Java fern melts

Noticed my java fern melted or burned in my tank today.  It doesn't surprise me at all as it happened  previously. The symptoms seem to come and go. Stopped injecting co2 about a week ago. I heard some people saying it has to do with nutrient deficiencies (advice which is full of technicalities), and some says it's disease, etc. Oh off course, I didn't bury the rhizoms, as I tied it to the driftwood. It's also infected my Echinodorus tellenus. I did a water change, and trimmed all the leaves until they were bald! It sounds a bit extreme, but that's what I did.

these infected leaves of java fern disease or nutrient deficiencies whatever you call it, will spread quickly in 1 night. Remove all the leaves that have been infected as much as you can. Don't worry about your precious green leaves, (sounds a bit disappointing) they will grow back over a time. be patient !

trim the leaves as much as possible esp. on the infected area

This is how i did it to my Java fern. It was bushy previously but now its ...... hmm..  will update this in due course !

UPDATE: Found out that this Java fern melt happen when my Ph is around 6.0 . Try to control your Ph in your tank between 4.0 - 5.5 is the best.

Bolbitis heudolotii in it's native habitat

A water fern with very beautiful transparent green leaves. Bolbitis heudelotii or African water fern originally came from West Africa (Congo), where they grow along the edge of the waterfall with rocky habitat. When planting do not cover the rhizome because it will rot, and it is best to plant Bolbitis heudelotii on a driftwood or stone. Keep the plant in position with fishing line but usually i used sewing thread as it will dissolved in the water over a time. This beautiful plants is easy to propagate by splitting the rhizome. Growth can be increased considerably by supplying CO2, and is only optimal in soft, slightly acidic water. Based on my experience, Bolbitis heudelotii is extremely slow growing plants, probably slower than common Java fern (Microsorum pteropus) and it is easily attracts algae. But other than that, they're easy to keep.

 These pictures of Bolbitis heudelotii growing in their native habitat in West Africa (Congo) during dry season. They usually grows in emersives form in waterfall areas.

Submerged form of bolbitis heudelotii

 NOTE : I don't own all these pictures, All the pictures are retrieved from internet. If you want to see the original website of these photos, you can go to : West African Plant Database

My previous 2.5 ft planted aquarium

This was my previous planted tank. Been setup about 6 months, and plants are Bolbitis heudolotii, Anubias nana, Java ferns, Java fern 'narrow leaves', hyghrophila polyperma sunset, Brazillian pennyworth, Blyxa ubertii as background plant. Diy co2 been used.

That was my Plecos resting on my Anubias at the right side of the tank.

Bugs in planted aquarium

I got this bug swimming on the surface of the water in my planted aquarium. I'm not sure about the species of this bug at first, but I searched on google as water bugs and came up with the result as Gerridae or Water Strider (Gerris remegis). It seems harmless to the floras and faunas in your tank so I just ignore it. This is some shots of the Gerridae or Water Striders in my tank. You can read more in Wiki about this creatures here: Gerridae

Gerridae or Water Strider (Gerris remigis)

Microsorum pteropus (java fern) & Marsilea hirsuta pearling

Some shots of java ferns and marselia hirsuta pearling.

 When there's enough lights,and percents of co2 in the water, photosynthesis occurred!

Pearling Java fern

Marsilea hirsuta

Nano Tank Update July 2013

Just some update on my nano tank at the moment. Marsilea Hirsuta and Java Ferns doing great! I can say that with co2 injection, Marsilea really taking off!