Microsorum pteropus/Java fern

[superjalami30]

Java fern is the first plant I ever bought.
I had it in with my goldies origanally, and now its in all my tanks.
I've had no problems growing it what so ever.
heres the question:

I've recently started a 3 gallon planted only tank and have java fern, pygmy chain sword, anubius, Brazilian Micro Sword and java moss in it.
I'm adding all the ferts I use in my other tanks and injecting C02.
the lighting output is 20WPG.
I've read that java fern doesnt do well in high light setups.
Is this true?
Does anyone have any experience growing java fern under high light set ups?

 

[nonot8946]

I have never had any luck *growing* java fern. I can keep it alive and green, but it never seems to multiply in my aquarium like everyone says it does.

Some people say it dies in high light. I have about 2wpg which isn't really high light and I'll occasionally get a few brown leaves.

I wonder how people get it to take over a tank?

 

[superjalami30]

Well, I have a lot of success growing in in moderate light set ups, and have had many new plants grw off the ends.
But ya, I've read that it doesnt do well in high light situations.
I dunno, anyone else?
Maybe I'll have to just try and see.

 

[George Farmer]

My Java fern is 18 months old and has seen everything from 1 WPG to nearly 4 WPG, 5ppm CO2 to 35 ppm CO2 and a huge variety of fert dosing.

It has shown the best health and growth with higher lighting. However it is important to balance this with suitable CO2 and fert levels as with any set-up.

Check out my journal (link in sig) for some photos if you're interested.

 

[George Farmer]

Java fern is very adaptable to most lighting/nutrient levels although I've had the best results with around 3 WPG, CO2 30ppm, NO3 15ppm, PO4 1ppm.

My specimen is 18 months old and it is safe to say that it has experienced a wide range of lighting/nutrient levels; from 1 WPG to 4 WPG, 5ppm CO2 to 35ppm CO2, zero NO3/PO4 to present levels.

I would say it only doesn't do well in high light set-ups if the balance of light and nutrient levels are not ideal.

It's worth remembering that Java ferns in the wild spend a lot of their life above water where the light levels are MUCH higher than below water.

 

[superjalami30]

Thanks gf225.
I'm going to guess at the moment that my C02 levels will be above 30PPM.
I'll test that later this evening as I just changed the batch and changed filter types so as to not disturb the surface at all.
I'll be dosing with KN03, K2S04, seachems comp and iron, and a calcium and magnesium additive.
I'm Using a small amount of peat in the gravel as well.
I've had success with the above methods in my larger tanks, but a 3 gallon is a whole other story.

The WPG in this 3 G will be 6.8.
High, but the C02 levels should be very high as well.
Should I worry about extremly high levels of C02?
(no fish in this tank btw)

I presume, as I've not tested it yet (too soon) that my ph, kh, and gh should be similiar to the rest of my tanks in the beginning.
However, with the high light and high levels of C02, the Ph should drop somewhat lower then the rest of my tanks.
hopefully the drop wont hurt the plants.
My current Ph in all other tanks is 6.8-7.2

 

[George Farmer]

Actually 6.8 WPG in a 3 Gallon isn't that high. The WPG rule doesn't work well with small tanks. A good example is Amano's work with tiny tanks i.e. a 1 litre tank with 15W (that's 58 WPG!!). What dimensions are the tank and what type of lighting is it?

You could go a lot higher on the CO2 if there's no fish - the only limit would be the low pH. That said most plants are fine as low as pH 5! CO2 at 100ppm or even higher would be fine.

Why aren't you dosing PO4? You will probably see green spot algae if your levels are below around 0.5ppm especially on your Anubias.

Sounds like an interesting project. I've always fancied a planted nano.

 

[superjalami30]

Hehe.
I dont dose phosphate cause my levels are natrually high.
In my 40 G, my phosphate is approx 10ppm.
I use an aquarium pharm test kit, and I had the LFS test as well to make sure I wasnt crazy.
They're test came back the same as mine.
So I tested my tap water....10ppm.
I've done everything excpet add a phosphate buster (which I'll never do)

Sometimes our dishes will smell like fish because the levels are so high in our tap water.
This is only a seasonal problem, always seems to get like that in the summer.

Green spot algae on my anubius...none.
My anubius in all my tanks isnt very large though, but theres no algae on it.
Some of the older leaves though tend to get holes in them, thought this was a calcium def. so I started too add calcium and magnesium as needed.
I do get green spot algae on the "glass" though.
And I had a hair algae problem before I started adding KN03 and K2S04, since i started adding those and upped my C02 levels the hair algae has gone.

**I seen my plants in this 3 G tank pearling tonite when I came home from the beach!!!!
wOot!!

Oh yea, the dimensions are 13"wide by 8.5" deep by 6" deep bowfront.
Lighting consists of one 13 watt compact fluorescent and a second 7 watt compact fluorescent.
thinkin I may add a third 7 watt.