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I have a 30 gal tank. My friend gave me some java fern from his tank. I tied the fern onto wood with fishing line just like in my friends tank. It's been more than 6 months now & the plants are begining to die. The plants are growing perfectly in my friends tank (like a jungle).
What am I doing wrong?

Jay

Wow, how do you manage to kill Java...LOL

What is your lighting like. and how long do you have the lights on.

Did the Java ever reproduce?

If you're running carbon in the tank I'd suggest removing it. Did you tie it really tight to the wood, or lose enough that it didnt damage the rizome?

Lights for all plants, including java, should be on 10 hours a day. Java fern will grow better under 2wpg, ferts and CO2 injections. Depending on what your friend is doing with their tank differently than yours it could be any number of these things.

^_^ [hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

What kinds of fish are in the tank and how long have they been there(fertilizer)? Are you using any copper based meds in your tank:Aquarisol, copper sulfate, Had a Snail?

max

I have 3 clown loaches, 2 kullies, 2 angel fish, 1 clown pleco, 1 xingu butterfly pleco, 1 golden nugget pleco, 1 red whiptail, 1 whiptail. They have been in the tank for 2 years or more.

I have 1 15W 18" lamp which is on about 14hours everyday in my 30 gal tank. 2foot squared octagon tank.
The java did reproduce but just ended up floating away from the plant & getting sucked up into the filter.

No carbon used in tank or any meds. Just use the usual ph buffers & water conditioner when doing water changes.

Jay

Jay,

With your current lighting level, you should have some problems with plants in your cube. Your tank may be considered to be a very low light tank with a 15W lamp on a 30 US gallon aquarium. The dimness is compounded by the 24 inch depth of your tank.

At 0.5 watts per gallon (wpg), your java fern should survive but the light level may be effectively much less because of the depth of your tank. Light intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. Thus if you have poor intensity at a one foot depth you will have just one-fourth of that light at a 2 foot depth.

You may want to boost your lamps in your fixture or replace your fixture.

Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 08-Feb-2005 08:19

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Question I have a plant do I prune the the leaves when they turn yellow or do I let them fall off? and why do they turn yellow lack of sunlight?
Thanks,
Kat

Hey!! no laughing about killing java!!!

I've managed to kill it always!!! the stuff just won't grow on my tanks, it always turns black and dies. same goes for java moss! ]:|

I just have one rizome that i have been able to keep alive (barely) and it doesen't looks to good, the thing is a fighter though it makes baby plants like crazy which they all end up dyeing