I've just set up a new planted 55 aquarium. I planted it three nights ago,
with what I would call a moderate plant load. Certainly, it's not dutch. I
do have DIY CO2 injection, and 160W of flourescent lighting (1 tube aqua-lux,
2 "daylight full spectrum" and one cool white). The inhabitants are 4
cories and a hitchhiker tetra fry that is doing suprisinly well. Anyways,
yesterday night, just before the lights turned out at 11:30pm I took the
following test results:
o temp: 76 F
o ammonia/ammonium: 0.5ppm
o nitrite: 5.0ppm
o GH: 11 dGH
o KH: 8 dKH
o pH: 7.0
o CO2 (calculated): 24ppm (is this right?) This stays hooked up 24h a day.

Now, this morning just before the lights turned on I took the tests again.
There was no visible O2 production from plants, and all the readings were the
same across the board. If the plants were living as they are supposed to,
shouldn't the pH have gone down due to the plants not using O2, and producing
CO2 at night? Is it normal for the plants to have to establish themselves
first? Sorry if these are newbie questions, I'm just trying to get off on the
right foot. Also, just in the last couple days, ammonia/ammonium has gone
from 1.0 to 0.5 ppm and nitrite up from 0 to 5.0 ppm. This is good right? I
know that they should both eventually be zero but this is the right trend
isn't it? Thanks in advance!

__
"Insert witty comment here."
-John

I planted it three nights ago,
with what I would call a moderate plant load.

If you only planted it three nights ago, the plants may not be established and
growing well yet.

o ammonia/ammonium: 0.5ppm
o nitrite: 5.0ppm

Wow. I wouldn't expect four corys in a 55 gallon tank to produce that kind of
nitrite spike. That is a dangerously high level.

Is it normal for the plants to have to establish themselves
first?

Yes. Especially if they are rooted plants, like swords and crypts.

Also, just in the last couple days, ammonia/ammonium has gone
from 1.0 to 0.5 ppm and nitrite up from 0 to 5.0 ppm. This is good right?

Well, it sounds like your tank is cycling. However, it sounds awfully rough on
the fish. Especially corys and a tetra fry, which aren't known as the hardiest
of fish, at least when it comes to water quality.

Next time, I would consider either doing a "fishless cycle," or using Chuck's
method for planted tanks:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm



Leigh

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

Anyways, assuming my setup is good
enough for the plants to bubble at night, how long should it be until I
observe this?



The plants won't pearl at night. They will pearl during the day. Often in the
afternoon or evening, after a long day of photosynthesizing. (Though in some
tanks, the plants will pearl an hour or two after the lights go on.)

As for when you might see this happen...I'm afraid it's impossible to predict.
There are all kinds of variables: temperature, what kind of plants you have,
how many plants you have, light, CO2, surface turbulence, etc.

Some plants produce more oxygen than others. And some take longer to establish
themselves after planting. Stem plants will adjust a lot faster than rooted
plants.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about pearling. A lot of healthy and vigorous planted
tanks don't pearl.


Leigh

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

Thanks guys! I'll just wait and see how it goes now. Some of them aren't
doing too good, but they were in pretty bad shape when I got them. Hopefully
a few of the unhealthy ones will pull through too. I've been picking off any
mushy leaves that I find, and it seems to help.

In article ,
oSpam (LeighMo) wrote:
Anyways, assuming my setup is good
enough for the plants to bubble at night, how long should it be until I
observe this?



The plants won't pearl at night. They will pearl during the day. Often in the
afternoon or evening, after a long day of photosynthesizing. (Though in some
tanks, the plants will pearl an hour or two after the lights go on.)

As for when you might see this happen...I'm afraid it's impossible to predict.
There are all kinds of variables: temperature, what kind of plants you have,
how many plants you have, light, CO2, surface turbulence, etc.

Some plants produce more oxygen than others. And some take longer to establish
themselves after planting. Stem plants will adjust a lot faster than rooted
plants.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about pearling. A lot of healthy and vigorous planted
tanks don't pearl.


Leigh

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

__
"Insert witty comment here."
-John

Thanks for the input, all. I'm really not worried anymore. I've been closely
watching the plants since I planted them (4 days ago) and most have grown 1-2"
already.

In article , "Steve Galupe"
wrote:
I thought they only bubble because the water has been saturated with oxygen.
It kinda makes sense to me that it would only start bubbling in the
afternoon after a whole days work of photosynthesizing.
And again, plants in nature doesn't necessarily bubble to be healthy.
"Velvet" wrote in message
...
My plants bubbled, but anywhere between mid-day to lights-out. Once the
lights are out, they won't bubble. However, I'd point out that whilst my
plants are growing like mad (fert+co2+light) they bubble less than before.
More heavily planted tank now (due to excessive growth leading to many
cuttings) - so I suspect the co2 isn't keeping up with the plants. By the
same token though, I don't want the growth to be quite so quick, so am not
stepping up the co2/fert/light. I'm a newbie to plants (well, plants that
actually SURVIVE), so experimentation is the order of the day for me at
the
moment. Back to the topic, my plants were bubbling the day after
planting,
when it was more lightly planted (I'd say medium density) with good light
and good co2. Not much settling in required. Plants differ in the rates
of
bubble formation. Vallis is real easy, most of the others I don't see
bubble. The somethingorotherthatIforgotthenameof Marble Queen forms
bubbles on the underside of the flat leaves, but doesn't produce rising
streams like the vallis.

Bit loathe to step up the co2 and risk overdosing the fish ;-) Must get
those other test kits so I know what the co2's doing to my water params,
too, but the co2 method I'm using is a bit hit and miss anyway (floramat,
not DIY, not constant bubble).

Velvet

"redled" wrote in message
. ca...
Thanks for the input. I ran through the tests again this morning, at
about
the same time (ie: 24 hours later) and most of the tests are the same,
but
ammonia/ammonium is at 0ppm and nitrites are at 1ppm. So, I'm not too
worried
about that now. I think maybe they weren't that high last time I
tested,
but
with my kit once you get above 2ppm, it is quite a judgement call to
match
the
color of solution with the provided chart. Anyways, assuming my setup
is
good
enough for the plants to bubble at night, how long should it be until I
observe this?

In article ,
oSpam (LeighMo) wrote:
I planted it three nights ago,
with what I would call a moderate plant load.

If you only planted it three nights ago, the plants may not be
established and
growing well yet.

o ammonia/ammonium: 0.5ppm
o nitrite: 5.0ppm

Wow. I wouldn't expect four corys in a 55 gallon tank to produce that
kind of
nitrite spike. That is a dangerously high level.

Is it normal for the plants to have to establish themselves
first?

Yes. Especially if they are rooted plants, like swords and crypts.

Also, just in the last couple days, ammonia/ammonium has gone
from 1.0 to 0.5 ppm and nitrite up from 0 to 5.0 ppm. This is good
right?

Well, it sounds like your tank is cycling. However, it sounds awfully
rough on
the fish. Especially corys and a tetra fry, which aren't known as the
hardiest
of fish, at least when it comes to water quality.

Next time, I would consider either doing a "fishless cycle," or using
Chuck's
method for planted tanks:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm



Leigh

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

__
"Insert witty comment here."
-John





__
"Insert witty comment here."
-John