Miserable Moss

[sonicninja]

Hi everyone,
I’ve been keeping planted tanks for a couple a years now and have had moderate success. I’ve eventually got the hang of growing most plants I’ve tried with one exception....moss!

Now I was under the impression moss was relatively easy to grow given sensible water parameters but I can’t get it to flourish for the life of me.

I attach mine to wood or rock and it just sits there. It doesn’t die but it doesn’t really grow, it just sits there is a slightly dull stasis. I’ve tried in both high and low light, high tech and low tech...and no positive results.

Any advice on how I get nice lush green growth?


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[Matt Havens]

Hi!
I'm no expert to start with so I'm intrigued to know what the more experienced members say.

When you say high tech were you using Co2 and/or ferts? Also what mosses have you been using? as I have found that in my experience they all behave very differently, more so in low tech low light setups.
Matt

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[zozo]

That's a rather difficult answer to give. it highly depends on which moss spieces and when it comes to speices than it is sometimes difficult to say what is what.

Javamoss is one of the most readily available and easiest mosses around. All others are already a tad more slower and more difficult to grow.
I personaly have good low tech experience with Peakock moss and Fissidens fontanus. But in the low tech it took over 2 years to spread with some body to it and than still you have to watch twice to realy see fissidens. I once thought i also had christmas moss, but after showing a pic it was stated by other members it isn't that at all. Beats me i give up on trying to ID it.. Still got it, grows well, but aint a moss to my liking the way it grows.. Have some more unidentified mosses which grow relatively good and some are stringy type.

In almost all cases, low tech or high tech, compaired to plants, it is about impossible to read moss and why it doesn't do what you excpect it to do. But it takes tons of patience and time.

Also got flame moss in my low tech, that's the most difficult moss for me, it still is alive but it only grew maybe 5cm in over 2 years time. I remeber one day having Coral moss, i mamaged to kill it, it's completely gone. All tho i never found it back till now..

Best advice i can give you from experience, buy 4 spieces or more at once plant them all and wait and wait.. The ones that kick in are your best mosses to grow.

 

[sciencefiction]

I have Taiwan moss which I bought several years ago. It has had moments when it almost completely died and then rebounded in another tank. The only way it grows mine grows is floating in the flow on top of filters or even outlets, near the surface where it gets most light and very good flow. . So far it established itself in two of my small tanks like that. I never managed to get it going in my larger tanks where I had it attached on wood, etc..It just loves that surface flow and light...At the moment its gone mad in my cold water hillstream tank....which is not that cold...Strands attach to the spraybar and if I leave it for a few months, it creates a very tick layer just floating on top, acting like a second filter, ha, ha....Shrimp love it but it blocks the flow. I have tons of it now in a snail only tank where I throw all removed plants from other places. It also has good light and flow.

Try placing the moss in a good spot, where the flow blows straight at it and make sure it gets the most light you can give it.
Having said that, I have never been able to grow java fertn...The toughest plants ever just dies on me...

 

[sonicninja]

Thanks everyone, I didn’t consider putting it directly in flow so I’ll try that. Maybe trying some alternative mosses is a good idea too so I’ll buy a couple more and see which one flourishes and which list goes rank!


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[Furgan]

I think lighting and temp does effect it, I have a nano tank in the kids bedroom and she is forever leaving the light on all the time as she uses it as a night light. It has moss tied to 2 rocks using a hair net and we have had it for about 5 months and the moss (java) grew to the top of the tank about 8inches high. (24 degrees)

One of them I have removed and put in a ice cream tub (it filled it) to add somewhere else. What is funny is this tank also has anubas growing so well but has zero algae, there is a bristlenose a lot of ramshorn snails and some cod.

Another tank which was 60cm deep had some moss on wood for the same time and basically I think I died, the lights were on for max 6 hours and the temp 30 as it had discus. But as it was at the bottom of the tank it wouldn’t of got as much light.

Another tank I have at 24 as well lots of water movement and lights when I want to look at the tank so could be 1 hour one day or 10 another, this had Christmas moss and weeping moss. They both grew mad, I should of prob trimmed it but it later got algae issues and after removing this is messed up the look so I’m going to re wrap it with cotton and start again. But this over 5 months grew a good 5-6 inches.

Prob hasn’t answers your question and I’m no expert but this is what I have found.