Moss - Types and Pictures

[HiJaC]

Hi,

I'm planning on picking up some different types of Moss for a couple of new tanks (yes i'm truely becoming mr MTS).

Currently i have Java Moss in my big tank which i quite like and am getting the hang of managing and cleaning.

My online plant retailer has stock of Christmas Moss (Vesicularia montagnel), Weeping Moss (Vesicularia ferriei) and Willow Moss (Frontinalis antipyretica).

According to an aquamoss.net article -

Vesicularia sp' - involves Weeping, Christmas, Singapore and more.

Most of these species need cooler waters. It makes a lot of sense as they originate in cooler regions like Canada. An odd exception would be Singapore Moss, but even then this moss are found in shaded areas.

Fontinalis

Always keep the water clean and new, and keep the water flowing.

I'm going to be placing these moss in shrimp tank with little filtration (or none if i can get away with it). So from the article i read it looks like my fav of the varieties available, the Willow Moss, won't be the best choice.

I've also noticed Fissidens for the first time on these forums in the last few weeks, and found a supplier on e-bay. But know little about it.

What are people's experience of these moss varieties?

What do they look like once grown in on wood and root structures?

What are the growing tips for Fissidens and best varieties for smaller tanks?

Oh and pictures are always appreciated with many .

Thanks in advance,

John

 

[Purrbox]

Most of the mosses will do just fine at standard aquarium temps. It's good to have some circulation in the tank, but not strictly necessary. I've got some Fire Moss that's doing just fine in a small unfiltered tank (the Pico).

I was never really happy with the Willow Moss that I tried. It was really scraggly and never looked good. Christmas Moss has been a so so moss for me, that looks good every now and again, but most of the time I could do without it. Weeping moss grows quite well for me, but it's only floating in the tanks as I've never gotten around to attaching it to anything. I love love love both Fissidens fontanulus and Fire Moss. These look really awesome when attached to wood. Fire Moss grows straight up with gentle feiry waves and the Fissidens creates and nice dense ball of soft fronds. It's very common for me to find the shrimp in the Fissidens as it seems to be one of their many favorite spots.

Unless you're dealing with one of the more indestructible varieties of shrimp like the Cherry Red Shrimp you're really going to need to have some filteration (mechanical and/or lots of fast growing plants) in the tank. And if you're trying to breed the shrimp, you'll need more filtration to ensure that as the numbers increase the colony doesn't crash. A sponge filter is the most recommended, and could easily be hidden by the mosses. The less filtration you use, the more water changes that you'll end up having to do to keep the water clean enough.

 

[HiJaC]

Hi,

How do you find growing Fissidens, it looks lovely but I can't find any real instructions on its upkeep and care. Plus what are your prefered versions?

I looked at the firemoss too but I foresee it not covering the wood in the way I wanted. and growing too high.

Do you use Fissidens with the fire moss? if so can you show me? i'm eager to see pictures of moss combinations.

I was leaning towards the Azoo 60 filters which I can just about get in the UK, mostly because they are clear and descreat. With fine sponge over the intake and/or up the untake tube.

The sponge filter I have already makes alot of noise with the air pump, so i was trying to stay away from them as these will be in my bedroom.

Thanks,

John

 

[TwoHobbies]

John

Here ia a picture of my xmas moss (I can take a close-up if you would like)

The second is Flame moss. I only got it 3 weeks ago. It has already doubled in size, but I haven't tried attaching it to driftwood yet.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I've only ever successfully grown christmas moss and flame moss. The christmas moss I experimented growing as a ground cover for a really long time. I liked it, but it just got too thick and I took it all out to try something different with it, but in general I really like christmas moss (thanks Rich for giving it to me!). I think I still have a little bit of it left growing in my 55 gallon.

The Flame moss is also very cool and fast growing, but takes some work to get the correct look for it. It can take a while to attach to wood (atleast in my experience) and needs trimmed to keep shape, but it's really unique stuff and I like it. I think I've supplied half of AA with cuttings from my original purchase, to get an idea of how fast it can grow, so if you are interested in any let me know. It's pretty expensive if you try and go buy it at a store or on ebay.

 

[Purrbox]

How do you find growing Fissidens, it looks lovely but I can't find any real instructions on its upkeep and care. Plus what are your prefered versions?

I've only got Fissidens fontanulus (US fissidens), so I really can't compare to the other varieties.

I looked at the firemoss too but I foresee it not covering the wood in the way I wanted. and growing too high.

It does tend to grow straight up, but does trim easily if height is an issue.

Do you use Fissidens with the fire moss? if so can you show me? i'm eager to see pictures of moss combinations.

Sorry, different aquariums.

 

[7Enigma]

I've only dealt with Christmas moss, but like it quite a bit. It grows easily, pretty slowly but steadily, and makes a GREAT habitat for snails/shrimp/fry. I'm in the process of an "experiment" right now since I had put a bunch in almost pure distilled water. It has killed most of the bunch but almost ALL of the tips are continuing to grow (switched back to 50/50 water). I'm interested to see if it rots away at the dead spots leaving all the living "ends", or if the whole just dies. It's in a snail tank and I think the snails are going to town on the dead parts.

Back in Feb I tried to make a living tree with christmas moss, lace java fern, and some Riccia. It turned out REALLY well IMO and only took about 2 hours from start to finish. Trying to tie thread in the water is just a total PITA without having someone who could help. Unfortunately my barbs kept nipping at both the string and the moss, and so the tree quickly went back to being a piece of driftwood. Here's a pic: