mirciulie

Hello there folks.

Got a question again. I've been getting some algae in my tank, mostly on the backside of my Java fern plant. I tried removing it by hand but it damages the plant.

Is this beard algae, or what? I need to find out so I know what actions to take. I know that I need more lighting (I have around 0.6 Wpg right now...). Also, I had a BUNCH of floating water sprite on top that shadowed the tank quite good. I removed it today, and planted some of it on the bottom. There's alot more light right now, so maybe that'll be enough light for now.

Also, I overfeed the tank (I'm a begginer) and I think that's when the algae started to grow also.

Please help me ID this algae and great rewards await

I also added another plant that I have and I'm not sure what it is. It was dying when I've got it with the tank due to almost zero light, but now looks like it's doing better with those 2 new leafs comming up.



Thx, Mike

Attached Images

	algae 02 3.JPG (65.6 KB, 26 views)
	algae 01.JPG (55.4 KB, 20 views)
	algae 03.JPG (77.0 KB, 17 views)

Gozer_1

Looks like roots to me. Some plants will shoot out roots from damaged areas or at the nodes where new stems or leaves pop out. Your pictures look very much like roots. Not a positive ID but I'm pretty sure.

(edit)
A second look and read and I realized you said you had Water Sprite. Water Sprite is the King of shooting out roots from even the smallest leaf. It kind of looks like you may have some Water Sprite fragments hanging around. What you are showing in your picture looks EXACTLY like the root shoots Water Sprite will shoot out at nodes and damaged areas. I see little floaters all the time in my tank with a couple little tiny leaves and a big bushy tail of a root. Just a thought anyway.

mirciulie

Thanks Gozer.

I don't think that these are roots, because they grow on the back side of the plant. You can see on the second pic that I have some baby plants growing, but those are green and are on the top of the leafs. I'm pretty sure it's a foreign object, not part of the Java Fern. It has multiple litle whiskers, looks like a beard.

I look up here and couldn't ID it myself, that's why I asked for help. We should start a thread with algaed pics, so ppl can ID them easily.

COBettaCouple

I'd agree with Gozer. That looks exactly like java fern roots in the first 2 pics.

mirciulie

Those algae are stuck REALLY good to the leafes of the Java Fern, I wouldn't think to be water sprite. Or maybe they glue themselves so good into other plants that you can't remove them without breaking the host plant... I doubt about it.

Thanks for your input though...

mirciulie

That makes 2 guys already saying those are Java fern roots?

Wow, maybe I'm so far off! If that's the case, I should let them grow a bit longer and try to plant the somewhere else? how to I do that without killing the parent plant?

So much to learn still

Gozer_1

It kind of looks like you have new leaf shoots coming out of your Java right about where the things in wuestion are. I was using the Water Sprite more as a reference. Java Ferns will also shoot roots out into open water the same as Water Sprite. In the second picture you can see two tiny little green leaf shapes poking up. Right above the fuzzy tail thing. Those could be new leaves and associated roots. It's a little bit like how a spider plant works when it shoots off the "baby spiders". It gets those shoots when it's stressed (when it's root bound in the case of spider plants). I'm still thinking you have plant roots, but someone will likely come along and back me up or prove me wrong lol. The beauty of internet forums right. Good luck either way.

Gozer_1

Hey thanks COBettaCouple. You we're already backing me up and here I was just typing away.

Gozer_1

Let them grow till you have a nice sized baby plant hanging off and then just snip it free and plant it. Snip it off the mother stem right below where the roots first start so you have a whole litlle baby plant roots and all.

mirciulie

YOu guys are good!

All this time I thought algae! and I even tried removing them and kinda damaged the leafs on the Java in the process....

I'll let it grow and see how it goes. That means I get free plants?

Also, do you have an ideea what that plant in 3rd picture is?

mirciulie

Also, does anybody out here have any ideea what kind of plant is in the 3rd picture? I'm not even sure it's aquatic, it came with the tank.

Thanks

Butterfly

The third picture is Anubias, looks to be Anubias barteri, needs to be attached to wood, rocks or set above the substrate so it can shoot roots down into the substrate but not buried.
The first are definitely narrow leaf java fern with plantlets. The leaves of new plantlets tend to grow on top of the parent leaf and the roots to grow on the bottom of the parent leaf.
Carol

COBettaCouple

Yea, Java Ferns are nice, they'll keep sprouting out 'baby' plants as long as they're healthy.

Gozer_1

Well this is the best Fish website on the interwebs.

Enjoy those free plants before you know it you'll be giving it away.

Butterfly

Free plants are always nice
Carol

mirciulie

Thanks Gozer and the rest. as you can tell I still have alot to learn about aquariums, but this site is great! Speaking of free plants, my Water Sprite are taking over the tank, so I removed all the floating ones and they're sitting in a bucket right now, what should I do with them? Do you guys sale or givit away to other folks? I don't know anybody arround me who I should give it too.

I'm amazed that the Java fern is multiplying, giving the minimal light setup that I have (0.6 WPg). I know that they're low light plants, but still. I'm thinking on getting some Compact FLuorescent lights later on (money restricted ) that would give my tank 2.6 WPG!!! I hope that's not too much, cause I don't wanna get into CO2 injections and other gimmicks!

I liked this one, it even has 2 lunar lights!

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...t~CU01006.html

Gozer_1

2.6 is quite a bit of light. I'd try to keep it at or under 2 for your setup.

mirciulie

Thanks again Gozer. Just as I was thinking, getting that much light will make things more complicated, and that's not what I'm into...

I'm striving for a LOW maintanance tank, with some plants. I would love to get a fancy setup with big plants and CO2, but life it's pretty busy for me, and I know it will not last.

I'll try looking into something around 1.5WPG. That means like a 75W fixture....

We'll see.