watersprite question

wannalearn

just got done planting my tank.. i have never messes with watersprite befor so i am a little confused, when i got them(2) they were obviously grew planted in substrate, and came potted, so i removed the pot, and all that cardboard looking stuff,(plant was about 6 inches or so tall) then tossed it into tank, and now 2nd day, the plant is still barely floating, kinda half submurged, just laying on its side. looks like it is to heavy to completley float and is trying to sink, especially the root section.. i can rearange it spread out on surface with roots going down, and ass soon as you let go, floops back on its side, hard to explaint, just dont look right.. like it still looks potted just on its side..

beetlebz

Got a picture? Im guessing its Ceratopteris thalictroides, a different kind of water sprite. There are two kinds readily available in the hobby, Ceratopteris cornuta is the other one. The cornuta has larger leaves and shorter stems, and it floats like a lily pad. The thalictroides CAN be grown floating, but its form lends it to substrate planting a little better.

wannalearn

it is thalictroide, well crap, i didnt know one floated better than the other, i thought they were the same thing, just a slight diffrent shape leaves

beetlebz

Can still be grown floating, as I have read. I would plant it and look around for cornuta. I dont mind mailing some either when the weather warms up a little, if you can wait a month or two. mine multiply like mice.

wannalearn

well heck,, that is wha i get i guess,, i know a little about plants. but nothing about watersprite. I just seen the pic in the profile section, and was like i have to have it. Lesson learned. Yea i would love some shipped to me. When ever you feel safe to ship give he a holler. thanks

beetlebz

well, if I wait till its warm I can just wrap some in a wet paper towel, throw it in a ziploc and mail the sucker :)

wannalearn

thats cool.. when ever, how ever works for me..

Byron

Agree with beetlebz on the plant. You could do one of two things. Plant it in the substrate, and when some daughter plants form on the leaves, gently pull them off after they have some roots and 2+ inch leaves and float them. Second option is to leave the plant floating, it might adjust. I've never had this species so I can't confirm this will happen, I know it does with C. cornuta that is grown planted. If it were me, I wold go with the first option and wait for some daughter plants to be safe.

Getting some C. cornuta from beetlebz is great. So you'll then have the real thing anyway.

beetlebz

Im still trying to propagate it for my 110g and 10g. The original plant I put in my 20 long. It covers half the tank roughly, and the roots reach the gravel. I put some on the 55g, which is about the size of a small dinner plate now, some in a 10g betta tank which is about the size of a clay pigeon, and some in my 110g, which is about 8" worth, held in place by a floating fake vine.

If my math is correct, by this time next year I will have approximately 3 trillion square feet of water sprite. give or take a decimal.

wannalearn

i just planted them, they look good planted, got a question, if they adjust, or the daughter plants are use to float, do they look as good as cornuta, i love the look of the long roots hanging down in the water colum