Mattant1984
Member
Why do some of my plants let off long streams of tiny bubbles from their leaves after a water change??
(I don't use C02)
(I don't use C02)
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Bubbles
- Thread starter Mattant1984
- Start date
neofy705
Member
It's a good sign. I suppose you are using tap water? Tap water has a significant amount of co2 so your plants are pearling.
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Mattant1984
Member
Ahh right OK, yes I do use tap water.
So do you know why do the plants pearl??
What is the purpose of it??
neofy705
Member
It's part of photosynthesis.
Light + co2 + food source = plants releasing oxygen
When conditions are favourable (all of equation above are optimal) plants release enough oxygen fast enough for it to be visible in the form of bubbles.
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Mattant1984
Member
Very interesting thanks for your help with that, so that's why in C02 dosed tanks you see the pearling a lot
neofy705
Member
John q
Member
Hiya, there's a few threads on this very subject that might be worth a read.
Help I need a scientist! Water changes, pearling and CO2
Lots of us experience extra pearling after a water change. This is often explained as the water from the tap being 'saturated' with CO2,leaving the 'extra' O2 from photosynthesis more visible. If this was correct, it would mean that a water change does nothing to increase plant photosynthesis -...
www.ukaps.org
Pearling after a water change? Why?
Me and Dave was having a discussion about why pearling ooccurs after a water change. Dave's thoughts were that when we do a waterchange, the plants are exposed to an unlimited supply of gaseous CO2, so they go into 'hyperdrive' and produce lots of oxygen which can be seen as pearling. While I...
www.ukaps.org
Mattant1984
Member
Cheers John I look forward to having a read 👍🏼👍🏼Hiya, there's a few threads on this very subject that might be worth a read.
Help I need a scientist! Water changes, pearling and CO2
Lots of us experience extra pearling after a water change. This is often explained as the water from the tap being 'saturated' with CO2,leaving the 'extra' O2 from photosynthesis more visible. If this was correct, it would mean that a water change does nothing to increase plant photosynthesis -...
Pearling after a water change? Why?
Me and Dave was having a discussion about why pearling ooccurs after a water change. Dave's thoughts were that when we do a waterchange, the plants are exposed to an unlimited supply of gaseous CO2, so they go into 'hyperdrive' and produce lots of oxygen which can be seen as pearling. While I...
MichaelJ
Member
Hi @Mattant1994 I try to avoid fluctuating water parameters - including CO2 levels... I don't inject CO2 either and I don't want to leave my plants wanting or get confused when the artificial CO2-level evaporates 
also I do not want to encourage certain algae's such as BBA that thrive on fluctuating CO2 🙂 so I always try and let my WC water dose off the excess CO2 - usually for at least half a day often a full day.
Cheers,
Michael
also I do not want to encourage certain algae's such as BBA that thrive on fluctuating CO2 🙂 so I always try and let my WC water dose off the excess CO2 - usually for at least half a day often a full day.Cheers,
Michael
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Mattant1984
Member
Never thought about that, during water changes I try to avoid certain fluctuations such as temp but never thought about the C02 and didn't know it could cause issues.Hi @Mattant1994 I try to avoid fluctuating water parameters - including CO2 levels... I don't inject CO2 either and I don't want to leave my plants wanting or get confused when the artificial CO2-level evaporates
Cheers,
Michael
So I take it you just keep your water in a water butt or something similar??
The issue I have is my tank is near 700 litres so if I do a decent sized water change say 40% that's a lot of water to store somewhere
When you have long streams of bubbles this is from a small injury in the plant leaf, not from pearling. This is why the gas is escaping fast enough to make a stream.
Think of the plant like a balloon, they are filled with gas that they use but if the plant gets a small hole some of the gas will start escaping.
To be clear this has nothing to do with pearling, which is much slower and spread out on the underside of the leaf.
Mattant1984
Member
Thanks Hufsa, so why does it only happen after a water change for about an hour or so??
If the plant was roughed up a little bit then it likely got a small break/opening during the water change.
The plant eventually closes up the "wound", it doesnt want to leak out all the gases it has collected just like our wounds will scab over to keep us from continuing to bleed.
Thats why you will see it stop after a bit. If its not from a single point on the plant then it is most likely from number 3 below.
It seems there is a lot of confusion around this, there are at least four separate "bubble" events that can happen in an aquarium
Number 1 is a small break in the plant tissue, which will lead to a relatively rapid stream of bubbles coming from one specific point on the plant.
Number 2 is true "pearling", where the plant will produce bubbles on the underside of the leaves, the bubbles will be forming in multiple points under the leaf but may gather together and come out from under the leaf in a bigger bubble. True pearling will never be as rapid as the stream you see when the leaf has been damaged.
Number 3 is gas coming out of solution in water change water, here the bubbles will appear both on the top side of the leaf and the underside, as well as on hardscape and sometimes the livestock and the glass.
Number 4 is if you see bubbles all over but you havent done a water change, in this case the bubbles may be from tank equipment or from CO2 mist, and they will gather on various points in the tank, including the underside of leaves. A good way to tell the difference between this one and number two is if you see any bubbles collecting under hardscape, they wont be from pearling unless there are plants pearling directly under that position.
All of these are commonly confused by aquarists and usually assumed to be pearling (because most people want to believe their plants are pearling)
Mattant1984
Member
Oh wow a lot more complex than I realised, very interesting though, when I do a water change next week I will have a closer look at where the bubbles are coming from.
Thanks for all your help 🙏
Andy Pierce
Member
I inject CO2 to at least 30 ppm but I have never convincingly observed pearling...
Even if the gas is leaking through a small break in the plant tissue, this could be more accentuated with higher photosynthetic rate. It can be both things, the sudden CO2 increase that comes from the changed water increases the plant's internal gas pressure and forces a damaged tissue area into leaking.
Hi all,
cheers Darrel
Turn the filter off and it should become apparent within a couple of minutes.
cheers Darrel
neofy705
Member
I agree. My co2 turns off 1h before lights off. I turn the filter off to feed fish and I can see pearling. But normally I don't see it.
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alnitak
Member
Maybe you have high water flow in your tank, so the oxygen released by the plants is stripped away by the flow, not all, but enough to prevent the water for being saturated. If you stop the flow (as said, by turning the filter off), the oxygen is no more stripped away from the water, its concentration increases, and as soon as the water is saturated with oxygen, you should see the bubbles forming where the concentration is higher, i.e. close to the plants leaves. 🙂
MichaelJ
Member
Yes I prep my water in storage containers in our laundry room. And my two tanks are 150L (40 US Gallon) so its manageable - not so easy with a 700 liter tank. I do not consider the aging or degassing of the water to be super essential. It's just that little bit of extra stability that I can add. With a 700 liter tank I don't think there would be a practical way for me to do this. There are systems that can scrub CO2 (bring the level down to the natural equilibrium), but those are costly.
Cheers,
Michael
