Bubbling Plants

[shawmutt]

Hi all, already I have another question. I have a large piece of driftwood covered in java fern that was sitting on the bottom of my tank (29 gallon long tank w/ a diy yeast co2 injection, 20 watt freshwater fluorescent bulb--for those that don't know). Long story short, I propped up the driftwood with some rocks, bringing the plants closer to the light and making a cave underneath. I was looking in my tank, and noticed the tiniest stream of bubbles coming off of a leaf, and upon closer inspection I found that a lot of leaves had bubbles on them. Is this the "pearling" I've heard about? And if so, does a stream of bubbles indicate that there's too much of something?

 

[d9hp]

That would be pearling, and that is good.

too much of something?

IMO you can never have too much pearling. I like the look of it.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

What is pearling, and what is in the bubbles? Does it happen because there are too many gases disolved and the water becomes supersaturated. They appear on the leave because it is a good nucleating agent, or because the gas comes out of the leaves?

 

[Doraemon]

the bubbles are from the oxygen that's produced during photosynthesis. If you stare at it long enough, it'll put you in a trance.

 

[Biggen]

Does it happen because there are too many gases disolved and the water becomes supersaturated.

Yup. That is why it is understood in the planted aquaria world, that if you can get your plants to pearl, they are growing it their optimum rate. The water is so saturated with O2, that no more can dissolve and you can no actually see the O2 streaming up to the top of the surface from the plants.

 

[d9hp]

Congratz! Pearling plants are great and it really adds to the tank IMO