Wood And Water Softening

[Byron]

On a somewhat related note, I keep seeing tiny bubbles floating to the top.  Am I correct in assuming my plants are successfully photosynthesizing and releasing oxygen?

 
Could be.  If the bubbles appear to actually emerge from a leaf, this is oxygen, what is termed pearling.  You can also see CO2 bubbles though normally only following a water change, and here the bubbles will be covering surfaces.
 
I keep low-tech or natural planted tanks with no diffused CO2, so I rarely see pearling, but after some water changes for a few hours I do see this, due to the addition of CO2 in the tap water that increases photosynthesis for a short time.
 
Byron.

 

[Akasha72]

probably ... and everything settling out too. 
 
Am I right in remembering you've got sand? If so you'll need to move it around a bit to stop the gases building up. Many of us with sand keep trumpet snails to do this job for us but they can get out of control