Tom, IMO pearling is not the end all. I get steady pearling only in my 3watts/gal tanks. In the lower watt tanks I get it only occasionally. I used to go nuts wondering why the d*#n things weren't pearling. Now I just watch the growth and their performance to know that they are happy. At water change time everything pearls.......great to see, but not normally the case in most tanks, most of the time.
I have 4 tanks: a 10, a 40, and 2 - 55's. Since I started dosing on the schedule I sent to Aquafreak I have had very, very little algae(minor algae buildup on older anubia leaves). At one time my tanks were a mess. I thank Tom Barr(most of the regulars are probably sick of reading this) for turning me on to the right way to manage an aquarium.
Len