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Aquatic Mosses

jaypeecee

jaypeecee

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Joined
21 Jan 2015
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Bracknell
Hi Everyone,

Can anyone enlighten me about aquatic mosses? They don't seem to get mentioned very often on UKAPS. And, to my surprise, they don't (appear to) get a mention in Diana Walstad's Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. I'm just trying to get the basics such as:

(1) How do they differ biologically from aquatic plants?

(2) What is needed to ensure successful growth of mosses - lighting, nutrients, water hardness, pH, substrate/epiphyte?

(3) Are there any advantages/disadvantages of choosing mosses over plants?

(4) Are there any species of livestock that are unsuitable when growing mosses?

(5) Et cetera.

Thanks in advance.

JPC
 
As Nick potts says there's a lot of info on their care online. The main problem with mosses is getting an accurate ID.
With regard to using them in a Walstad method setup. I've never tried a full Walstad setup but did have a filter less shrimp tank, with moss and pothos. Although the 'stringy' moss I had grows fast for a moss it probably didn't contribute much to nutrient removal. The other thing to note with mosses in that sort of setup is that they become a bit of a detritus sponge and so attract algae. Really they need some mechanical filtration to keep them free of detritus and algae.
 
jaypeecee said:
(1) How do they differ biologically from aquatic plants?
Click to expand...

Not so very much, plants grow roots mosses don't... Mosses grow rhizoids these can be compared with the trichome (hair roots) on the vascular plants. Liverworts don't grow rhizoids and if they do it is a single cellular structure. Leaf mosses do grow rhizoids as multicellular structures. So if they do attach to substrate/hardscape the leaf mosses do this more firmly than the liverworts.

This makes them perfect epiphytes. :)

For the rest, they are biologically pretty similar to plants. they are sporophytes similar to the ferns and also can reproduce vegetatively. Aquatic mosses rarely produce spore caps, but it has been seen.

What you need for success depends on what kind of moss you will choose. Some are fairly easy and undemanding, others require more carefully choosen environments. Most true aquatic mosses are relatively undemanding some might grow faster than others. Java moss is a fast grower, Fissidens a relatively slow grower.

Lots of mosses in the aquarium trade have fantasy names and are not always correctly identified and are named scientifically with some probability.

For example, Peacock moss or Christmas moss should be this (Scientific name), but an LFS can sell something different under the same name. The moss's fantasy names and or scientific names are not patented trade marks.
 
Nick potts said:
Do you mean things like java, weeping, Christmas mosses etc? There is lots of information on the forum/web on these and their habits, usage and lighting, etc.
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Hi @Nick potts

Many thanks for your reply.

Yes, I mean Java, Weeping Moss, etc.

I did search UKAPS using a basic search but I'll try the Advanced Search.

Do you have any web links that you could let me have?

Now, I have to admit that when I started this thread, I had forgotten to look at my copy of Aquarium Plants by @Christel. Shame on me! :( She does have some pages dedicated to the culture of mosses. And there are some excellent photos of the Taxiphyllum species. I'll blame my error on my anticipation of the England vs. Ukraine football!

JPC
 
Hi Marcel (@zozo)

Thanks for the benefit of your extensive knowledge.

zozo said:
Most true aquatic mosses are relatively undemanding some might grow faster than others. Java moss is a fast grower, Fissidens a relatively slow grower.
Click to expand...

The above statement is particularly useful. I like the idea of growing true aquatic mosses - as opposed to something fabricated in a lab!

JPC
 
Not everyone shares my experience but my SAE decimate any mosses I add to my tank within a day or so. Don’t waste your money on pricey moss if you have them
 
jaypeecee said:
as opposed to something fabricated in a lab!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if this is done... But mosses are rather versatile and quite a few, if not all can transition into an aquatic form. One of the best known for us is the Leptodictyum riparium, it most likely grows in your garden or in the local park in its terrestrial form in dry and wet places. And in some LFS it is sold as Stringy moss in a completely different aquatic form. And this grows like mad in an aquarium.

And this goes for quite a lot of mosses, I've experimented with quite a few I found in the forest and threw them into the water and waited it out. Most of them came back to life after a few months in a different form. At least this is what I assume. It also might be that spores from mosses get caught into the leaves of other mosses. Since they release millions of them only microns big and are flying and landing all over the place. It could easily be quite possible that it was entirely something else. I can't know this... But already experienced taking 1 moss home and a while later a different sp. grows next to it like a sneak-in.

I'm not sure about Java moss if it is truly aquatic but submerged it grows very fast... But I believe Fissidens is truly aquatic and grows much slower, prefers a lot more light to thrive but it will grow and stay alive where ever you put it. And Willow Moss (Fontinalis antipyretica) is truly aquatic and also grows undemanding like mad.

If you have a garden, then put tubs with water in it and gather all kinds of mosses you'll find in nature and throw them in. And see what you end up with after a year or so. I bet a lot, just don't ask what it is... :) But there will be moss in aquatic form.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
Not everyone shares my experience but my SAE decimate any mosses I add to my tank within a day or so. Don’t waste your money on pricey moss if you have them
Click to expand...
Same here, they're the reason I could never grow moss, Java, Christmas, Flame moss, you name it, they ate it. Took me a while to figure out why my moss was gone in a few days, until I caught them in action. Getting rid of them this week, they're pretty much useless once they become adults and now started turning to decimating plants.
 
Marius_R said:
Same here, they're the reason I could never grow moss, Java, Christmas, Flame moss, you name it, they ate it. Took me a while to figure out why my moss was gone in a few days, until I caught them in action. Getting rid of them this week, they're pretty much useless once they become adults and now started turning to decimating plants.
Click to expand...
Yes! They devour hydrocotyle in my tanks and they also started to nibble at Java fern leaf tips where the growth is soft. They gladly eat with the rest of my fish and I have had them well over a year now so they are fed just fine. They just graze all day
 
For me, Moss grows really well and fast, I am always dumping some or one of my employees who has the big, plant-eating Columbian Trumpet snails takes excess moss and plants home to feed his snails. I have Java, Weeping, and Subwassertang in a high-energy shrimp tank and some moss in other tanks as well. FWIW - I have never seen a SAE eat moss.
 
zozo said:
I'm not sure about Java moss if it is truly aquatic but submerged it grows very fast... But I believe Fissidens is truly aquatic and grows much slower, prefers a lot more light to thrive but it will grow and stay alive where ever you put it. And Willow Moss (Fontinalis antipyretica) is truly aquatic and also grows undemanding like mad.
Click to expand...
Hi @zozo

Thanks again.

@Christel, in her book Aquarium Plants, has two pages dealing with Fissidens. Specifically, F. crispulus and F. fontanus. Both are true aquatic mosses. According to @Christel, F. crispulus would be well-suited to aquaria with temperature in the range 22C - 28C. It even tolerates Corydoras rummaging around.

Willow Moss also looks interesting.

JPC
 
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