plant mold

[shadrac]

iv got a java fern in my 5gal and itrs got a moldy fungus growing on it and it starting to spred. so is there a way to kill off the the fungus/mold

 

[Kissofthegorami]

Do water changes. Sometimes dirty water can contribute to mold in the tank and on fish as well. Java fern seems especially susceptible to hair and beard algae. Are you sure its not algae?

 

[shadrac]

it mite be algee i never thought of that. is there a way to prune back the leaves on a java fern since some of my leaves are in bad shape?

 

[Kissofthegorami]

When I introduced higher light to my tank, I had a problem with hair algae. After a couple weeks of trying to remove it from my plants, it disapeaed completely on its own. Usually you get an algae outbreak if you have excess of a certain nutrient and it goes away when it is used up. If it is algae, you can try more water changes and maybe feed less, thats the best option. Otos are will eat hair algae. And if its red algae, siamese algae eaters will do a good job. But do NOT get chinese algae eaters, false siamese algae eaters, or flying foxes. Amano shrimp help. Most plecos suck if you have a planted tank and the little species that grow to an ok size don't do a good job on algae.

 

[shadrac]

most of it has cleard up its not even close to as bad as it was i did a water change and left the lights off for most of the day. but do you or someone else out there know if there a proper way to prune back the leavs of a java fern?

 

[Kissofthegorami]

Java fern is pretty rugged. Just snip the effected leaf with scissors ir with your fingers at the base. There is no correct way to prune it. Even broken and algae covered leaves will produce new java fern plants.

 

[shadrac]

ok thats what i thought but i figured its always better to check. also today i noticed two new leavs comming up. so now i know its seems to be doing good