin


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## jgc (Jul 6, 2005)

Mine used to pearl quite quickly - a lot of things have changed and the pearling went away  .

I changed my spraybar to horizontal last night (to blow across my new diffuser) - and got minimal pearling (decent pearling from my baby tears - but not much from other plants) within 30 minutes or less. But nothing like the bubbling I used to get.

Need to prune again, think cutting down my plant mass might help (very few plants get direct light anymore). Newest bulb looks like it is a different specturm (think it is too blue - my best pearling was under an odno "daylight" shoplight, but prior 2 hqi bulb pearled well) My PO4 is too high and I think it is skewing my co2 calc, so do not know what my co2 really is.

I will also agrea I think the plants go though phases as well. Right now my Amazon Sword is trying to propagate - so it's energy is being used up differently (it is almost like it is eating itself for energy to send out shoots)

I miss my pearling...
-------
I think my biggest change was incrimental. As more plants grew in, my waterflow got contricted. I think if I could increase my cirulation a bit I would see some good results. I think I have a weekend project brewing...
-------
I did a quick fix, looks like increased circulation is helping some, will know more when I get to see it with a full photoperiod - and when I get a little better quick fix as well


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

I've always had pretty good, steady plant growth, and my pearling kinda comes and goes. I would like to have more pearling, but I'll take the good plant growth first. I know some say pearling is over-rated. And, I can agree with that, but I'd prefer the pearling, if I could figure out how to make it happen.

I went to the vertical spray bar and CO2 diffuser a couple months back, and though at times I'll get a slight bit more pearling now, it's still not what I'd call consistent pearling.

Yet another mystery....
Brian.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

I've never heard of algae growing then dieing back in the course of a single day. Any way you can post a pic?

I'd be real tempted to try a blackout for a few days and see if it dies back more.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

My plants (especially the babytears) have been pearling for a couple days, everytime I glance at the tank a nice stream of small bubbles from the babytears batch just goes up to the top of the tank.


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## nitromad (Dec 29, 2004)

heres an pic after lights out


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

The stuff on the gravel looks like BGA. If so, it's not really an algae, its a bacteria. I've had it in a tank and it's easily cured with Erythromycin.

Might want to get a second opinion, I'm not real experienced when it comes to algae ID.

Is that driftwood furry with algae, or moss?


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## nitromad (Dec 29, 2004)

DarkCobra said:


> The stuff on the gravel looks like BGA. If so, it's not really an algae, its a bacteria. I've had it in a tank and it's easily cured with Erythromycin.
> 
> Might want to get a second opinion, I'm not real experienced when it comes to algae ID.
> 
> Is that driftwood furry with algae, or moss?



good luck to me trying to find Erythromycin in uk looked before  

and yes that algae on the dam driftwood got clean the thing
every week  im slowy winning agast that type of aglae less and less everyweek

btw got new gas today just no tubing to connect it up lol
thanks
Gavin


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

nitromad said:


> good luck to me trying to find Erythromycin in uk looked before
> 
> and yes that algae on the dam driftwood got clean the thing
> every week  im slowy winning agast that type of aglae less and less everyweek
> ...


Can you order Maracyn in bulk (100 tablet bottles)...at a relatively decent price? 

I can attest that works like a charm...no harm nor foul to the water quality (if you do a water change immediate after the algae starts to die), no harm on the plants or fish too.


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## nitromad (Dec 29, 2004)

Georgiadawgger said:


> Can you order Maracyn in bulk (100 tablet bottles)...at a relatively decent price?
> 
> I can attest that works like a charm...no harm nor foul to the water quality (if you do a water change immediate after the algae starts to die), no harm on the plants or fish too.



well im lucky today found place £16 for 100 just how i go about doseing it when it come ?????


thanks everyone
Gavin


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## Robert H (Apr 3, 2003)

Usually one tablet for every ten gallons, daily for 5 to 7 days. After the first day, do a 50 percent or larger water change BEFORE dosing, and remove as much of the dead BGA as possible.


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## nitromad (Dec 29, 2004)

so one 400mg tablet per 10 gallons so 6 tablet an day (60 abouts US Gallons)

thanks for info/help

Gavin


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Some additional info that may help:

The Maracyn (Erythromycin) will appear to kill the BGA in just a couple of days. *Do not cut the treatment short!* If you do, your tank may be repopulated with whatever strains of BGA are most drug resistant, making future treatments less effective.

Scrubbing the driftwood will remove a lot of visible algae, but not all, and it will just come right back. You need to sterilize it, either with heat or hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide dips can be used to kill algae on plants. The suggested protocol is 1 part H2O2, 10 parts water, submerse for four minutes, rinse and replant. I have used this on Moneywort - it was effective and didn't hurt the plants. But I have concerns it might affect other plants, especially fine-leaved varieties. So tonight, I tested it on some Anacharis, Hornwort, and Wisteria. No immediate damage was seen. I will be keeping an eye on it and report back.


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## jgc (Jul 6, 2005)

Putting a verticle spraybar on the the 250 HOT greatly increase my tanks circulation and pearling was noticable increased as well, experiment will continue tonight.

Just a heads up on H2O2, there are different strength solutions out there. I am assuming that the normal cheeper one is usually used, but am currious. I have done other hobbies that recomended a different grade.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Oops, sorry... I keep forgetting. Yep, it's the cheap 3% drugstore variety H2O2.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Update on the H2O2 dip testing.

Wisteria: No bad effects so far.

Hornwort: No bad effects so far. This surprised me, Hornwort is reputed to be sensitive to H2O2, and can disintegrate rapidly if it's not happy.

Anacharis: Most, if not all, existing foliage is becoming translucent and falling off. I'll leave it planted and see if it grows new leaves.

Moneywort: Redipped a plant that was dipped just a few days prior to further stress it. Still no bad effects.


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## Iggy (Jan 10, 2005)

nitromad said:


> so one 400mg tablet per 10 gallons so 6 tablet an day (60 abouts US Gallons)
> 
> thanks for info/help
> 
> Gavin


 AFAIK the one tablet per day, per 10 gallons, is based on 200mg tabs not 400mg. You may be overdosing.


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## nitromad (Dec 29, 2004)

Iggy said:


> AFAIK the one tablet per day, per 10 gallons, is based on 200mg tabs not 400mg. You may be overdosing.


good job i have not got tablets yet then cheers for the info



Gavin


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## jgc (Jul 6, 2005)

Just an update on the HOT vertical spaybar experiment:

I have been testing my water parameters a lot more lately, seems my Phosphate was way out of whack. Anyway, I have been getting the parameters back to where they should be, stopped dosing PO4, increased dosing of K2So4 to take up for the K slack...

As I did this, my NO3 uptake has skyrocketed - and so have bubbles. With the amount of current I am dealing with, it is somewhat hard to notice pearling per se, but the water has achieved champagne bubbles (thousands of bubbles).

Over Christmas I was away for a few days, came back to some new algae (mostly brown crud). I did my weekly water change, then hit the tank with a diatomic filter. And what to my wondering eyes should appear - but pretty much the first time ever I have had clear water. My water has pretty much been cloudy since I added plants. Last night it was like the fish were floating in air - or a light mist anyway - lots of bubbles.

Anyway, HOT vertical spraybar experiment was a limited success. The extra flow was great, but the HOT tended to get a tad loud. Perhaps this was my fault - will check that tonight through this weekend. This weekend the experiment will be ended - Santa is bringing a new Eheim 2217 (nice silent flow and cleaner – no big black box hanging off the side of the tank)
-------
A few extra minutes of thought - Currently am thinking that the new Algae (the brown crud) was probably just protean. The excessive persistent bubbles might have worked somewhat like a protean skimmer, pulling protean out of solution. Hitting it with the diatomic filter afterward pulled the hole mess out of the tank and gave me the crystal clear water I saw. 

I am curious if the water will look as good when I get home tonight. Also curious what effects the clear water might have on plant growth - a lot more light is making to the plants now.


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