cainechow Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 (edited) I flooded my DSM on Friday night (2 nights ago). I just got the drop checker in tonight so we'll see how the CO2 levels are tomorrow morning. I'm running: 7hr photo period one 18" sunblaster 10 gallon tank Fluorite substrate No ferts yet (should have ordered them earlier) How much pearling is an indicator that I'm doing okay? A picture is worth a 1000 words? That is pretty zoomed in. I'm getting some pearling. But it doesn't seem like all that much at all. the photo probably shows 4"x 4" section. What say you? On a side note, I'm guessing the dark spots on the HC is some kind of fert deficiency. Edit: added some more detail Edited August 13, 2012 by cainechow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jro Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Black leaves could be caused from the HC adjusting from emmersed (sp?) to immersed. Just pluck the dead stuff out and get those ferts in!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted August 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Yeah. I really need to trim badly too. Its really long from the DSM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jro Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Is there any fish or inverts in the tank? If there isn't, theres no harm in cranking the CO2 up either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted August 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 No animals yet I think I have incomplete CO2 diffusion on my DIY setup right now. Or the 4dkh in my drop checker isn't actually 4dkh. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenity Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 You need as much co2 in the water as possible after the transition. I had been misting my plants with a water/fert solution for 2 months so when I flooded I knew they had enough ferts to work with. So I cranked the co2 and with lots of light they were pearling like crazy. Your plants will pearl when they have all the things they need: light, co2, micro/macro nutrients. I notice my plants don't pearl as much if something is missing. The fact that your plants are pearling at all is an indicator that you are doing good. Also as Jro stated they will adjust for a while after the flooding as well. What type of DIY setup do you have right now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted August 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 I'm running two 2L pop bottles which are producing between 2 and 3 bps total. The CO2 is being run into the venturi of my sump pump. I know I'm not getting full diffusion because I can see little bubbles flying out of the return into the tank. I have a CO2 reactor built, but it is leaking under pressure and was a bit impatient after 13 weeks DSM and DIY problems so I went with running the CO2 into the pump venturi connection. I just got a hold of my ferts today from Quick Grow on Edmonton Tr. (those guys are pretty cool with the aquarium crowd it seems) and mixed up a batch. I'll be adding the first dose tomorrow morning because I need to wait for all the ferts to dissolve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenity Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 If the bubbles are little then you should be getting decent absorption into the water. Can we get a full shot of the tank? I'm curious! What method are you doing for ferts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted August 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) I'm going to be experimenting with the PPS Pro system. It sounds good for a balance of moderate growth and moderate maintenance. We'll see And now for the shot of the tank. I think I'm going to see the water sprite do a lot of die back with new growth. Hopefully the HC will get healthy once I start on the ferts. I know that they had some issue at the end there while in DSM because some of the leaves started getting dark spots on them. My drop checker solution is still blue, but I don't know if that is because I messed up my reference solution, or if my CO2 levels really are low. I'll have to bum some fancy reference solution from my friend and see. Edited August 15, 2012 by cainechow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 (edited) I finally got my water recirculation valve installed last night and the drop checker is now green. Score. I am guessing that I never noticed it before, but my sump was probably splashing more than it should have been and gassing off my CO2. With the recirc, I'm controlling flow into the tank by dumping part of it back in the sump. It is doing much better and much more quiet than before. The HC and water sprite were pearling within 20-30 minutes of lights on this morning. Hopefully the newly elevated CO2 levels will kill off the little bit of GDA and some water changes seem to be in order to clean up the little bit of brown diatoms. Edited August 16, 2012 by cainechow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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