Are plants supposed to bubble?

[tennesseemom]

Today I moved the tube from the hagen bubble ladder to the intake of my xp3. Other then a bit of noise from my filter, nothing changed. 4 hours later I look in to feed the fish and I see some of my plants have little bubbles coming from them. Is this a good thing or should I take the c02 out of the filter. I have a 55 gallon corner, and just 1 hagen bottle with their yeast packets. It's only rated up to 20 gallons so I figure it couldn't hurt my tank, but maybe I was wrong?

[jmhart]

This is a great thing. Very exciting. This is oxygen respirating out of your plants. It means they are happy.

[tennesseemom]

Well, that's awesome then. I've been trying this diy c02 thing for a month, never seen anything happen. The only difference was putting the tube into my intake. I guess that's a good way to get the c02 into there. Not as fun to watch as the ladder. My java fern, which I don't like because it doesn't do anything, has bubbles all over it. I guess I hate it a little less now.

[Plecosterone]

Running CO2 through the filter intake is much better than with a ladder IMO. The length of hose it goes through and the impeller really break it up. I ran CO2 through an HOB on my 10 gallon tank that was for extra plants and it was amazing the difference it makes even through the HOB.

[OldMan47]

The little bubbles are oxygen the lant is making that is in enough abundance to actually see it. The process is called pearling and it indicates that your plants are actively growing and not just surviving.

[Just5398]

The little bubbles are oxygen the lant is making that is in enough abundance to actually see it. The process is called pearling and it indicates that your plants are actively growing and not just surviving.

does that hold true with algae? If so, my algae is very happy on my silk plant. I'm adding more plants to try to combat the algae problem I'm having. It can be maddening!!!

[gsparsan]

Hair algae in a tank left outside has got bubbles all over. Some of the bubbles lokk like they are trapped in the hair algae.

[FtwayneFish]

i too just started co2.

5g 5.2wpg 2L
10g 1.5wpg 2L

and i too see those tiny bubbles and some times i get streams shooting to the top; from diffrent parts of the plant.

[tennesseemom]

Last night I noticed my c02 checker was yellow and my pleco looked very stressed. I tested the ph and it was the normal 7.0, no ammonia. (Those are the only tests I have at the moment, I'll order the master kit today.) All the other fish look fine. Because of the yellow c02 indicator and my stressed looking pleco, I took out the c02.

This morning, my pleco looks "burned" and is barely breathing! My ph was still 7.0 and still no ammonia. The c02 indicator is green instead of yellow. I did a partial water change, added Prime. Faced the spraybar to really aggitate the surface. Other fish all look fine. I've never had any problems of any kind before, and I'm scared I'm going to lose my pleco :cry:

[Squawkbert]

Unless you have a whole lot of DIY bottles feeding your filter, you aren't going to OD a 55g using DIY. Although your drop checker seems to think that you are hitting some pretty high CO2 levels, your pH readings do not concur (you should see at least ~0.5 drop in pH as checker goes from blue to yellow).

Did you use 4dKH water in your drop checker?

Is your drop checker located somewhere where it is in a current but not somewhere where it could "catch" any CO2 bubbles that might come out of the filter?

If all is well and correct with the drop checker, keep spray bars set so that you have some (not a whole lot) of surface agitation and put the CO2 back in.

PS - plants also bubble for a while (usually from a specific spot) if they've been damaged/moved etc. Clado algae is usually the first thing to pearl in most tanks.

[tennesseemom]

My pleco finally looks normal again. If the c02 didn't somehow stress him out, the only other thing I did in the tank was move some plants and wood around. Perhaps he was stressed over that?

The co2 checker I have is the Red Sea C02 indicator. you fill up to the line with aquarium water then add 3 drops of something that is highly flamable and I wish I didn't have in the house with kids around:) Put the top on, flip it around, and stick in the aquarium 4 inches below the surface. Now I may have it in the wrong spot. I have a corner tank, and I have it where the spray bar blows on it, so I'll move it.

I'll also make my own yeast mixture from a recipe on this site

If he gets stressed out again then I know its the C02 because I havent' touched the tank today.

wish me luck!

[theotheragentm]

CO2 shouldn't bother fish unless it is overdosed. The problem with overdosing is that it is taking up the space oxygen normally would in solution, but if your pH isn't changing it's not a CO2 problem. CO2 will always change your pH slightly, but as long as you are within normal pH levels you should have no problems.

You did only mention ammonia. What about nitrites and nitrates?