I'd be cautious of adding something so high in sugar to an aquarium... sounds like an easy recipe for a bacteria bloom. It's safer to just use a store bought potassium supplement made for planted tanks. š¬
Some plants just don't do well in our water, its better to experiment and with time use only the ones wich do well in our water, but if ita a plant wich you really like and want to keep using it, you should see what parameter in your water it doesn't like
Java fern LOVES my tank. That big one on the right had actually been 50% off at Petco because it was a bit weak, and much smaller. I donāt dose any ferts currently, but the tank does have pressurized CO2.
My issue is that the second they get stressed you suddenly have a whole bunch of java ferns growing chaotically off the original java fern. Sure, you can pop the buds off, but I've never been able to do that without tearing up the original plant.
"all in one" means it is missing some, as if you mix some they precipitate instead. They are missing nutrients.
I just posted this in another thread, here is how to do your own fertilizer. If you dont want to make your own, you can read it anyway, they explain pretty well how fertilizing works.
Great article, if I had to nitpick the paragraphs with the āRecommended Dosesā have almost no punctuation. Adding some commas or periods would make them much easier to read, and help identify when youāre specifying the doses high tech and low light aquariums. The rest was great though!
Iāve never thought about making my own fertilizer, but I might after reading this š
I think they're a bit too slow growing for my taste, I have some pretty big "fans" so to speak, but they're not taking over like I want. I'm not shocked though, I knew going into it they grow a bit slow.
I did but not because it was browning, but because I was constantly getting over grown with fern. They're a bit messy when they get thick and crowded. portions might die off and some rhyzomes are sometimes left to rot. Along with all the stringy roots.
If it's had plenty of time to get used to your tank, it might be deficient on some kind of nutrient.
I just know that whatever Windelov I add to any tank is going to crash and burn. It will however form a ton of pups. Every one of those pups will grow and stay strong no matter what I do to it unless I move it to another tank. At that point the cycle repeats. Can't explain why.
I donāt plant Java ferns for this reason. At first I thought I was the problem and I couldnāt figure out why they looked like that and grew in like that. When I realized itās kind of just an ugly plant I decided to rip any I had out, and never planted any again. Thereās like a zillion other plants to try anyways. See if you can find some rotala āorange juiceā- thatās my current favorite for stem plants!
Yeah, moss maintenance is a pain. It sounds easy but I always miss little bits I snipped off and then find them a week later on the other side of my tank. Lol
Are you dosing the seachem potassium for what it says on the bottle? If so, you're under dosing by a good bit. You want 4.5ml a week in a 10 gallon on the light end, and 10ml on the high. This is in addition to the easy green
It was sold to me as "narrow leaf" java fern but its definitely trident shaped, just hard to see given the denseness.
It does go through a die back phase at times for me as least, leaves start to melt, I just prune those back to the rhisome and it all grows back.
Puts out a lot of baby (aka plantlets) at the tips of the leaves.
The young plants look like staghorn java fern but after a few months the new leaves become long & slender ...you both in my photo.
From what I can guess, about my Java Fern at least, is the dark spots are from too much light. I have a heavily tannined tank and my Java Fern towards the top that's exposed to higher light developed the black marks and holes. The Java Fern towards the bottom where it's darker, and the ones shaded by my frogbit have brighter green, no holed leaves. My guess is too much light exposure is burning the leaves. They're just fertilized with fish and shrimp shit and whatever food that falls and isn't eaten by shrimp and snails.
I would say more disappointed than sick of. Iāve a hard time with Java ferns. Iāve tried a lot of different things without long term success. I was under the impression that Java ferns was one of the easier aquatic plants to establish and maintain, I was wrong on that one
Iāve actually gone the opposite; didnāt like Java fern because they were too popular/overrated, now Iāve got some really nice ones at home and Iāve come back to liking them lol.
i had java ferns in my second ever tank (back in highschool) and immediately realized they were my least favorite aquarium plants. constant browning and on top of that theyāre not even interesting. like if youāre gonna be throwing a tantrum all the time, at least be cool enough to get away with it.
If you're talking about the plant at the center/ top of the picture, no, that's not normal for a java fern. But, I don't think that's a java fern. Java ferns don't really have much, if any, sort of stem connecting the rhizome to the leaf.
Are you sure it's not a terrestrial plant?
Alternatively, it could be just adjusting to aquatic growth. How long has it been there?
tbh it's actually a bane to my fish tanks. so many of my plants grow long and leggy.
(with co2 in line) I tried 10 hour light cycles and black hair algae starts popping up on the leaves. I try 6-7 hour light cycles and plants get long and leggy. 8 hours and plants get semi leggy but algae stays under control. it's a balance I've never been that good at finding.
I feel like many of the java fern's should not be classified as "beginner" friendly just because they may not fully die and are readily available. I find them to be more annoying with C02 and in high tech set ups. But in low tech you still need to fertilize them, at times specifically idk. I moved my large clump out of my high tech tank and threw away some others. The remainder of the clump is currently in my nano shrimp tank and has no problem not really doing anything. The shrimp seem to enjoy it.
Really like crypts, but now theyāre sending shoots out of their buttcracks like theyāre individually trying to repopulate an entire city of crypts. Theyāre super pretty and I love them
I had a few crypts for a couple months and they were doing great. Not sure what I did but they just slowly started melting back till they were gone entirely and never came back up.
I definitely want to try them again though.
I didnāt supplement until 2 years into having them, so I wouldnāt say you have to, but it does help if you donāt have a good substrate and base to start with
Thatās what I have, and no you donāt! I havenāt ever added anything for my crypts, and they havenāt ever seemed deficient in that setup. I agree that it does help in many cases, but itās not at all required to keep them. I have petchii and wendtii crypt, this is my tank: (the crypts are the the front left)
Never used that substance before so I can't really argue for or against it.
I was using capped laterite (it's been a minute since that tank was set up).
I used 1 tab per plant on average and let them do their thing. For me at the price per box of API tabs it's well worth it to me. Chewy has them for around $1 USD per tab and even less if you order the 20 count instead of 10.
I also did this too with any Echinodorus species as well. If nothing else it's insurance that they are getting the nutrients they need.
I have been blessed so far (over a year) with not much algae. The worst was the hair algae growing jn my java moss but I got some amano shrimp and it has not returned.
Crypts aren't a bad choice. They're, smaller, cleaner, easy to maintain/grow and can root into the substrate. I have had success growing them on rocks and wood. They grow like weeds in my tanks and I'm constantly giving them away š
The trick is in the liquid fertiliser that I use.
I might also add take that you should take out some of the ferns. They're probably consuming most of the nutrients. When I took out some of my Java fern that definitely helped with the crypt growth.
My tanks are pretty low maintenance. I have a mix of sand and aqua soil in my tank. I dose with flourish and add root tabs every 3 months or so. The trick for me I'm pretty sure was the light. I inherited a pretty expensive light from a friend and the crypts grew quicker and healthier. Regardless of the light, if you have medium to high lighting the crypts will do well. They are slow growing so you'll need a bit of patience. I also added a bit more flourish than recommended so that might have helped.
Keep in mind that Java fern and crypts needs a lot of potassium so micro dosing with potassium or a potassium rich fertiliser will definitely make your crypts and Ferns a lot Greener. Feel free to PM me if you need any more tips.
From my experience probably about 2-4 weeks. You might experience a bit of die back but as long as the roots are healthy and established into the substrate or surface they will grow back bigger and stronger.
I never understood why they are so popular. There are many plants that are prettier and easier imho. People seem to like them, so I won't object as there's no accounting for taste, but java ferns aren't my thing. At all.
As for the substitute, many cryptocorynes have similar looks, but aren't epiphytes.
My personal epiphyte faves are hygrophila pinnatifida, but they aren't growing as large as java ferns, they stay small.
Non-epiphyte faves are always echinodorus, so many pretty varieties, and they've grown like weeds in every single tank I ever had.
Vallisneria are also nice.
So many plants to chose from. I would recommend you just order a variety set, plant them and see what you like and what seems to grwo nicely in your tank.
2nd favorite plant. All the ones in this tank were from child plants that I harvested from a my first newb mistakesā¦. But it never feels like a nature aquarium without a nice crown of Java fern as a part of the center piece.
When mine all died back a couple of years ago I started adding potassium (currently Aquarium Co Op's easy potassium). It took several months but they came back to their full glory and I appreciate them again.
I love my Java Fern! I've got 7 babies from it so far! I just leave mine alone, I let it do what it wants and only interfere to get the extras/sprouts, my snails and even my betta snacks on the brown bits.
I have large bunches of Java fern growing in a 65 gallon tank that have to be at least 11-12 years old. The tank a dirt bottom capped with 3 inches of black Diamond blasting sand. I started with them tied to some large drift wood and they have spread all over the wood and right into the substrate sending rhizomes all over the place. Also some Anubis thatās that old too.
I bought a small anubias and two small Java ferns for my first planted tankāthe kind that come in the clear plastic tube from petco. The Java ferns lasted about a month and the anubias is now over a foot long. I love anubias and Iāve got at six varieties growing now, but I just cannot be bothered to try again with Java ferns.
I love the big ones! Nana and barteri are beautiful and easy to find (and grow!) but I think my favorite right now is anubias gracilis. Itās just as easy to grow as the others but a really unique leaf shape.
It does great! Itās been just as easy as any anubias for me, I just recommend making sure you put in a spot with lots of vertical space so you can really appreciate it. My one regret with mine is that where it is now is a little crowded so you donāt see as much of the long stems and unique leaf shape.
They do! 2-3 times a month. The male flares for the female and leads her to a narrow cave (I have a narrow seedpod others use pvc tubes). The male guards the eggs for a few days until they hatch.
Unfortunately the males tend to eat they babies/eggs. I have never seen a fry amd would have to put the eggs in a separate tank to actually raise them.
I only dislike them since they grow so slow. Mine got into a potassium war with my hornwort and almost lost. Itās recovering I think? At this point Iām just ignoring the black/green leaves in the back of my tank.
Mine won't stop growing, it produces so many offshoots/sprouts! It started as a small one from Petco and so far it's given me 7 more since November. I'll never need to buy another Java Fern again. š I don't dose my tanks with any ferts or check all that extra stuff (other than ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) I just set them up and let them establish on their own. I think people mess with their tanks too much sometimes.
I love the look of Java ferns, tbh. At least until they start producing babies at the ends of their leaves, and then I hate the look of them.
As for plants that look close to them, I feel like some cryptos look vaguely similar to Java shapes? but I donāt think they reproduce like Javaās do.
Yes I love the shape of the leaves. I had some crypts a few months ago but they all spontaneously melted back after being fine for months. I would be open to them again though.
I have a ton of it and sure there's a yellow leaf or two on each of my big plants but, leaves don't last forever and it's still throwing out new leaves all the time. I appreciate the contrast. I wouldn't feel that way though if I couldn't keep it healthy enough to still be growing new leaves.
Yeh ive never like Java ferns because of the browninf. They always have off a sick vibe. I was gonna say hygropholer too but its not the same kind of leaf and they are a stem plant.
•
u/Several-Dance-2416 May 19 '26
Mix a little bit of molasses w/ water and feed twice a week , you will be happy you did ,beautiful .