Diatoms or something else?

Scouring the internet and I can’t seem to find anything that looks like what I have growing in my plants.

JennySolano said:

I noticed the last few days some of my Java ferns aren’t looking so good. I was going to trash them, but decided to pull them today & View attachment 150433put them in a jar and see what happens. The other plants in this tank are doing well. I don’t know what‘a wrong, but I don’t keep unhealthy plants in the tank. Afraid they‘ll muck up the water. View attachment 150434

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I’m going to pull mine up tomorrow and see what their base looks like. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen

combination of black bread algae and diatoms, also baby java fern roots growing from spores on the leaves

All my mature java Fern are full of those mini plantlets that form on the underside of the older leaves. When they get 2 1/2 to 3 inches long they can survive on their own, just tie or glue one wherever you want one. I give and throw away several each year. I also replace any tired and worn-out plantings in my tanks.