# java fern melting??



## jp80911 (Dec 3, 2010)

I just got a bunch java fern from a friend about 2 weeks ago, some are doing fine and some appears to be "melting"???
is it normal? 
the tank has been running for more than half a year with fish and other plants, I had a big amazon sword almost melt complete away before when I first added it to the tank then started to grow new leaf out and it's doing great now. could it be the ferns are trying to adjust to my tank condition?


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

It is possible that the Ferns are trying to adapt to your water conditions; are they significantly different from your friend's?

I assume you did not bury the rhizome of the Java Fern as well.


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi jp80911,

First, I am assuming you did not plant the rhizomes in the substrate but did attach them to hardscape items in your aquarium like driftwood or stones. Java Ferns will die if the rhizome is buried. 

Can you describe a little better what you mean by melting? The two cultivars of Java Fern that I have in one of my tanks will periodically do a "melt" if I get lazy on my fertilizer dosing. Typically the problem will start in one area where the leaves will develop dark areas where the chlorophyll (green area) has disappeared and all that is left is the dead vein structure. In a matter of a few days the green portion of the leaf will die completely leaving just the dead vein structure. The problem seems to spread along the rhizome attacking additional leaves which at first lead me to think it was some sort of disease that was spreading through contact.

I spent a lot of time trying to discover the cause of the condition but have not found an definite answer. I do have a suspicion that it is a deficiency problem. The reason I say that is the condition only happens in one of my tanks; another aquarium with the same Java Ferns (which came from the same plants) does not experience this problem. Both tanks have equivalent equipment and are fertilized identically. The difference between the two tanks is in one my Java Ferns are growing on driftwood and in the other the Java Ferns are growing on stones. In the tank with the driftwood my Java Ferns experience the problem; in the aquarium with the stones no problems. The stones are a type of limestone and do effect my water chemistry. In the "driftwood tank" KH of water is 0.5 dKH and the GH is 9.0 dGH. In the "stone tank" the KH is 4.0 and the GH is 10.0 dGH.

The bottom line is we have really soft water where I live in Seattle; typically the water comes out of the faucet 0.5 dKH / 4.0 dGH. I found that to correct the "melting" problem I need to maintain my EI fertilizer dosing (with extra iron, and Flourish Comprehensive) and add a little Baking Soda to raise the KH to at least 2.0 dKH and Seachem Equilibrium (for calcium, magnesium, and other micros) to raise the GH to about 5.0 - 6.0 dGH.

If you are fertilizing properly, and the Java Ferns do not recover in a couple of weeks, you may want to look into deficiency possibilities.


----------



## jp80911 (Dec 3, 2010)

By melting I mean the green leaves turn brown and some of them starts to get a little mushy. I think some of them are dying.
I believe the water conditions are very different. I don't bury the rhizome, I bury part of the roots or just use few medium size gravel to hold the root down. 
The melting is actually at a middle of a big cluster of java fern where it's somewhat free floating, I have both ends held down by gravel or driftwood (just the roots not the rhizome)
I also have the same batch of fern in other location of the tank and in an other tank. they all seem to do ok. I'll see if the rhizome are "melting" as well, if yes then I'll have to remove them.


----------

