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Re: pearling
Jason Miller wrote:
> While we're on the subject of saturated gasses, I was wondering if
> pearling means that the water is saturated with oxygen - i.e. no more
> oxygen can dissolve into the water? Or is it like adding CO2 - the
> bubbles dissolve while in the water?
Darin Simmons provided Jason with a a nice quote from Art Giacosa
describing what pearling is. That's when a plant emits a constant
stream of tiny oxygen bubbles like a string of pearls.
To expand a little on Art's information, pearling means that the plant has
built up oxygen inside. That doesn't mean that the water around the plant
is saturated with oxygen. On a few occasions I've seen the strings of
tiny oxygen bubbles disappear before reaching the surface - clear evidence
that the water isn't oxygen saturated.
I often see plants with small bubbles clinging to their leaves - bubbles
that can be knocked off to form fairly spectacular cascades of rising
bubbles. Often the bubbles "pool" under the leaves and form larger
bubbles. This tends to happen mostly late in the day and I suspect that
kind of bubble production *does* mean that the water is saturated with
oxygen.
Roger Miller