They say that diamonds...

[An t-iasg]

are a girl's best friend! I won't dispute that but another form of carbon is appreciated too - pearls!

 

[lmw80]

how gorgeous! Congrats!

 

[rich311k]

Looks great. Congrats!!!

 

[czcz]

Very nice! Congrats!

 

[Simpte]

Very, Very Nice!!!!

 

[malkore]

well done

 

[Andos99]

I've never heard of or seen that before...... is this a good thing?

 

[azn_fishy55]

Yeah,I think pearling is a good thing,looks cool.

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks, everyone! czcz, thanks for the suggestion to add more iron to make the colorata's reddish-purple tones stand out! Just two more drops seemed to do the trick! (and btw, thanks for the colorata! )

Yes, pearling is a good thing! The CO2 bubbles dissolve in the water and are absorbed by the plants during photosynthesis. The plants then give off oxygen. When the water becomes saturated with O2, the excess amount that the water can't hold just beads up on the plant leaves. The little air bubbles or "pearls" on the leaves are O2 bubbles. It does look cool! 8)

The CO2 bubbles need to be pretty small to dissolve into the water; otherwise, they just go up to the top of the tank and break. That's why I am so happy that I got my CO2 diffuser worked out (second picture).

In my tank, with my lighting and CO2 levels, I begin to see pearling about 3-4 hours after the lights come on. After about 6 hours of light, I see many more pearls. When the lights turn off, the plants then consume the oxygen in the water, and all the little pearls dissappear for the night.