pearling plants?

[acer]

I'm looking for a plant that pearls a lot.
i have a diy CO2 diffuser thinking it would help my plants pearl but they haven't pearled to the extent I was looking for.

i have...
flame moss
star moss
fissidens
pelia
dwarf hair grass
xmas moss
giant baby tears

i know riccia pearl a lot. i was just wondering if there were other plants... preferably stem plants that pearl to the same extent.

[paid2]

Whats the flow like in the tank ? As little flow aids pearling, where as stronger currents will make it very difficult.

[acer]

the flow isn't strong, the plants near the output you can see move a little bit but the plants on the other side of the tank are very still.

on the xmas moss you can see a couple of pearls every so often.

[billb]

You need a good supply of CO2 ( you can buy a drop checker with indicator dye to see if you do), good light, maybe 2 watts per gallon, and reasonable access to nutrients. Flow just functions to deliver the CO2 and prevent dead zones. Riccia and hemianthus calitricoides (HC) pearl well. Check out some of the aquatic plant forums and you will find a wealth of info.

Good luck

[acer]

thanks billb :)

i was going to buy some fertilizer but all the fertilizers i've found locally have copper in them, so i've been waiting to see if I can find some without it.

lighting I'm good, I have a 50 watt for a 17 gallon tank.

pH is 6.8 which i'm assuming what you're getting at with the drop checker since the indicator is bromthymal blue, which is a ph indicator.... which would put the CO2 at 30ppm.

[retardo]

pH is 6.8 which i'm assuming what you're getting at with the drop checker since the indicator is bromthymal blue, which is a ph indicator.... which would put the CO2 at 30ppm.

KH? You cant figure out ppm of CO2 using pH alone. Pearling is definitely a combination of good CO2, lighting, and nutrients as billb pointed out.

[acer]

oh...

well then my kh is at 60ppm...3.4 in degrees

and using this equation
CO2 (in PPM) = 3 * KH * 10( 7-pH )

i have a CO2 level of 16.16 ppm

[retardo]

16ppm CO2 is a fair level of gas. 30ppm is the maximum level of CO2 recommended for planted tanks. You may want to try upping the CO2 a tad and see if the pearling improves (it should). Anything higher than 30ppm may cause your fauna to suffer.

How far is the light from the substrate (or relative to the plants you want to pearl)? 50W on a 17G is roughly 3wpg, more than enough to get some pearling. What type of light is it (PC, T5, T8, etc.)? The higher the intensity of light, the better the pearling and the reds you get from plants. PC and T5HO are generally considered to be the best in terms of efficiency.

[acer]

ummm from the substrate? about 25 inches. the plants that i want to pearl are about 9 (i have them on suction cups so they look like floating islands, but i just added these so i don't know if that affects how much they will pearl as the moss on them is mostly anchoring systems). I'm just using the energy saving lights. I'm planning on buying a new lamp and bulb next weekend so hopefully i'll see some improvement.

[Foxtrotperv]

Hi Acer,

I know that rotala tends to pearl a lot too if you give them sufficient CO2 and high lighting. :cheesy:

[acer]

thanks foxtrot, i'm going to try and get a local LFS to order some plants for me once I figure out what I want. The rotala will do well once I get the light I'm planning on getting which will be 65 watts.

thinking about...
rotala hippuris
proserpinaca palustris
riccia

hopefully they will order the plants as they are fairly easy to keep from what I've read, so they could sell some if they order more.

but I'll hold off for another month when I move and redo the scape in the tank.

[mikishuhoo]

Good points!