Staghorn fern just hanging on... Why?

Hi, I am having trouble with a staghorn fern I purchased off of Amazon. It came okay and I followed the instructions, but is won't grow and has lost leaves. I began to realize it might be the water in this apartment complex, so started adding dish liquid and now apple cider vinegar to the water trying to help all my plants. Other plants have come around, but this fern just survives. I has not grown in a year. I moved it from its original pot to hang on the wall, but still nothing. How fast should it be growing and what can I do to help it?

Dish soap and vinegar? That's a new one on me. Most chemicals added to water to make it people friendly can be dissipated by putting hot water from your tap into a container and letting it cool. Or, buy fish aquarium water conditioner. Unless your water is very high in minerals, Its probably added chlorine that is harming your plants.

I suspect your fern needs more humidity. Put it in your shower or over your kitchen sink (with sufficient light of course).

Thanks DaisyPlantLady for responding. I have just started filling my watering bottles with hot water and letting it cool. I have been using the soap for the longest time and then added the vinegar to make the water a little more acidic, then finally started using hot water. Most all the plants are coming out of whatever was the problem. But truth is, I lost a lot of plants that appeared to need water, but just rotted if I watered them. Something really weird I have never seen before. Even rooting them in water often will cause them to rot before they are viable. The soap seems to be helping that, or at least I think it is. But this fern has done nothing in this past year. The ends of the leaves rotted early in whatever this problem is. That has stopped now. I just want this plant to begin to thrive, and I don't know what it needs nor how fast it is supposed to grow. I am not able to put it near a water source since there is no window in either place. If I put it near the window, it is near the AC, so I try to give it spray and water more often now. We are still in a holding pattern. :(

Staghorn ferns really love potassium, warmth, and humidity. If they don't have those things they grow REALLY slowly. I occasionally put banana peels on the ones in my yard. They're terrible houseplants, because they don't "do" anything spectacular, and a constantly humid environment is more important to their health than actual watering. Like orchids, they just want to be outside hanging in a tree and be left alone.

The soap and vinegar trick will only solve some problems that are pest or fungus related, I hope you're not constantly watering your plants with soap and vinegar...