What on earth are these?!

[LancsRick]

Plant in question is java fern.
Tank is a low tech community tank with fert dosing.

I spotted these on the underside of three of my java fern leaves today, so very localised. Wondering if they're eggs or something?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2793861/2013-09-16 20.34.17.jpg

They're a dark red/terracotta sort of colour, and appear to be mounds made up of tiny particles. Are they eggs from something in my tank?

Inhabitants are...

Amano shrimp
Otocinclus
Botia Striata
White Cloud Mountain Minnows
Cardinal Tetras
Galaxy Rasbora
Malaysian Trumpet Snails.


Any ideas on what these might be? Thank you!

 

[John S]

Perfectly normal Rick.
They are reproductive spores.

 

[LancsRick]

Wow, I had no idea they went that way, I thought they sprouted plantlets from the leaf tips.

Cheers!

 

[Ady34]

I've got them too mate

Apparently ferns can reproduce sexually and asexually. Most commonly asexually by budding which is the mini plantlets which grow on the tips, and sexually from spores where multiple ferns in an aquarium exchange genetic material to reproduce.....it's just what I read 🙂
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Wallace]

Perfectly normal, as has been said already.

You'll probably start to notice some tiny roots and then a tiny leaf, eventually followed by the beginnings of a tiny Rhizome.

Just let it grow. You can either wait until the plantlet gets big enough to pick off, or let it detach on its own. Then all I do is just shove the new plant into the middle of the main plant, that way the main plant gets nice and thick.

You won't see new plants at every dot along the leaf, usually you'll only get one or two.

HTH

Adam