The Planted Tank Forum banner

Anubius and Java Fern trouble

6K views 41 replies 7 participants last post by  Aparker2005 
#1 ·
Hey guys. My anubius and Java Fern especially are having some issues lately. The anubius is spreading and growing nicely, but the leaves quickly curl after new growth.

Java fern is just turning brown and losing parts of their leaves.

I have them tied to driftwood and in a corner where they're held together by their roots. Rhizome not buried.

Tank is a standard 6 foot 125. Dose twice weekly with Thrive. Temp is 80/81 (room I have the tank in stays warm through the summer).

Once weekly water change of 30-40%.

Lighting is 2 36" Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 Cc on custom timer. Max from 9 am to 6 pm.
Finnex 48" planted plus on from 9-6.
Beamswork 72" 0.5w 6500k led on from 9-6.

No c02.

Is this a case of too much light? My other plants have picked up since changing the lighting.

View attachment 869909 Vegetation Nature Organism Terrestrial plant Jungle


Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
See less See more
1
#5 ·
Is this a case of too much light? My other plants have picked up since changing the lighting.
Hi Aparker2005,

How did you change your lighting, increasing or decreasing?

Do you know any of your water parameters? pH, dKH, dGH, nitrates (ppm of NO3)

Here is your photo which I cropped, enhanced, and added arrows.


I hesitate to offer suggestions until we know some of the water parameter information for the tank however I can say that:

@ #1 arrows - shows classic 'leaf tip hooking downward' indicating a calcium issue
@ #2 arrow - shows downward (or upward) curling of leaf margins indicating a possible magnesium issue
@ #3 arrow - show holes of necrosis (dead tissue) in older leaves indicating a possible potassium issue

I do a pH, dKH, dGH, and nitrate (NO3) test on my tanks at least monthly, more often if the plants in a tank is showing possible deficiency issues. I have found that liquid test kits are more accurate than 'test strips'. If test kits are not available many LFS will run water parameter tests.

PS: Do you still have any of the watersprite or Nymphoides 'Taiwan' I sent you a couple of years ago?
 
#25 ·
Hi @Aparker2005,

Based upon the symptoms I see in your photos I suggest adding and/or increasing calcium, magnesium and potassium dosing to your tank. Fortunately you can accomplish that with one product - Seachem Equilibrium. Continue dosing your other nutrients as you have been; just add Seachem Equilibrium to your dosing schedule. Start with an initial dose of 3.3 tablespoons (10 teaspoons), this should increase your hardness by about 2.0 dGH and add needed calcium, magnesium, potassium, along with some iron and manganese. Thereafter, when adding new water during your weekly water changes add 1 teaspoon of Equilibrium per 10 gallons of new water added.

Now wait. What you should see in a few weeks is the new leaves emerge greener and healthier. Over the next several weeks those new leaves should not develop the 'leaf tip hook' that is currently happening in the tank. As the new leaves mature they should not develop the downward curling leaf margins like we currently see in the pictures. Lastly, the necrosis (dead spots) should not develop to the extent that they do now.

Remember, we are watching the new leaves. Any leaves currently existing in the tank will likely not improve and may continue to decline depending upon the amount of cell damage that has occurred in the leaf. If this resolves or improves the symptoms look into getting a good GH Booster from aquariumfertilzer.com, GLA, or NilocG.com since they contain the three main ingredients of Equilibrium but are much less expensive. Keep us posted as things progress! -Roy
 
#6 ·
The only water test I have is the api. I'll test tomorrow.

As for lighting, I increased it from only the 2 36" Finnex CC lights. My Amazon swords aren't doing much either. They send runners, but the leaves just stay low and start to deteriorate like the Java fern. I've got good root tabs and this still happens.


Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
#7 ·
The only water test I have is the api water kit with the tubes. I'll test tomorrow.

As for lighting, I increased it from only the 2 36" Finnex CC lights. My Amazon swords aren't doing much either. They send runners, but the leaves just stay low and start to deteriorate like the Java fern. I've got good root tabs and this still happens.


Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
Hi @Aparker2005,

The slightly alkaline pH could cause iron issues but I see not evidence of any iron problems in the photo. Regrettably NilocG Thrive contains very, very little calciuml likely not enough to improve a calcium deficiency however it does contain a little magnesium (but not much) and potassium at good levels. With a 125 gallon tank have you ever considered dosing with dry fertilizers? They can save you a lot of money and are much more versatile when dealing with nutrient issues.

Nilocg Thrive
 
#11 ·
I had the gla ei dry ferts and ended up not ordering again when I had my plants pre black diamond sand. I had pool filter sand and not enough lighting and my plants did much worse than they're doing now.

For this tank, any ideas? Plants are:
Anubius
Java fern
Tiger Val
Wendtii crypts
Water sprite
Water wisteria
Amazon swords

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
Hi @Aparker2005,

If I don't have sufficient light in my tank it really doesn't matter what I dose for fertilizer, the plants will decline and die; I doubt if the dry ferts were the issue.

How is the Vallisneria spiralis 'Tiger' doing? The reason I ask is most Vallisneria species like harder water with more calcium.
 
#13 ·
Well they melted some after I redid my tank. They're spreading runners everywhere already though and growing back slowly. I've got much thicker roots on all of my plants than when they were in the pfs and less light.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
#14 ·
I think you might be blasting them with too much light. I’ve been having a hard time with anubias and windelov java fern myself.

The java fern is improving with hefty trimming, new growth doesn’t look burned and is staying green so far, but my anubias that’s in direct high light is very susceptible to algae issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#16 ·
Java fern isn't a good indicator plant for deficiencies. Part of its natural life cycle is for older leaves to become ratty looking. This usually happens when baby java leaves grow on older leaves. After some time the old leaf will decay and detach the new baby fern to find a new home in the environment.

The anubias does look deficient. I can't tell from the older leaves if there is a lot of damage but the new leaves are progressively smaller. This usually doesn't happen with immobile nutrient deficiencies like iron and calcium because when an immobile nutrient runs out the plant cant grow anymore because the building block it needs is missing and can't be moved out of and reused from older tissue. Diminishing lead size usually only happens with mobile nutrients like nitrates. In fact, chronic nitrate deficiency usually causes older leaves to be reabsorbed from the tip of the leaf back towards the stem first. Then after the plant runs out of nitrogen and can't pull out any more from older leaves to send to the newly forming leaves the leaves grow out smaller and smaller over time as stores in older tissue are depleted. The die back of older leaves is a sign of this because as nitrates are removed from older leaves the function that they supported isn't being done anymore and that part of the leaf dies.

I'd do a nitrate test, or you can add some fertilizers containing nitrates and see how the plants do over the next few weeks.

Do you have more photos of other plants in the tank? Or better close up photos of the anubias?

Do you have a small fish load and not feed regularly?
 
#17 ·
I often wonder if I have too much bio filtration. I've got an fx6 for all mechanical and an Aquatop Forza 13 for all biological. My nitrates have always been around 10 or less on my water tests through the api kit.

I've had a small fish load recently but now adding back to it and feed once or twice per day.

Here's more shots if you guys can see. This is a recent change of the tank, so naturally some plants melted temporarily. Aquarium decor Picture frame Freshwater aquarium Fish supply Pet supply
Plant Aquarium decor Freshwater aquarium Pet supply Aquatic plant
Organism Aquarium decor Freshwater aquarium Aquatic plant Fish supply
Aquarium decor Fish Fish supply Freshwater aquarium Aquatic plant


Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
#37 ·
Hi Aparker2005,

The dGH measures calcium plus magnesium divalent metals; unfortunately we do not know how much of that 7.0 dGH is calcium and how much is magnesium. There may be insufficient calciium due to excessive magnesium, or there may be another issue that is effecting the uptake of calcium by your plants. Excess ammonium, magnesium, or phosphates can impede the uptake of calcium. I have found that first trying to increase the suspected nutrient deficiency is easier that guessing what other issues may be impeding uptake of a nutrient. Dosing the Equilibrium for a few weeks and watching how the new leaves emerge and respond seems like a simple way to test for the potential issue.
 
#38 ·
Great! For my 125, any recommendations on how much to add?

Also do I just dose this directly like a dry fert weekly after my water change? Thank you for your help on this, as well as the others!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
#41 ·
You should certainly try the Equilibrium to see if it helps or eliminates that as an issue. With those KH/GH numbers I think it would be extremely unlikely the plant isn't getting enough Ca or Mg. You don't need that much and your more than likely getting it from the ferts and water especially with those numbers. From my personal experience growing anubias, java and bolbitis in very soft water kh 2 gh 4 I think (as some others have mentioned) too much light without co2 is the main issue. I haven't found these plants to be that particular in terms of water parameters and ferts.

If I'm ready it correctly you have 4 lights on for a full cycle? That is really overkill for those plants. If anything you should have two light on across the tank and the others on short cycles like 2-3 hours. Even that might be too much.

You should also do alot of trimming. Very under-rated. These plants comeback really well with taking off 2/3 of the leaves and letting them grow back.
 
#42 ·
I took the lighting down to just the 72" beams work and 48" planted plus. The wisteria and water sprite do much better with both.

I also trimmed all the dead leaves off the Java fern and Amazon swords. I'll try adding a little equilibrium today. Just didn't want to mess anything up with my fish was all!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top