Description
The African water fern is a beautiful, time-tested aquatic fern with transparent bottle green pinnate fronds. It has a wide distribution across tropical Africa, growing attached to rock along the mean waterline of fast-flowing waters, partly together with Anubias species. Also under aquarium conditions, Bolbitis heudelotii attaches itself to solid objects by its blackish roots, but it will also grow when it is fastened to the substrate surface. Just make sure you do not cover the rhizome as it might otherwise rot away. Bolbitis heudelotii is mostly delivered in its emersed (terrestrial) form. The emersed fronds mostly look different to the submerged foliage, and blackish leaf tips or spots are frequent. This does not mean in any way that its vitality is reduced. Good growth conditions provided, the plant will develop new entirely green submerged foliage without dark tips or spots.
Growth is sped up a lot by the addition of CO2 and fertilisation via the water column. Bolbitis heudelotii develops best in soft, slightly acidic water, however, it is a relatively undemanding plant and will also grow in medium-hard water. The plant has a low light demand but also thrives with intense lighting when a good nutrient and CO2 supply is provided. This fern is easy to propagate: Simply cut the creeping rhizome. When the bush has become too large, Bolbitis heudelotii tolerates hard pruning.
The African water fern is a popular plant in aquascaping, where it is mainly used for decorating the hardscape (rocks and driftwood). It is especially nice in Nature Aquaria, but also highly decorative in every standard planted tank.
Source
Flowgrow
Characteristic
Time-tested, robust epiphyte
Typical fern-like appearance
Transparent bottle-green leaves
Synonyms
Gymnopteris heudelotii Bory ex Fée
Complete Botanical Name
Bolbítis heudelótii (Bory ex Fée) Alston
Family
Dryopteridaceae
Genus
Bolbitis
Category
Middle Ground
Difficulty
easy
Growth
slow
Carbon Dioxide
need
pH Value
5-7
Temperature Tolerance
18-27℃
Carbonate Hardness
0-12 dKH
General Hardness
0-30 °dGH
Propagation
Rhizomteilung, Splitting, Cutting off daughter plants
Can Grow Emersed?
yes
