Growing Java ferns and Anubias species in the open

[Desewer]

Hi all,

I plan to grow various types of Java fern (Windelov, Narrow leaf, Broad leaf, normal also) and Anubias (nana, barteri, coffeefolia) in two 2x1x1 ft tanks outside my house. The tanks would have no filtration, no substrate, and receive direct sunlight from around 11am till 5pm. The plants would only be secured onto driftwood and placed in the water. A few guppies, mollies and platys would be added to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.

Does anyone have any experience with such a setup? My aim is to slowly grow the ferns and anubias so that in 6 months to a year's time, I would have enough to re-decorate my planted tank. Is filtration absolutely necessary for plants? I've got Hydrocotyle (verticillata or mariitima, can't tell) in a no-filtration garden pond that is growing beautifully emersed.

How often would I need to change the water for the fern and anubias tanks? Nowadays the temperature gets quite high in the daytime. I wonder if it will affect the ferns and anubias. Hope to hear some replies...

[juggler]

If you have been to Teo Farm, you can see that they have their Anubias and Java Ferns growing emersed in cement tanks but under a shaded canopy. The plants are periodically (an I believe automatically) sprayed with water from time to time. This way, the plants can still draw the atmospheric CO2 for growth.

For your submersed method, I personally feel that the temperature may be too high from the direct sunlight. And being submersed, they may not get enough CO2, unless you pumped it in.

I got a driftwood with Anubias growing for the past year in my office tank without CO2 or fertilisation. The size is not much bigger than first planted. Those grown in another tank with CO2 and fertilisation were bigger now.

[budak]

What you could do is place a shade (a netting, perforated clear plastic cover, etc) over the tank to protect the plants from the sunlight. These plants, in their emmersed form, grow in the deep shade of forests, by streams with water sprays that keep them moist. You can't grow them like cacti.

If you can arrange such that there is some form of water circulation (a mini waterfall? or a filter rainbar/showerhead), that should help greatly. Maybe you could grow large echinos too to provide shade for the ferns, anubias....

[himyick]

I tried that before, what I did was I placed some java fern in a glass jar and left this jar along the corridor. This jar was placed behind a flower pot but still receive some sunlight for the later part of the day. No fish, no filter etc. After 2 weeks the jar looked more like a jar of green kaya, I mean lots of algae, guessed the sunlight is too strong for the ferns. You may want to consider placing them in the shade instead, like wat budak suggested.

[Desewer]

Oops.. Looks like I've got to reconsider my plans. I already set up a 3ft tank with about 10 guppies, mollies and platys, and thrown in a rock tied with Java fern. So far, it's too early to tell if this will succeed. The tank has no substrate... so I can't grow any plants that require roots.

OTOH, my Java ferns which have been inside my 4ft planted tank, since January 2004, have not shown any signs of growth. I don't know what's missing. Most of my other plants are flourishing except my ferns.

I guess I'll just place a shade above the bare tank and wait 4-6 months for results. Will keep you guys posted if I notice any considerable growth.

[a_scape]

Hi Desewer,
I can say this is highly not recommended for several reason :
1. This condition will ruin most of the ferns who prefer cold water, their leaves can be turned black (burned by the strong light)
2. Algae will bloom very fast and attack the anubias

And I almost never see anybody who want to slow down the growth for future tank investment setup. Mostly is try to speed up the growth and make you plants mostly in optimum performance.
So by the time you are ready for new setup , you will get enough plants quantity as well as quality.
Hope this help.
Good luck,

AChen

[BPT]

[quote:0af04fc74a="budak"]What you could do is place a shade (a netting, perforated clear plastic cover, etc) over the tank to protect the plants from the sunlight. These plants, in their emmersed form, grow in the deep shade of forests, by streams with water sprays that keep them moist. You can't grow them like cacti.

If you can arrange such that there is some form of water circulation (a mini waterfall? or a filter rainbar/showerhead), that should help greatly. Maybe you could grow large echinos too to provide shade for the ferns, anubias....[/quote:0af04fc74a]

hmm... that gives me an idea. See the pic of my pond filter, on the trickle section runs a 4" PVC. If I punch more holes perhaps I can setup mini anubias farm there . The chamber is covered with a semi transparent plastic cover.

[Desewer]

Looks like I'll have to re-think my plans. The ambient temperature in my balcony (where the 3ft tank was) is about 28-29 degrees, depending on the time of the year. Nowadays, hot season, temps can be as high as 31.5!

It's troublesome to install a filter and light system just because I want to grow ferns and anubias. These slow growth plants are supposed to be "low-maintenance" which is defined by me as no light, no co2, no nothing! hahaha... just chuck them in there and ignore them, hope they'll grow. If still won't grow, I'll get some holy water from temple or mosque or church and spray it on the plants!

Thanks for all the comments guys. You've been a great help.

[BPT]

Guys, I'm seriously thinking of propagating anubias, microsorioum, & cryptocoryne in that filtration chamber using a big plastic tub under the running water. Can anyone suggest the kind of substrate for best result ? I think crypts will do well with laterite clay, but not sure for the anubias and microsorium.