Great-looking Java Fern! That plant has been a huge favourite of mine; I remember first trying it after reading an article in the old Freshwater And Marine Aquarist (FAMA) magazine, way way back. There was a fellow whose specialty was Bettas, and he wrote a regular monthly column in that mag. One month he devoted the whole column to Java Fern, extolling its virtues, its toughness, adaptability, etc. He had dozens or hundreds of jars raising individual Bettas, and would just drop a sprig or a chunk of the fern into each one. No lighting beyond room lighting, no special fertilizers or other technology...and the stuff would just grow and grow and grow. No substrate, and no solid base to which it could attach itself; it just floated in the water and grew. Many other aquarists have equally good luck with this thing, and very few herbivorous fish will touch it, which is a strong selling point.
I have long ago lost track of how many Java Ferns I have purchased, brought home, and watched gradually turn brown and wither away. They don't "melt" as so many other plants do. They just turn dark brown, remaining very firm and solid as they gradually fall apart. Usually they sprout dozens of new little plantlets on the leaves, which at first would fool me into thinking that they were thriving and growing.
They weren't doing either. They were gradually dying, and those baby plants seemed to be their last gasp, a final attempt at continuing the line before the Grim Reaper made the final cut.
I've sworn off buying them anymore; just can't take another bitter disappointment. I wish you the best of luck with them,
FINWIN
, but I'm afraid that if you succeed with them, it'll just goad me into buying another batch and once again torturing them slowly to death.
I'll just stick with Hornwort, Guppy Grass, Java Moss, etc...you know, stuff that actually grows for me.
