African Water Fern (Bolbitis): the fern that wants flow

The African water fern has dark, translucent, finely cut fronds that look like nothing else in the aquarium. It is a rhizome plant, like Java fern, and is grown the same way: tied to a rock or a piece of wood, never buried. What sets it apart is where it comes from, submerged rocks in flowing West African rivers, and that shapes its care: it grows far better with good water movement near the rhizome. It is slow, each new leaf takes weeks, but it lives for years.

---