tall and slender, young and lovely...

[budak]

are the narrow leaf java ferns at Bioplast (System Control & Engineering).

New stock just in.... i think quite reasonable price also.

They also have this tank of cichlids which look like giant rams (but definitely not Bolivian ram) - probably some kind of Acara. Also one lonesome Heckel.

[timebomb]

The plants came from yours truly, Budak. I exchanged a big bag of narrow leaf java ferns for some Pellia with Bioplast the other day.

Well, actually, the plants were from Edward. He gave me several bunches. I still have some left in my tanks. James asked me to reserve them for him but if you like, I can always spare you a few stems. Let me know.

Funny thing about the narrow leaf ferns, they are in very short supply in the market. It's probably due to the fact the plant grows real slow.

Loh K L

[Allen_1971]

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On 1/7/2003 8:48:39 PM
BTW, is this the 20,000th post here????
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the 20,000 post is gone.... hehe is there a way to check who got it?

[budak]

It's those he put into the goldfish tank below the old 6 ft. didn't know you still had so much? What about the crypts and blyxa too?

I already have some tied to my bogwood, but compared to the regular java fern it's really slow. I see new leaves coming from the leaf bases, so hopefully they will eventually develop into the thickish clump seen in Amano's tanks. Should I cut the older very dark leaves to stimulate new foliage?

Only Bolbitis is slower. Mine still behave like plastic plant after two months (i.e. don't die but no new growth). Granddaday said his started growing only after 6 months, so have to wait long long.

[David]

so that was you timebomb....i was there on that day......

[timebomb]

Heh, heh, Grand-Daddy got a big bunch from me too.

I'm not sure if snipping off leaves will encourage new growth. I think this only works for stem plants. As far as I know, if your water is cold enough, you should have little problems with ferns and mosses. To get them to grow into a thick clump, the plants have to be planted on substrate. From what I've observed in my tanks, ferns grown on substrate produce much longer leaves. I have a normal Java Fern with leaves that are about 1 foot long. No kidding, maybe I will take a picture and put it on my website.

Ferns and Mosses will grow under high-light conditions but as far as I know, they grow faster and better under low lighting. The trouble with most of our tanks, we are giving the plants more than they need. More does not necessarily mean better. Under low lights, the leaves of java ferns do not have green spot algae. That's very difficult to achieve in a high-light tank.

I remember reading somewhere that to stimulate new growth in Annubias, the trick is to make small cuts along the rhizomes. Maybe this will work for java ferns too.

David, I didn't know that was you the other day. If I had known, I would have stayed a bit longer to chit-chat. I was in a hurry that day, was in fact bringing the family for shopping.

Loh K L