[supergreeneye]

I just bought some water lettuce it isn't doing very much it doesn't look very healthy anyone have any tips to get it to thrive so i can move it to my pond

 

[AGUILAR3]

I picked some up from a local lake and found that the ones in my small container pond slowly died off due to strong current and the ones inside my low tech Vase are [STRIKE]striving[/STRIKE] thriving after a few months. From what Ive read, water lettuce don't like current or to get their tops wet.

 

[Bluebugs]

I had some out in my pond, then brought it inside for the winter. It needs to adapt you your tank, so you might get some roots falling off and causing a mess at first. Here is what has worked for me;

Little to no current - A sponge filter at most, HOBs will screw it up - especially when the water level drops

Little humidity. I had this in a tank with a hood and it had all kinds of fungus, yellow leaves, stunted growth.

Keep it a little further away from light source. I use CFL bulbs, and if I give it a few inches it's golden. If you have anything that puts off a bit of heat, give it more room.

I have put it in all my tanks. In my fry tank with the sponge filter, the water lettuce is doing the best. I also put it in my filterless beta 10g, but it was taking over, lol.

A few rules, but once everything is set up, it's a great plant.

 

[mnemenoi]

Mine hated higher temps as well, it seemed to prefer unheated tanks with high Nitrates which were summarily lowered to almost nothing. Great for Nitrate export.

 

[Veritas]

Mine hated higher temps as well, it seemed to prefer unheated tanks with high Nitrates which were summarily lowered to almost nothing. Great for Nitrate export.

funny, mine seemed to explode once my water temps got above 78

 

[sowNreap]

I moved mine from an unheated tank because of the cold water to a heated tank & raised the temp to 78. In just a couple weeks the roots have grown about 3.5". The plants have grown some but it's the roots I can really see growing.

I read Water Lettuce likes temps between 72-86 or so degrees best. Unfortunately too warm for my cold water tank. They can tolerate lower/higher temps but don't grow at all or as good. I'm hoping to grow them out in the heated tank & move into my 75 gal when it warms up some.

Can someone tell me if there is a really a difference between Water Lettuce and Dwarf Water Lettuce? I know Water Lettuce can get huge when in a pond but not sure if it's really a difference species. I can't seem to find a definite answer to that question.

 

[Bluebugs]

It's the same plant sowNreap. It just doesn't grow as large in tanks. When exposed to full sun, it gets massive!

I should know, I dwarfed my own WL.

 

[AGUILAR3]

The water lettuce that I got came from a lake that had huge plants. I picked out a few of the smaller attached daughters and have yet to see them grow wider that 2" in over 3 months.

 

[sowNreap]

Ah ok .. thanks. I was hoping they would get bigger than dwarf size. I'd prefer them to get at least 4" in size. Takes a lot to cover a 75 gal. LOL

They are growing fairly quick now that I have them in the heated tank. I was just hoping they'd grow big in that tank, then I could put them in my cold water tank & they'd slow or stop growing but still survive. Plus I just like the way they look when they're big .. like you see in the pond or lake.

When the temp gets warmer I might put some in my rain barrel to see how they do. Maybe they'll get bigger there.

 

[supergreeneye]

thankx for all the response i have no cover on it right now it is in fairly warm water and has an led light the leavs that got wet are dying i dont no if its healthy or not eather it seems to be doing poorly

 

[Zapins]

Post some close up photos and we can help you better.

 

[supergreeneye]

i can do that next post will have pics