floating watersprite growth questions

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R

ronron23

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 28, 2011
12
0
0
la palma
So i have been trying to get the surface of my tank covered with watersprite. i have a 5ftx 32inch footprint so im shooting for a pretty large area. I ditched my pc lighting which only lit the center of the surface. Replaced it with two sets of shop lights on a light stand i rigged up. the bulbs are 32w 5500k t8 x 4 to give even lighting across the surface. Now i have 2 bunches of water sprite on each side about a foot in diameter growing at the surface. Originally it was rooted at the lfs and some of it kinda died off. its growing and dividing into new plantlets but the growth is ever so slow.

I guess my question is how can i make this plant take off? Is there an issue with my lights? I dose flourish once a week. Water params: ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-0. before adding watersprite and some temporary anacharis my nitrates were about 10-20ppm on days before waterchanges. I change about 30-40 gallons once a week on a now total 180 gallons between a 150g tank and 50 gallon sump partially filled. Is there a lack of nitrogen for my sprite?

Sorry for such a long post just want to try to cover all my bases.
 
Water sprite is one of the easier plants to grow once it gets established in your tank. It is a nutrient sponge. Your lighting seems adequate although a 6500K bulb would be better. For rapid growth try adding more lighting and fertilizer containing iron.
 
Ill look for some 6500k bulbs. Thats what i originally wanted but couldnt find any. So the phillips "plant bulb" is what i picked up. more light though? I thought i was adding too much. Little emersed shoots grow about an inch or two out of the water and any higher than that it seems to burn. are my lights too close to the sprite? the plant is growing just seems alot slower than everybody says. i will try adding a fert with iron though.
 
I agree with the above poster, iron is necessary. Water sprite is very good at using nitrate and if your nitrate levels are at 0 then that is a limiting factor. Your fish probably can't support the plant growth you are looking for. I would buy some potassium nitrate and dose that every other day. You want to keep your nitrates at 5-10 ppm.
 
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