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RE: [APD] Repost about hornwort, and a new question about Java Fern



Cheryl, you didn't mention temp in your line-up below. Was the hornwort
at the LFS growing in a coolwater tank or in a tropical tank? I imagine
you keep your guppy tank close to 80 F which is the high-side limit for
C. submersum and C. demersum favors cooler temps. I killed off many a
clump of hornwort in Maine in my nutrient-free wellwater. When the needles
take on that light, translucent green, the plant is singing its deathsong.
You have hard water which hornwort seems to like (remembering my Maine
wellwater days of less than 35ppm combined hardness). I'm growing plenty
of hornwort in my 10 gallons here in Alabama using just one 13w 6400K
AHSupply compact fluorescent. Your 20w screw-in may not be as efficient
in producing light down in the tank due to restrike, which was covered
by Wright Huntley a couple of weeks ago. Prolonged 80plus temp will
eventually turn hornwort to mush. And if it were me, I'd reduce the ferts
in the overstocked tank. The java fern sounds like it has some form of red
algae which is some tenacious stuff to get rid of. Try to save some
plantlets
that are unaffected and cast out the rest--it's "plant leprosy." I tried
scrubbing the stuff off to virtually no avail. Perhaps others have a cure
that is easy and surefire. HTH and YMMV,

Bill



About a month ago, I purchased some hornwort from a petshop.  It was
quite dark green and the "fronds"/leaves were quite stiff projecting out
from the stem.  Previously, I have bought hornwort, but it was soft and
eventually died out. (That was before I got the hair algae under
control).  These new plants have been growing in my 10 gallon, but the
new growth is a lighter green and is not stiff like on what I bought.
Because growth is soft, I fear that eventually it will also eventually
die out.  Why won't it grow in the stiff form?

Here's my set up:

10 gallon with 20 W screw-in compact fluorescent, 6500K; (I corrected
the wattage from my original post!)
DIY yeast CO2;
ammonia = 0
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 15-20 ppm
dKH = 19 (about 340 ppm)
dGH = 21 (aobut 376 ppm)
pH = 7.2
I add 4 drops of Fluorish every 2-3 days (when I started doing it this
way rather than a single larger weekly dose, the hair algae pretty much
disappeared!). Tank is overcrowded with guppies (I need to find a fish
to put in there to eat the babies, that won't harass the adult males'
flowing tails!)

What do I need to do to get the hornwort healthier?

SECOND QUESTION:  I have a Java Fern, rhizome is about 8 inches long, in
this same tank, which I have had for about 6 months.  It was a huge
plant-- leaves almost a foot long when I got it.  All of these slowly
died, but produced numerous plantlets.  The replacement leaves, which
have been abundant, are only about 5 inches long.  For the last 3 months
it has  been in the shade of a red rubin swordplant which has been
growing very healthily, but obscuring the Java Fern.  This week I
removed the sword to take it to a show, and noticed that the leaves of
the Java Fern do not look at all healthy.  They are covered with little
brown-black speckles (these are continuous from one side of the leaf to
the other) and many leaves do not have a healthy green color.  Their
appearance reminds me of leaves on outdoor plants dying down in the
fall.  Was there two much shade from the sword? or is there likely to be
some other problem?

TIA

Cheri

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