Success with anacharis, Failure with java?

[Ms.Bubbles]

Hi,

I have 3 gallon tank with a 9 watt fluorescent bulb, and up until now I've had good success growing anacharis & vals with no CO2 & a monthly dose of iron-rich fertilizer. However, I recently took out these plants & planted some java fern (windelov) & after only 2 days they're already starting to wither. They're at the back of the tank (not directly under the lights), lightly buried in the gravel.

What am I doing wrong???? I did quite a bit of 'handling' of these plants (pulling them up a little, moving them around) while I was decorating the tank, could this have shocked them too much? Should I have just tied them to a rock instead of lightly burying them in the gravel? I'm not exactly sure just how deep to bury them...

[Patricia]

Java Fern should not be buried at all: it draws its nutrition from the water around it. It should be anchored to a rock or driftwood. You can use cotton thread, or plastic coated twist-ties to hold it in place until its grippers take hold of the anchor. It does well in low light, better in brighter light. Baby plants will form on its leaves, send out their own roots and grippers and anchor to whatever they can reach.

Patricia

[echoofformless]

You could also gently wedge it between two rocks.

[Ms.Bubbles]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to pull the plants up & tie them/wedge them now, & hopefully it 's not too late to save them...

[Galaxie]

They are pretty resilient, I bet they will be fine. Keep in mind, fern are slow growers, so be patient with their recovery.

[beviking]

Java fern seems to do this to me whenever I move it from one tank to another. It always comes back though. You can bury the roots, just not the rhizome.