OMG...My New Java Fern Leaves are FUNKY

[LadyVictorian]

FUNKY WITH A CAPITAL F....what is going on???

So I got a java fern which i discovered were actually two java ferns and have been growing fast. each plant has three new leaves on it plus a third older leaf fell off and is turning into a new plant. Now here is what confuses me, my new leaves in my 10 gallon tank have edges torn or eaten out of them but they are still growing big and fast. I don't know if my snail is eating the new leaves or what, I feed him constantly so it's not from lack of food. Also the tips of the leaves are dark green, the newest leaf i have on one of the ferns doesn't have the chunks missing from it yet so I am keeping a close eye on it. Will those gaps ever fill in? Is this normal? Is my snail eating them when they are tiny? I'm not sure what's happening to my baby leaves.

[mattoboy]

Pictures?

[Phaydra]

Does it look like this? If it does you have a Windelov Java Fern a.k.a. Lace Java Fern

[LadyVictorian]

No the leaves just look cut up, I'll try to get a picture. I only have my poor quality camera phone but I'll do my best.

Here, see the smaller leaf in the back?

[mattoboy]

Not too sure, sorry :/ try searching for "Sword Illness's

[LadyVictorian]

It's weird because now the brand new leaves are fine and nothing is wrong with them and the plantlet that come off this plant is growing in fine. :/ So baffling.

[MSG]

If you have perfect cuts out of your java ferns it sounds like you have some "leaf miner" caterpillars harvesting chunks out of your leaves. They hide in the leaves & hatch into brown moths.

Out of all my plants the snails will nibble on.... java fern is usually completely ignored. The snails in my tank always do an excellent job cleaning algae off the surface of the j-ferns & anubias. Once the algae is removed the leaf is still healthy.

Camera phones are not designed to take pictures in "LOW light" conditions.

Any pictures you take when sunlight isn't around to ASSIST will come out poorly.

When you're trying to pictures with your camera phone after dark, GET a very bright light @ least 60W incandescent or a 100W equivalent CFL & shine it directly at the subject you're trying to photograph.

[LadyVictorian]

Do you think since the leaf cutting stopped that the leaf miners were all eaten up by my girl? I caught my female betta hanging around the plants one day and yeah I thought it was unusual if my snail was eating the leaves because I never see him around the java fern, he is always too busy eating the other stuff I feed him. I hope if I have leaf miners they don't come back, my plants can't handle being ripped up D: and they were so pretty before.

[MSG]

The leaf miners are GREAT @ camouflage. They hide sandwiched in between the pieces of leaves they cut out. Even my bettas who are AWESOME hunters can't spot them while they move around munching on live plants & lay eggs.

From my experience. Unless I personally locate the pests & reveal their secret hiding spot, the bettas won't find all of them.

What you can do now, is count how many chunks of leaves are missing. Add up the amount & divide by 2. That's how many you need to hunt down.

Adult miners are EASY to spot, but the eggs are nearly invisible.

The parts they cut out of the plants NEVER heal.

These buggers are some of the worst things you can get for a LIVE plant tank. They will devastate your plants if you don't deal with them immediately.

[LadyVictorian]

I have about 6 cutout marks...so I'm looking for 3 of these guys? I'm looking right now hoping maybe Phoenix or Tesla nabbed one or two of them. Good think I havn't added my new plants to the tank yet since they had snail eggs on them. Would rather had snails than this.