# Java fern dying



## bendzuch (Jan 24, 2013)

any Ferts?


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## karawr (May 8, 2012)

I do not dose. Sand substrate. Just stocked with shrimp and ember tetras. 

Not the best photo (phone) but here's the tank. Fern is on the far right.


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## karawr (May 8, 2012)

Should I be dosing? I've got flourish and flourish excel but don't use them due to shrimp and copper.


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## bendzuch (Jan 24, 2013)

how many Hrs is light on???
CO2???


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## karawr (May 8, 2012)

No co2, low tech tank. 

Lights are on 8 hours/day


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## difrent7 (Nov 24, 2012)

My roots on my fern are brown but my rhizomes are green you should be fine. What is temp of the tank?


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## valen1014 (Feb 18, 2013)

I'm a complete newbie with plants but something similar happened to me recently and it turned out there were air pockets in the sand that was causing the roots and plant to turn black :frown:


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## mnemenoi (May 28, 2012)

I dose Excel and Flourish with my shrimp and have never had any issue. My guess would be a longer photo period (or try and break it up into 2 different ones) if algae is your concern. With most of my T8 fixtures, I have found it was necessary to drag it out for the plants to do well.


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## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Are the fern's rhizome completely buried in the substrate? IME, ferns don't like their rhizome buried in anything. Although they are a tough and hardy plant, they seem like little girls when it comes to that. 

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


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## karawr (May 8, 2012)

No the mat was placed onto a piece of rock, which is above the substrate. And the roots arent a dark healthy brown. They are like the yellow of hay or dead grass.

Temp is 76.

Could it be the duckweed? Like I said, it is very sparse so I only have a little in the corner. But the current of the tank pushes it to the right side, above the dying fern.


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## Saxtonhill (Dec 28, 2012)

I am wondering if your Java Fern matt is so dense in the center that no light is getting in there? It's kind of hard to tell from your photo (though it looks like you've got a really nice set up there). 

Or is it doing something like this? I am a newbie to plants also...so I am no expert... 











I had to cut back the brown leaves off a group of my Java Ferns...and they're showing new growth...though rather slowly. (below) (Hope I didn't hijack the thread...)


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## karawr (May 8, 2012)

Yes it looks similar to that. The green leaves slowly got brown/black spots, eventually turned completely brown (dead) and fell off. I am also wondering if maybe the mat is too dense.


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## Saxtonhill (Dec 28, 2012)

Mine are starting to come back...lots of new little green leaves on the brown rhyzomes and roots but it sure is taking a long time.


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

How many watts is the light? T8? I am wondering without getting the answers to these questions yet if the Java Fern is getting too much light. It's really a low-light plant and grows very slowly.


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## karawr (May 8, 2012)

Sorry I should have included the watt. It is 18w F18T8.


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## Saxtonhill (Dec 28, 2012)

Django, PM some of the experienced people with tanks you admire. They might respond with a lot of good info.  That's what I did and it's been helping me (admittedly a newbie to live plants) quite a bit and I've still got quite a ways to go. 

Hope that helps. And I fear I may have hijacked karawr's thread... apologies...


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

I have had purchased Java Fern 'melt' on me.

It is known as an easy plant but it does seem to sometimes 'melt' when it changes tanks.

In my case I eventually cut off all of the stems that didn't look healthy and it seemed that the Java Ferns then shot out a bunch of new healthy leafs in short order.

I had to prune my lush big Java Fern that I bought back but once I did it seemed to take off.


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