# Peacock fern



## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

I did a silly and thought "the water wisteria doesn't look very good, oh, peacock fern, semi aquatic: keep leaves above water. I can do that, let them get big and put them in the 10g just in time for college" well now I realize the magic tube had no further instructions than rinse it off and stick it in the tank. 

How much light will this need

Will this need ferts, if so what do you recommend for a 10g tank with big (1-2") river rocks over top of pink "sand" gravel

Will this be snail/betta friendly

Will this grow big enough to even have in the 10g without it rotting


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Keep it in a little vase of old tank water, and change the vase's water when you change the fish's. Never managed to get mine to grow semiaquatically in my fish's tank... but it would at least start growing roots in the vase.


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

I'm keeping it in a skinny flower vase until it's big enough for the tank, but that doesn't really answer my questions on lights/ferts/size


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Here's an article about keeping it as a houseplant. That should help.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-peacock-fern-65006.html

It's one of those weird borderline plants that grows in marshes. I've heard of people growing it in pots as well as in paludariums and so on. And since it's a marsh floor plant, I'd guess it's a low-light plant that probably likes fertilizer. There are a lot of decomposing organics in marshes, and a lot of shade. I'm seeing people recommend growing it in peat moss... It also likes the hotter zones, apparently, so probably it wants humidity.

That's my two cents. But since I never got mine to grow very well, you may want others' advice.

Oh, and people grow it as a groundcover. So I'm guessing it won't grow more than... a foot high? Let me look some more for you.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

This page says 3 to 6 inches.
http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/2244/peacock-spikemoss/


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

Well that sucks, basically if I want to keep it I need to pollute the water and keep it practically out of water.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Where does it say that?

And why don't you just keep it as a houseplant?


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

I don't wanna add a ton of fertilizer, and the leaves can't be submerged. Maybe I will, depending on how pretty it grows I could even maybe give it as a gift.


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