Water Sprite

[Roland42]

Planted some WaterSprite several weeks ago in my 65long;Flourite substrate, lit by two 24watt T5 HO 6700k bulbs. Fixture is 24" directly over plants. Plants are growing like crazy but my question is about the "feathers" it's putting out along the stems. Is this a filter feeding plant? The "feathers" remind me of the root system on Water Hyacinth I had in an outdoor pond some time back.Are they the beginning of new plants?

 

[Marconis]

Feathers? Water Sprite buds new plants off of its stems, that could be what you're looking at...

 

[furrymurray]

Sounds like the roots of a daughter plants to me. Mine usually break off from the main plant eventually and I just plant them at that point

 

[rich311k]

Sounds like roots, it is normal for stem plants to do that. You can break them off if they bother you.

 

[Roland42]

No kidding. They really look like feathers. A single vein with fine, straight "hairs" arranged like a feather. The resulting shape is about 3" long in a slim arrowhead design. They look too fine to plant; maybe they supplement the planted root. I'll try one as a floating plant..