Java Fern attach to everything?

[travie]

Can java fern attach to anything that is safe to put in a tank? I'm mainly asking about plastic. I want to make a line of java fern in the back of my tank. I figure the best way to do that is attach java fern to plastic that is the length of my tank. Any suggestions?

[Lady Hobbs]

Most plastic will float. People generally attach it to wood.

[travie]

I'm thinking it will be too expensive and difficult to find a piece of wood in my area that is long enough and not very wide to fit in my tank...

[karbomb]

why not use just regular untreated carpenter wood. cut it into a 2 inch x what ever size you tank is and attach it to that. if it is in the back no one will see it.

[travie]

why not use just regular untreated carpenter wood.

I was going to ask about carpenter wood. Would I need to soak till it sinks/water-logged? Should I pour boiling water over it?

[karbomb]

[QUOTE=karbomb]why not use just regular untreated carpenter wood.[QUOTE]

I was going to ask about carpenter wood. Would I need to soak till it sinks/water-logged? Should I pour boiling water over it?
i would start a new thread about this. i am not positive it is fishtank safe.
but if it is you can put rocks on top of it to sink it.

[Lady Hobbs]

Poreous rocks would also work but they need to be rough so the roots can grab hold. Another reason the plastic won't work.

All wood needs to have been dried or may have sap. Carpenters wood will not look too swift in your tank and will float anyway. I would try to find 2 or 3 pieces of bogwood, scrub it and soak in salt so no bugs are in it. If you buy wood, it is already processed.

[Colin]

Java furn seems to grow well in my tank. I have some rooted in the gravel and quite a lot just floating about. It dosnt need a log of wood.

I have found it will get into filter strainers or sponges if not maintained.

Chuck it in, get some of the roots in the gravel, it will be fine

:thumb:

[Lady Hobbs]

Good idea. As long as the roots aren't buried, no reason for that not to work.

[AABatteries]

Java furn seems to grow well in my tank. I have some rooted in the gravel and quite a lot just floating about. It dosnt need a log of wood.
Chuck it in, get some of the roots in the gravel, it will be fine

:thumb:

That's a big no no for java ferns I see them like that at stores and they are all like half dead. That's why I don't want to buy one from there but I think I'm going to. Hopefully once I attach to and artificial branch in my tank it will come back to good health.

[Colin]

@ AquaBison

Yes the plants I bought looked half dead also, I didnt know any better and plunged the "root ball" (a loose term for a few roots with a sponge and lead weight) into the gravel. After a few weeks roots sprang out of the end of the top of the leaves.
After a few more weeks more leaves sprang out of the newly formed roots. After a while the parent plant looked dead so I detached the new plant and discarded the parent leaving the new plant to just simply float.
They have all seemed to make there way to the outlet end of the tank and the fish seem to sleep in the java fern mass.

All I was trying to say was, you dont need a log or anything to attach it to but you do need to be mindfull of what the floating roots attach to for maintenance purposes.

Regarding carpenters wood in fish tanks, thats a silly idea imo, you may spend months getting ferns to attach to it but at the end of the day it will rot so dont bother wasting your time thinking about it