Ice222 Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 I seem to have trouble getting moss to live let alone grow. Its kept in a 23C tank with CPDS +1 betta and gets a water change every 2-3 days (25%), tap water is treated with Prime, and I add a 3 drops of Tetra Florapride. Haven't done any tests lately Didin't used to add excel but I had a weird algae problem I couldn't find a solution to so tried dosing it to see if that's help. Tank is 35l x 26d x 26h with a sponge filter (+airpump) that's both overrated than for a tank this size. Light is an Aqua one AL-8 reflector unit. Considering that Java moss is a low light plant I'm pretty sure lighting isn't the problem. The stocking level shouldn't be a problem either as the moss was pretty dismal even before the addition of fish and my water changes are pretty frequent. There must be something fairly wrong with my water or the fert I'm using somehow, since it's not just this tank that can't grow moss.The Xmas moss I just bought and kept in a different unfiltered+unheated tank, was still emerald green after a week of being in post, but it's starting to turn brown after just 3 days here. It's not just posted plants either, the Java moss I got from HFF is the same, emerald green but goes brown in my tank after 3 days. I'm pretty sure they're not acclimatising, there's moss in here that's 3 months old, it hasn't grown, I've thrown out the worst of it but it's still mostly a brown clump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 Remove the airpump and try CO2 injection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepsound Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 I'm not sure the airpump is the problem... I got a tank with a sponge filter and a nicely green java moss. Just with natural light from window. So as you said, I don't think it comes from the light too. Is it just the moss turns brown or others plants too ? Could you please tell us the parameters of your water (PH, GH, KH) ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 My moss grows like crazy(both java and xmas) all i give it is a desk lamp with a standard bulb. It grows in my fry tank so no need for anything more. I would suggest stop dosing ferts as if it is not growing then the ferts are not being used up and therefore feeding the algae. What water are you using? Have you tried different water? Ie rainwater. You tap supply may be high in nutrients. What temp is your water? Xmas prefers it slightly warmer than java. Im not saying i have the answers to why its not growing, just trying to eliminate reasons its not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 I live very near and I can't grow java moss very well either. With CO2 injection running and the T5HO all I get is this snotty looking brown gunk growing off it or masses of what I call hair algae - long stringy bright green stuff that will grow 10cm in a day. With my other mosses I have no problems, they grow brilliantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 high light will burn java moss. apart from that mosses are really quite resilient and grow differently in a vast range of conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 high light will burn java moss. Just wondered, will it burn xmas moss too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 no Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice222 Posted July 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 Hmm I do live in the same suburb as Adrienne so I could be something out of the tap. If I collect rainwater to use, is there any risks? I mean it's probably more gross to me than anything (eg. I know we certainly do get some mozzie larvae in any standing water around my house, it's probably more gross to me than to the fish really). Stopping the ferts, hopefully that'll help, cause that's definitely easier to fix than my tap water! Thinking I might just start over. Get an excuse to get some new tanks and sell my current ones . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 My java moss grows very slowly or not at all. Tried it tied, floating, low and high light. My Xmas moss on the other hand rockets away :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 i used florapride for other plants and it didn't seem to do as good a job as flourish comprehensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 water change every 2-3 days (25%) thats a lot of water changes. could that be part of the problem? removing all the nitrogen compounds befoe the plant can absorb any? just an idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice222 Posted July 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 I suppose that could be it but moss shouldn't go brown that quickly just from lack of Nitrates? Didn't used to water change so often either, but since I have a n algae problem and I can't identify my algae, I just upped the water changes since most people seem to say algae is cause from some sort of excess nutrient and water changes are usually recommend it. Even without the frequent WC the moss was still dismal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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