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LA
Up side down example of African water fern -- probably over a year old.

LA 
Typical starter chunk of bolbitis rhizome -- an obvious fern -- plus my foot.

Original Origin.  You'll not likely ship any of these in from Africa.  And you're not likely to find a nice size African water fern in your local fish store.  When we've ordered bolbitis, we get small what I'd call starter plugs of bolbitis -- not much to work with.  And they're such strangely shaped that they're hard to work with.  The rhizome in the photo above leans so far to the right that it's hard to make it look presentable -- no matter how you mount it.  I started several of these and they took years to amount to anything that looked decent.

LA
Another African water fern about the same size as the first pic.  It fills one third of a 10-gallon tank.

Local Origin.  One of our local (Des Moines) suppliers raises livebearers on purpose and African water ferns by accident.  They make an excellent "cover plant" for the baby livebearers.  They grow so profusely in his tanks that he decided to thin them out.  He brought us several large specimens over a several weeks span..

LA
Rhizome held to the bottom with a strip of lead.

LA
Rhizome held to a sand bottom.  Note the "crampons" adhering to sand.

Reproduction.  Since African water fern belongs to the "fern family," it probably reproduces by spores.  However, you can wait a long time to see new plants form along its leaf borders.  (Watersprite, Indian water fern, literally pumps out daughter plants from every leaf notch.)  You'll need to take scissors to the rhizome and cut it into pieces -- just like Java fern.  Then you need to anchor it to a piece of bogwood or sunken driftwood.

LA
Very obvious (and attractive) "fern look."

Substrate.  Use whatever you prefer on the floor of your aquarium.  African water ferns don't really root into the substrate.  Forcing them into the gravel will usually cause the rhizome to rot off.  They grow best when anchored to wood.  And look very good when growing on wood.  I usually hook them on with rubber bands.  You can also allow them to drift freely about your tanks.  Or you can add one of those "lead strips" that occasionally come on some of the bunch plants.  You probably wondered why you were saving those lead strips.  Now you know.

LA
Here's an African water fern anchored to wood with a rubber band.

Wooden Plugs.  If you start with a small African water fern, you can attach it to a small piece of wood.  Once it attaches, you can move the plug to a large piece of wood where it will soon root to the main piece of wood or focal point of your tank.  However, if you have a large specimen like the one above, just anchor it directly to your main focal point.

LA
Big blob of algae growing right in the middle.

Slow Growth Encourages Algae.  You'll want to keep your African water fern away from bright lights.  Since they grow so slowly, bright lighting encourages algae to grow on them.  Otocinclus, algae-eating shrimp, and bristlenose plecostomids may help control it.  However, the judicious use of a pair of scissors works more efficiently to clean out this type of algae.

Likes Moving Water.  African water ferns come from streams of moving water.  Locate your close to your filter outlet.  Any problems?  Unfortunately, moving water also encourages algael growth.

LA
That's 3-inch PVC pipe in the bottom of this cichlid tank.

Grows to a Nice Size.  Theoretically your African water fern will grow to 20 inches tall.  Let's just say, you'll need to keep it for a long time to see yours grow that tall.  But it does keep right on growing.

Stands up to Some Cichlids.  African cichlids under 3-inches pretty much ignore African water fern leaves.  Ditto American cichlids up to 6 inches.  Obviously, you won't be able to keep larger cichlids from shredding even plastic plants.

LA
Grows darker green than most plants.

Nearly a Black-Green.  Most African water ferns grow dark green leaves, some nearly black.  They make a nice contrast with most of the faster growing light green plants.  You will need something like hygrophila to fill in while these ferns adjust to your tank conditions and take "root."

Last Word.  If you have the time, your African water fern will grow into a very attractive center piece.  LA

LA

LA

LA
 

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