riccia very healthy but not pearling ?

[freshfish]

why ? anyone can advise me ?

co2 at 2 bps ... have 2 x 36 watt PL lighting + 2 x 14 watt T5 lighting ...

2.5 feet tank ... riccia are not pearling at all though they are very healthy ?

any advise folks ?
thanks

[ghim]

Very much depends on the depth of your tank and the light intensity.

I had problem with making my riccia pearl in my 60cm tank. It has a depth of 45cm, and the riccia is almost at the bottom of the tank. As you know, I am using 2ft LED light. I added in a LED spot light, the "spot-lighted" area begin to pearl. But not really intense type of pearling. I just added a third tube of LED light. And the riccia starts to pearl after 4hours of photo-period. And I just increase my CO2 injection to 4-5bps.

I have riccia in my 30cm cube tank with 13W PL light. The riccia is about 10cm away from the water surface. The pearling starts after less than 1 hour of photo-period. I am injecting around 2bps of CO2.

Of cause other things like fertilization, water disturbance also plays a part.

[yan]

pump slightly more Co2.
consider you have gd lighting and enough nutrient.

[uklau]

why ? anyone can advise me ?

co2 at 2 bps ... have 2 x 36 watt PL lighting + 2 x 14 watt T5 lighting ...

2.5 feet tank ... riccia are not pearling at all though they are very healthy ?

any advise folks ?
thanks

That's interesting. You are happy with the healthy plant but want more .

If healthy plant = walking leisurely in a park without sweat on your shirt,
pearling plant = running marathon all day long with shirt full of sweat .

What is the depth of your tank? How do you dissolve CO2 & distribute it across the entire tank? What is your fertilising regime like?

[freshfish]

Very much depends on the depth of your tank and the light intensity.

I had problem with making my riccia pearl in my 60cm tank. It has a depth of 45cm, and the riccia is almost at the bottom of the tank. As you know, I am using 2ft LED light. I added in a LED spot light, the "spot-lighted" area begin to pearl. But not really intense type of pearling. I just added a third tube of LED light. And the riccia starts to pearl after 4hours of photo-period. And I just increase my CO2 injection to 4-5bps.

I have riccia in my 30cm cube tank with 13W PL light. The riccia is about 10cm away from the water surface. The pearling starts after less than 1 hour of photo-period. I am injecting around 2bps of CO2.

Of cause other things like fertilization, water disturbance also plays a part.

mine is 45 cm away from it ... then what should i do ?

[freshfish]

pump slightly more Co2.
consider you have gd lighting and enough nutrient.

im have 2 x 36 watt PL lighting + 2 x 14 watt T5 lighting , T5 in the front on the riccia

[freshfish]

That's interesting. You are happy with the healthy plant but want more .

If healthy plant = walking leisurely in a park without sweat on your shirt,
pearling plant = running marathon all day long with shirt full of sweat .

What is the depth of your tank? How do you dissolve CO2 & distribute it across the entire tank? What is your fertilising regime like?

from light to the bottom is 45 cm .... Co2 dissolved by glass diffuser ...

getting wave maker soon for air circulation...

lighting 8 hours a day ... 4 hours 2 hours rest , then another 4 hours ...

[ghim]

Increasing your CO2 injection should help, 4-5 bps. Place the CO2 diffuser underneath your water outlet.

At that depth and your current CO2 injection, your riccia should pearl only around after 3-4 hours of photo-period.

You can do a little test on your lighting. Just raise you riccia nearer to the surface. You can try balancing on your driftwood.

It is always easier for riccia to pearl when it is nearer to the surface. This is due to the fact that riccia is light-hungry

[Fuzzy]

.... Co2 dissolved by glass diffuser ...

getting wave maker soon for air circulation...

lighting 8 hours a day ... 4 hours 2 hours rest , then another 4 hours ...

I see some possible problems. You might want to consider ditching the diffuser for a reactor. Internal or external.

I was going 4 - 5 bps in my 2 footer with a Dymax diffuser and my ADA Drop checker never even changed from blue. After I swapped to an ISTA Max Mix external reactor, the CO2 PPM went dangerously high at only 2 bps.

Glass diffusers are really IMO a waste of time and CO2. Get a Reactor, and maybe consider changing your photo period to a straight 8 hours for a bit to see if it helps.

I really don't think you should get a wave maker.

[ghim]

Reactor or diffuser is very much on preference. As for effectiveness, personally I do feel reactor more effective. But for my case, I am using external reactor for my 60cm tank, and diffuser for my 30cm tank. However, I am think of switching them. As the external reactor slows down the flowrate alot. I do notice most of the LFS using internal reactor. As for the diffuser, it is effective enough for my nano tank.

Nano wave maker, does help in circulating the water. This is especially for our case where the depth of the tank is 45cm. I am using an Ehiem Ecco 2232 with lily pipe. The water flow just could not reach the bottom of the tank. Thus after reading blue33's thread, I used a nano wavemaker during photo-period. After I corrected my light intensity, my tank experience full bubbling at the end of the 8 hours photo-period.

[freshfish]

Reactor or diffuser is very much on preference. As for effectiveness, personally I do feel reactor more effective. But for my case, I am using external reactor for my 60cm tank, and diffuser for my 30cm tank. However, I am think of switching them. As the external reactor slows down the flowrate alot. I do notice most of the LFS using internal reactor. As for the diffuser, it is effective enough for my nano tank.

Nano wave maker, does help in circulating the water. This is especially for our case where the depth of the tank is 45cm. I am using an Ehiem Ecco 2232 with lily pipe. The water flow just could not reach the bottom of the tank. Thus after reading blue33's thread, I used a nano wavemaker during photo-period. After I corrected my light intensity, my tank experience full bubbling at the end of the 8 hours photo-period.

but are your riccia on the substrate or they are on dw or something ?

also how do i calculate the watts per gallon ? its been something i;ve always been very confused about ...

[freshfish]

to ghim : i used this website :

http://www.fitchfamily.com/lighting.html

to calculate the watts per gallon , i had an approximate 142 litres ... showing i needed around 120 watts of lighting ... so if i had 4x 39watts = 156 watts is it over kill ?

[freshfish]

ok guys i figured that i am short of around 20 watts of lighting , for 100 watts i have bit of pearling ... can see in the photo

[ghim]

I tied my riccia on wire mesh. And place them on a DW. So they are around 30cm away from the light source.

You light and CO2 should be enough, since riccia did pearl. It maybe the intensity of light your riccia is experiencing. You can try switching the position of your T5 with you PL. And patiently wait for 3-4 hours

That website recommendation is very much based on heavily planted tank. And almost 1W per Litre. Without sufficient plants, algae will crept in.

[blue33]

Hi. Your problem most likely is the photo-period issue. You can try to go for 8hr straight as suggested to see whether it pearls or not, after that you can consider others. Lots of time is the light intensity is not enough, 120w is ok. I've try 120w on 13g tank also, that provided you have massive plant. Wavemaker is good if you have >36cm depth, it doesnt mean you have strong wavemaker is good, what you need is to have more consistent circulation at different spot/location, you dont want to have strong current from the beginning and then reaching the other end slow, what we want is consistent current flow, strong current will stir too much of the CO2, nutrients and so on, too strong current is like living with tornado every now and then.

Ghim try to switch on the wavemaker when your CO2(switch on 30mins before lights on) starts to switch on, and switch off the wavemaker when the light is off, CO2 should be off 30mins before the light switches off.

[freshfish]

8 hour straight , alot of people getting algae problems ... the reason for the 2 hour stop in between is the algae do not like that stop ... maybe can google abit about it ....

[blue33]

If you use Dennerle lighting, yes it maybe less algae, but that will set you back lots of $. There's alot of thing that lead to algae issue. Doesnt mean 8hr lighting can cause you algae problem. 4hr lighting and 2hr stop and then 4hr lighting again is not advisable, plant create photosynthesis around 5-6hrs of lighting, too short lighting you are limiting your plant intake. I being using straight 8hr's and it doesnt give me much problem, i only see healthy plant growth.

[freshfish]

I tied my riccia on wire mesh. And place them on a DW. So they are around 30cm away from the light source.

You light and CO2 should be enough, since riccia did pearl. It maybe the intensity of light your riccia is experiencing. You can try switching the position of your T5 with you PL. And patiently wait for 3-4 hours

That website recommendation is very much based on heavily planted tank. And almost 1W per Litre. Without sufficient plants, algae will crept in.

thanks ghim , improved the lighting and now getting good pearling ...
i cut the co2 rate to 2bps too .

[freshfish]

If you use Dennerle lighting, yes it maybe less algae, but that will set you back lots of $. There's alot of thing that lead to algae issue. Doesnt mean 8hr lighting can cause you algae problem. 4hr lighting and 2hr stop and then 4hr lighting again is not advisable, plant create photosynthesis around 5-6hrs of lighting, too short lighting you are limiting your plant intake. I being using straight 8hr's and it doesnt give me much problem, i only see healthy plant growth.

no algae problems ?

[Fuzzy]

no algae problems ?

I've not had algae problems in my 3 foot planted, 10 hours straight on, 14 hours off.

In my 2 footer that I'm currently cycling, I am having some issues with hair algae. Tank is at 26C constant and there was no fauna in it for 3 weeks. Hair algae bloomed from a Fissiden tied bogwood I had in the tank.

Just transferred 4 large Yamatos in to see if they will do the job, if not I have to go hunt down some Malayan shrimp and give it a go.