1. I've got no pearling on my leaves (maybe after transplanting all the
plants it takes a few days for them to start "growing" again) My C02 has
been running for about 11 days...21ppm should still produce pearling...

How much light do you have?

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about pearling. Your plants can be growing well even
without it.

2. My kH levels have dropped from 10 to 9. (does this have anything to do
with the addition of the flourite?--I thought it would increase hardness??)

No, Flourite is actually a bit acidic. Some people with soft water report
sharp pH drops (even though Seachem claims it's ineert). However, it seems to
be a temporary effect.

It's Onyx that increases hardness/pH.

I had assumed that kH never fluctuated once you used water from the same
source all the time.

Wrong. KH naturally drops in a tank. The more stuff you have rotting in the
tank, the faster the KH drops. I have to change 30% of my water every week to
keep the KH up in my 29 gallon tank. It's a bit overstocked. The shrimp,
platies, and snails keep breeding....

3. kH levels have dropped to 9 therefore my C02 has also dropped to about
21ppm (my pH is staying the same at 7.1) I thought I could just measure pH
levels for C02 but now it seems I've lost another constant in my
calculations

Once you get to know your tank, it won't be as difficult as it seems now.
You'll get to know how fast your KH drops, how often you need to do water
changes, etc. And don't worry too much about ppm. This isn't rocket science;
in the ballpark is good enough.





Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/