[lauraleellbp]

Oh- leaves without rhizomes are doomed from the get-go, so you might as well toss those once they go brown and stop throwing plantlets! Glad you at least got some plantlets off of them... though plantlets are pretty slow-growing so you'll be waiting a long time for those to do much unless you do upgrade your lighting and nutrient setup.

I think your tank would be a good candidate for a DIY CO2 setup, either with your current lighting or an upgrade.

 

[blueberry]

oh, no, no, i already threw the leaves out, I just have the plantlets now,

the plantlets are growing fast, just not well..

i tried diy co2 a while ago, the plants did pearl, but i don't think it made the plant grow better.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Java ferns in general are so slow-growing that it's hard to notice growth. Best way for me to see growth in my low tech tanks is to compare pictures that are a few months apart.

In general, the more light, CO2, and ferts you give them (in the correct balance), the more quickly and lushly they will grow, though.

 

[blueberry]

i took a picture today, its kinda blurry though

 

[Blue_Ram]

The plants look like they are doing ok. Not great but not bad also. Get rid of that blue rock gravel. There is no iron or any nutrients in those things. You need to get some substrate for plants if you are going to have the ferns grow in the substate like you have them. Since you are not doing any fert. dosing and no good substrate the plants don't have the nutrition they need to grow. Imagine if you only had water to feed on and no food.LOL.

I personally would get some driftwood and tie them on to that using some of that garden tie stuff. If you can get some ferts start to use them also.

Also even if you had some good plants to start with, it takes a while to see some good growth. I just transplanted some well growing Java Ferns from one tank to another just last week. I don't expect to see good growth for another month or so. All plants need time to adjust to their new homes.

And it looks like your plants are doing fair, but need a bit of food, ie ferts and maybe more light. CO2 will help also. Remember using all this it takes time for you to see improvement.

Good luck and happy planting. Stay green :confused1: and keep the fish and shrimp smiling.

 

[bonaparte]

I am not familiar with how Microsorum plantlets grow, but curling of new leaf growth can be caused by three things: a plant virus, pests or (sometimes) poor nutrients. Aquatic plants must have some pests, but I think that's unlikely in this case. If you up your fertilization and your ferns continue to have leaves that are still curling or rolled, it could be a virus. The only cure in that case is to destroy them and start over.

 

[chaws]

Substrate or dirt, is the most important thing in a planted aquarium before light. You could grow a plant with substrate and low lighting quite easily in a micro. Your setup without substrate will only last a few months, even with high lighting. Unless all you're going to grow is moss?

 

[lauraleellbp]

IMO there's no reason at all to worry about substrate in a Java fern tank, since they're epiphytic.

To me everything in there looks pretty normal.

 

[blueberry]

ok, i will try to dose some ferts. i have a bottle of Sera Florena. i going to try dosing a little bit at first and then slowly up the dosage so i don't shock my shrimp.

i will also try to get a some diy co2 going on.

 

[bonaparte]

Substrate or dirt, is the most important thing in a planted aquarium before light. ...

Actually, many aquatic plants need no substrate at all. Think of it as hydroponic gardening. While it's best to have a high quality substrate in a lot of cases, you can make up for a lack of humus with a good dosing regimen.

 

[blueberry]

ok, dosing was a bad, bad idea, i dosed 3 drops and then the next day my cherry shrimp droped her eggs...

 

[PinoyBoy]

Just because your shrimps dropped the egg, it doesn't mean that it was due to the ferts. Alot of members here dose fertilizers and their shrimps are top notch.

 

[blueberry]

yeah... but....

yeah, but all the other shrimps turned a shade lighter, became less active and the one that droped the eggs had like practically no colour, like a ghost shrimp but not as transparent..

 

[A.M. Aquatics]

If you have a small piece of cured driftwood, take a pocket knife and cut a few slits in the wood. Take the plantlets and a toothpick, and just genlty jam the roots in the slits, just enough to keep the plants in place. This has worked well for me, and I have a piece of wood in my 10 gallon shrimp tank that has many plantlets growing on it. I'll try to get a pic and post it here once I get hold of the camera. Some of the plantlets will grow rather fast, but some will grow quite slow. Good luck!

 

[blueberry]

how do i cure drift wood?

and why does putting it on driftwood make it grow better? i though java fern only absorb nutrients from the leaves

 

[blueberry]

ok, i just did some research, and found that things like potassium and nitrates, are needed in the range of 10-20 ppm

and the other nutriunts such as iron, are needed in a concentration of about 0.02 ppm

so, i did a quick calculation, and found that a tiny drop of my fert(assumed to be about 0.1ml) would provide an iron concentration of about 0.04 ppm

and the other nutrents would be in concentrations of aboout 100-1000 times less.

so, why does the bottle say that i have to dose 5ml of the stuff for 5 g

my calculations:

ferric chloride= 0.89%

0.1mg of water * 0.89%= 0.00089 grams of ferric chloride

when added to 5 g tank.

ratio of water to ferric chloride is: 20000mg of water : 0.00089 grams of ferric chloride

1 million / 20000= 50

50 * 0.00089
= about 0.04 ppm

 

[A.M. Aquatics]

how do i cure drift wood?

and why does putting it on driftwood make it grow better? i though java fern only absorb nutrients from the leaves

To cure driftwood, I usually boil it for an hour or more IF it's mopani (african) driftwood and rinse it off in cooler aquarium water. If it's the other kind, which is usually malasian, 45 minutes of boiling will do the trick.

It really depends on how big the plantlets are. If they are still firmly attached to the mother plant, I would let them grow a little until they are loose. If they are already loosely hanging from the mother plant, you can goahead and pluck them off carefully and plant them on the driftwood.

 

[blueberry]

.. i only have plantlets right now... and they are all rather firmly attached to the gravel

 

[The Dude]

The Java Fern in my 46g hi tech attatched to driftwood looks terrible and has made no progress at all. The Java Fern in my low-tech shrimp tank that has rooted itself in the Florite is growing like crazy. New leaves all over, beautiful green, plantlets all over, and growing taller. I'm baffled.

 

[blueberry]

is this fluorite as in calcuim fluoride?