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I started seeing these little plants come up around a lowes purchased fern about a month ago and started to realize they were baby ferns! There are probably 50 or so little tiny ferns growing in a perimeter around the big one, all of them under 1/2 inch. I know ferns produce spores, but I thought this took a long time (it has only been set up for about 8 months) and took another of the same species.

Has anyone had ferns try to take over their tanks before or had this happen to them? Is this common? Thanks ahead of time!'

MAtt Sorrells

yeah actually my lemon button has just one little stalk coming up right under it. hey great tank, do you have any pictures of the full thing? what's in it?

It is a 150 Extra tall. I have 2 leucs, 1 terribilis, and 2 auratus. Thanks, by the way.

It doesn't take two ferns (sporophytes), it takes two gametophytes. Ferns have an alternation of generations, which means there is one generation that is diploid (containing both sets of chromosomes), and one that is haploid (containing only one set of chromosomes). The sporophyte is this diploid generation and is what we typicaly call a "fern". It produces spores which grow into haploid individuals called gametophytes. When two gametophytes of opposite sex come in contact a diploid zygote is formed which developes into a new sporophyte. Look around in the tank and you will probably find bunches of gametophytes, they will be small heart shaped thaloid bodies about a cell thick and pale green.