Mini Java Fern & Ludwigia palustris issues

[kadoxu]

Hi,

I'm having a bit of an issue with my Mini Java Fern and Ludwigia palustris...



I added CO2 injection to my tank in the beginning of this week and PH ranges from 7.6 to 8.3 in a day.
The tank is 3 weeks old and I have some cuttings outside the tank not showing any of these issues. The Java Fern is attached to a piece of bogwood.

What is the problem?

 

[mlportersr]

Well, if the ludwigea is completely submerged, that's problem number 1. The main part of the plant needs to be floating. It will send roots down to the substrate. I have it in my tank, no fertilizer, no CO2 and just the light coming in through a window and it is doing great.

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[zozo]

Even a Java fern although described as very easy, still more often than sometimes needs to addapt to the new parameters it suddenly is dropped in.. In a 3 week sold tank it is kinda normal to run into this kind of issues.. All looks very alarming i know the feeling, been there done that, but probably a bit to soon to jump into conclusions.. If you are on a steady co2 supply and a steady fert regime and doing your regular water changes and cleaning sessions, then keep this up for a few weeks more and let all setlle down and let it go through the initial process to establish. Soem die off and melting is normal within the first few weeks up to 2 months. Don't fidlle to much with it, give it and yourself some rest.. 😉 Sit back enjoy the tank and keep up a steady regime.. It'll come to it's terms sooner then you think..

 

[kadoxu]

Thanks guys... I'm not very good at waiting... It's hopefully one of the many things this hobby will teach me.

 

[KarthikC]

Java fern- always needs time to adjust. It becomes dormant, never shows growth. Then suddenly.. Boom: springs back to life. 🙂 Give it some time.

Palustris: I have mine in a new tank which is doing fairly well. I would say, until the main stem is healthy, it would grow back. Keep a few stems growing emersed, just in case.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Karthik

 

[alto]

Tropica has several scapes/videos showing L palustris growth (underwater 😉)
- sometimes it can be a bit slow to get going, just trim the melty bits back so the whole stem doesn't go, it's a more sensitive (soft?) plant in this regard ... I've even had to go through "melts" when tank conditions change (I'm not good at consistent 😉) but it generally bounces back well enough.

It's always preferred (by plants!) to have CO2 injection from the beginning of the set up - a bit easier to adjust to submerse culture when there's easy CO2 access for the new leaf building 🙂
I often run CO2 24/7 for the first few weeks - just steady rather than turning CO2 up/down

 

[Manisha]

I got my ludwigia palustris from aquarium gardens (a ukaps sponsor) & am very pleased with however have more rogue 'melted leaves' than with other plants. I have mine fully submerged & new growth has (luckily) been better 🙂 Hopefully it will show signs of settling soon 🙂

 

[Aqua360]

Thanks guys... I'm not very good at waiting... It's hopefully one of the many things this hobby will teach me.

It only teaches you when you run out of money, and are forced to be patient

(For me anyway)

 

[darrensp]

What I've noticed with ludwigia palustrus that emerged growth dies away but cutting off new growth and re-planting tops and ditching submersed growth has worked for me

 

[kadoxu]

What I've noticed with ludwigia palustrus that emerged growth dies away but cutting off new growth and re-planting tops and ditching submersed growth has worked for me

Yesterday, I removed the dying ones and replaced them with a few cuttings I made a week or so ago. Now it's time to wait and see how they'll do... If these die, I'll just trim and plant some more Japanese Cress, which is growing beautifully in the tank.

 

[mlportersr]

The thing you need to know is how this form of ludwigea grows in the wild (which it does here in Texas). You get a very pretty sort of rosette of leaves, but the stem keeps growing out of the middle of it and forms a new rosette of leaves. The leaves that were around the outside of the old rosette are now some ways down the stem so they begin dying. As this repeats you see emerge the plant's basic form of a floating rosette of leaves connected to the substrate through a long, essentially bare stem -- which comes in handy when there is a hard rain and the water level rises. And if you don't root it you get tons of very pretty feathery roots hanging down -- great for fry.

Concerning folks who manage to get it to grow fully submerged, I am not surprised. Put enough effort and you could get a lot of things to grow fully submerged. But is it worth the effort? Sometimes it's just easier to ride the horse in the direction it's going...


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[alto]

Put enough effort and you could get a lot of things to grow fully submerged. But is it worth the effort?

😕

Glass box + substrate + plants (including L palustris) + water + low CO2 + occasional water change + occasional fertilzers + fish (or no fish if no filter) + light (sun or electric) ... seems pretty simple ...
not sure where the "enough" effort is ...
any aquarium is more effort than no aquarium but where's the sense in just sitting about putting out no effort 😕

 

[mlportersr]

The point is what to put the effort towards. I prefer to put it towards learning about plants, fish and all the rest in their natural state -- not some artificial construct that is only maintained with a lot of extra work by me.

I don't use CO2, ditto extra ferts and I get most of the light I need from the window. But oh the neat stuff I'm learning about food chains, and plant metabolism, and aquatic insects, and snails, and copepods, and hydra, and... Well you get the idea.

Want to try something really neat? Set up a separate tank but only use stuff you get from a local creek or pond -- fish, plants, dirt, even the water! The diversity of life will amaze you! Just be sure to get a good magnifier or loupe, that has become one of my main tools.

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[alto]

I'd need a chiller as the local water is a lot colder than I'd want to live
For plants, milfoil isn't something I really want & the various reeds are way too big - as are most of the fish
I suppose I could keep leeches again, though they really prefer outdoor living 😀


(an' must admit I hate when they suck my blood)

 

[Manisha]

Yesterday, I removed the dying ones and replaced them with a few cuttings I made a week or so ago. Now it's time to wait and see how they'll do... If these die, I'll just trim and plant some more Japanese Cress, which is growing beautifully in the tank.

Don't give up with it 🙂 (because if I can grow it...lol) Only my ten cents worth...but the small leave size combined with the colour will look great in your nano - not great snaps, but the first shows nice color with submerged growth & the second gives a sense of scale beside other plants 🙂