java fern aphrodisiac?

[driftwoodhunter]

Maybe the joke's on me!

Yesterday I got in a wonderful, huge (like a softball and 1/2) portion of needle leaf java fern for my rather sparse 125g tank. I tucked it here & there, and I had a small cut in my foam Mattenfilter so I tucked some in there, right next to the outflow of current from a Koralia.

As usual, the fish were upset by my messing with the plants. I even disturbed the dirted substrate a bit and stirred up a light cloud of dirt by mistake. An hour later when I went to bed the haze was still visible in the tank. However, my Buenos Aires Tetras were even more disturbed than usual during the planting and I felt bad that I'd upset them so much. All they did as a group (of ten) was crowd into the large clump of fern by the outflow, twining through it over & over, staying in the corner of the tank.

This morning the tank haze is settled and gone, but the tetras are still acting frantic - really spastic, worse than last night. I sat and watched them at length, and it dawned on me they may be acting as if they might spawn. I have two females I know of, and one is being driven hard by 3 - 4 smaller (males) fish. Other fish I think are males are dog-fighting in tight spirals throughout the tank. All of them are doing this through the java fern clumps. Also my water level is down about 2" - 3" due to evaporation (level with some of the java fern) and I was going to do a water change today. Then I read this online while researching Buenos Aires breeding;
Typical of most tetras, the females have larger and broader bodies. For breeding, an area of bushy plants should be provided in a separate tank where the water level has been greatly reduced.

To top it off the Harlequins are at it again, the two largest males facing off side-by-side, fins straight up in the air. I don't know what I'll do if anything else spawns, I still have 60-ish Columbian fry to deal with! lol It's such interesting behavior to watch though...

[DogFish]

I'm filling the bathtub with Java Fern and taking a bath.

[driftwoodhunter]

lol - it could be my imagination - I hope it's not simply that I've really freaked out my Buenos Aires Tetras. I've never seen the normally assertive dominate fish act like this, and if they are just super stressed, I hope they won't get sick.

[demonr6]

Originally Posted by DogFish

I'm filling the bathtub with Java Fern and taking a bath.

Yeah, I pulled all the Javas from my tank and this morning I was using it in place of the loofa...

[driftwoodhunter]

LOL - you folks crack me up ; )

[vincenz]

Now I know what to do with all my excess java fern.

[longbeach]

Hot today.....going to try a JAVA SMOOTHY !!!! thanks for the tip!!!

[driftwoodhunter]

haha - I guess I used the right thread title!

[xmas_one]

Are the BA tertras eating all of your plants?

[Bowles42]

Glad your fishies are enjoying the new plants.

[driftwoodhunter]

The Buenos Aires eat a lot of plants - I'm constantly experimenting to see what they eat vs. what they don't.

So far they DON"T eat java ferns, anubias, (good thing I have low light tanks) crypts, aponogeton, standard pennywort (but I did get a mini-type pennywort whose name I can't remember right now other than "Japan", and they ate the leaves off it in 4 hours), Amazon and Kliener swords, and floaters such as riccia and frogbit as well as hygro stricta, kompact, and pinnatifida.

They have decimated most stem plants I've tried like bacopa, as well as dwarf sag (within two hours they ate all that I had planted along the front of a 125g tank) and others I can't remember now. I just recently tried giving them paper thin raw slivers of zucchini, and they attack it as a swirling ball like piranha - they bite off bits (you can actually see tiny semi-circles bitten out) and dash off with the others in pursuit, like dogs with a bone. They are so entertaining to me, that I am happy to adjust my plantings to suit them.

Edit to add that in my tank they don't eat crinium or cabomba, but they did eat all my ludwigia and creeping jenny.

[driftwoodhunter]

Originally Posted by Bowles42

Glad your fishies are enjoying the new plants.

And a huge THANK YOU for all the great plants! Folks, this is the guy I got the java fern from, so if you want to take a bath in it while playing Barry White, he can hook you up - lol.

[wkndracer]

reading this I've secretly placed a football size portion in my wife's hot tub mixing strainer

[demonr6]

I wonder where I can source enough to fill my hot tub? Maybe even a nice sized island of Java floating in the hot tub.. some Mai-Tai's and Barry White.

[longbeach]

The Java Fern smoothy didn't do much....but try Java Fern Iced Tea with a shot or two of raspberry vodka..... oops, Yippee got to go, my wifes calling again!!!!.....