# Water sprite and algae questions



## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Okay, first... My water sprite doesn't seem to like my tank at all. Amazingly, its not my parameters. I have a friend of mine a small jar with ramshorns and a leaf from my water sprite in it (it was dying, and he lives a block away so his parameters are the same) and it is actually growing in that jar with no lighting or heat, besides te fact that he has the jar sitting next to his sensy thing?! Whaaat.

My tank is a ten gallon. It has a 15 watt 6500k daylight bulb in it and I dose Seachem Flourish at half a dose only. I also have jungle Val's (main plant is dying but it sent out a new shoot that's growing slowly), corkscrew jungle Val's (not doing well), Anubias Barteri (not sure about this one, there's some algae growing on it), java fern windelove (growing a new leaf), and java moss (not growing super fast but still growing). I also had a little bit of mini duckweed that I think my girls ate, lol.

The algae hasn't taken over my live plants (yet) but it has definitely taken over my silk filler plants. Its brown and kind of fuzzy and thick. I'm very new with live plants and am afraid that they will die, but the water parameters are great. I'm planning on getting a Nerite snail but I can't get up to Lincoln for about a month (after I graduate).

I know this gets asked a lot but what should I do about the algae and what should I do to help my live plants? I'm getting more but the person I bought them from hasn't been on for awhile so I'm thinking it won't be until next week.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Is this a pretty new tank? The brown algae sounds like it could be diatoms. I had some in my sorority tank and my otos took care of it. From what I've heard though is if don't let it get out of control it will go away on it's own (usually). 

As for plants, I'm no expert but it really sounds like you are doing the right thing. The only thing I can think of is maybe you need more light? I actually have two lights on my 29g because I was worried that one light wouldn't be enough. I really don't know what would happen if I took one away, but my plants are growing very well atm and I constantly forget to fertilize (I have Flourish, as well as all the macros). I don't think I've put any fertilizer in my tank in over a month except for a Flourish tab under my sword. 

How long are you keeping your lights on? Cutting down the time the lights are on will help with algae, and I've also heard of people turning on and off their lights during the day (not really sure on the time frame here, like 4 hours on, 2 off, 4 on, or something) which the plants don't mind but the algae doesn't like? Hope this helps...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Thank you. I've reduced the photoperiod time by an hour so now its on 9 hours a day. The tank is new as of the 1st of this month.

I have lower light plants, and my anubias has suffered a bit from being too close to my lights. However I do have a lamp close to the tank that's also a 15watt 6500k daylight but I do not always leave it on. Its mostly there so I can get a better view of my girls when I'm watching my tank. I dose less ferts because I'm trying not to feed the algae, lol.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Okay, yeah, I definitely think you have diatoms then. They showed up in my tank after a couple weeks, so that sounds about right. If I were you, I would just try and rub off as much of the algae into the water before you do water changes to remove some of it, if you keep up on it, it should go away on it's own.

I noticed a lot of my plants took a while to take off. It was a bit scary at first because the only plants I had that really DID anything were my hornwort and anacharis (which I ended up just removing anyway after like two months). I have heard mixed things about vals. I was very scared to try them in my tank because I'd heard that they are sensitive and tend to melt but mine have gone absolutely crazy. I went from like 6 plants to probably over 20...there's a ton in there. It took a while for them to get started though, the fact that you have one runner is awesome. I bet you'll have a ton more soon.

What kind of substrate do you have? How often are you dosing ferts? Like I said I'm not an expert, but I can share my experiences with you, haha.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Experience is definitely good, though! I just have gravel substrate which is why I bought Flourish.

My Val's looked horrible when I got it in the mail. Its very long leaves had to be cut very short because the entire top half of the plant pretty much disintegrated in the mail and during acclimation. I didn't throw it out though because I was waiting for a new shoot, and I'm surprised I got one so soon. The corkscrew looked better but is now doing much worse. (I've heard that they send out shoots when the main plant is damaged so I guess that's why my jungle Val's is growing.)

Could I ask why you got rid of your hornwort?

I have a Nerite in my other tank to clean up some algae and it is now completely gone. I was thinking maybe she could help out my sorority tank but I'm terrified my girls will hurt her. The tank she's in now is my blind males tank so she's completely safe from him, lol.

Edit: sorry, I dose ferts once a week during water changes.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

could be the temperature.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

aokashi said:


> could be the temperature.


Oh. Duh. The temp is about 80. I guess I should probably turn it down again.


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

the plants will adjust to the new water chemistry after soem time all of my vals melted away to nothing and are starting to make a comeback, the watersprite is a weird plant in some of my tanks I don't think I could kill it if I tried and in others it's being difficult to grow, we kid about it and just say the fish in the tanks that it's doing well in are zen gardeners, it is weird how sometimes there is no real reason why


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

My temp is at 80, so I doubt that's the problem. I got rid of my hornwort and anacharis because they just got really stringy looking and were taking over...I just didn't really need them to fill in anymore, haha. The anacharis also wouldn't stay rooted and shed EVERYWHERE and was just nasty. The hornwort never shed or anything but I just didn't like it anymore, haha.

I think it sounds like you're doing everything right...just keep it up and stuff should turn around...it took a month or two for my stuff to really take off, so don't give up!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

temperature shock doesnt happen to every plant  sone adapt to it better than others. I kept anacharis at 86 before @[email protected] it was also fine on my window sill at 90F

but there's been people who could not get it to grow above 78. lol


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Stone said:


> the plants will adjust to the new water chemistry after soem time all of my vals melted away to nothing and are starting to make a comeback, the watersprite is a weird plant in some of my tanks I don't think I could kill it if I tried and in others it's being difficult to grow, we kid about it and just say the fish in the tanks that it's doing well in are zen gardeners, it is weird how sometimes there is no real reason why


Lol I just threw some watersprite in my blind boys tank to see if it will grow. I mean if it can grow in a jar thrown in a corner it should grow in his tank with those tiny LED lights. Right? Maybe not.

I'm also concerned about my Nerite not getting enough food in there. She has exhausted her entire algae supply.


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## Donetta (Apr 8, 2013)

Hi Ayala, you've been helping me with my Betta. In my 10 gal planted tank my Watersprite is growing out of control. My Betta loves to rest in it at night. I usually have to trim it every week. I have 2 10watt CFLs on the tank. I have mine planted. I read that if it's floating it can take less light. Is your's planted or floating? I dose Flourish as well, but I also dose all the Micros NPK and Excel three time per week. My temp on the tank is 78-80 degrees.


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## WolfHhowling (Apr 10, 2013)

My water sprite made babies.

But not after it adjusted.

If its a new plant, all it needs is some time it will spring back fast.

as for the algae, I would say stop fertilizing. Water sprite doesn't need it at all to grow. that much algae in the tank might indicate your using to much fertilizer. I would stop fertilizing.

For a while, if nothing improves, it wasn't that, if it worsens it was that and start back up with the ferts.

However if it stops all together and plants are looking better, it was TOO much fert.
Also you want to remove any brown leaves from any plants, you don't want them to melt in your tank, it bad for your water.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Thank you. My watersprite is floating. I have actually stopped with the ferts and was only using half doses anyways. There's also a little algae on some of my plant leaves but none of them are actually turning brown. It seems like the algae is getting better, though.

The watersprite was the first of my plants to actually have any new growth (besides maybe the java moss but that one is hard to tell). Now it seems that none of my plants are growing at all, besides the java fern and jungle vals which are making very, very little progress.

Edit: stupid question. Could I just tie my java fern to an aquarium decoration? I don't have any drift wood. Right now it's NOT planted in the gravel, it's just kinda floaty, lol. My anubias also just has it's root barely into the gravel. Last time I moved it, the roots were beginning to pick up some gravel.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Yes, from what I've read is java ferns and anubais should attach to pretty much anything - rocks and driftwood are the most common things to tie them too, though, from what I've seen.


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## Donetta (Apr 8, 2013)

Yes, you can tie Java Fern to your decoration that's what I did. I actually rubber rubberbanded mine. The Anubias can be tied or planted, but if its planted you can't plant the rhizome or it will rot. Just plant the roots and the straight bar part sits on top of the substrate.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Awesome. I have a little wooden mask decoration from Petco. Its not a cave so girls being chased can't get trapped in it and the holes are not small enough for them to get stuck.

I'm thinking it would be cool to try to get the java moss to grow on it, too. That stuff is just sticking to everything because I have it floating for now. Also, I have fishing line to attach it but I was afraid that might harm my girls and I know rubber bands will eventually like, disintegrate. Is that bad, lol?

Random fact: one of my dragon girls jumped out of the tank a little bit ago 0_0
Tbh, I'm still afraid of touching them and I had to scoop her up with my hands. I'm also afraid to arrange the plants in the tank because the girls will chase my hands and I'm not sure how to get over this fear.


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## Donetta (Apr 8, 2013)

I agree I wouldn't use fishing line. I saw on a reputable site about the rubber bands, so I went with it. I never actually read about them discentergrating, but I did read that about cotton thread. I like how java moss looks on things too. I tried it, but couldn't get it to stick, hopefully it works for you.
Your girls sound lively. Mine hasn't jumped out..thank goodness. Funny I'm not afraid to be close to my Betta. I find that I have the urge to pet him like a little puppy, but I resist. He gets so close to me during water changes. He's not fearful at all. He has so much emotions, throws tantrums and everything. I can definitely tell when he's pissed at me..lol.


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## VJM (Feb 7, 2013)

You are going to have to double check me on this, but I think vals are one of the plants that don't like Flourish. IIRC (no guarantee I am), it is Flourish Excel that causes problems.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

I use Flourish Comprehensive with my vals and they are fine. I don't use Excel though, and have also heard a lot of negatives about how it reacts to vals and other plants...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah, I don't have the excel. I've heard good things about the root tabs, though.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Just wanted to update on my tank quick (yes I did copy and paste this from the planted tanks thread to save myself time typing on my phone )










I got my new plants today  can't wait until I can get rid of all the silk plants!!!

I wrapped my java moss around the mask decoration and used it to tie my java fern to the side.

Got another Anubias way in the back on the right side. Right in front is the Hygrophilia Corymbosa (sp?) hiding behind the jungle Val's. it and the java fern right next to it are hard to see. Some rotala indica up front, water sprite planted between the mask and the Anubias clear on the left side. Crypt petchii is also there. Tons of hornwort floating around, too


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## Donetta (Apr 8, 2013)

It's coming along! I love Hornwart.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah I got a replacement because it turned to mush in the mail last time  he sent a lot of hornwort though!

I really want to replace that blue/green gravel. -_- it was not originally going to be planted and Walmart didn't have a great selection, lol.


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## Donetta (Apr 8, 2013)

Yea, this hobby takes a lot of compromise and patience....I'm short on both.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

The hornwort will go crazy! When I had some, I had gotten a free tiny piece from Petsmart and it very quickly took over my tank. Pretty plant, just a bit invasive


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I know it'll need trimmed but for now, that's what I want, for my live plants to grow in and provide cover so I get get rid of the silk plants.

Then I'd like different gravel but I have a feeling that will be harder to replace, lol.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

You should try some water wisteria - it grows like crazy. I bought one plant at Petco and it's the main plant in my tank now...I have it everywhere. I really like the look of it though, so don't mind trimming it constantly and replanting


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I saw that a lot of members had that... I haven't researched it too much. I just need some lower light beginner plants still  I'm definitely still a plant noob.

I'm planning to go up to Lincoln after graduation, get a Nerite possibly from the LFS. I'll see if I can find that.

I'm also hoping to find some NLS for my brothers loaches because he will eventually be moving his tank to his house and all he had for food for them was Wardley flakes -_- I've been giving them my NLS and they go crazy for it.


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

I think it fits that description (does well in low light and easy) but I will say I've heard that some people have troubles with it. I think it's pretty similar to water sprite.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Haha, I love my water sprite but its growing better in my friends unheated tiny jar with no ferts or proper lighting than it is in my tank 

So I just bought more for my tank haha


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I know you wouldn't lie to me but holy cow! I think that hornwort doubled in size overnight and my new watersprite is doing AMAZING! I think I figured it out.

I researched water sprite more in depth and found that it doesn't usually fall prey to algae BUT potassium permanganate is very bad for it. Of course I QTed it and did two baths in Jungle ClearWater to remove snails (it contains PP) but with my new order of plants I did one MUCH shorter bath in it so I guess that's why the new water sprite is growing well. Also, the water sprite in my friends snail jar (which we upgraded to a 1 gallon bowl, btw) was probably doing better since it was not exposed to PP at all.

I gave him some hornwort for that tank, as well. It doesn't have a heater - it's sitting next to a scentsy heater which warms in a little and it gets very dim natural light and its also next to a floures cent lamp (not sure of K rating or wattage). The water sprite is doing well so hopefully we will see growth from the hornwort as well  it now has some gravel and a couple rocks for decoration.

Thanks to everyone for the replies! Ill try to get an updated picture of the tank with the new plant growth


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

I told you, lol! It goes crazy. I never QTed any of my plants, but that definitely makes sense. Glad it's doing better!!!


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