Sick Java Fern

[Snoskiur]

Hi! I have this Java Fern that I've had for several months. It looked bright green and healthy when I got it, but now looks like this. It's in an established 180g African Cichlid tank. I have a very small batch of Java Moss, also, that isn't looking great, and some Pothos rooted in there. I also have some Water Sprite that seems to be doing well. I occasionally put some Flourish in the tank, but not that often. My ph is 8, ammonia and nitrate are 0, nitrates are 5-10, and temp is 78.

Does anyone have any suggestions?





Thanks!

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Can't tell for sure, but is it sprouting babies underneath the leaves? Looks like little roots growing down.

 

[fort384]

Looks like a lighting deficiency to me. What kind of light do you have on the tank?

Type
Wattage
Color Temp
Photoperiod

 

[Snoskiur]

I can't see them if they are... I do t think so.

 

[Snoskiur]

I have two 36" T12

 

[fort384]

Yup, that is the issue. PAR on 2 36" T12s would not be sufficient to support plants in a 180g tank. I would blame this squarely on insufficient lighting.

 

[Snoskiur]

Whoops. I have a T12 40 watt AquaGlo, a T8 30 watt AquaGlo, a T8 30 watt PowerGlo, and a two 21 watt 10k bulbs. All 36"

 

[Snoskiur]

Sorry. I hit send before I was done.

 

[fort384]

I still think the issue could be lighting. While it sounds like you have a sufficient amount of wattage considering the size of the tank, T8s and T12s have abysmal par ratings at depth.

 

[Snoskiur]

I had always read and heard that Java Fern was very tolerant of most lighting conditions...

 

[fort384]

That is true... but it still requires some PAR to grow. The way you described it there is not much else that could be the issue. Java ferns are about the easiest plant out there to keep alive in a tank, assuming you have a proper amount of light on the tank.

 

[Snoskiur]

That plant is also on an end of a tank that is right by a window and gets window light most if the day, too.

 

[fort384]

Direct sunlight, or ambient light?

You are welcome to explore other options, but what I see is a lighting deficiency. There is not much else that could kill java ferns.

 

[Snoskiur]

Sunlight... I'll see what I can do to boost the light and see what happens. The 30 watt AquaGlo and the 30 watt PowerGlo are the lights directly above the plant.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Have you seen your fish nibbling on it? The missing sections could be where they have taken bites out.

And are you sure there aren't babies coming off of it? The plant will start to die off because it's using more energy to go towards reproduction if you do not remove them. Like whenever a plant starts to flower or sends off runners.

I don't think lighting is an issue. I have multiple in a 5g tank with a betta and I took him with me to my parents and forgot to plug the light back it for the plants. All my shades were drawn, so the room was almost completely dark. They were in very little lighting for three weeks and still look very green and happy.

 

[Snoskiur]

I do t see any new leaves at all. Should I trim any of it off? If so, what do I trim? I've never seen any fish show any interest at all in it.

 

[gabysapha]

My java ferns ALWAYS look crappy in my super low-light tanks, they do a little better in medium-ish light with lots of water flow- I think they like circulation. So it could be a light deficiency. The reason I think this is a possibility is because you said your java moss was also not doing well! My java ferns may look terrible, but my java moss always looks fine EXCEPT when they are in too much shadow/layered too thick and parts of it die from lack of light. I don't know what else could kill java moss besides too little light!

It may also be a nutrient deficiency? I came upon a thread on another forum about java ferns doing poorly due to a lack of calcium. Some suggested to tie ferns to limestone.

I've been suggested to use Flourish in a less haphazard way (dose whenever I feel like it)

If you google this issue with java ferns melting/dying, you'll find it happens quite a bit even though java ferns are supposed to be hard as nails. They are usually the worse-looking plants in my tanks! I just trimmed all the nasty/dead leaves off about 5 ferns today. I don't know if it will help, but they look a little better. None of the leaves had baby ferns on them, and they were completely yellow/brown.

 

[Snoskiur]

Thanks! I appreciate it! I'll find a way to up the light. I hate to make it brighter than it already is, but we'll try it.