Hello all..it was suggested I post here from the main forum. I cannot keep sea sprite alive in my tanks. I have a 29G with an Eclipse "Natural Daylight" flourescent bulb, and a 5G with an incandescent 20watt bulb. My PH runs high--between 8-8.5. The sea sprite lasts a week or 2 at most. My LFS guy thought perhaps the high PH was killing it off, but now I'm hearing it might be something else? Any suggestions? TIA!
Sea Sprite keeps dyeing!
- Thread starter TeaPea
- Start date
Are you thinking of 'Watersprite?' The only reason i ask is cuz i was look for Sea Sprite on the net and i couldnt find a darn thing. What does the plant look like?
~ MyShrimpDied
~ MyShrimpDied
OOPS--yes I think you're right, it might be known as watersprite. It looks like floating grass sort of. It's not potted, just grass-like stuff that floats up top.Yep, that's it! I just want it for cover for my guppy fry, but I can't keep it.
As a side note, I was at Walmart today and noticed they now carry small screw-in type flourescent bulbs which fit perfectly in my incandescent 5 gal fixture. That's what I have in there now. The fish look soooo much nicer than the cruddy incandescent lighting IMO!
As a side note, I was at Walmart today and noticed they now carry small screw-in type flourescent bulbs which fit perfectly in my incandescent 5 gal fixture. That's what I have in there now. The fish look soooo much nicer than the cruddy incandescent lighting IMO!
Yeah, the fluorescent lighting looks much better with watersprite. I just recently changed my lighting from two 25 watt 2700k lights to two 28watt 5000k bulbs and the sea sprite looks good now.
~ MyShrimpDied
~ MyShrimpDied
Actually, my FISH look better. I wouldn't know about the watersrpite, or "seasprite" looking better since I can't keep any of it alive in my tank, remember? 
The reason that the water sprite isn't making it in your tank is because your light is too low. Stem plants like water sprite generally require high light. I don't know what the wattage is on that 29G's bulb, but it's probably in the 20-30w range -- that is, less than one watt per gallon. Water sprite won't survive in that environment. I'd concentrate on easy-to-grow plants like anubias, java fern, java moss, and certain cryptocoryne species.
The fluorescent screw-in bulb in the MiniBow (I think I saw it was a MiniBow in your other thread) may grow water sprite, but it might not. That's your best bet, I think. It's going to be more of an experiment in that tank because the watts-per-gallon rule of thumb generally applies to normal fluorescent bulbs -- I don't know how it would scale to the screw-ins. The WPG rule breaks down in very small tanks anyway.
To put it simply -- no water sprite in that 29G, and in the 5G, maybe, but I wouldn't guarantee it
The fluorescent screw-in bulb in the MiniBow (I think I saw it was a MiniBow in your other thread) may grow water sprite, but it might not. That's your best bet, I think. It's going to be more of an experiment in that tank because the watts-per-gallon rule of thumb generally applies to normal fluorescent bulbs -- I don't know how it would scale to the screw-ins. The WPG rule breaks down in very small tanks anyway.
To put it simply -- no water sprite in that 29G, and in the 5G, maybe, but I wouldn't guarantee it