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Wanna know how?

Lose your light fixture.

Simple huh? I had the most stunning lush java fern tank. i had the entire back wall of a 2' FULL of bright green tri-lobed leaf java ferns. Now I have 3 full sized spotty ones and a bunch of rotten leaves


I was trying to get the 4' set up faster, but it just didn't happen

I currently have one plant floating in my cray tank under lights, and am trying to sustain the remainder under incandescents I'm playing with fire here... or rot, maybe i'm playing with rot

Should i risk nippers and toss theremaining plants in the cray tank?

Anyway, as soon as the 4' is set up, what on earth do I do to get the most chance of rescuing these remaining plants? Lighting is 2x4' fluros (standard daylight AO stuff) and substrate is riversand (considering leaving bottom 1/2" unwashed, but this tends to get quite rotty/gassy, so other option is clay balls and water-based ferts.

I am pretty intent on saving these plants, they are about 3 years old and I'm very attached to them I didn't notice things had gotten so bad

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Sorry to hear about your lost paradise, Calla

Fear not, however. Your java ferns are not dead, just some of those leaves apparently. I think in that situation I would take go through each leaf and take note of which are the damaged the most. Rip 'em out, because if they're rotting then they're not going to come back. If you're afraid of putting them in the tank with the crayfish, put them in a jar or container of water and put that where it'll get some sun. Java fern is notoriously hardy, and though some of the leaves may be dead, i doubt the rhizome is. And as long as that is alive, it should be able to grow back... in good time. If you're going to leave them in sunlight until the new tank is fixed up make sure to take out all the rotted parts. Any ammonia will trigger an algae bloom in sunlight, not good

As for what to do when the new tank is set up, I would just go about it as you normally would. I have read, and I'm sure some others can testify, that java ferns can actually grow pretty quickly if given the right circumstances. Those would include high lighting, pressurized CO2 injection and a good fert. dosing schedule. However, there is no reason to think that the rhizomes won't regenerate leaves under any stable conditions you provide them. To strike a balance between the two extremes of high tech planted tanks and a jar in the window, pamper them with some Excel, make sure they have enough N and K available, and just let them do their thing under stable lighting conditions, whatever you planned on having to begin with. It'll take time, but they'll be back.

---

Back in the saddle!

Callatya


For my own edification
How long did it take for the plants to become this way? what happened to the other lights?
just curious...how big a tank and how deep? how many watts per gallon.

What are you doing lately. First blow up a stove, now burn out plants? Can you put those plants in a tank where no fish have teth or claws?

If so good lighting and plenty of good plant care products even a small CO2 unit

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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I've managed to kill off java before too....not sure how I managed it though....
Most of them had been killed off but a few of them rallied after increased light (around 2wpg) and adding a DIY CO2.

If the options of going into the cray tank would be the easiest at this point why not try putting them in a soda bottle or something to protect them from the crays while they grow out? Might look a bit funny for a bit but if you were to send the CO2 airline right into the bottle they'll be getting plety and should grow nice and fast.

My javas on co2 outgrew wisteria in the same tank .

^_^

try using the fungus medication binox. This will wipe all of the leaves off. It has been about a half a year since i used it, and my lace java ferns still have a long way to get back up to strenght. Probably just in time for me to take down my tank for college in 2007.