What is your ambient water temperature?

[sonique]

If yours is non CO2, it should be OK.
But if CO2 injected to your tank, I think bigger fan will do too much surface water movement, can cause CO2 loss...
Have tried small DC or AC fan...? Does pretty good job, mine after two small DC fan attached, reaches 26 - 28 C

But I think yours 27.9 C good enough... if it's the max temp, not the minimum temp.

u managed to bring the temp down to 26C?? ur room is air conditioned izit?
i have 1 small (iCute brand) and 2 medium but oni can bring down to 27.8 maximum...all three are 12VDC....i am keeping moss so trying to have the coolest water where possible for the moss.....

i position 1 fan at an angle, 1 fan blowing onto the surface and the other blowing out so as to bring the hot air out the surface when 2 of the fans have actually blown them in...am still experimenting the best way to bring the temp down as much as possible....

SweetAngel, care to give more insights on ur fan and their positions..?

[Sweet Angel]

u managed to bring the temp down to 26C?? ur room is air conditioned izit?
i have 1 small (iCute brand) and 2 medium but oni can bring down to 27.8 maximum...all three are 12VDC....i am keeping moss so trying to have the coolest water where possible for the moss.....

i position 1 fan at an angle, 1 fan blowing onto the surface and the other blowing out so as to bring the hot air out the surface when 2 of the fans have actually blown them in...am still experimenting the best way to bring the temp down as much as possible....

SweetAngel, care to give more insights on ur fan and their positions..?

Nope, my room isn't air conditioned, I observed one day when room temp was 31C, my tank temp was 27C, I guess that's the largest margin I ever observed.
Today room temp about 30C, tank temp about 27C.
I only use 2 DC fans (12V), facing 90 degrees from water surface.

[sonique]

ur fans face 90 degrees frm surface of the water...??
is ur fan on the water itself...??cz if its on the tank and blowing at 90 degrees, hw much of the wind is actually blowing the top surface of the water??
hw did u tie ur fan to blow at tat angle??

[Sweet Angel]

Sonique, will post the picture of my fans later, digicam lowbat

[Sweet Angel]

Hi Sonique,

My father helped me add somekind of wood case on top of my tank, so I can attach fans there.
You can attach bulb too if you want, but in my case I just need added space for the fans, don't need more bulbs.

I managed to get the fans pictures.
I attached 3 pics here, one pic shows the inside view of the woodcase where the fans attached, one pic shows outside view (there's a hole on the back of each fan to blow out hot air, I guess that's the purpose why my father made holes there, actually I don't have very good knowledge about airflow ),
the last pic is the front view of the whole tank.

Hope this'll help you...

[Green Baron]

Sweet Angel,
Nice tank hood Your father must be very good at DIY.

Since the fans are blowing out and it is an open hood, I am very puzzled how your tank can sustain 27C temperature. Can you show a picture of where and how you place your light.

I have a 3 ft with a closed hood and I have 2 fans blowing in and another 2 fans blowing out. My tank temp is 27.5~28 but I have ~120W lof light which generates a lot of heat.

[Sweet Angel]

Hi Baron,

I just lay the lights on top of the hood.
If you see the third pic, you can see grey part on top of the hood, that's the lights.
I have two of them, each holds two 18 - 20W bulbs. So total I have around 72W for my 2 ft tank.

Actually my father is a carpenter expertise, so it's easy for him to make that nice hood
Thanks for the compliment...

Oh, one thing I must correct you, the two fans I have, they're blowing in, not blowing out...

[Green Baron]

Hi Baron,
I just lay the lights on top of the hood.
If you see the third pic, you can see grey part on top of the hood, that's the lights.
I have two of them, each holds two 18 - 20W bulbs. So total I have around 72W for my 2 ft tank.

Yes, I see it now.

Actually my father is a carpenter expertise, so it's easy for him to make that nice hood
Thanks for the compliment...

No wonder !

Oh, one thing I must correct you, the two fans I have, they're blowing in, not blowing out...

I see. That make more sense. I got that impression of the fans blowing out from this statement..

.. one pic shows outside view (there's a hole on the back of each fan to blow out hot air, I guess that's the purpose why my father made holes there ..)

[sonique]

72W for a 2ft tank..??wow!!!thats something.....!!!!

thanx for sharing ur nicely done tank hood!!

[plumboy21]

I started to install a fan when my moss quit on me... Erect moss, Christmas moss, Taiwan moss & Java moss. Almost wipe out now That time my temp was 28 deg. A bro here who have very beautiful Erect moss have his tank in his office if i rem correctly. I supposed moss or even most plants thrive better in air-con env. I happened to read somewhere that many plants thrive well in colder water, even flowerings.

Now with a 12 inch or so fan above, blowing for 8 hrs, temp hits a 24 deg by morning & hovers ard 25 ~ 26 deg throughout the nite when the fan blowing, though i am skeptical abt the readings on my "mini" mercury thermometer And yes, i only turn on the fan at nite. I supposed it speed up the coolness, but i have doubt that fans would bring temps any lower. Probably only a chiller or an air con env will help. Btw, i sometimes top up with ice cubes.

[sonique]

so plumboy,ur tank is in air con room now izzit???

when i went NA, i saw mr chan's tank is ard 28 degrees...but his moss is still growing beautifully...!!

[Sweet Angel]

I heard moss don't like too much light, is it correct...?
Maybe plumboy had this case, caused all his moss gave up...?

[Green Baron]

I heard moss don't like too much light, is it correct...?
Maybe plumboy had this case, caused all his moss gave up...?

Most plants will do better with more light provided the necessary nutrients are not lacking. Most mosses will do well with just low/medium light but Erect Moss will do much better with more light. However, I find that for mosses, low temperature and good water quality are more important than the other factors. My best looking mosses are those in my office tanks (25C) with no CO2 and very little fertiliser.

[plumboy21]

so plumboy,ur tank is in air con room now izzit???

when i went NA, i saw mr chan's tank is ard 28 degrees...but his moss is still growing beautifully...!!

Think not all moss requires high light, rather cool water. Erect moss is more demanding i guessed, needs more light (medium light) compare to other types of moss, at the same time cool water. But higher light probably results in higher temp. What moss is Mr. Chan's growing?

I still cant afford air con...

[plumboy21]

I heard moss don't like too much light, is it correct...?
Maybe plumboy had this case, caused all his moss gave up...?

Erect moss is wiped out first, cos i believed my lighting wasn't adequate then & temp was 28 deg. I think it is abt balancing betw. light, temp & also nutrients. I am still a novice with moss...

[plumboy21]

Most plants will do better with more light provided the necessary nutrients are not lacking. Most mosses will do well with just low/medium light but Erect Moss will do much better with more light. However, I find that for mosses, low temperature and good water quality are more important than the other factors. My best looking mosses are those in my office tanks (25C) with no CO2 and very little fertiliser.

I also thought abt water quality issue. But guessed good water quality is just too much hazzle to achieve & maintain throughout. While some plants thrive in a particular condition, others simply withered away.

[Justikanz]

And yes, i only turn on the fan at nite. I supposed it speed up the coolness, but i have doubt that fans would bring temps any lower. Probably only a chiller or an air con env will help. Btw, i sometimes top up with ice cubes.

Huh? Isn't it better to cool the tank when it is at the hottest, i.e. day time? My tank in my room can hit 31C in the day without fan... At night, if a/c not on, it can be 28-29C... Why not cool the water in the day, then? Or 24hrs?

Btw, my Java moss grow like no body's business... even in warm waters... IMO, lighting is more important for Java moss... My 2 cents...

[plumboy21]

Huh? Isn't it better to cool the tank when it is at the hottest, i.e. day time? My tank in my room can hit 31C in the day without fan... At night, if a/c not on, it can be 28-29C... Why not cool the water in the day, then? Or 24hrs?

Btw, my Java moss grow like no body's business... even in warm waters... IMO, lighting is more important for Java moss... My 2 cents...

My temp hovers ard 26 to 28 deg during the day, so i dont bother it. But when i on the light throughout the night, it hit 28 deg or even higher at times. That's why i turns on the fan at nite & it brings down the temp to 24 deg by morning. 24 hrs... Thought of it b4, but the elect. bill...

Perhaps will try to grow moss again someday. Btw, what is your light watt & tank size?

[Phillipians]

I have tried b4 these mosses and these are my opinions:

Erect moss- doesnt need very very low temp. A desirable temp would be max at 28d no more. 27 - 28 and the moss will still grow fine. Lights are rather impt for this plant. But main thing is temp... 28 should be the cap. Also this moss will need a little co2 to thrive

Taiwan: Co2 dont need. Low lights are not a prob also. Temp as always to grow triangular fronds, 28 d should be the max. I also realise that when ferts are lacking... or temp too high, they tend to turn a little brown. Generally an easy moss to grow. Low tech tank as long as temp is good, and some fert, will do relatively well

Java: 29 - 30 and it will still growwithout turning brown. However for it to achieve nice growth, like always, 28d should be the cap. Dont need much light nor co2 nor fert to thrive. A monster and a rather resilient plant. Yup

[plumboy21]

Bro Phillipians, these are good info for ppl growing moss. Thanks man. My Java, Taiwan & Christmas moss still ard, just that not growing, thinned & some parts withered. Come to think of it, some unidentified moss discarded in my small tank seems to be growing better.