When it comes to choosing what types of vegetation you want to include in your tank setup, it’s imperative to know what goes best with the species you are caring for.
Choose a plant that is too tasty for your fish to resist, and they will be decimated in short order.
Choose something that grows wildly out of control easily and needs to be munched on by your tank community to keep it under control and have the wrong species to do the job, and you’ll face a rapid disaster.
Most hobbyists want to have a tank that looks rich and lush with decor and vegetation, a window into the underwater world that provides calm and tranquility.
The Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides) is a hardy plant that is easy to care for and provides shelter and hiding places for your tank community while offering a leafy and green look to the tank.
Also, going by the trade name Oriental Waterford, Water Fern, Indian Fern, and Water Hornfern, this plant is versatile and will thrive in most conditions, making it ideal for most communities and levels of experience for hobbyists.
Water Sprite can be found in the wild in Central and South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia, so it prefers year-round warmer climes. Flooded forests, swamps, ponds, and marshes are their preferred habitat as well as others as long as the water is still or slow-moving.
With a multitude of ways to add this beautiful plant to your setup, Water Sprite should be an easy inclusion to consider.
This fern-like plant will also provide some tank cleaning capacity as it helps to keep algae at bay thanks to its broad spread and shading capabilities.
Read on to find out why this plant is so popular in the trade and within the community for providing habitat and vibrant color to aquariums.
Water Sprite Characteristics
You can find Water Sprite with most stockists because of its popularity.
Darker green stems with lighter green leaves, the Water Sprite grows from a central stem with leaves that extend outwards in a finger-like fern type pattern.
Leaves are quite fine and almost resemble the herb dill in terms of the fineness of the leaf fronds and wispy texture. This makes them flexible and will allow them to show the water flow easily within your tank, although they do prefer slow or non-moving water.
This is a plant that can become a huge nest of tangled stems, leaves, and roots when left to its own devices as a floating version of itself. The leaves themselves create an eye-catching overlapping design pattern which is why it is enduringly popular with aquascapers and aquarists alike.
When planted, they need super long roots which can hold in the ground, but when floating, they will be equally long, creating a dense root under forest within your upper and middle tank layers for your fish to play around and hide in.
From root to tip, you can expect these plants to reach over a foot in length and be aware that they are also happy to grow above the waterline like they would in their native habitat.
This is not only a great plant to include in your setup because of its good looks, but it also grows exceptionally fast too. If you don’t follow our guidelines for maintaining this plant, you could end up overrun with offshoots and an incredible amount of plant spread.
More on maintenance later, but next, we’ll look at the requirements for healthy growth and successful planting or floating conditions.
Water Sprite Tank Requirements
The tank size you need for growing Water Sprite is at least 10 gallons.
Taller tank setups like column tanks are especially great for this plant so it can thrive and reach a fuller height for maximum impact. Smaller, shorter tanks can require a lot of pruning which will make the plant look less full and dense. Not the goal here!
Lower lighting conditions are what helps Water Sprite thrive. Often mistaken for Water Wisteria, which needs much brighter lighting conditions, these are two very different plants.
In most cases in the wild, this plant is rooted in a muddy substrate and may be fully or partially submerged.
Luckily because this plant is rather hardy, it will allow you to worry more about the water parameters you need to fulfill the needs of your fish and not a finicky plant which also makes it ultra-desirable in the hobby.
The best pH range is around 5.5 – 7.5, with water hardness between 3 – 8 KH.
This is a plant that can handle most tropical temperatures successfully, but its sweet spot hovers around 68 – 82ºF (20 – 28ºC) for maximum happiness and growth.
Water Sprite Planting And Maintenance
Not much in the way of maintenance is required for the Water Sprite that isn’t easily done.
There really are options when it comes to having this plant in your setup. Choosing to plant or float it is entirely up to you and what might be best for your fish species in question.
Do remember that fish that enjoy powerful filtration will not be a good mix as this plant abhors that type of water condition and will struggle to survive as such.
Water Sprite Planting
There are a few ways to plant this aquatic gem in your tank. Whether you choose to plant or float, they are both quite straightforward.
Should you wish to float, it’s just a simple drop into the tank and let it be. You’ll see a tangle of roots that will absorb the nutrients they require from the water, and they will also grow more rapidly because of proximity to the light source.
Floating Water Sprite will do what they like and spread out, so they are harder to control without regular pruning. Planting it will offer some degree to spread control which some hobbyists prefer, but to each their own.
If you choose to plant your Water Sprite, you’ll need to decide between mud or sand versus gravel. Using a nutrient-rich substrate is always best for plants to get what they need, so gravel is less nourishing when doing live plantings.
You’ll need at least 2 – 3 inches of rich substrate and allow plenty of space for each individual planting, understanding that these plants create a lot of spread with density. Their roots are also extensive and will need their own space accordingly also.
All you need to do is plant the root bulb into a divot in the substrate and ensure all of the roots are covered along with a small section of the stem base. Ensure you keep the planting away from any water flow as we already prescribed.
In terms of where to position this plant in your tank, think middle to background areas to avoid obscuring your precious tank community, which is the entire purpose of having a tank!
Water Sprite Trimming
This is an essential part of the care of this plant, or else it can quickly overwhelm your tank. It’s definitely not a plant and leave it type of vegetation, unlike some others.
Trimming should be done along the outer stems, and you should avoid cutting the main stem, which would inevitably kill it.
Ensure you remove any trimmings from the tank once severed, or else you will be creating new plants which defeat the purpose!
Keep it well fertilized and remove any leaves that are browning or rotting.
Water Sprite Propagation
There is little difficulty with propagating more Water Wisteria for the hobbyist.
This plant can be grown using the cuttings from your regular trims. As we just mentioned leaving the trimmings in the tank will propagate your plant even when unintended!
Alternatively, let the cuttings float on the water surface, and roots will grow as long as your tank community leaves the stem base alone!
Water Sprite Compatibility In The Tank
Almost any freshwater fish is suited to inhabiting a tank with Water Sprite that works within its temperature parameters.
Just ensure that wherever you place these plants that they have plenty of space to avoid and overcrowding.
Fish that love living alongside Water Sprite include (but are not limited to):
- Killifish
- Glass Catfish
- Guppies
- Tetras
- Platies
- Cherry Barbs
- Corydoras
- Mollies
- Bettas
- Amano Shrimp
- Ghost Shrimp
- Cherry Shrimp
Avoid Goldfish, Silver Dollars, Cichlids who will both eat and uproot them in no time.
Snails will devour this plant in no time and need to be avoided as they will munch on the delicate leaves when they have no other foods in the tank.
Troubleshooting Water Sprite
Browning Leaves
If you notice leaves browning, it’s likely not a result of anything you’re doing particularly wrong.
Because these plants grow really fast, as the leaves mature, they will eventually turn brown and die.
What hobbyists need to know is that this doesn’t mean the entire plant is a disaster and dying. It just means those leaves have run their course and are making way for new growth. Don’t panic!
Bendy Stems
When your Water Sprite is collapsing or unable to hold itself upright, there is an underlying issue.
Fluctuating water conditions are usually the culprit, which is never ideal for any tank community, plant, or otherwise.
Remove any dead growth and provide support if you can. If the plant fails to improve, remove and propagate a new plant in its place.
Not Growing
If it doesn’t seem like your Water Sprite is growing at all, it’s usually an issue with roots not being anchored well enough in the case of planted one or roots being damaged and disturbed by fish for floating ones.
Anchor them in place, and once the root systems are reestablished, they should be well on their way to a growth spurt.
Overgrowing Your Tank
If you fail to take heed of the regular trimming point we made earlier; then it’s a case of when and not if your Water Sprite will run riot in your tank.
Their rapid growth rates can make them a real problem if you don’t do a little tank housekeeping on a regular schedule, so you need to ensure you prune them back to avoid them taking over the rest of your plant life.
In the case of floating Water Sprite, it may cover your tank so completely that planted life doesn’t get enough light at all, so care must be taken to ensure enough light is reaching the lower strata of your tank, at least in some areas.
Is Water Sprite Worth Including In Your Setup?
We think it’s definitely a plant worthy of your consideration!
Not only do these plants exhibit hardiness that makes them ideal for newbies to the hobby, but they will liven up any tank with their vivid and densely lush growth.
This is a simple beauty of a plant with delicate, lacy leaf formations that will keep your fish happy, provide ample nourishment for smaller invertebrates, and even fry as well as supplying everyone with a secure place to hide and take refuge.
As long as you maintain and keep these rapid growers in check, they will offer you an endless supply of greenery and background to show off your tank community to its colorful best.
Excellent compatibility and a range of parameters make this plant an outstanding option for anyone in the hobby, both newbies and experienced alike.
Make the most of your aquarium and add a little Sprite into your life for a charming and effervescent plant that will keep everyone happy.
