Help ID some moss

**imported_bpt** · 25th Apr 2005, 20:20

Hi all, hoping I can get some enlightment from the moss gurus here

.

The first picture, "A" was sold to me as christmast moss, but after looking on the pictures here, I'm not too sure now. Might be Taiwan ?
"B" was said to be Willow, but I haven't see much pictures of it, could it be just Java ?

This is how "B" looks in the tank

Now the second picture contains "C" which I have no idea if its a moss or what. But somehow does look like a very small moss. It grows kind of poorly although in the same tank, the christmass/taiwan grows very bushy.

The last picture, is this a "mini pelia" ? does look more like liverwort than moss, and feels rough/hard to the touch, unlike a moss.

**Green Baron** · 25th Apr 2005, 21:03

Budi,
I am quite sure A is not Christmas Moss and B is not Willow Moss.
C looks like moss which has been badly eated by SAE or shrimps or maybe it could be stringy moss.

**timebomb** · 25th Apr 2005, 21:12

Welcome to the forum, Budi. It's always a pleasure to welcome new forum users like you who read the rules before making his first post. I'm glad we don't have to remind you to put down a real name.

It's always hard to identify mosses from pictures, more so if what you show us is only a strand or 2. I'm not sure what is Moss A but Moss B definitely isn't Willow Moss. I have no idea what is Moss C. It looks like a moss that has been chewed up thoroughly by some hungry fish.

Your Mini-Pellia is growing beautifully. How long have you been growing them?

To help you identify your mosses, I will show you 4 from my tanks.

Weeping Moss

Java Moss

Christmas Moss

Willow Moss

Loh K L

**imported_bpt** · 26th Apr 2005, 00:47

Loh, thank you for the warm welcome, it is indeed a uniquely pleasant forum at killies.com

It's always hard to identify mosses from pictures, more so if what you show us is only a strand or 2

After reading the moss quiz thread you have sometime back, I thought it was the better way to identify moss. I'm sorry I misunderstand that

. Now, I feel as if I were giving you another quiz

Anyway, here is the top view picture that shows moss "A"

and the front view...

BTW, you have such wonderful collection of moss there, I wish I can find anything like those here

.After seeing your beautiful Christmast, I'm more sure that mine isn't one.
Also, your pictures on Java and Willow also show clear differences between the two, and mine, unfortunately seems more like a Java.

I can't have a good picture of moss "C" because it was shaded and the picture came out too dark. Come to think about it, perhaps shading may have cause its poor growth.
Gan, I don't have plant eating fish or even SAE in that 120x50x60cm tank. But, I do have 100+ Taiwan shrimps there.

The "Mini Pellia" (thanks for confirming the ID) is a new addition to my smaller tank, given by a friend. He doesn't even remember anymore how long it has been in his tank, must be too long

. He didn't use CO2. Any tips on propagating this faster ?

**itssg** · 26th Apr 2005, 11:52

Hi Budi,

Sorry to hiject your thread. I found some emersed grown plants in your photo album. How are you growing this Echinodorus quadricostatus and Glossotigma? They all look nice in emersed.

What should i do if my Echinodorus quadricostatus is submersed and I want to grow it emersed? Please advise.

Thanks...

dom

**imported_bpt** · 26th Apr 2005, 15:53

Hi Dominic,

Thank you for your kind comments. I do grow some of plants emerse as I found it to be much easier to propagate and maintain.
Echinodorus quadricostatus is quite easy to emerse. Prepare a container (at least 5cm height) with layers of fertilizer & gravel as you would do an aquarium. I use slow release osmocote fertilizer and top with mixture of cocopeat, gravel & fine sand.
Plant the root well of the submerse plant. Put water just enough so the top portion of the leaf is emerse but the underneath still get water. When young leaf start developing, reduce the water level, keep that until lots of new emerse leaf sticking above the water. The water will evaporate eventually and you'll have emerse plant. As you see in the picture the emerse leaf is much smaller than the submerse one.
One last thing, place them so they get morning sunlight but a bit shaded in the afternoon and keep the soil moist all the time.
Glosso is even simpler. You can start planting them above water, but also keep the soil moist.

**itssg** · 26th Apr 2005, 16:23

Hi Budi,

Thank you very much for the knowledge sharing. I gonna try it out tonight. Because I left lot of Tellenus and Echinodorus quadricostatus in my 6 feet tank and don't know where to keep. (I was offering members and none of them wants it.)

My balcony facing the afternoon sunlight. That is a big problem for me.

**Green Baron** · 26th Apr 2005, 16:40

Originally Posted by bpt

I can't have a good picture of moss "C" because it was shaded and the picture came out too dark. Come to think about it, perhaps shading may have cause its poor growth.
Gan, I don't have plant eating fish or even SAE in that 120x50x60cm tank. But, I do have 100+ Taiwan shrimps there.

Budi
I know some shrimps love to eat moss. My Erect Moss was totally destroyed when I had a Cherry shrimp explosion in my moss tank. I have also observed Yamato shrimps feasting on the young leaves of Singapore/Christmas Moss.

On second look I think Moss C could be Stringy Moss.

**keehoe** · 26th Apr 2005, 17:42

Wait till you try Red nose shrimp. Total disaster.

**timebomb** · 26th Apr 2005, 18:14

Originally Posted by bpt

After reading the moss quiz thread you have sometime back, I thought it was the better way to identify moss. I'm sorry I misunderstand that

. Now, I feel as if I were giving you another quiz

Budi, when I held the moss quiz, the idea was to make it difficult for the guys to identify the mosses, not easier

I took a look at your new pictures and I'm quite sure Moss A is definitely Java. It could be Taiwan Moss but that's unlikely as the Taiwan probably isn't available in the fish shops of Indonesia.

I took out a single frond each of the Taiwan and Java Moss from my tanks just now and I took a picture of them side by side. Here it is:

The one on the left is Taiwan Moss; the one on the right, Java. As you can see, they look quite similar. Their branching patterns are about the same. That's because they both belong to the same genus, Taxiphyllum.

The branches of the Taiwan are close to each other unlike the Java whose branches are spread further apart. But then again, it would be very difficult to tell if someone shows me a single frond of Taiwan and Java. I can identify what I have because the mosses are grown in my tank but if they weren't, I would be just as lost too.

As for the "Mini-Pellia", it has been identified as a species of Riccardia. You may want to take a look at this thread.

Loh K L

**Sugarlevi** · 27th Apr 2005, 04:58

That pellia looks like these mosses which are used for christmas pieces, 'korstmos' can't find the translation in my dictionary.
Everything seems to have some sort of equilavent in the underwaterworld.

**imported_bpt** · 27th Apr 2005, 21:02

Oh well.. I wish those are 100+ CRS instead, at least I'll feel worthed to feed them moss

, and to think they're munching on stringy

Loh, you're right that local LFS here don't have great moss selection, but this supposedly Christmas moss was sold by someone who is quite a prominent local aquascaper and he imported many plants from Tropika too. I haven't question his credential on this, but one would never know...
Some of us in the hobby do get more exotic plants from abroad. I was once too went to LFS in Singapore to buy some plants & equipment.
Probably next time I go there, I ought to ask you guys for the right directions and especially for lobangs

.

Originally Posted by Sugarlevi

Everything seems to have some sort of equilavent in the underwaterworld.

I can't agree more with that.