Java Moss dying?

[Henri]

Hi everyone!
Ive got a healthy java moss clump from a bidder on aquabid and it's been in my tank for almost 4 months now and it was doing Ok. I could notice it growing new strings towards the light.
Anyways two weeks ago I did a waterchange and re-arranged the decor a bit, moving the driftwood where the java moss is to another place. This is in a 10 gallon. A few days ago I've noticed it has turned brown and today I did a waterchange and when I picked up the moss a bit around 1/4 of it was brownish. What's happening to my plant ? Is it dying? Could the re-arrangemend have done this? Tell me how to fix this please, Isn't java moss supposed to be tough? When I picked it up today it made A MESS in my tank...
Any reply highly appreciated.

 

[gabysapha]

try putting the moss in a cup in a bright place. It should bounce back soon enough with light.
Did you move the java moss into a place with no light? Maybe fertilizer would be beneficial? My moss will die if it's planted too thick (light cannot reach the lower layers of moss) or when it's in a completely dark place with no light at all.

 

[Henri]

try putting the moss in a cup in a bright place. It should bounce back soon enough with light.
Did you move the java moss into a place with no light? Maybe fertilizer would be beneficial? My moss will die if it's planted too thick (light cannot reach the lower layers of moss) or when it's in a completely dark place with no light at all.

Hi, thanks for your reply!
My tank is only a 10 gallon and the light hits the entire tank, so I dont think it was that...
But propaboy youre right on the fact that light cannot reach the thicker levels, my moss was very thick! What can I do about this? I hope I'm still in time ...

 

[LyndaB]

I was having the same issue. My clumps were really dense. They pull apart really easily but do yourself a favor. Remove a really big clump and put it into a bowl to thin it out. Otherwise, all the dead stuff that's stuck in the middle of that moss will pollute your water and your filter may get clogged.

When you do water changes, try to remember to swipe a damp paper towel across your light fixture (on the plastic that covers the bulb). That piece gets really cloudy really quickly.

 

[Henri]

I was having the same issue. My clumps were really dense. They pull apart really easily but do yourself a favor. Remove a really big clump and put it into a bowl to thin it out. Otherwise, all the dead stuff that's stuck in the middle of that moss will pollute your water and your filter may get clogged.

When you do water changes, try to remember to swipe a damp paper towel across your light fixture (on the plastic that covers the bulb). That piece gets really cloudy really quickly.

Hey Lynda, nice to see you here as well ^_^! You're on Fishlore too, aren't you ?
So, I only have one moss, and it's the big clump. Do I remove it entirely and put it in the bowl? What do I do with the moss that's in the bowl then?
Can't I spread it around the driftwood, to make it less dense but with a bigger surface? I hope you get my point.
Do I remove the brown part of it or will it recover?

 

[jetajockey]

I would just thin it out as mentioned, my moss never seems to have an issue like this in my well lit planted tanks and I have a ton of the stuff. However, I have noticed it beginning to brown on the underside in the poorly lit or ambient light tanks. What kind of light is on the tank? Adding a daylight, grow bulb, or full spectrum bulb might help as well. Moss isn't demanding but it does have some minimal requirements to thrive.

 

[Henri]

I would just thin it out as mentioned, my moss never seems to have an issue like this in my well lit planted tanks and I have a ton of the stuff. However, I have noticed it beginning to brown on the underside in the poorly lit or ambient light tanks. What kind of light is on the tank? Adding a daylight, grow bulb, or full spectrum bulb might help as well. Moss isn't demanding but it does have some minimal requirements to thrive.

Sorry, but I don't know how to tell the difference between a grow bulb, or a daylight bulb... All I can tell is that this is a neon, it produces " white " light, it is 15watt and 7200K. Hope I helped.

 

[jetajockey]

What kind of fixture is it? Fluorescent, or does it have screw in bulbs like a household light fixture? How old is the bulb?

It might be worth it to get a grow bulb or a daylight/full spectrum bulb for the plant's sake, but if the light you have on there now is fairly new or designed for plants (might be since you say its 7200k) then it might not help that much.

 

[Henri]

What kind of fixture is it? Fluorescent, or does it have screw in bulbs like a household light fixture? How old is the bulb?

It might be worth it to get a grow bulb or a daylight/full spectrum bulb for the plant's sake, but if the light you have on there now is fairly new or designed for plants (might be since you say its 7200k) then it might not help that much.

I believe it's fluorescent, it's just like this type of light, just that it's 15 Watt... http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/215657/i/7/product.web
And btw my algae is BBA, how do I treat it?

 

[adadkins1]

I would agree with all the previous members, thinning out your moss could help exponentially. I've had some just slow to a crawl and I wondered what was wrong. After I thinned it out, it took back off.

As for the BBA, I am not too familiar with it. I know that it basically infects a plant, rather than just growing on its leaves, it grows into them. All I know is it is best to remove plants and/or leaves that have BBA on them. If you have stones or driftwood with BBA, you can just remove and bleach them. Just make sure you rinse them vigorously before returning to the tank.

 

[Batt4Christ]

I've got java miss in my heavy planted 29g. What I have found- the moss likes a bit of current. If food or other detritus builds up in it, it can cause issues too.

 

[Henri]

I've got java miss in my heavy planted 29g. What I have found- the moss likes a bit of current. If food or other detritus builds up in it, it can cause issues too.

That's the problem, the moss is in the bottom of my tank, while I only have a sponge filter and it does not create any current, it just agitates the surface. What do I do about this ?