Java moss - Taxiphyllum barbieri, Vesicularia dubayana, Spiky moss, Taxiphyllum sp (common aquatic mosses)

These are aquatic mosses which I collected in various streams in the northern regions of west peninsular Malaysia, except for the Spiky moss which I bought from a friend. These mosses grow in different conditions. 

Taxiphyllum barbieri emersed

 

the Taxiphyllum barbieri I found growing on land near a stream

Habitat

These are some of the mosses I have at the moment; but given that Taxiphyllum barbieri is faster growing and looks nicer than the rest ... it is my favourite! :)

Update on emersed setup for Marsilea Hirsuta and Java fern (Microsorum pteropus)

Some update on Marsilea hirsuta and Java fern. This was setup not long ago:

Java fern planlets taking off in emersed form

Jave fern plantlets in a plastic cup

Marsilea hirsuta

Created this emersive set-up for Marsilea hirsuta as I wanted to see the production of spore caps. Have been keeping this type of plant for about a year or so now and they hardly produce any spore caps underwater. In this case, I positioned them in the balcony area outside my window, so they were exposed to hot and occasionally humid conditions, though not in the full glare of the sun. So we shall see in due course if the emersive state is necessary to produce spore caps. You can check the previous setup here: How to propagate Java fern plantlets

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