Water Sprite Not Thriving

[Phinny]

I bought a pot of water sprite from Aquarium Co-Op. At first some of the leaves and smaller stems melted off and I thought it just needed time to get acclimated. But it’s been 6 weeks and still looks dull green and brownish. It’s in  a 10G tank (8 cherry barbs, 3 otos, danio, 2 kuhli loaches) and nitrates are relatively high 20-40ppm so I’m not sure what the issue might be. I’ve been hesitant to dose Easy Green because of nitrate level. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[Fish Folk]

Well, it’s missing something! The trick is to do a process of elimination to figure out what that might be. I’d begin by doing some research on the plant itself. What parameters are best for it? Although there’s a lot of places to go to learn about your plant, I recommend reading what Aquarium Co-Op posts on their website for plants they sell. Click here to read for yourself, and see photo / screenshot attached. Right off, you want Easy Green (which is _much more_ than “nitrate”) and Root tab(s) if planted. 
 

Think in terms of basic elements: lighting, hardness, nitrate, temperature, root-foods, other plant nutrients...

 

Below is a graphic much used on the forum and online. Examine it carefully, comparing that to your research on the plant. Is there any connection?
 

Here is a great video Cory did on plant nutrition awhile back. It’s one of the best!
 

 

[Phinny]

Hi @Fish Folk -  Thanks for the info.  I realize that nitrates are not the only nutrient required. My issue though is that nitrate levels in my tank are generally high enough that I can't dose with Easy Green to address a potential iron/potassium/phosphate deficiency. I suppose I can starve the fish for a week while dosing Easy Green to see if that helps the water sprite. 

[Oakenstein]

Phinny me too! Just commiserating, really. Everything else does just fine, across two tanks. But my water sprite looks awful.

I gave it more root tabs, or rather, a different location for the root tabs (maybe the roots aren't finding the tabs I put in before?). I'm not sure from your post, are you using root tabs? Even though it can live as a floater, I think it doesn't get enough nutrients from the water column if planted.

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Oakenstein
:but what do I know? I'm can't grow it either!

[Phinny]

@Oakenstein - I added a couple of root tabs earlier today. We'll see what happens. 

[Emika_B]

Phinny - I, too, had difficulty with the water sprite.  Mine never quite rooted so I tried the floating method.  Didn’t really do any better.  I finally gave up on it.  Might just not be a plant that likes my water.  Fortunately, all the other plants are doing just fine.

[ElTigre]

If the root tabs don't work you can do a water change to remove some nitrates from fish waste and food you put in the tank. Then you can add easy green to get the nitrates back up. This way you will know the nitrates come from easy green and have the nutrients that plants need. 

[KaitieG]

If it's any help, I also tend to have plenty of nitrates (20-40 range) and therefore avoid dosing with Easy Green except in new, understocked tanks.  I started to see some deficiencies in my plants and found an easy-dosing tropica fertilizer that doesn't include nitrates.  My anubias are even happier, swords, crypts, etc do great (they get coop root tabs),  but I just can't seem to make Java Fern or Water Sprite happy.  I'm on try #4 with Java fern and have done 3 different water sprite attempts.  Maybe look into fertilizers that don't have nitrogen and see if that helps?  Otherwise, it might just not be the plant for your water.

[Fish Folk]

It may be that there's one key nutrient that's just not in your water, and that the water sprite is missing. But I'd be guessing as to what it might be . . . (phosphate? iron?) . . . you could try adding Seachem's Flourish Phosphorous and / or Flourish Iron . . . but you'll be spending an arm and a leg on a guess. I'll say that Scarlet Temple has never worked out for us in our water, despite regular Easy Green dosing. That's a plant that's on our "failure" list so far. Our water is really soft, so it needs buffering with crushed coral. Do you know what your water GH and KH readings are?

You might consider trying Wisteria if the Water Sprite just refuses to work for you. Water wisteria and water sprite look a fair bit alike. Wisteria is a hygrophilia, and grows like a wondrous weed in our water!  (see photo)

 

[Phinny]

@Fish Folk GH is 300ppm, KH is 180ppm. If the water sprite doesn’t work out I will consider wisteria. Thanks!

[Hobbit]

I’ve found (and heard from other people) that water sprite is petty finicky. If it likes your water it will grow like mad, but if it doesn’t, it will quickly die back. 

I have had water sprite grow really well in my 55 gallon as a floating plant, but in my 10 gallon grow out tank it completely died. It may be because I was feeding unsifted baby brine shrimp multiple times a day, so I ended up adding a decent amount of salt to the water. Not enough to bother the fish, snails, or other plants, but it seems the water sprite didn’t like it. I wonder if water sprite just likes soft water.

[Celly Rasbora]

I had the same issue when I planted it, but the last little bit I allowed to float and that thing has taken off like a rocket. If you have some left, try letting it float. It's now a favorite hang-out for several fish.