Can't Keep Water Wisteria Alive.

[leannajayde]

So I started the aquriam hobby in January of this year and started toying with live plants about a month and a half later.
So far the only thing ive been able to successfully keep alive is different types of Anbus, small crested Java fern and this type of carpet plant that almost looks like a four leaf clover.
Aside from that I've tried Amazon sword and water Wisteria.
I'm not too broken up about the Amazon sword but I was really excited about the Wisteria.
I've tried it planted and floating and planted the stem where its planted starts to look like floss and eventually breaks off from the roots and both times the leaves begin to rot and I find dead leaves all over the tank.
I have root tabs and use Flourish Iron.
I have two lamps above the tank, they're just regular lamps with the highest watt bulbs I can find and I tend to leave them on longer than I care to admit during the day because i always forget to turn them off.
There's plenty of nitrate that builds up during the week before my wc that they can feed off.
Any advice on how to better care for my underwater plants??

 

[Fahn]

Your problem may be your lighting. Wattage isn't everything, it's the spectrum of the light that matters.

Java ferns and anubias can survive in very dim conditions. For water wisteria, try looking for some compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs in the 6500K spectrum. Limit your lighting to around 8 hours a day if possible.

Also, depending on the seller, your water wisteria is most likely grown above water. It takes several weeks and plenty of melting leaves before it transitions to underwater growth.

 

[leannajayde]

Your problem may be your lighting. Wattage isn't everything, it's the spectrum of the light that matters.

Java ferns and anubias can survive in very dim conditions. For water wisteria, try looking for some compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs in the 6500K spectrum. Limit your lighting to around 8 hours a day if possible.

Also, depending on the seller, your water wisteria is most likely grown above water. It takes several weeks and plenty of melting leaves before it transitions to underwater growth.

I had no idea wisteria needed to transition. I bought it from either petsmart or petco in those little tubes so maybe that is the issue.
Do you know any other plant aside from Anbuis and Amazon sword that could thrive in my conditions? I really want some kind of plant that either floats at the surface and hangs down into the water or a plant that I can root and will branch out and hang out to the top.

 

[Fahn]

I had no idea wisteria needed to transition. I bought it from either petsmart or petco in those little tubes so maybe that is the issue.
Do you know any other plant aside from Anbuis and Amazon sword that could thrive in my conditions? I really want some kind of plant that either floats at the surface and hangs down into the water or a plant that I can root and will branch out and hang out to the top.

Yep, plastic tube plants are grown above water, so your wisteria is transitioning.

You could try Amazon frogbit or dwarf water lettuce as floaters.

In low light plants that do well are mosses and most species of cryptocorynes.