Growing wisteria: tips and advice

[caman]

I just redid my betta tank, added some live plants, including water wisteria - yeah, I know, it's supposed to be super hardy. Tried this plant before, but it all died from the roots up. This time, the bottoms were rotting when I got it, so I'm floating it on top until it looks healthy. Pulled off dead leaves, left the rest alone. Now the leaves are browning and falling off, which is weird since it's supposed to be a tough plant.

Tank's a 10-gallon, with CaribSea Super Naturals sand, heated, Aquaclear 20 filter, LED lights, and I dose with Fluval Flourish 1-2 times a week. Posting pics of the tank and the plants when I first got them.

[Sire]

Honestly, your water wisteria doesn't resemble either of the ones I've had. Maybe others here have more experience with this plant.

[coltin]

The plant in the left picture has been grown out of water and has terrestrial leaves - these will inevitably rot or fall off as they're replaced by aquatic leaves.

If the base of the plant has been damaged, it's likely to rot - try cutting the rotting parts off with a sharp pair of scissors.

What's your lighting schedule like? Most aquarium plants need a decent amount of light to thrive. If your lights are only on for a couple of hours a day, they might be struggling. Similarly, if the light doesn't have enough wattage, that could be a problem. Consider having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day.

If you notice a lot of green algae, try reducing the light by an hour a day and monitor the situation over the next couple of weeks. If you don't get any algae on the glass, you could try increasing the lighting period by an hour and see how that goes. If you get just a small amount of algae, the lighting time is probably about right.

Some plants will close their leaves when they've had enough light - Ambulia and Hygrophilas are examples of this. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem, then turn the lights off.

[caman]

The plant in the left picture has been grown out of water and has terrestrial leaves - these will inevitably rot or fall off as they're replaced by aquatic leaves.

If the base of the plant has been damaged, it's likely to rot - try cutting the rotting parts off with a sharp pair of scissors.

What's your lighting schedule like? Most aquarium plants need a decent amount of light to thrive. If your lights are only on for a couple of hours a day, they might be struggling. Similarly, if the light doesn't have enough wattage, that could be a problem. Consider having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day.

If you notice a lot of green algae, try reducing the light by an hour a day and monitor the situation over the next couple of weeks. If you don't get any algae on the glass, you could try increasing the lighting period by an hour and see how that goes. If you get just a small amount of algae, the lighting time is probably about right.

Some plants will close their leaves when they've had enough light - Ambulia and Hygrophilas are examples of this. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem, then turn the lights off.

So, is the rotting part the brown bits? I didn't touch the stems 'cause there were roots at the bottom and I didn't wanna kill 'em off faster. I was keepin' the light on from 6 am to 4 pm, but I started gettin' some gnarly algae, which was a big part of why I ended up breakin' down the tank and startin' over. I guess I could try trimmin' the stems now if that's what's needed.

[caman]

The plant in the left picture has been grown out of water and has terrestrial leaves - these will inevitably rot or fall off as they're replaced by aquatic leaves.

If the base of the plant has been damaged, it's likely to rot - try cutting the rotting parts off with a sharp pair of scissors.

What's your lighting schedule like? Most aquarium plants need a decent amount of light to thrive. If your lights are only on for a couple of hours a day, they might be struggling. Similarly, if the light doesn't have enough wattage, that could be a problem. Consider having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day.

If you notice a lot of green algae, try reducing the light by an hour a day and monitor the situation over the next couple of weeks. If you don't get any algae on the glass, you could try increasing the lighting period by an hour and see how that goes. If you get just a small amount of algae, the lighting time is probably about right.

Some plants will close their leaves when they've had enough light - Ambulia and Hygrophilas are examples of this. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem, then turn the lights off.

Also how can you tell it was grown out of the water? I mean I know you said the leaves will rot and fall off, but what specifically about the plant made you think that? Was it the shape, the color, something else entirely?