Plants no bubbling

[liew_j]

hi Guys

Have started introducing CO2 to my tank yesterday for the whole 8-9 hrs but didn't see any bubbling from plants.

My tank measurment: 60 x 35(H) X 30 (cm)
lights: 2 x 18 watts
bubbles: 3 bubbles per second

would the plants need a few days to get use to CO2 (which shoul'nt be) to start bubbling?

[riccia]

this topic was discussed before. refer to the link below.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=14904

[|squee|]

would the plants need a few days to get use to CO2 (which shoul'nt be) to start bubbling?

I dare say they might. They have to adjust themselves to the new enviroment (more CO2, lower pH, blah blah) and then get into gear to grow faster.

Read the link... it gives most of the answers.

[kt89]

In order to get the "bubbling", which people call pearling in the aqua plant world, a lot of factors has to be put into consideration.

1) PH, KH, GH (Check out Sera website, it will help you out)
2) CO2 bubble count

I used to change water (1/2 tank) every 10 days, it also plays a part.

P/S: It took me four years to understand all the PH, KH, GH, water conditions terminology and calculations, patience is the key...

[Phillipians]

fyi, i think your lights are insufficient for them to pearl, and if they do it will only be very minimum, you will need prob 55W lights and above

[denniswko]

add more lights...

[eddyq]

Yr tank should proper nutrients,good CO2 level and bright lighting.
Also good water parameter counts.

[valice]

Too much pearling is no fun after you got over the initial euphoria after seeing ur plants pearl for the first time cos it would basically cloud ur view of ur fishes and plants!

Seeing ur plants grow healthy with algae controlled and fish breeding (if u are lucky) is more fun!

[freezze]

getting ur tank free for algae is the best.... especially free for BGA....

[kt89]

fully agree...i have once got contaminated with hair algae, i tell you...something irreversible and complete damage...

[zenscape]

Sorry to hijack this thread as i am now facing the same problem now but my situation is slightly different.

My tank is 90 gal. The light is 36w PL x 8. Fertilising regime - Lushgro trace with doses of nitrate/phosphate weekly or half a week. Co2 - about 30ppm.

I have been in this hobby for 2 year plus. Thanks to this forum, i learnt a lot. I encountered all sort of obstacle along the way. Whatever algae you name it, i had it before in my tank. When i just set up the tank, i had to overcome cloudy water for many weeks. Invested on Ehiem 2028 and i could not still solve the problem. Finally got rid of cloudy water by getting Purigen. The second year was a bliss. I seldom need to pay attention to the tank except weekend WC and pruning. Plants were striving and water was bubbling like 7 up. Tested many types of plants. Fishes were happy.

Recently, obsession had taken over me and i decided to change cabinet as i was worried that my existing cabinet may be too weak to support. One of its door was slightly tighter to open (an indication of slanted weight) The cabinet came last saturday and i had to clear sand, plants, fishes and water to carry over the tank over the new cabinet. I washed the filter with tank water and used the mature substrate, adding new base fertiliser.

On saturday, the water was as cloudy as milk. But plants were bubbling. Most of them are the same plants before the shifting, namely, narrow leaves fern, moss, rotala, stella, MM. Sunday, water clarity slightly better. But plants stopped bubbling. Monday when i came back from work, the water clarity reached almost 95% and i was happy. However, plants were not bubbling and appear weak. Fertiliser regime added.

My concern is that since the lighting, co2, water parameters are kept as closely as possible, why are the plants not bubbling and appear weak. Do they still need time to adjust in?

[valice]

yupz... ur plants will def need to time to adjust to its new surrounding... it is juz like moving to a new apartment. the furniture, the positioning might be the same, but the house is different, of course u will not be used to it initially rite?

same for the plants...

[kt89]

water is the biggest factor of plant health in a tank.

check out your PH level and the hardness...

I have just completed my 520litre tank and the plants adapt to it really fast, as in one day, the bubbles is everywhere.

the secret......heavy CO2, balance PH & KH

[aquarius]

Actually it's a combination of alot of factors that plants are not bubbling. When my tank was heavily infected with algae, i put a green netting over the tank to reduce the amt of lights and for one and a half days there was no bubbling. Later when i saw that the algae is under control, i removed the netting and after about 2 hrs, the plants were bubbling again.

So in my case it's the lights that made the difference between bubbling and no bubbling. Check your water parameters and the amount of fertilizers that you added in.

[zenscape]

Thanks for the replies

I am wondering when you guys said check out hardness- do u all dose calcium bicarbonate to increase hardness? Increase to 3-4kh?? I did that initially for a few months for the first tankand stopped doing so when the calcium tablets ran out and i don't where to buy. Pharmacy staff gave me a weird look when i asked for it.

Yes, i agree there will be a set in period for them to adapt. But hopefully not too long, if not they will melt away. I guess in the meantime, i have to pay attention to co2 and fertilisers.

water is the biggest factor of plant health in a tank.

check out your PH level and the hardness...

I have just completed my 520litre tank and the plants adapt to it really fast, as in one day, the bubbles is everywhere.

the secret......heavy CO2, balance PH & KH

[FishFan]

Alternative methods to increase kH are to add coral chips or baking soda. If I remember correctly, 1 teaspoon of baking soda will increase the kH of 50litres of water by 4dH.