Bolbitis Heudelotii

Bolbitis Heudelotii
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  • Bolbitis heudelotii .jpg

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  • Bolbitis heudelotii use in Florestas submersas.jpg

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Source: barrreport.com / Credit: Jason King

General Description #

Common Names – Synonyms
African Water Fern
Order
Polypodiales
Genus
Bolbitis
Family
Dryopteridaceae
Origin – Distribution
  1. Africa
Level of Difficulty
Beginner / Easy
Height
20-30cm (7.9-11.8 Inches) High
Width
0-10cm (0-3.9 Inches) Wide
Growth Rate
Slow
Light Requirements
Medium Light (35-50 PAR)
Co2 Requirements
Recommended (Medium light)
Temperature Tolerance
58 – 80
PH Range
5 – 7
Plant Type
Rhizome / Creeping stem
Carbonate Hardness (dKH)
0 – 14
Can Be Grown Emmersed?
Yes
This is a real aquatic fern with a creeping rhizome that attaches itself to rocks and wood. The leaves are pinnate, dark green and somewhat transparent

Like with the Anubias plants, the rhizome should not be covered with substrate. For this reason, it is better attached to wood or rock. The roots have a firm grip. It is a slow growing plant, with up to 3 new leaves per month. It can grow in lower light, but as with most plants CO2 injection and medium light work well. Some people reported blackening/burning of the leaves, this was mainly due to low nutrient levels in the water column.

It can be propagated by cutting the rhizome with at least three leaves. The size of the leaves seems to be mostly influenced by the thickness of the rhizome.

In aquascapes it is most often used as a stable midground plant. However, keep in mind that as the plant ages leaves can grow quite long as shown in the 160 thousand liters “Florestas submersas” aquascape created by Takashi Amano.

References #

Photo 1: Closeup of Bolbitis leaf . Source: Mihai Zamfir (Allwissend), 2017. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Photo 2: Use of Bolbitis fern in the “Florestas Submersas” aquarium . Source: Mihai Zamfir (Allwissend), 2017. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Photo 3: Bolbitis heudelotii in aquascape. Source : Drakthul, 2015. All rights reserved. Used with permission.