I just bought the plants. In my experience, they never look that good when you first buy them, at least from a local chain store. That was one of the "original leaves," if you will. It has been dieing since I bought it. I have new growth coming out. My first round of banana plants were just left sitting on the substrate. They kept trying to root, but were knocked all over creation by my kuhli loaches. From what I've read, the bananas are food storage areas. When my first batch finally rooted, the bananas emptied, rotted and fell off...then my stinkin' kuhlis uprooted them and they died. Ever since, I've partially buried the bananas and have had good luck keeping them rooted and healthy. In a month or two, they should be growing and spreading nicely.
I went ahead and pinched off whatever it was and threw it away. I was hoping for some nice java moss...I've never had that before. But I'm not keen on dealing with a hair algae explosion in a five gallon tank.
By the way, is there anything smallish that eats hair algae? Something like a ghost shrimp perhaps?
