I killed watersprite ????

[joannde]

I bought two watersprites and planted each of them in a small terra cotta pot. I've read it "grows like a weed" and that snails may eat it - both sounded good to me - I've always had luck growing weeds and I figured the snails would keep the growth to a managable level (ie: keep it trimmed for me).
Just as they arrived my light fixture blew out a I had to run my old 20watt T8 on the 29G tank for a week.
Well - one watersprite is pretty pathetic looking but I can see two little fronds of new growth starting to push through the EcroComplete in the pot. The other one appears to be dead (but the mystery snails still seem to be enjoying what little growth is left).

My new fixture is a corallife with 2 18W T5 bulbs (talk about a small fixture !! very neat).

Could that one week of bad light have killed the watersprite ? Should I try a different plant instead ?

 

[Jchillin]

I doubt if the light deprivation did it in. Plants tend to suffer equally if in the exact same environment. If the other isn't suffering as much, then I would think it's limited to issues with that particular plant.

You mention the snails are eating the plant, perhaps they have eaten through the stems and prevented the plant from getting nourishment? Take a look.

 

[travis simonson]

I always have to ask when I hear "watersprite": is it Hygrophila difformis (nearly unkillable as long as it still has roots) or Ceratopteris callitrichoides (a fairly hardy fern that likes a good deal of light)?

I can see killing the fern with low light, but H. difformis is probably one of the most resilient plants I've ever seen. If that's what you've got, it will come back from the dead with your new lights. Don't even think a week with low light can kill that stuff, it's just playing possum

 

[joannde]

It was sold to me as Ceratopteris thalictroides. I looked at some photos of this species and it does look like what I remember (can't really tell very much anymore !). The leaves were thinner than the photo of Wisteria (H. difformis) that I looked at on plantgeek.net

What remains of the stems still seems to be intact, but there are only about 3 stems on each of the plants (they started with 12 or so LOL).

If it doesn't come back I'll go with the Wisteria (H. difformis) next time - I need something that can't be killed - I could PROBABLY grow that Do I have enough light for it (2x18W T5 on a 29G) ?

 

[JRagg]

If you've got one leaf left you should be able to grow a whole new plant. Just float it and it will grow roots.

I almost killed the species you've got too. BGA and low lighting really messed it up, but it ended up taking over my tank. I gave it to a friend of mine a week and a half ago. He needs it, lol.

 

[travis simonson]

Your wattage is on the low side for H. difformis but since they're the cool new T5's they should be more efficient per watt. I think it will do just fine. Let us know how it goes

 

[joannde]

Thanks all. I cut off a few snips of some surviving pieces and am letting them float. JRagg, you were right, I actually found one leaf already floating that has a couple of small roots ! I'll be going to the LFS in a week to see if I can get a couple of neon dwarf rainbows or a couple of male mosaic tail guppies, so I'll check for some wisteria while I'm there if it looks like I've lost the watersprite.

The T5's are really neat - very very compact. The whole fixture is less than 2 inches high and 5 inches wide. I bought the same fixtures for the two 20G tanks. I believe I get 1.75 equiv watts out of a T5 so on the 29G I have something around 2.2wpg (or something near to that).

 

[sherry]

watersprite always melted in my tank.. the soft water does it.

 

[Mosaic]

I "killed" water sprite a few times before, and just gave up since I didn't know any better. But after learning a bit more about plants (thanks AA!), I'm willing to give them more time to establish themselves. I think they just need a little time to adjust.
When I tried watersprite this time, a lot of the leaves turned brown and died, but instead of tossing it all like I did before, I kept only the unfurling new leaves and planted them. They've grown a bunch over the few days I was out of town. I have a feeling they could have gone crazy, but the competition for nutrients in my tank is cutthroat when I'm not around to dose.

 

[joannde]

From what I can tell my watersprite is dead as a doornail - I have zero luck with plants LOL. The only plants that I can keep alive are orchids - but it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them being outdoors in the humid environment that they thrive in.

 

[Thebluyak]

you should try babomba, I dont know the exact name but if you have high light it will grow like crazy! I will have some stems to give away soon enough if you might want some

 

[joannde]

Thanks for the offer Thebluyak. I only have ~ 2wpg so I probably don't have enough light.