evilknieval69 Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 As some of you may know i have a 250L heavily planted tank, 100 odd W's fluoros, pressurized co2, etc etc etc. Today i did a well needed 100+ litre water change and HUGE prune. quite literally 5 minutes after topping the water back up (garden hose, straight in cold ) all the plants were pearling like absolute nutters. I get mild pearling every day, but nothing like this. It has happened to me before, but not this good :lol: What would it be from? nutrients in the new water? the heat change? its not just bubbles from the water going in, it is solid pearling..... Weird :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 The cold water must have made them gasp - and then they all breathed out at once Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 pearling happens because the water is so well oxygenated that all the O2 produced by the plants have no where to go but to the surface rather than just dissolve into the water. i am saying this because ppl seem to have the idea that pearling means a good and healthy planted tank, having plants pearling does not mean ur plants are doing well all it's telling u its carrying out photosynthesis under a O2 saturated tank which most of the time is a good thing. a planted tank with no pearling does not mean its not doing well vice versa the reason plants pearl like crazy after ur cold water change is because its protecting it self from the cold. different ph......... by "moving more". that is why pruning does the same thing. for example if u syphon a bucket of water straight out of the tank then dump it back in nothing will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 My plants do that after a water change. I always thought it was just trapped oxygen :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 It also mixes the CO2 thoroughly throughout the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 The water from your tap has been under pressure (about 60 psi in the old currency) and so has more gas disolved in it just as a bottle of soft drink does. If you pour water from the tap into a glass you will see bubbles form on the glass as the gasses equalize pressure with the atmosphere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbieBoy Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Its real pearling; I see it all the time after a water change and it persists for days until it subsides back to 'background pearling' levels; so I don't buy the degassing hypothesis. Its a subject that generates a lot of, often quite heated, debate with basically two camps. One lot say its excess dissolved gasses in tap water as alanmin4303 suggests and others say its dues to extra/excess nutrients in the tapwater giving your plants a boost. I have no doubt that its a genuine photosynthesis effect (its real pearling, not just gas bubbling out of solution). Personally, I wonder if it could be due to removal of growth inhibitors from the water column which build up over time. Following a water change the brakes are let off and away we go. Whatever the actual reason, it can be quite striking. My tank bubbles like an opened bottle of soda water after even a quite minor water change (bubbles streaming from the plants themselves/cut stems etc... not just appearing on surfaces). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 I used to get the same bubbles forming on my rocks and logs when doing water changes. Didn't have any plants or Co2 back then. Looks like my rocks and logs used to pearl a lot just after a water change... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted April 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 hmm, some good points. This was genuine pearling, i could literally see the bubbles coming out of some places on certain plants.... I think i may have seen a thread on a planted tank forum a little while ago if my memory serves me right... i will try track something down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 maybe just both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted April 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Found these two after a quick search. may have to be a member to read, not sure http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plant ... rling.html and http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plant ... ter+change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted April 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 at one stage someone says Pearling occurs when the water is fully saturated with oxygen. I suspect the water you're putting back into the aquarium has a lot more oxygen then what you're taking out. And on the other thread it says But I have proven to myself, conclusively, that the TRACE element factor is EXTREMELY important to plant pearling on a constant basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Try storing a barrel of water with an airstone in it overnight. Then use it for the waterchange and see if you still get the pearling. ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted April 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 cant be bothered.... :lol: Good point though, might have to try that sometime, got a barrel in the garage waiting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 The easiest test is to fill a glass with water from your tap. Try not to add any gravel, rocks, plant, or fish and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 As a complete aside, you can tell naturally fermented bubbly wines from the ones which have been carbonated later by the size of the bubbles that form. Natural fermentation gives smaller bubbles. The reason----pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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