Suffering water sprite.

[connorlindeman]

In my 10g tank, the water sprite is growing so fast that i can barely see the fish.

In my 20g the water sprite is really struggling. Especially the water sprite in the substrate. Some of the floating water sprite is melting and getting brownish.

What am i doing wrong?

 

[Byron]

It is hard to say what you are doing wrong since we don't know what it is you are ding. But assuming the light is good spectrum, the intensity should not be an issue for floating WS. But when rooted in the substrate, being a fast grower, it needs stronger light than some plants. The best floating species Ceratopteris cornuta does seem to do less well rooted I find. However this does not answer the floating issue.

Fast growing, it need good nutrition. A comprehensive liquid may be needed. Consider the fish/nutrient differences between the two tanks. I have tanks in which it does better than in others.

The brownish floating may be light, if it is too bright.

 

[connorlindeman]

It is hard to say what you are doing wrong since we don't know what it is you are ding. But assuming the light is good spectrum, the intensity should not be an issue for floating WS. But when rooted in the substrate, being a fast grower, it needs stronger light than some plants. The best floating species Ceratopteris cornuta does seem to do less well rooted I find. However this does not answer the floating issue.

Fast growing, it need good nutrition. A comprehensive liquid may be needed. Consider the fish/nutrient differences between the two tanks. I have tanks in which it does better than in others.

The brownish floating may be light, if it is too bright.

Hmm.

Heres the lights that i have
20g: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZCTZJZJ/?tag=ff0d01-20
10g: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T9Y7LQ4/?tag=ff0d01-20

I do use some flourish on the 20g. I do a full dosage every 2 weeks on the 20g. On the 10g i dont use any.

 

[Byron]

Hmm.

Heres the lights that i have
20g: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZCTZJZJ/?tag=ff0d01-20
10g: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T9Y7LQ4/?tag=ff0d01-20

I do use some flourish on the 20g. I do a full dosage every 2 weeks on the 20g. On the 10g i dont use any.

The light on the 10g is much better spectrum, so that may well be the issue. A Kelvin around 6500K has been shown to be the best light as it is high in the red (especially) and blue and green. Red is essential for photosynthesis.

The 20g light is much more blue and probably too loww in the red. A K of 7000K+ may not seem much different, but to the plants the red is missing and that will slow growth.

 

[Back in the fold]

I've always heard that Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides ) was one of the "easy" plants to grow. Was not the case for me. Mine did great for a month and then slowly fizzled out. What the reason is I have no clue.

 

[StevenF]

I've always heard that Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides ) was one of the "easy" plants to grow. Was not the case for me. Mine did great for a month and then slowly fizzled out. What the reason is I have no clue.

This squire common. It is caused by the depletion of nutrients in the tank. Nutrients come from fish tap-water, substrate, and fertilizers. Your tank initially had nutrients and the plants did well. However over time the nutrients ragout and then the plants stopped growing as a result. I have seen this a number of time and in each case I was able to identify the cause and fix it. But in some cases it took me months to figure it out.

I do use some flourish on the 20g. I do a full dosage every 2 weeks on the 20g. On the 10g i dont use any.

What are other differences in setup, substrate, number of fish, , and water changes (volume and frequency)? In all likelihood the small tank has more nutrients in it then the larger tank. Flourish uses iron gluconate that only last 1 to 3 days before it drags and the iron rusts. Once that happens the iron is not soluble and unavailable to plants. It would be better to break up the one dose into 14 smaller ones. But that said iron may not be the problem. You may also want to try increasing the dose amount. There are 14 nutrients but if only one is short the plants will suffer, stop growing, and may die.

The maximum power rating of the tube light is 8 watts. Not enough to do any harm to plants. The other lamp doesn't have a power rating so I cannot say. However in my experience with a light that can 300 lumen to 3000 at full brightness, high light has never harmed by floating or submerged plants.

 

[connorlindeman]

This squire common. It is caused by the depletion of nutrients in the tank. Nutrients come from fish tap-water, substrate, and fertilizers. Your tank initially had nutrients and the plants did well. However over time the nutrients ragout and then the plants stopped growing as a result. I have seen this a number of time and in each case I was able to identify the cause and fix it. But in some cases it took me months to figure it out.



What are other differences in setup, substrate, number of fish, , and water changes (volume and frequency)? In all likelihood the small tank has more nutrients in it then the larger tank. Flourish uses iron gluconate that only last 1 to 3 days before it drags and the iron rusts. Once that happens the iron is not soluble and unavailable to plants. It would be better to break up the one dose into 14 smaller ones. But that said iron may not be the problem. You may also want to try increasing the dose amount. There are 14 nutrients but if only one is short the plants will suffer, stop growing, and may die.

The maximum power rating of the tube light is 8 watts. Not enough to do any harm to plants. The other lamp doesn't have a power rating so I cannot say. However in my experience with a light that can 300 lumen to 3000 at full brightness, high light has never harmed by floating or submerged plants.

The differences are these:
10 G has lots of snails and one lone guppy
20 G has about 2 snails and lots of fish.
Water changes at the same frequencey(50% per week)

Is there any downside to overdosing the fertilizer by accident? Will the fish be affected?

 

[Byron]

Is there any downside to overdosing the fertilizer by accident? Will the fish be affected?

Yes, fish can be affected detrimentally by overdosing plant additives/fertilizers. Fish continually take in water via osmosis through all their cells; this is how fish "drink." Anything dissolved in the tank water that is able to diffuse across the cell membranes will thus enter the fish's bloodstream and internal organs. This is why use of medications can be so dangerous, along with overdosed fertilizer. The fish's physiology is designed by evolution to function in a specific environment when i9t comes to water, and it may or may not need certain substances in that water. For example, fish from hard water habitats must have hard water in the aquarium because their internal physiology will not function properly without the minerals (calcium, magnesium) they assimilate from the water they take in, whereas soft water fish donot need these minerals and when kept in hard water they can develop problems like calcium blockage of the kidneys.

Back to your problem, I still think it is the spectrum of the light.

 

[connorlindeman]

Yes, fish can be affected detrimentally by overdosing plant additives/fertilizers. Fish continually take in water via osmosis through all their cells; this is how fish "drink." Anything dissolved in the tank water that is able to diffuse across the cell membranes will thus enter the fish's bloodstream and internal organs. This is why use of medications can be so dangerous, along with overdosed fertilizer. The fish's physiology is designed by evolution to function in a specific environment when i9t comes to water, and it may or may not need certain substances in that water. For example, fish from hard water habitats must have hard water in the aquarium because their internal physiology will not function properly without the minerals (calcium, magnesium) they assimilate from the water they take in, whereas soft water fish donot need these minerals and when kept in hard water they can develop problems like calcium blockage of the kidneys.

Back to your problem, I still think it is the spectrum of the light.

Hmmm. Any ideas for a good CHEAP light?

 

[Byron]

The light on the 10g is good light (thinking of the spectrum), can you get it in the size for the 20g? As for other lighting, I am not up on the LED scene so I won't offer any suggestions as they would be guesses.

 

[connorlindeman]

The light on the 10g is good light (thinking of the spectrum), can you get it in the size for the 20g? As for other lighting, I am not up on the LED scene so I won't offer any suggestions as they would be guesses.

i could put i have a full cover that's not see-through on the 20g so that light wouldn't work.

 

[Byron]

i could put i have a full cover that's not see-through on the 20g so that light wouldn't work.

The light on the 10g was this link
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T9Y7LQ4/?tag=ff0d01-20
and the WS is growing well you said. This light comes in various lengths, is there one that fits the 20g?

 

[connorlindeman]

The light on the 10g was this link
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T9Y7LQ4/?tag=ff0d01-20
and the WS is growing well you said. This light comes in various lengths, is there one that fits the 20g?

The light on the 10g wouldn't work because it won't be able to fit under my lid. I have a stock lid on my 20g thats not see-through. Does that make sense?