iamruss
Aquarium Advice Newbie
What kind of light should i have to grow java moss in a 46gal bow front tank ? Should i also have substrate for my gravel ?
JAVA MOSS
- Thread starter iamruss
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medge00
Aquarium Advice FINatic
gravel is a substrate. java moss attaches to rocks or driftwood. Its not 'planted' in a substrate. There's some debate about how much light it needs, I'd say about 46 watts, which puts you at 1 wpg.
search the plant forum for more
search the plant forum for more
TankGirl
Aquarium Advice Addict
Java moss is considered a low-light plant, so if you have enough light to see the fish, then you can grow java moss, assuming this is fluorescent we are talking about.
You can float it, you can tie it to driftwood or a rock, or whatever. It will attach itself but sometimes it takes a while. I like to have it in most of my planted tanks - I love the stuff!
You can float it, you can tie it to driftwood or a rock, or whatever. It will attach itself but sometimes it takes a while. I like to have it in most of my planted tanks - I love the stuff!
An t-iasg
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have two clumps of java moss in each of my 5 gallon tanks. My lighting is a 15-watt flourescent, over both tanks. (The tanks are arranged in an L-shape, and the light hangs diagonally over both.)
As you can see, I have pretty low light, and my moss does fine. I only have the flourescent light on for about 6 hours a day. The rest of the day, I just use the room light. This light schedule is to try to prevent any algae outbreaks.
You can use gravel as a substrate. As the others said, you don't "plant" the moss into the substrate. Some of my moss clumps just sit on the gravel, and some are attached near the top of the tank, as little "hammocks" for the fish. My moss hasn't attached to anything, and I remove it for water changes, but it's doing fine. It's a nice, bright green. I don't know if it's growing too much, though. I'm not using any fertilizers for it, because I don't want the nutrients to get out of hand in a small tank. In your bigger tank, if you used the fertilizers and/or CO2, it would grow nicely for you. In some tanks (with CO2), I've even seen it pearl!
As you can see, I have pretty low light, and my moss does fine. I only have the flourescent light on for about 6 hours a day. The rest of the day, I just use the room light. This light schedule is to try to prevent any algae outbreaks.
You can use gravel as a substrate. As the others said, you don't "plant" the moss into the substrate. Some of my moss clumps just sit on the gravel, and some are attached near the top of the tank, as little "hammocks" for the fish. My moss hasn't attached to anything, and I remove it for water changes, but it's doing fine. It's a nice, bright green. I don't know if it's growing too much, though. I'm not using any fertilizers for it, because I don't want the nutrients to get out of hand in a small tank. In your bigger tank, if you used the fertilizers and/or CO2, it would grow nicely for you. In some tanks (with CO2), I've even seen it pearl!
Bearfan
Aquarium Advice Addict
It does grow slow under low light conditions.
swanandmokashi
Aquarium Advice FINatic
yeah its a slow grower, but still a grower 
mitche8359
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have 2wpg and I find that java moss grows fairly fast in my tank.
fish_newbie
Aquarium Advice Activist
will java moss do good in a tank without a light? i have one of those plastic 6g tanks for my betta
An t-iasg
Aquarium Advice Addict
Do you mean that there is no light over your tank? Just the room light? I think java moss would do ok with just room light. It might not grow, but java moss is almost indestructable. Your betta would like it too. I would give it a try.
thetmaxx
Aquarium Advice Activist
is java moss easy to find? im pretty sure petco doesnt have any, but would an aquarium store have it? theres 2 good ones in my area...
RogerMcAllen
Aquarium Advice Addict
Try hitting up some of our members in the barter section. I know a few here have it, and perhaps they could earmark you for next time they are cleaning out their tanks.
thetmaxx
Aquarium Advice Activist
ahh, thank you... i'll head over there right now...
thetmaxx
Aquarium Advice Activist
soory my imature friend was playing with the keyboard...
