Key to Moss growing

[PeterGwee]

Lots of CO2.
KNO3 and PO4 and they do quite well.
Even at higher temps, they do well.

Mosses unlike many aquatic weeds casnnot use HCO3-, they must get all their carbon from CO2.

Colder water possess more CO2(and all gases) than warmer water, but if you add CO2, you can easily address that issue.

If moss dies rapidly, you likely have either Copper/algicides present or not enough CO2.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Here is the tip to growing moss well...if you fail somewhere down the road, you know the reason now.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Star-flog]

Not quite agree.
I experience it myself, with one tank with a lot CO2 (and no fan and high temp because of lighting heat), the moss just alive but not growing.

For another tank, no CO2 supplement, but with 2 PC fan and able to get the temp to 26 - 27C, the moss will grow nicely and can see the light green tips eveywhere... So Low Temperate is the kay for growing moss.

[vinz]

Star-Flog,

Tom Barr (Plant Brian on AQ) is not one to speak unless he has verified with experimentation (not just experience, but experimentation)... why don't you give it a try and see. I'm not saying you MUST take his word for it, but his words are worth thinking about or trying.

[PeterGwee]

Star-flog, if your CO2 enriched tank w/moss does not have any critters or if they can be removed easily, you can consider doing an experiment to rule out the possible "CO2 limitation" issue from measurement errors. Just make sure you have enough nutrients or even in excess. Then crank the heck out of the CO2 till you get nice pearling.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[mordrake]

i strongly agree. ever since i addressed my co2 issue to combat algae, i now see my moss (java, taiwan) grow and pearl like no tomorrow.
temp ard 28C

[Star-flog]

Star-Flog,

Tom Barr (Plant Brian on AQ) is not one to speak unless he has verified with experimentation (not just experience, but experimentation)... why don't you give it a try and see. I'm not saying you MUST take his word for it, but his words are worth thinking about or trying.

May be I should do a 'test' to have Lots of CO2, KNO3 and PO4 with high temps, see whether it grow well.
The earlier comments was actually already a test, I put 2 wire mesh of Taiwan moss, one wire mesh of mini moss and Java moss tied on 4 driftwood in one tank, with CO2 (I confirm is enough CO2 because my Riccia is pearling everywhere) but all the mosses (Java, mini and Taiwan) is just look 'dead' and some even brown. You know what I meant..

Therefore, if Tom Barr is correct, which I suspect that my tank must be lacking something such KNO3 and PO4 or something else..

[mordrake]

(I confirm is enough CO2 because my Riccia is pearling everywhere) but all the mosses (Java, mini and Taiwan) is just look 'dead' and some even brown.

err.... riccia pearl much easier than most plants even with low co2
anyway, it's good to experiment further and find it out personally.
different things work for different tanks

[Star-flog]

err.... riccia pearl much easier than most plants even with low co2
anyway, it's good to experiment further and find it out personally.
different things work for different tanks

Thanks for the highlight. If I not wrong, the CO2 buddle counts is 60bpm for 3ft (as I use Dennerle CO2 set and the buddle counting is very accurate). Should I increase more?

[mordrake]

Thanks for the highlight. If I not wrong, the CO2 buddle counts is 60bpm for 3ft (as I use Dennerle CO2 set and the buddle counting is very accurate). Should I increase more?

bps or bpm tells you nothing about co2 levels in your tank.
use the pH/KH chart to know your co2 level.

[hii]

I think I agree with some comment from star-flog, I have mini moss on DW which I put in the tank with CO2 and light, it grow slow and lots of brown leaves.

So I took it out and put into another tank with totally no CO2, only light, the moss start to see improvement, lots of green new leaves born (maybe the growing speed slower than the tank with CO2).

Together I also have Taiwan + weepeng moss in the tank (tide to wire mess + DW) and I notice taiwan moss also grow green leave but slow....only weepeng moss leaves turn brown after few day... so I shift weepeng moss into another tank with CO2 so got to check the result after few days.

All my tank have DC fan, (4ft with 2 DC fan, 2 X 3ft tank (1 with CO2 and 1 w/o CO2) both have 1 DC fan).

[Star-flog]

I think I agree with some comment from star-flog, I have mini moss on DW which I put in the tank with CO2 and light, it grow slow and lots of brown leaves.

So I took it out and put into another tank with totally no CO2, only light, the moss start to see improvement, lots of green new leaves born (maybe the growing speed slower than the tank with CO2).

Together I also have Taiwan + weepeng moss in the tank (tide to wire mess + DW) and I notice taiwan moss also grow green leave but slow....only weepeng moss leaves turn brown after few day... so I shift weepeng moss into another tank with CO2 so got to check the result after few days.

All my tank have DC fan, (4ft with 2 DC fan, 2 X 3ft tank (1 with CO2 and 1 w/o CO2) both have 1 DC fan).

At least someone is standby me. We're not the planted aquarium Scientist (old bird) but on we've experienced, the cold temp tends to help promote grow, really! if not, why all of us using fan!

[XnSdVd]

Well , keep in mind that any living organism(people,fish,plants) produces CO2. Therefore I suspect it's got something to do with too much CO2 causing certain imbalances in the water. Carbonates for example which occur when CO2 and H2O mix, are acidic(if i remember sec 4 chemistry correctly...) Besides, it's impossible for plant growth in the absence of CO2. Plants are essentially green clumps of carbon which produce oxygen. Lightbulbs going off yet? Carbon 1 + Oxygen 2 = CO2

[Robert]

Hi,
most mosses need a certain period of time, often 4 or more weeks, to get used to their new environment. So don't expect it to go straight from day one onwards. Even in my moss show tank with 23°C, medium light, CO2, liquid fertilisation my mosses didn't grow at first. Now they grow relativley fast and very nice. My Singapore moss has for example short triangular fronds with dense branching, my weeping moss also has triangular fronds and grows to 3" in size (each frond). But it took them about 2 months to develop this growth rate. So just wait a few weeks and see what happens.
Mosses are simple organisms, they have no special tissues like higher vascular plants to store nutrients. So if they should adapt to an new environment, they need time to do so because of the missing own resources. And they can grow well in a low light tank without extra CO2 and very little fertilizer. I see it myself in my guppy breeding tank, it's a 2.5ft tank with a single 20W FL tube, no CO2 and just a few drops of fertilizer each week. The weeping moss grows well with 1-2" long triangular fronds but it grows slowler than in the other tank. The temperature in this tank is 25-27°C.

best regards

Robert

[d2hpeter]

hi Peter, you mentioned nitrite and PO4. Do we need to add in or is the phosphorus from fish food enough.
I have some java moss growing quite well in office tank with a temp of about 27degC with iron/potassium supplement and moderate co2 from tank about 1 bps.

Here is the tip to growing moss well...if you fail somewhere down the road, you know the reason now.

Regards
Peter Gwee