Why no pearling?

I have a new tank (4 days old). The first 3 days I had lots and lots of
pearling on the leaves of my plants. As of this morning (about noon), this
has stopped.

Some facts:
size: 125 gallons - 72 long, 18 wide, 18 deep.
Plants: 100-125 gallon "easy habitat" package from arizona aquatic gardens
(nice package) - see it he http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_easy.php

KH 6.5 (This has been checked several times by myself and others)
co2: automatic system - PH set to 6.9 (confirmed with several tests by
myself and others)
water additives: chloromine remover (kent first step - added per
instructions on bottle)
seachem flourish (per instructions)
seachem trace minerals (per instructions)
substrate: 2.5 - 4 inches seachem flourite
Lighting: 6 * 96 watt compact flourescents (4 * 5500K + 2 * 6700K)
Filter: Fluval 405 - 2 compartments w/ activated charcoal, 2 with bio
media - intake on the filter is set deep in the tank, the output is about 2
inches below the top, which does cause some slight turbulence on the top,
but not a lot.

Basically, my CO2 hasn't come on all morning, my PH has been rock solid
stable. Does anyone have an idea if this is normal? Have my plants stopped
growing? Did I use up all the fertilizer? What happened?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

P.S. I do have some "lava rock" inside the aquariums, but have been told
several times that this will not cause PH changes.

Also, in the last hour my PH has dropped from 6.9 to 6.8. The CO2 is
disconnected.


"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:2cpzg.5984$jt.2880@trnddc04...
I have a new tank (4 days old). The first 3 days I had lots and lots of
pearling on the leaves of my plants. As of this morning (about noon), this
has stopped.

Some facts:
size: 125 gallons - 72 long, 18 wide, 18 deep.
Plants: 100-125 gallon "easy habitat" package from arizona aquatic gardens
(nice package) - see it he http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_easy.php

KH 6.5 (This has been checked several times by myself and others)
co2: automatic system - PH set to 6.9 (confirmed with several tests by
myself and others)
water additives: chloromine remover (kent first step - added per
instructions on bottle)
seachem flourish (per instructions)
seachem trace minerals (per instructions)
substrate: 2.5 - 4 inches seachem flourite
Lighting: 6 * 96 watt compact flourescents (4 * 5500K + 2 * 6700K)
Filter: Fluval 405 - 2 compartments w/ activated charcoal, 2 with bio
media - intake on the filter is set deep in the tank, the output is about
2 inches below the top, which does cause some slight turbulence on the
top, but not a lot.

Basically, my CO2 hasn't come on all morning, my PH has been rock solid
stable. Does anyone have an idea if this is normal? Have my plants
stopped growing? Did I use up all the fertilizer? What happened?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

I think I have found it - My KH is now down to 4. I think it is tannins in
the driftwood - does this make sense?

"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:IApzg.6897$j9.4779@trnddc02...
P.S. I do have some "lava rock" inside the aquariums, but have been told
several times that this will not cause PH changes.

Also, in the last hour my PH has dropped from 6.9 to 6.8. The CO2 is
disconnected.


"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:2cpzg.5984$jt.2880@trnddc04...
I have a new tank (4 days old). The first 3 days I had lots and lots of
pearling on the leaves of my plants. As of this morning (about noon),
this has stopped.

Some facts:
size: 125 gallons - 72 long, 18 wide, 18 deep.
Plants: 100-125 gallon "easy habitat" package from arizona aquatic
gardens (nice package) - see it he
http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_easy.php

KH 6.5 (This has been checked several times by myself and others)
co2: automatic system - PH set to 6.9 (confirmed with several tests by
myself and others)
water additives: chloromine remover (kent first step - added per
instructions on bottle)
seachem flourish (per instructions)
seachem trace minerals (per instructions)
substrate: 2.5 - 4 inches seachem flourite
Lighting: 6 * 96 watt compact flourescents (4 * 5500K + 2 * 6700K)
Filter: Fluval 405 - 2 compartments w/ activated charcoal, 2 with bio
media - intake on the filter is set deep in the tank, the output is
about 2 inches below the top, which does cause some slight turbulence on
the top, but not a lot.

Basically, my CO2 hasn't come on all morning, my PH has been rock solid
stable. Does anyone have an idea if this is normal? Have my plants
stopped growing? Did I use up all the fertilizer? What happened?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

I think so. I'd stabilise the tank water KH before using the pH
controller again. I'd control the bubble rate manually in the meantime.

How did you treat the driftwood before placing it into the tank?

Nikki

Mark Newcomb wrote:
I think I have found it - My KH is now down to 4. I think it is tannins in
the driftwood - does this make sense?

"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:IApzg.6897$j9.4779@trnddc02...

P.S. I do have some "lava rock" inside the aquariums, but have been told
several times that this will not cause PH changes.

Also, in the last hour my PH has dropped from 6.9 to 6.8. The CO2 is
disconnected.


"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:2cpzg.5984$jt.2880@trnddc04...

I have a new tank (4 days old). The first 3 days I had lots and lots of
pearling on the leaves of my plants. As of this morning (about noon),
this has stopped.

Some facts:
size: 125 gallons - 72 long, 18 wide, 18 deep.
Plants: 100-125 gallon "easy habitat" package from arizona aquatic
gardens (nice package) - see it he
http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_easy.php

KH 6.5 (This has been checked several times by myself and others)
co2: automatic system - PH set to 6.9 (confirmed with several tests by
myself and others)
water additives: chloromine remover (kent first step - added per
instructions on bottle)
seachem flourish (per instructions)
seachem trace minerals (per instructions)
substrate: 2.5 - 4 inches seachem flourite
Lighting: 6 * 96 watt compact flourescents (4 * 5500K + 2 * 6700K)
Filter: Fluval 405 - 2 compartments w/ activated charcoal, 2 with bio
media - intake on the filter is set deep in the tank, the output is
about 2 inches below the top, which does cause some slight turbulence on
the top, but not a lot.

Basically, my CO2 hasn't come on all morning, my PH has been rock solid
stable. Does anyone have an idea if this is normal? Have my plants
stopped growing? Did I use up all the fertilizer? What happened?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

I let them soak under water (kids swimming pool) for 2 weeks.

My PH was dropping so rapidly that I had to fight with baking soda. 3.5
tablespoons stopped the drop. I appear to be stable at 4.2 KH, 6.8 PH

Thanks.

"Nikki Casali" wrote in message
...
I think so. I'd stabilise the tank water KH before using the pH controller
again. I'd control the bubble rate manually in the meantime.

How did you treat the driftwood before placing it into the tank?

Nikki

Mark Newcomb wrote:
I think I have found it - My KH is now down to 4. I think it is tannins
in the driftwood - does this make sense?

"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:IApzg.6897$j9.4779@trnddc02...

P.S. I do have some "lava rock" inside the aquariums, but have been told
several times that this will not cause PH changes.

Also, in the last hour my PH has dropped from 6.9 to 6.8. The CO2 is
disconnected.


"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:2cpzg.5984$jt.2880@trnddc04...

I have a new tank (4 days old). The first 3 days I had lots and lots of
pearling on the leaves of my plants. As of this morning (about noon),
this has stopped.

Some facts:
size: 125 gallons - 72 long, 18 wide, 18 deep.
Plants: 100-125 gallon "easy habitat" package from arizona aquatic
gardens (nice package) - see it he
http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_easy.php

KH 6.5 (This has been checked several times by myself and others)
co2: automatic system - PH set to 6.9 (confirmed with several tests by
myself and others)
water additives: chloromine remover (kent first step - added per
instructions on bottle)
seachem flourish (per instructions)
seachem trace minerals (per instructions)
substrate: 2.5 - 4 inches seachem flourite
Lighting: 6 * 96 watt compact flourescents (4 * 5500K + 2 * 6700K)
Filter: Fluval 405 - 2 compartments w/ activated charcoal, 2 with bio
media - intake on the filter is set deep in the tank, the output is
about 2 inches below the top, which does cause some slight turbulence on
the top, but not a lot.

Basically, my CO2 hasn't come on all morning, my PH has been rock solid
stable. Does anyone have an idea if this is normal? Have my plants
stopped growing? Did I use up all the fertilizer? What happened?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

Mark Newcomb wrote:

I let them soak under water (kids swimming pool) for 2 weeks.

I soaked mine in a large bucket, initially with boiling water from
kettles, and then using aquarium heaters for 4-5 days. Once a day the
water was changed with clean, boiling water. That procedure got much of
the tea colour out of the wood.

My PH was dropping so rapidly that I had to fight with baking soda. 3.5
tablespoons stopped the drop. I appear to be stable at 4.2 KH, 6.8 PH

You'll need to be careful with water changes. I'd try to treat the wood
more vigorously to remove more of the tannins. For a pH controller to
work accurately, it needs to work with a rock steady KH. I wouldn't want
the fish to be overdosed with CO2.

Nikki

Thanks.

"Nikki Casali" wrote in message
...

I think so. I'd stabilise the tank water KH before using the pH controller
again. I'd control the bubble rate manually in the meantime.

How did you treat the driftwood before placing it into the tank?

Nikki

Mark Newcomb wrote:

I think I have found it - My KH is now down to 4. I think it is tannins
in the driftwood - does this make sense?

"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:IApzg.6897$j9.4779@trnddc02...


P.S. I do have some "lava rock" inside the aquariums, but have been told
several times that this will not cause PH changes.

Also, in the last hour my PH has dropped from 6.9 to 6.8. The CO2 is
disconnected.


"Mark Newcomb" wrote in message
news:2cpzg.5984$jt.2880@trnddc04...


I have a new tank (4 days old). The first 3 days I had lots and lots of
pearling on the leaves of my plants. As of this morning (about noon),
this has stopped.

Some facts:
size: 125 gallons - 72 long, 18 wide, 18 deep.
Plants: 100-125 gallon "easy habitat" package from arizona aquatic
gardens (nice package) - see it he
http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_easy.php

KH 6.5 (This has been checked several times by myself and others)
co2: automatic system - PH set to 6.9 (confirmed with several tests by
myself and others)
water additives: chloromine remover (kent first step - added per
instructions on bottle)
seachem flourish (per instructions)
seachem trace minerals (per instructions)
substrate: 2.5 - 4 inches seachem flourite
Lighting: 6 * 96 watt compact flourescents (4 * 5500K + 2 * 6700K)
Filter: Fluval 405 - 2 compartments w/ activated charcoal, 2 with bio
media - intake on the filter is set deep in the tank, the output is
about 2 inches below the top, which does cause some slight turbulence on
the top, but not a lot.

Basically, my CO2 hasn't come on all morning, my PH has been rock solid
stable. Does anyone have an idea if this is normal? Have my plants
stopped growing? Did I use up all the fertilizer? What happened?

Thanks in advance.

Mark