Is This How They Should Grow?

demonmagus

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Hi, basically I have 2-3 java ferns in the substrate (I know I should tie it to bogwood, but it is growing) and basically 2 of them are sprouting new leaves from the roots whilst one seems to have mini ferns growing off its leaves - can anyone explain this?

also, why aren't my vallis growing upwards - they are just spreading loads of runners

thanks
 
it's not a corkscrew type, I think it was giant vallis or something along those lines- basically my lights were afwul and loads of it died (it was huge when it got here) but now I've upgraded it 'grows' sideways and whenever it gets taller than around 2 inches the leaf goes yellow.
 
Have you checked your kH? When I was having buffering problems in my tank the val seemed to suffer, and leaves yellowed like you're talking about. I increased kH and the val is doing much better.
 
the KH is probably it, I think it's like 0 or something really low down here - oh well, I don't mind short vallis :D

How do you increase KH? and if you did wouldn't this affect pH and stuff?
 
Yes, it does affect pH but if your kh was actually 0 your pH would probably be crashing. Or else you're in for it in the future when a water change gets delayed. Buffering with something like a bag of crushed coral in your filter, or some baking soda dosed on a regular basis will actually make your pH more stable if the KH is that low. You can mess around with it and see what you like to do. I put a piece of cuttlefish bone in my filter box but I've recently found out they can contain heavy metals so I'm going to have to reconsider. For now it is working fine, my pH isn't too low (it stays around 6.5 whereas before it was on the bottom of the scale) and the val is doing better.
 

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