Re: re: dying Java ferns

["Robert H" <robertph3 at attbi_com>]

>>My tank is daylit and receives 4-6 hours of direct sunlight a day and,
during summer, water temperature peaks at 34 degrees Centigrade.  The water
is soft and acidic as I keep apistos, tetras and corydoras in my heavily
planted tank but I don't measure pH, dH and kH.  I change the water
infrequently and only up to 20% at the most.  The Java ferns, both Windelov
and pteropus varieties, are growing amidst a tangle of Java moss and have
even attached themselves already to the driftwood.  But they are now slowly
dying and I don't know what causing one of the supposedly most durable
plants to do that.  Is it because of the summer's intense heat?  <<

Well lets think about this for a moment... a normal light cycle is 12 hours
a day and you are only giving it 4 to six hours a day... and you said
"sunlight only" which leads me to believe you are not providing any
artificial light. Java fern may be hardy and forgiving, but it is not
indestructable. What you are providing is far below any minimal light
standard. Sunlight is fine as a suppliment to artificial light or as the
sole source of light if it is direct and 10 or more hours a day. I can
assure you heat is no problem for Java fern. You problem is lack of light
and far too short a light cycle. How can a plant possibly photosynthesise on
only 4 hours a day?  And even if I am making the wrong assumption and you
are providing additional artificial light, the symptoms still sound like too
little light to me.

Robert Paul Hudson
www.aquabotanic.com
All Wet Thumb Forums
http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/#1
www.trueaquariumplants.com