my java moss doesnt grow well

[bra_van_drakh]

i've been keeping a 20gal long tank with
-10 cardinal tetras
-14 RedCherryShrimps
-plus some little pond snails that doesnt bother any of my plants. ..

with some plants
-8 small syngonium spatterdog
-2 small syngonium podophyllum
-1 set [2x15cms] tiny grasslike plant
-1 handfull of java fern, and
-some java moss attached to 2 stones

it's equipped with 2 15watts blue fluoresence tube lamp. .. which gives 1,5WPG [is it enough ???]

all of my plants r doing great, they grow very fast, except for my java moss, which most of people find it very easy to take care of. ..it started very green, but after 2 months, it became yellow'ish and grew small white leafs, just like tiny little hairs. ..

is it because i put it too close to the surface, or is it because of my RCSs took a nip on it ?? my snails dont come too close too the java moss though, so they're out of the suspect list.. .really2 need an advice for this probz. . .

 

[An t-iasg]

I have had java moss and taiwan moss. They look very similar but the in comparing the two, java moss does not stay as green and thick as the taiwan moss. When I had java moss, I was disappointed that it didn't stay nice and green, so I got the taiwan moss.

For your java moss, you may be able to help it along a bit. Your lighting looks fine. A 20 gallon long is not too high, so your lighting should be able to penetrate down to the bottom. Just in case it isn't getting enough light down there, try moving it up closer to the light if you can. You could maybe get some driftwood that is taller and attach the moss to the driftwood where it would be closer to the light. My moss is at the top of my tank.

Also check your nitrates. Are you adding any fertilizers? If your nitrates bottom out, you would definitely see an algae outbreak, but even these low-light plants consume nitrate enough that you may have to supplement. Your fish bio-load doesn't look high, so I would suspect that maybe your nitrates are low. You want a level of 10-20 ppm.

At one time, I had a 5 gallon tank with one betta, some fake plants, and some java moss. That one clump of java moss in the 5 gallon tank consumed all the nitrates and when I tested, my nitrates were 0. So even though you said the other plants were growing fast, I would check the nitrate level.

You can also pick out the brown pieces in the moss and spread it out a little so that more of the little branches reach the light.

 

[bra_van_drakh]

this one that grew yellow isnt at the bottom, but almost at the top of my tank dwelling above my clawlike driftwood, and i did put some fertilizer earlier, dont know if it ran out, but ussually i got 10 to 12ppm for the nitrates.. .

though the bioload isnt that much, my plants produse lots of ammonia, since they grow so fast. ..the old leaves rot quite fast too. . .even one day I woke up with 15 dead RCSs caused by an ammonia spike because i didnt took out the rotten leaves [thinking that the RCSs would eat them out.. .well, they didnt T _ T']

so the RCSs dont have anything to do with this ??? i always see them on the moss, 'cleaning' it but cant really see the damage they cause. .

 

[tropicfishman]

java moss usually takes over a tank, I havea huge glob of it in a 2.5 gallon tank with some snails in it and its so over grown its coming up through the bottom of the submersible filter and over hanging out of the spout lol

 

[An t-iasg]

Plants don't produce ammonia. They may cause an ammonia spike if, as you said, you have a lot of dead leaves in the tank. There would have to be a lot of rotting leaves to cause an ammonia spike big enough to cause the shrimp to die. Otherwise, I doubt that the shrimp are causing any damage to the moss.

 

[bra_van_drakh]

that's my only speculation about the reason of my RCSs' death, since none of my fish r troubling right.. .there were 5 rotting leaves [each 4cmsx6cms wide], and all of them were 80% rotten. ..

so the RCSs dont have anything concerning this problem ???
FYI, the temp is 23'C[night]~26'C[day] does this have anything to do with the damage ???

the newer moss i put inside has begun to have the same problem.. .what's wrong with my tank .T _ T.

 

[Atl300zx]

all my RCS died while all my fry in the tank survived and i couldnt find any apparent reason. all my plants were healthy and i did 50% weekly water changes.

 

[bra_van_drakh]

just the perfect condition as mine, only 4 fries survived last time.. .i do a 60% PWC every week though. ..but still no change at the moss growth .T _ T.