I am having no luck growing Java Fern, the leaves having all turned
brown/black in the space of 2 weeks. The plants are attached to bog wood in
the middle of the tank.
Tank specs a
PH 7
JBL pro co2 injector
Nitrates @ 25ppm
Leaf Zone added once per week
40 Gallon tank.
Bright Lighting

Other plants include amazon sword, elodea densa, rorippa aquatica, crypts,
etc. These plants are all doing fine.

The brown/black does not seem to be algae, it seems more like the leaves are
just dying.

Could it be that the lighting is too bright, or perhaps not enought
nutrients?

JFM

"JFM" wrote in message
...
I am having no luck growing Java Fern, the leaves having all turned
brown/black in the space of 2 weeks. The plants are attached to bog wood
in
the middle of the tank.
Tank specs a
PH 7
JBL pro co2 injector
Nitrates @ 25ppm
Leaf Zone added once per week
40 Gallon tank.
Bright Lighting


Water may be too hard or too soft, though they're supposed to be tolerant of
both.

"JFM" wrote in message
...
I am having no luck growing Java Fern, the leaves having all turned
brown/black in the space of 2 weeks. The plants are attached to bog wood
in
the middle of the tank.
Tank specs a
PH 7
JBL pro co2 injector
Nitrates @ 25ppm
Leaf Zone added once per week
40 Gallon tank.
Bright Lighting

Other plants include amazon sword, elodea densa, rorippa aquatica, crypts,
etc. These plants are all doing fine.

The brown/black does not seem to be algae, it seems more like the leaves
are
just dying.

Could it be that the lighting is too bright, or perhaps not enought
nutrients?

JFM




I have Java Fern in most of my 14 tanks and have noticed that those in low
lighting are doing better than those in bright lights. I have a 77g with 120
watts of light and they grow well and then I have several 20's with a shop
light 2. 40w bulbs, one cool white and one growlux and they don't do much of
anything.

Rick

Leaf Zone added once per week

You don't say how much light you have, but if you really have bright lighting
(3 wpg or more), Leaf Zone once a week is not enough. Leaf Zone contains only
iron and potassium. You need a complete fertilizer, like Tropica Mastergrow or
Seachem Flourish. And you'll probably need to add it more often than once a
week.

Even then, it can be hard to keep java fern healthy in a bright tank. It's not
the light, it's the nutrients. It has a hard time competing against
fast-growing stem plants for nutrients.

I keep a separate tank for slow-growers like anubias, java fern, and java moss.
It has moderate light and no CO2, but the plants grow like crazy. While ferns
and mosses never do well in my high-light tank.



Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Not that I know what's really going on but...

Mine did the same thing and I thought it was dying. But for some reason
(laziness?) I didn't remove it as it "died" and one day the brown leaves
started sprouting babies. Now it's doing great and getting much bigger.

My theory is that it doesn't like to change conditions but after dying back
some it will adjust and come back. Can anyone tell me if this is the case?
Cris

In article , "JFM" writes:

I am having no luck growing Java Fern, the leaves having all turned
brown/black in the space of 2 weeks. The plants are attached to bog wood in
the middle of the tank.
....

"Kcristy" wrote in message
...
Not that I know what's really going on but...

Mine did the same thing and I thought it was dying. But for some reason
(laziness?) I didn't remove it as it "died" and one day the brown leaves
started sprouting babies. Now it's doing great and getting much bigger.

My theory is that it doesn't like to change conditions but after dying
back
some it will adjust and come back. Can anyone tell me if this is the
case?
Cris


Many aquatic plants are grown with the foliage 'emersed' (out of water).
Upon submersion, these leave will die, to be replaced with new leaves. Not
saying this is the case here, but it's possible.

With too much lighting I have that exact problem. Try providing some
shading by using the taller plants to shadow it.

Marcus

http://www.Aquatic-store.com


On Tue, 25 Feb 2003 20:31:51 -0000, "JFM" wrote:

I am having no luck growing Java Fern, the leaves having all turned
brown/black in the space of 2 weeks. The plants are attached to bog wood in
the middle of the tank.
Tank specs a
PH 7
JBL pro co2 injector
Nitrates @ 25ppm
Leaf Zone added once per week
40 Gallon tank.
Bright Lighting

Other plants include amazon sword, elodea densa, rorippa aquatica, crypts,
etc. These plants are all doing fine.

The brown/black does not seem to be algae, it seems more like the leaves are
just dying.

Could it be that the lighting is too bright, or perhaps not enought
nutrients?

JFM