Water Wisteria not growing well

Ook wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
. com...

Ook wrote:

I have some "water wisteria" in my tank. At the top of the plant it grows
nice green lush foliage. But in about a week, the tips of the leaves
start
to curl under and turn brown and rot. New growth comes out of the top,
old
growth slowly dies. My hornswort is growing like crazy. My lillies did
well
in the tank. I add plant fertilizer stuff which is basically iron. Is
this
just what the plant does, or is there some trick to making it grow
healthy?



Does your "fertilizer stuff" contain potash as well as iron? Hygrophila
difformis (water wisteria) also requres more light than hornwort and water
lilies.



It does contain potash. I also used some other stuff, forgot what it is. If
anything, I might have put too much fertilizer in the tank, but it does not
seem to have stressed the fish or had an effect on the hornswort. Actually,
I have a hair algae infestation that is starting to worry me . I have it
in a 50 gallon tank. On the left side of the tank I have two 18W bulbs
instead of the normal one bulb. One is a reddish plant light, the other is a
blueish natural light. Between the two of them, I figure they cover the
spectrum fairly well.


You've got pretty low light for water wisteria, even on the side with
two bulbs. I've not had much luck with it with below 2 wpg of light.
I'd try crypts, anubias, java moss, or java fern. Maybe regular hygro
or a swordplant on the brighter side, if your tank isn't too deep.

Go light on the ferts if your tank is lightly planted; especially the
iron. Whatever the plants leave behind, algae will use. You might like
to try Flourish Excel to help the plants too. It's a supplement that
you can use instead of CO2 to provide a carbon source for the plants.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

It does contain potash. I also used some other stuff, forgot what it is.
If anything, I might have put too much fertilizer in the tank, but it
does not seem to have stressed the fish or had an effect on the
hornswort. Actually, I have a hair algae infestation that is starting to
worry me . I have it in a 50 gallon tank. On the left side of the tank
I have two 18W bulbs instead of the normal one bulb. One is a reddish
plant light, the other is a blueish natural light. Between the two of
them, I figure they cover the spectrum fairly well.
You've got pretty low light for water wisteria, even on the side with two
bulbs. I've not had much luck with it with below 2 wpg of light. I'd try
crypts, anubias, java moss, or java fern. Maybe regular hygro or a
swordplant on the brighter side, if your tank isn't too deep.

Go light on the ferts if your tank is lightly planted; especially the
iron. Whatever the plants leave behind, algae will use. You might like
to try Flourish Excel to help the plants too. It's a supplement that you
can use instead of CO2 to provide a carbon source for the plants.


OK, I didn't realize that even two bulbs was not much for water wisteria -
my hornwort grows like crazt with just one bulb. I'll print this email and
take it to the LFS and see what they have.

My Java fern seems to be OK, but it grows slowly and keeps putting out
shoots at the tips of the leaves. Is this normal?

Ook wrote:
It does contain potash. I also used some other stuff, forgot what it is.
If anything, I might have put too much fertilizer in the tank, but it
does not seem to have stressed the fish or had an effect on the
hornswort. Actually, I have a hair algae infestation that is starting to
worry me . I have it in a 50 gallon tank. On the left side of the tank
I have two 18W bulbs instead of the normal one bulb. One is a reddish
plant light, the other is a blueish natural light. Between the two of
them, I figure they cover the spectrum fairly well.

You've got pretty low light for water wisteria, even on the side with two
bulbs. I've not had much luck with it with below 2 wpg of light. I'd try
crypts, anubias, java moss, or java fern. Maybe regular hygro or a
swordplant on the brighter side, if your tank isn't too deep.

Go light on the ferts if your tank is lightly planted; especially the
iron. Whatever the plants leave behind, algae will use. You might like
to try Flourish Excel to help the plants too. It's a supplement that you
can use instead of CO2 to provide a carbon source for the plants.



OK, I didn't realize that even two bulbs was not much for water wisteria -
my hornwort grows like crazt with just one bulb. I'll print this email and
take it to the LFS and see what they have.

My Java fern seems to be OK, but it grows slowly and keeps putting out
shoots at the tips of the leaves. Is this normal?


Yep. That's what Java fern does. The shoots at the tips of the leaves
will grow into new plants.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com