Why My Plants Do Not Pearl, Do Not Grow?

[dingweding]

i had 2 planted tank b4. all the plant grow quite well, even with diy co2, and no dose. However,

After i moved house, i set up a new 80L tank, no fish, just 3 snail and a few shrimps.
Planted 3 days ago.
3 x 24w light, 2 of them are OSRAM LUMILUX Daylight 6500k, the other is HAGEN Power-GLO 18000k( i know this one sounds too high, but it said can be used for planted tank, and i also googled , ppl use it had good result).
the light is on 5hours , off 2 hours , then on 5 hours again.

bottoled CO2, about 1 bubble per second with glass disffuser, the co2 indicator is green. if i increase bubble rate, i noticed all snails and shrimps move to the water surface gasping for air. Thus i guess the CO2 leve should be enough. CO2 is off at night.

however, 3 days later, no sign of pearling and growing, why?

i did EI dose, still no response?


where is the problem?

 

[Colin_T]

leave the lights on continuously for 16hours a day. Once they start pearling you can reduce the lighting by an hour a day and settle on however many hours it takes to get them to pearl. Just make sure they have 8 hours of darkness to rest and recover.

 

[dingweding]

leave the lights on continuously for 16hours a day. Once they start pearling you can reduce the lighting by an hour a day and settle on however many hours it takes to get them to pearl. Just make sure they have 8 hours of darkness to rest and recover.

Really? does it work? i never heard it b4. i will give it a try

 

[RadaR]

I wouldn't try what was just recommended. Plants don't need anymore than 10 hours and anymore light goes towards algae.
Be patient. Why are you staggering the photoperiod? This technique was only used in the past for people that couldn't keep CO2 levels maitainted at 30ppm. Clearly you can because you have a pressurised system. Keep it on 8 hours straight. Other than that, continue to keep CO2 at a level where the drop checker is lime green throughout the photoperiod and keep up the nutrient dosing. Also the 50% water changes a week. Pearling occurs when the plants are photosynthesizing and growing so much that the water around the plant is saturated with oxygen that it resorts to gaseous form. Pearling really is no big deal. Healthy growing plants is important and zero algae.

 

[aaronnorth]

I wouldn't try what was just recommended. Plants don't need anymore than 10 hours and anymore light goes towards algae.
Be patient. Why are you staggering the photoperiod? This technique was only used in the past for people that couldn't keep CO2 levels maitainted at 30ppm. Clearly you can because you have a pressurised system. Keep it on 8 hours straight. Other than that, continue to keep CO2 at a level where the drop checker is lime green throughout the photoperiod and keep up the nutrient dosing. Also the 50% water changes a week. Pearling occurs when the plants are photosynthesizing and growing so much that the water around the plant is saturated with oxygen that it resorts to gaseous form. Pearling really is no big deal. Healthy growing plants is important and zero algae.

pearling isnt everything. some people cant get pearling to occur! I couldnt in my vicenza 180 a few yrs back

 

[dingweding]

i know pearling is not everything, but the plants do not have any sign of growing neither. Meanwhile, i really do not think oxygen is problem, as there are not much fish. any oxygen produced by plants should be pearl out.

 

[Colin_T]

leave the lights on continuously for 16hours a day. Once they start pearling you can reduce the lighting by an hour a day and settle on however many hours it takes to get them to pearl. Just make sure they have 8 hours of darkness to rest and recover.

Really? does it work? i never heard it b4. i will give it a try

I used to have my tank lights on for 16hours a day and they would pearl after about 12hours. The tanks were basic fish holding tanks with an undergravel filter (lots of aeration), 3inches of gravel and they got some liquid plant food a couple of times a week.

Just try having the lights on for 16hours for the next couple of days and see if anything happens. If they don't pearl then turn the lighting period back down to 8-10hours.

 

[aaronnorth]

i know pearling is not everything, but the plants do not have any sign of growing neither. Meanwhile, i really do not think oxygen is problem, as there are not much fish. any oxygen produced by plants should be pearl out.

no, any O2 produced will be dissolved into the water, only once the water becomes saturated pearling occurs, because no more oxygen can be dissolved in the water so we see it as bubbles on leaf tips.
The other way we can see pearling is when the rate of O2 productions is greater than the rate of absorbtion. ie it is produced so quick it doesnt have time to dissolve.

 

[dingweding]

no, any O2 produced will be dissolved into the water, only once the water becomes saturated pearling occurs, because no more oxygen can be dissolved in the water so we see it as bubbles on leaf tips.
The other way we can see pearling is when the rate of O2 productions is greater than the rate of absorbtion. ie it is produced so quick it doesnt have time to dissolve.

Yes, i understand that very well. As i said, there is only a few shrimp and snail there. i think the O2 will easily go to saturated stage, because many O2 producer not many consumer.


I am alway for last a few days, when i back , the plants still not peraling. but the good news is, they go alot , look really lush. Howver, bloody apply snail eat quite a lot of my precious HC

 

[jonnyf84]

(lots of aeration)

Are you sure it wasn't just the air bubbles getting trapped under and around the leaves - this is quite common and often mistaken for pearling.

 

[Colin_T]

(lots of aeration)

Are you sure it wasn't just the air bubbles getting trapped under and around the leaves - this is quite common and often mistaken for pearling.

no it wasn't trapped air bubbles The airstones were in the corners of the tank and produced bigger bubbles. The plants would start producing their tiny bubbles after the lights had been on for a while, and their bubbles were tiny by comparison. When they got going their bubbles came out in a stream so there was almost a continuous line of tiny bubbles coming off the leaves.

 

[dingweding]

Guys i have newe problem. The first a few days after new tube, the plants goes very well, very fast, although they still do not pearl.
However, now i noticed they slow down. There are some oil film grow on top of tank, also some brown algea on the tank glass, i know it is common for a new tank.

some fragile plants become rotten, my HC turn yellow. some new leaves become narrow and long, and the edge of some leaves become curl up?

the light and CO2 is same as b4.

I do not know is it too much fertiliser or too little?

i dose EI 1/8 tsp KNO3 2x a week
5ml solution or 1/32 tsp KH2PO4 2x a week
2ml solution or 1/32 tsp K2SO4 2x a week
2ml or 1/32 tsp traces 2x a week

the tank is 80L, i know i should does normally 3 times , but i only change 20% water every week, as there are shrimp in the tank 50% water change is too much for them.

so will this end up too much fertiliser ? or i should put more fertiliser?

 

[aaronnorth]

the new tubes will be surprisingly much brighter to the plants causing faster growth. It is fine for the first few days as plants always keep energy reserved incase of emergencies, and this is what has happened here. The plants have now run out of fertiliser, particularly NO3 by the sound of yellowing leaves. Rotting produces ammonia = algae.
The film is excess protein released by the plants. If CO2 is fine with the DC then try raising the KNO3 a little.

Is there a reason you dose KH2SO4 aswell?

And also i am curious as to why you think 50% w/c is too much for shrimp - have you had deaths in the past?

Thanks.

 

[dingweding]

the new tubes will be surprisingly much brighter to the plants causing faster growth. It is fine for the first few days as plants always keep energy reserved incase of emergencies, and this is what has happened here. The plants have now run out of fertiliser, particularly NO3 by the sound of yellowing leaves. Rotting produces ammonia = algae.
The film is excess protein released by the plants. If CO2 is fine with the DC then try raising the KNO3 a little.

Is there a reason you dose KH2SO4 aswell?

And also i am curious as to why you think 50% w/c is too much for shrimp - have you had deaths in the past?

Thanks.

Thanks Aaron, i only change the tap water, as i do not have space to store and treat the new water, so i am afraid my crystal red will die if i put a lot new water in.

so you think i shoud put more fertiliser?
as for KH2SO4, i have no idea, i dose it because on the pinned post here include it, i try to follow it, i only dose a little less i change the water less.

 

[aaronnorth]

ok, i see you are dosing for the slightly smaller tanks @ 1/8th. Try moving up to the 70-150litres and dose 1/4 tsp KNO3.

The other nutrients might be ok, but if not then you can raise them too.

KH2SO4 is used for adding extra Potassium, but enough is dosed with the majority coming from KNO3, then a bit from the KH2PO4. KNO3 is about 40% K,
It is very rarely needed, although no harm in dosing it.