Maggie Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 I have a new tank doing fishless cycling. I filled it on Sept 12, and have had this water sprite in there for about 3 weeks. It started out about 12" tall and maybe 5" wide. I had it floating until I bought some red root and they were getting stuck together, and it was growing too big. So I planted it in the back. It is now almost 20" tall and over 8" wide in three weeks!! I'm not a visual artist nor anything other than pure newbie on aquatic plants and aquarium design, but here's what I have. Some plants took a big hit during shipment (many arrived dead), and I've already removed several that didn't bounce back. Some still recovering. I think I need to do some trimming. Air stone is temporary to help the bacteria until I can get a control valve bc it's too forceful. (FYI the fake plants sitting on the decoration are going to be used for my quarantine tank when I get my fish). I cannot wait for fish!! I feel like a kid waiting for my birthday to come. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenP2003 Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 It's some good stuff for sure, loves nitrates. I accidentally killed some of mine by over-pruning it. I thought it could be treated like a stem plant, but apparently you can't just snip stems off the top to propagate. This time around, I'm going to embrace the chaos of its overgrowth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted October 14, 2020 Author Share Posted October 14, 2020 My nitrates were so high I had to do a water change bc the cycle stalled! That and I'm adding fertilizer must be why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSamsell Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 @Maggie, My water sprite grows like weeds. Very quickly and the plant has a nice texture. I have medium light and fertilize moderately to heavy at times, but every tank is different. I will say though, in my Platy tank, those fish will eat this plant down to the stem, LOL. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Pearl Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 My water sprite was doing well until it got over shadowed by some Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus and a piece of rock fell on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 (edited) Update: I cut the long stem on the right (in the pic from 2 weeks ago) at the point where the new rootball was going wild, took a big piece to float in the quarantine tank (babies finally starting to explore it!) and planted the rest in my 10-gal. Here are pics of all 3 sprites growing like mad. Edited October 28, 2020 by Maggie clarity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starsman20 Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 I bought 1 8" sprite from the co op 3 months ago. Its now at least a dozen plants in 5 tanks. In the original 36g there are 3. 1 goes almost to the top and the other 2 more than half way. These things grow like crazy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdogtrainer Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 This topic made me laugh.😂😪 I think water sprite is so beautiful. I bought a nice plant from the Co-op about 5 months ago. It didn't do too well planted in my gravel, I dose easy green lightly at 2/3 full dose and only occasionally used root tabs. It does back to where it was nearly dead. A month ago I pulled it up, trimmed off the unhealthy portions and potted the very small amount left in a 4" terra cotta pot with organic soil and a coarse sand cap. It's finally growing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdogtrainer Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 @Jdogtrainer many of my other plants have died or aren't doing well. I guess the sprite loves my water and is forgiving of my lack of knowledge of aquatic plants. I hope yours comes back strong! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 I bought this back in August and floated it. It is like an iceberg as there is more of it underwater than above. This is the above part. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdogtrainer Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 5 hours ago, Maggie said: @Jdogtrainer many of my other plants have died or aren't doing well. I guess the sprite loves my water and is forgiving of my lack of knowledge of aquatic plants. I hope yours comes back strong! Thank you Maggie! I've really struggled with plants too. I changed out my gravel substrate for some Seachem Flourite, applied co-op root tabs and all my plants are doing much better. Even my bulbitis is growing fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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