watersprite not green

StreetCypher

StreetCypher

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Apr 18, 2004
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I have a lot of watersprite in my tank.
This is whats going on.

1)new stems grow, they are nice and green
2)after a while the new stems lose their nice green color. (turn green/brown)

From what i've read it could be a deficiency in mobile nutrients.
I do not add any fertilizers, no CO2, not sure of the wattage because i got the tank used (i'll check the bulb).
My water parameters are
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-5
ph-7.8
Could someone give me a brief rundown on how to use ferts because i'm thinking i may need to add some.
 
first off before you think about injection CO2 you need to find out your gh readings (i think) theres a thread sticky'd in this forum that tells what you want ideally. Also for the ferts, I just go by what the bottle says, I dont think watersprite would need it as much but i use the tabs that you put in the gravelv also.
 
fertilizers come as five major categories, not all necessary all the time:
1. Chelated trace elements. This is the basic micronutrient mix with chelated iron as well as other trace elements. Generally the most common will be Flourish, Tropica Master Grow, or for the DIY crowd Plantex CSM (with boric acid added at 10.5 to 1)
2. Potassium - Flourish Potassium or Potassium Sulphate. Very hard to overdose, but target is about 20ppm.
3. Nitrate - Flourish Nitrogen, Potassium Nitrate or just the end process of the nitrogen process in a cycled tank.
4. Phosphate - as silly as it sounds . . . Flourish Phosphorus or Monopotassium Phosphate. Test kits from Seachem, Lamotte, or I think even Aquarium Pharm now do pretty well...
5 Carbon - Flourish Excel or CO2 injection (pressurized CO2 setup or DIY CO2 generator)

all dosing targets and mix ratios can be found from Chuck Gadd's site as well as a nutrient deficiency symptom chart.

Now, my personal opinion about your situation: Low light, you only have a single bulb, possibly 2 normal output fluorescents which don't provide for strong enough light to warrant use of CO2 or heavy fertilizing. Figure the number of watts you have divided into the total gallons of the tank and use that as a general guide (total watts per gallon). At 1 to 1.5 watts per gallon you can start adding CO2 and ferts. At 1.5-2 WPG you will almost certainly need CO2 and ferts to keep the tank at it's best. From 2-3 WPG you will see a dramatic difference in the use of all 5 above fert groups. If you can keep plants above 3 WPG without adding all 5 above ferts I woul dbe impressed. I have to add small doses of ferts every day to my 3+ WPG tanks just to keep the algae from taking over. You should read Chuck Gadd's site for great info, read everything you can from Plantbrain (Tom Barr).
 
alright,

My tank is a 55g and it has a 70cm 40W powerglo fluorescent light.
So, 40/55=.72repeating.
I have .72W/G.

I have no plans to inject CO2 into my tank. Ferts, maybe. If its too much to watch over then i doubt it.
I barely have enough time to do my weekly water changes on my only two tanks.

Is this the site you're talking about?

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm
 
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You are not suppling enough light for the plants you are trying to grow.
Your 55 is 18" deep and at less than .75watts/gal. very little light is penetrating to the bottom.
Even low light plants will struggle at that wattage. CO2/nutrients will not help until you up your wattage. IMO, you will need 1.5 watts minimum, and 2.0watts CF would be better, for a low light 55 gal. tank.

Len
 
And chances are if the bulb came used with the tank it is too old now. After about a year at most (6 months for many) the bulbs will deteriorate slightly. Not enough for your eye to notice but enough for the plants. On my 20 gallon tank I have 2 20 watt bulbs. 2 40 watts bulbs would be good for you. But that will mean more money.

For now I would grow the water sprite floating. It will make a cool cover plant and being close to the light will help it grow better. It grows equally well floating as it does planted.
 
ok,

Right now a lot of the watersprite has already rooted. I have about 1/4 of the surface covered with floating watersprite as well.
my light is one long fluorescent strip, not two smaller ones. So could i buy an 80W fluorescent strip?

Theres a thing on the inside of the hood that says something about 65W.
Is that the maximum wattage it can handle?

And one more thing, any good brands for lights?
 
Unfortunatly you will need a new hood or a retrofitted hood to add more light. That is why the standard hoods that come with tanks are never great for growing plants. The aquaglo light will not really add that much more to your tank as far as wattage goes which is really what you are looking for. So either live with the low light or else build your own hood (which is what I didi) or else go to ahsupply.com and buy a retro hood kit. I have heard great things about this company and they even send the plans on how to add all of the electrical stuff.
 
AH Supply is the best outlet for Aquarium lighting, IMO.
http://www.ahsupply.com/
Check out the site, consider your options and rather than ordering blind, call the phone number and talk with Kim. He will assist you on what's best for you and if you give him the inside dimensions of your present hood, he will tell you what kits he has that will fit into that space.
I recently called them and was ready to spend close to $40 for a part. He showed me a way to do it for $14 including shipping. Can't say enough about the guy. He looks out for his customers.

Len
 
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