Is plants pearling bad for your fish ?

Hi,When my plants pearl, my fish act like they are on crack.:vroam:
They swim in circles up and down the glass and they have paranoia (they get scared when they see me).
They only act this way in the afternoon when my plants pearl.
My co2 source is flourish excel.

Do you think they are having embolisms in their gill ?(bubbles in the blood)

Thanks

 

Flourish Excel is not Co2,it does not provide Co2,it does not make Co2.
Excel is a carbon source.
Test your water in the afternoon.Ph,Gh and Kh.You can test ammonia and nitrite while you're at it as well.

Pearling plants is sign of oxygen saturation,the water is hyper saturated with oxygen.The "pearling effect" is a visible sign of the oxygen produced by the plants.
Fish benefit from this.

 

@Rudi So you do not think the pearling has something to do with the problem ?
Because they are normal the rest of the time.

 

My plants pearl 1 hour after lights on until lights off, 7 hours later.No problems.I inject Co2.But I know what my water chemistry is.
0-ammonia
0-nitrite
Ph-6.5
Gh-6
Kh- 4
When my fish act different,I immediately test Ph,then Kh.When those are stable,I start looking at ammonia or nitrite.

 

@Rudi, I will test my water next time.
Thanks

 

What is pearling guys sorry if dum question...

 

Pearling is the effect of tiny oxygen bubbles forming on the leaves that occurs when the water is saturated with oxygen.

 

Its when your plants release small bubbles, release of oxygen.

Pic of pearling: http://www.apsa.co.za/board/index.php?topic=7025.msg70661#msg70661

 

like this

 

That is an excelent pic of pearling, I would post a video of my tank pearling but I am afraid I have some BL stuff in there.

 

Ahhh oke thanx guys

 

@Rudi Tested my water -
no3=25 or 50
no2=0
Gh =16
Kh=10
cl2=0

Afterwards i did a 50% wc.
Discovered that there are hundreds of snails in my gravel. uke::bawling:

 

@DewaldC,the water chemistry looks good.
no3 25 or 50 is a bit odd but still reasonable.
I can't see any problem,just stop scaring your fish,okay?

Snails causes there own problems though.

 

Is 50 not a lot?

 

No it's fine as long as you do your water changes,but why is the test 25 or 50?
If you do a 50% water change once a week and you start with 25 no3 and at the end of the week have 50 no3,then you have to worry.
If that is the situation,the snails is also a indicator of a underlaying problem.

 

@Rudi It has always been like No3 =10 at the end of the week.
I suspect the snails poop a lot and that's the problem.
So i will have to kill the snails ?

 

No,snails will only multiply if conditions are suitable.Suitable conditions = lots of food.Lots of uneaten food = high no3.
You either feed to much or your fish are leaving allot of left overs.
#1 Clean the substrate with gravel vac.
#2 Feed less or remove uneaten food more often or feed less often.
#3 Killing snails is the last resort because all those dead snails can play havoc with your water quality.Ammonia spikes are common.
#4 You can remove them manually.

You are right,snails do add to the bio load of the tank,but they can only poop out what they eat.If they have nothing to eat ......

 

@Rudi - So if i start to feed my fish less the snails will die naturally?
Will they not start to eat the plants?

 

I stopped overfeeding and my snail problem has steadily decreased... I think I might have just removed the last snails from my tank. Of course, I can see some eggs, so I'm sure I'll have some more snails soon, but the point is my tank went from overrun by snails to having a dozen or two when I stopped overfeeding. The snails I have has not attacked my plants yet, but I'm sure some snails could.

 

@KillerBunny Thank that makes me feel better. :bigsmile:
So they have to get out of water to have babies?.