Questions Regarding Pothos(Golden Ivy) Roots

[H]-[H]

I've a pothos plant with roots submerged in the fish tank and recently it has sprouted new roots..
However, everytime I do water change and as the water level drops, the new roots get exposed and turns brown(dried out)..
They stay exposed for an hour or so until I fill the tank up with water but the roots remain dried out in appearance..
Could it be that the pothos plant is weak? It is a leggy vine but has long roots..
Or is it normal for roots that's been exposed to air?

 

[fishhead0103666]

That's not normal, I happened to have pothos and when it was in my tanks I would leave it out of the water for about an hour and a half, sometimes two depending on the water change amount. Never did the roots die off. I would suspect it could be something to do with your humidity levels but mine are always around 30%-40% so unless yours are even lower that can't be it. Perhaps you can get a spray bottle and wet them every so often during the water change? Or perhaps you can move them into a 5 gallon bucket or whatnot during it.

 

[FINWIN]

Wrap wet paper towels around the roots.

 

[H]-[H]

That's not normal, I happened to have pothos and when it was in my tanks I would leave it out of the water for about an hour and a half, sometimes two depending on the water change amount. Never did the roots die off. I would suspect it could be something to do with your humidity levels but mine are always around 30%-40% so unless yours are even lower that can't be it. Perhaps you can get a spray bottle and wet them every so often during the water change? Or perhaps you can move them into a 5 gallon bucket or whatnot during it.

I find it weird too.. It's pretty humid here..
The pothos was a rescue(sort of) as it was neglected for a few years kept in the bathroom with just added tap water in the vase every now and then..
When I took the roots out of that vase, it smelled horrid with little tiny bead-like substance falling off the roots(not sure what these are).. If I'm not mistaken, pothos don't produce seeds?
Searched the web for clues but nothing comes close..
Next thing I did was rinse the whole vine & roots under running tap water and just stuff the roots in the fish tank..
Another weird thing is that this vine hasn't grown new leaves even after about 2+ weeks in the tank.. only saw new roots..
It gets plenty of light too from the T5 tube which baffles me even more..
I've another pothos that's sitting by the shade outside that grows new leaves almost every other day.. and that vine is in a vase and only gets tap water..
Could it be that this rescued pothos is stunted or contracted some sort of plant disease(still figuring out what those bead/seed-like stuff are)?

 

[FINWIN]

New roots after 2 weeks means you're on track. Shoots with leaves grow later. See if this thread helps:

Pothos in your tank, easy peasy

Using Pothos in your aquarium is a snap...and excellent for nitrate consumption. First, condition the water to detoxify. Don't use Prime as it blocks ammonia. (This instruction is for fishless cycling tanks!) Dosage under 100 gallons 1 teaspoon daily ammonia over 100 gallons 2...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

BTW, Pothos are a low light plant. This applies to fully submerged pothos.

 

[H]-[H]

New roots after 2 weeks means you're on track. Shoots with leaves grow later. See if this thread helps:

Pothos in your tank, easy peasy

Using Pothos in your aquarium is a snap...and excellent for nitrate consumption. First, condition the water to detoxify. Don't use Prime as it blocks ammonia. (This instruction is for fishless cycling tanks!) Dosage under 100 gallons 1 teaspoon daily ammonia over 100 gallons 2...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

BTW, Pothos are a low light plant. This applies to fully submerged pothos.

The thing that got me puzzled is how the pothos that is kept outside(in shade) with only topped up tap water can outperform this pothos that is getting nutrients and lights from the fish tank..
Both vines are about the same size but the one outside has more foliage and the leaves are greener too..

Btw, do you have any ideas what those tiny bead-like stuff on the roots are? They are white/beige and kinda hard in texture.. They fall off the roots easily when rinsed..

 

[TwoHedWlf]

Are the roots under the lights? I wouldn't expect them to normally dry out in an hour or two. Even out of the water if they're above the tank it's normally still pretty humid. But, if if they're under the lights and getting baked or for whatever reason it's hotter and drier than you'd expect. for the usual "In a big box full of water" I could see it killing them.

 

[fishhead0103666]

Round, white, hard, little balls...
That sounds like the things that I found in the root ball of my pothos. The only difference between ours was that mine was in soil before so the balls came from the soil.

Going off of what I have read, is it not possible that the previous owner had it in soil then put it in the vase with water without washing off the roots very well?

 

[H]-[H]

Are the roots under the lights? I wouldn't expect them to normally dry out in an hour or two. Even out of the water if they're above the tank it's normally still pretty humid. But, if if they're under the lights and getting baked or for whatever reason it's hotter and drier than you'd expect. for the usual "In a big box full of water" I could see it killing them.

Yeah, they are under the lights but I doubt the light is the cause.. they are like 2 feet apart so getting baked doesn't seem likely..

 

[H]-[H]

Round, white, hard, little balls...
That sounds like the things that I found in the root ball of my pothos. The only difference between ours was that mine was in soil before so the balls came from the soil.

Going off of what I have read, is it not possible that the previous owner had it in soil then put it in the vase with water without washing off the roots very well?

That could be a possibility.. did you figure out what those tiny balls were?