and the secret to growing java moss is...

[RobMiller5]

Yeh, I have some java moss in my tank at the moment. From what i can gather, java moss hates being touched. I have some slightly growing, single threads out from a bunch of old moss. But generally this stuff isn't growing like it should. Ie. One strand comes out, then strands come out from the first strand, then strands come out from the second strand and so on and so fourth. This for me isn't happening. I'd like your suggestions please here's my tank setup.

65 L 15G
24x12x15
4x18w NO flourescents no reflectors
DIY CO2 (2x 2lt) Hagen Bubble Ladder Diffuser
EI/PMDD chemicals weekly, [nitrate, potassium, iron, trace, magnesium]
Cannister Filtration
Plain Gravel
5x Small Goldfish, 1xSiamese Flying Fox, 1xPeppered Cory
Java Moss anchored to rocks and wood about 5 - 10 Inches Below Surface
PH: 7-8 (i think)
KH: 5-6'
GH:?
25C'

Notes: The moss hated to be moved, the moss closest to the light seemed to do nothing, moss lower below the surface sprouted singular strands.

Java Moss: What is the deal with this stuff>? Short of ringing the supplier Iam asking you guys this question.

More Light=Possibly but i dont think so
More Nutrients=Doubt it
More CO2=Could be
PH Wrong=Could be
GH Wrong=Could be
KH Wrong=Could be
Temperature Wrong=Possibly but unlikely

I think i need to just ring the supplier get his tanks specs and simply copy them.

 

[Balloon Fish]

Hey RobMiller,
Moss is some tricky stuff to grow (at least thats what i've found). In my 20g i have a few differnt kinds of moss at the moment and a tiny tiny portion of java moss (about 5 to 10strands) But i have a lot of xmas moss that i have been playing around with lately and i've found that under direct lighting, 30ppm ish of co2, ei method dosing, and the addition of seachem excel (might not be able to find it in australia but i dunno) the moss grows about a cm every two weeks which in my opinion that is pretty fast for moss. Before dosing seachem excel it was just sitting there on the wood but after that the new growth was more noticable and greener. As for moving moss around, i dont think java moss really cares if it is moved because lots of people leave java moss floating in breeding tanks with no problem. Last week i moved the xmas moss to a carpet thing on the bottom to make room for some other kind of moss and i've found that it just stopped growing when there wasn't as much light so maybe that is your problem? If you can keep the algae off of moss then i've found more light and more co2 will help it out. (hope i answered the question cause i didn't really get it )

 

[RobMiller5]

thanks yeh i think my problem is iam expecting too much growth when moss is a really just a very slow growing plant.

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

my java moss grew best in a 10gallon tank I had set up that had about 75 watts of light over it. I had DIY CO2 that I let run out from time to time. I am not sure if it was the INTENSE light, or the occasional total lack of CO2. I now struggle to get java moss to grow in any of my other tanks as the 10 gallon tank with the high lighting is in storage temporarily. I have put the java moss in my 20gallon long tank that has 90 watts of light over it. This is high light, and it is growing, but not nearly as well as when it had 7.5wpg.

I have asked several people, and they have told me that javamoss prefers low CO2 levels, around ambient levels. But there has to be a way to grow it in high CO2 tanks because I've seen too many pics of this very thing.

Don't feel bad, I have struggled to grow java moss too.

 

[Balloon Fish]

thats weird cause i always feel my moss grows faster with good amount of co2 and to really boost it i use excel. What i really dont like is how everyone says moss is such an easy thing to grow but my past experiences weren't the nicest memorys. I personaly dont like java moss as much because its not as green but maybe its just cause i couldn't grow it correctly. I should be recieving some more soon so i'm gonna give it another try and hopefully this time its a winner.

 

[Orion]

Must be something in my water. Java moss is starting to become a real nusence to me. not kept trimed it can attain a very cluttered look very fast because it grows all over in all directions without much shape to it. It also has a bad tendency to get stuck in filter intakes and cloging them up.

I have an over abundance of the stuff. When I tore down my 45 gallon I must have tossed at least three hand fulls away. This was under high light, low ferts, low Co2. I have a 29 gallon with low light, no added ferts and no added Co2, stuff grows like mad. I've kept it in some of my 10 gallon grow out tanks with nothing but a 4' shop light to light multiple tanks, and it grew very well.

I've never tested for trace elements in my tap water. Mabey there is an over abundance of them. My water is softer than yours out of the tap, kh:2-3 gh:3-4, but I don't think this small difference would make such a difference.

 

[Lotus]

I think moss sometimes needs a "critical mass" before it really gets going. Sometimes if you get a piece that's not in good health it will take a loooooong time for it to get going. Once it's going, it's hard to stop it. I regularly throw out handfulls from my tanks, too.

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

throw them this way then please.

not that it would help; i'd probably subject it to sub-standard conditions like the rest of mine.

Orion mentioned high light, low ferts, low CO2 working well...This is how the 10gallon tank with 7.5 wpg was. It was the "prison tank" that housed my wife's overgrown synodontis euruptus and the occasional badass fish in need of solitary confinement. I neglected changing the DIY CO2 regularly as I should have, and dosed ferts very infrequently. I had a lot of javamoss growing well in there, and a fair amount of hair algae from time to time as well...