Wisteria roots brown and soggy

[agent89201]

I got Wisteria plants about 2 months ago for my 2 gallon betta tank thats a little over 2 months old. I had the Wisteria roots in the gravel. While I was vaccuming the gravel, I noticed a lot of debris around the Wisteria. I decided to move one of the stalks over a little bit and I felt how soggy the roots were. I pulled them all up and they were all soggy. I ended up throwing them all away and completely changing the water. They got a sufficient amount of light each day. I didn't add fertilizer.

How and why did it get like this? Should I be using any fertilizer? Less light?
What other plant can I replace it with (if I do)? Right now I have an anubias minima attached to a little cave-rock thing.

[Oldfishlady]

What kind of light bulb are you using-age of bulb, kelvin, watts and photoperiod
What kind of additives do you use and did you use any algae killing product, medications or aquarium salt...

When you did your water changes did you disrupt the roots with every water change or vacuum really deep around them...

Do you happen to have a pic...I know you threw them out...but just wanted to look at the plant itself.....
How is the Anubias doing/looking

[agent89201]

1. The bulb is some 60watt bulb that I had in my desk lamp. Nothing special. I don't know anything else about it.
2. I don't put anything in the water except for water conditioner.
3. I do try to vaccum around the plants but I try to leave the roots alone. I should add that I had not noticed growth on the Wisteria in about a week or so.
4. Some of the leaves on the Anubias have little brown spots. Others don't. I think it was getting too much light, so I moved it to the other end of the tank.

[Oldfishlady]

Most plant failures are related to the wrong lights....and 60w if way too many watts and if you didn't have the right color temp or kelvin the lights can't see it well enough to use it for photosynthesis and will slowly rot and die......also by the look of the leaves on that last pic....it looks more like emersed growth-which isn't uncommon since most aquatic plants grow both-it is time and correct lighting that helps them to change over to submersed growth...

[Brian10962001]

A standard 60 watt incan isn't good for growing plants. It will be something like 2500k (warm white) and 60 watts of incan power translates to something like 15 watts of fluorescent, plus your tank is pretty far away from the lamp. I would pick up a 6500k 10 or 13 watt bulb, a desk lamp, and a dedicated timer for your tank. All this should cost you around $25 and you will have much better control over your photo period

[agent89201]

Old fish lady: thank you! The guy at Petsmart said it should be good but I gues he was wrong.

Brian: I had just cleaned it out. It's usually right next to the lamp. I don't understand what you mean by 2500k and 6500k. Can you please explain? Thanks!

[Draug Isilme]

By 2500k and 6500k, he's talking about the kelvins/color temperature OLF was talking about. In an average house hold, the bulbs people buy are 2500k- it's the warm color temerature we're most able to see in comparison to a higher kelvin, or cooler color. With the 2500k your using, your plants may as well be sitting in the dark even with a 60w bulb.
When you go in to the store to shop for one of these bulbs, make sure you look on the package that says '6500k'. Usually, they also say 'Daylight' on it... Also, make sure it's not too high of a watt range- as it's also an important aspect for your plants and your tank is only a 2 gallon, so you don't need anything like a 60w or 40w. My tank is a 5g and the bulb I have is a 10w- so long as I have a scheduled photoperiod for my plants, they do just fine ^.^ My background plants being wisteria!

[agent89201]

Ok. So I got some light bulbs. Let me just make sure they are the right kind before I open them. Daylight compact flourescent bulbs, 120 volt (I don't know what that means), 14 watt, 5000K (didn't have anything higher) for a 2 gallon tank. Right?

[LittleBettaFish]

Holes in the leaves like that can also be a sign of potassium deficiency. I believe potassium also helps in the development of new root growth, so once you get your lighting issues sorted, it couldn't hurt to dose with a comprehensive fertiliser like Seachem Flourish or something similar once or twice a week.

Also if you're growing wisteria, you might want to move your tank under the light a bit more. I've found wisteria does best when grown in direct rather than indirect light.

[Oldfishlady]

That kelvin should be fine for a 2gal.....start on 10hr/day PP but be careful with the light being too close since its 14w over 2gal...you could end up with an algae farm...actually since the only plant is anubias...you may want to get on 8hr/day instead of 10.....light about a foot above the water....