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recently bought a java fern and didn't realise they required a low light tank- (my LFS didn't mention anything about it when i purchased it)

I have been leaving the light on for about 10 hours a day (as it is a new tank with no fish as of yet)

the foliage pigments have now turned from a lovely lush green to a blotchy brown. I have a few other plants that seem to thrive in the light.

Should i simply replace the java fern with a more suitable plant or can it be salvaged? what plants are reccomended for a 10g tank. (i will be having tetras and guppies)

I intend to use the light alot on my tank.

I wonder if your light is incandescent or flouresent ? Screw in bulb or tube.. And if you know how many watts and the K rating or lumens ? More info on your light will help. Some Java ferns now also 'cultured' semi emmersed or emmersed and will need some time..

Example" Philips Daylight Deluxe, 24 inch T12 tube,
(6500K = 1075 lumens) 'color rendering' 79.




The Amazon Nut...

I agree, the plant is probably just adapting to your water.

Most low-light plants, including Java Fern, can easily adapt to high-light conditions. It's just when you try to grow high-light plants in low-light conditions, that's when you run into problems.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I have Jave fern growing in strong lighting in both my tanks and not a problem at all.

I also use a fert regually.

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]


Keith

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masta_2009,

All others are right; Java Fern will grow in all (almost all) light conditions.

What concerns me is your explanation that you leave the light on for 10 hours and that you plan to use it a lot.

A few questions:

- How much wattage does your light have?
- What do you mean with using the light a lot?

I would say that a lighting duration of 11 to 12 hours is probably the most common, so 10 hours is towards the lower end of this scale. The entity that influences what plants will grow in your tank is less the duration but rather the intensity and light temperature (the K value).

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

my tank is an Aqua-40 Silver 40litre tank
the light is a double colour 11watt pl light (blue/white)
How do i work out the watts per gallon? dont have a clue about k level

the filter is an Aquaflow 1 internal filter (6 watt)
the heater is a combi-heater 50 watt

thats about as much info as i can get at the mo

Hi,
As a general rule, when you transplant plants, they go into
a period where they use up stored reserves of nutrients
and during that time they adapt to their new environment.
They grow new roots, and begin to process the nutrients
that are in the new tank. This leads to new leaves
starting to grow, old roots dying off, and leaves yellowing
and dying. It is normal. Simply remove the dead or dying
leaves with some sharp scissors.

As far as the lighting is concerned, one night when the
lights have been out for a half hour (bulb cools off)
take a look at the flourscent tube. At one end or the other
it should have the wattage printed on the glass for you
to read. Divide the wattage of your bulb (since there is
only one. If you have more than one bulb total the numbers)
by the capacity of the tank. For instance, a 40 watt bulb
on a 30G tank is 1.3 Watts Per Gallon (wpg).

Plants are generally divided into types:
Floating and non floating,
High, medium, and low, light demand
And others.

The Java Fern is generally considered to be a low light
demand plant. As such it is a slow growing plant, that
likes to be attached to something, generally a piece of
driftwood, sometimes rocks. WPG ratings of 1 watt to
2 watts/gallon should be fine for the plant.

You should have some fish in the tank. The decaying
fish food, and fish waste products become the nutrients
that the plant needs to grow. A plant in an empty tank
will not last long.

Frank


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