Trident Fern turning brown

[Andy Carter]

My trident ferns are turning brown from the centre out. Other plants in the tank are doing very well. I fertilise weekly, moderately high light, pH 6.5 carbonate hardness 0.

Any advise please?

 

[Root]

The leaves appear to be healthy. No black spots or holes, but does it look like something is growing on it perhaps? Maybe black beard algae? 

[nabokovfan87]

It looks like black beard algae is taking hold.  There's a few reasons for it and the most common reason for ferns is too much light and not having the nutrients dialed in.  BBA (from what I have experienced) really loved to take hold on a dying leaf, then choke the plant out by killing old growth and moving to the more healthier sections as the plant dies.

 

On 8/31/2023 at 11:13 AM, Andy Carter said:

I fertilise weekly, moderately high light, pH 6.5 carbonate hardness 0.

You will want to have some sort of KH in there for certain nutrients, but the main thing here is going to be what is your GH in the tank?  If your GH is 0, KH is 0, the plants don't have much to utilize. 

Do you have the ability to adjust the light intensity or lift the light up higher.  A secondary option would be to move the plant in it's location away from the direct, intense light.

[Andy Carter]

On 9/1/2023 at 2:56 AM, Root said:

The leaves appear to be healthy. No black spots or holes, but does it look like something is growing on it perhaps? Maybe black beard algae? 

Thanks for your help guys, GH is about 200. I'll reduce the light a little and keep up with the ferts... see what happens!

[JoeQ]

A third option is more plants! Particularly tall ones that provide a lot of shade. Ideal ones would be Pogo octopus, Ledwigua Ovals, tiger lilly or dwarf lilly which are fairly easy to grow