View Full Version : What is this stuff on my java fern??
critrcrazy
11-01-2003, 4:50 PM
Been watching my fish, and not the plants. Just this evening, I noticed this 'stuff' on the java fern. What is it, and what do I need to do??? :confused: :confused:
critrcrazy
11-01-2003, 4:52 PM
Maybe this will work
critrcrazy
11-01-2003, 5:17 PM
Whatever that is, is kind of reddish-brown, and looks a lot like the roots, but what is it doing near the ends of the leaves?
Timmain42
11-01-2003, 5:29 PM
Java fern tends to put off baby plants when the adult leaf is dying or going out of business. You can wait and remove the plantlet in a few days, or let it fall off on its own.
critrcrazy
11-01-2003, 7:57 PM
THANKS!! How cool! New plants, LOL!! :)
goldfish freak
11-02-2003, 12:46 AM
Definitely looks like baby Java ferns.
critrcrazy
11-03-2003, 6:41 PM
What a relief! I had visions of some horrible strain of algae that was probably almost impossible to get rid of, ROFL!!!
Thanks again ya'll!! :)
superjohnny
11-03-2003, 6:50 PM
Yup, definitely cool how Java Ferns reproduce. Once it gets bigger it will start to develop a little bigger rhizome. Bury the roots and not the rhizome in your substrate and it should grow up on its own. Or you can attach it to a rock or piece of wood. Or stuff it in a patch of Java moss.
Cool stuff :)
Robert H
11-04-2003, 2:43 AM
Kinda hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like brush algae to me. Baby plants form from spores in the leaves, and the leaves of the new plant would show up before the roots, and it wouldn't look all fuzzy. Maybe its both, a new plant with brush algae growing on it.
superjohnny
11-06-2003, 1:08 PM
Good call Robert. It's hard to tell with that picture.
Are you adding air to your tank? I thought that was a no-no with planted tanks. At least it is with CO2 injected planted tanks. Generally, in a healthy environment, the plants will provide the oxygen.
I am in the process of watching my Java Fern sprout a baby right now. The leaf it is growing on turned almost completely brown before the roots started to grow, and the baby leaves did appear first. I am waiting to let it detatch on its own.