# 90 Gal Moss Tank



## zen (Apr 25, 2005)

Hi all, this is my 4ft Moss Tank for your comment.

I have always been fascinated by different species of moss. Their small little bright green fronds pointing to a general direction never fails to give me a tranquil feeling and sooth my nerve after a hard day work.


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## @[email protected] (Jul 10, 2006)

That's a lot of moss. Simple yet nice!


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Very Nice Maurice! Welcome to the Forum! You have a lovely tank there. Is it possible to get a larger shot of the tank? Or maybe even some close ups of the left, middle and right sections. 

What types of moss are you keeping in there? I've always wanted to do a moss tank. And you are giving me inspiration to try it. I would like to hear any tips, trimming, and how long it took you to achieve this setup.

-John N.


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## Mikee (May 8, 2006)

wow! seeing these moss tanks is really inspiring. I love to see these moss tanks once everything is a bit grown out and covering the driftwood. I agree with zen the different types of moss is very fascinating it also gives you a good feeling once everything has grown out and looks nice and fluffy. I plan 2 do this with my 2.5 ft tank using different types of moss like weeping, fissidens ect and id also like to hear tips on how you get your moss to grow so nice (lighting, any co2? ferts?) i think i like these moss tanks the most! and i know shrimps would love to live in there  well done!


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

I have to agree with John, bigger pictures!

From that distance the tank looks great. Up close I bet it looks even better. 

How long did it take you to grow the tank out like that?


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## zen (Apr 25, 2005)

Thanks for all the encouraging comments 

It took me a year plus and several failed attempts to understand moss. The key to lushy growth of moss is _temperature_. In my country, it is warm all round with average temperature ranging 28-30 degree celcius. I added a fan and at most i could only bring the temperature down to 27-28 degree C. I bought a chiller in the beginning of this year, and have been keeping the tank temperature to 25degree C. This is the first time I have seen a little improvement in growing moss. 

The tank is co2 enriched with 4 wpg of light. For fert, i am doing EI and TMG. Although I have another low tech tank with good moss growing rate, I find that having good co2, light and fert will certainly speed up the growth.

I have not done any trimming since I started this tank half a year ago. I just pull them out once they get too thick.

Close of the following mosses in the tank:

Erect moss (vesicularia reticulata)









Weeping moss (vericularia sp.)









Spiky moss (Taxiphyllum sp.)









A ball of unidentified moss


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## kweeheng (Jun 5, 2006)

fantastalicious


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## Rek (Jul 19, 2005)

very nice


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## Mikee (May 8, 2006)

beautiful. I have no experience really with moss my tank is usually 25C is moss a fairly easy plant to grow? are ferts neccessary or is it just to speed growth more?


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## zen (Apr 25, 2005)

Mikee said:


> beautiful. I have no experience really with moss my tank is usually 25C is moss a fairly easy plant to grow? are ferts neccessary or is it just to speed growth more?


Mike, give it a try. They are not that difficult, but they are quite slow at the initial stage to get use to your water condition. When they are ready to take off, you will see bright green buds at the tip of the fronds. Your tank temperature is just right for most species of moss.

As regards fert for moss, i can't be absolutely sure that fert is not neccessary for moss but I've seen beautiful moss in "low tech" tanks (no fert, no water change only top ups, low light). However, one thing is clear that the same species of moss grow comparatively very much faster in co2 enriched, high fert and light tanks. And another sure thing is low temperature, clean water and NO SAEs


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## Mikee (May 8, 2006)

Hey zen well looks like i have everything pretty much except for ferts. Im just a bit scared to use ferts because i dont know ones which are safe with shrimp since this a shrimp only tank and not sure on which ferts are most important. The shrimp are great at cleaning though i constantly see them eating stuff from the moss. I also have malaysian snails (i think thats what there called) in the tank as well. The bit of moss that i have in the tank looks like its growing though because i see these bright green buds at the tip of the fronds


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## zen (Apr 25, 2005)

Actually the pictures i posted previously was 2 months old. Took some pictures last night and would like to share with you my new moss collection:

Flame Moss. Originating country is unknown and hence, no scientific name given yet. It is the latest craze here. I really like this moss as it gives an impression that the driftwood has caught fire!!! 










Another picture of Flame and Weeping moss showing their great contrast. One is dripping down and the other is flaming up.... I am waiting for them to touch each other....


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## zen (Apr 25, 2005)

Mikee said:


> Hey zen well looks like i have everything pretty much except for ferts. Im just a bit scared to use ferts because i dont know ones which are safe with shrimp since this a shrimp only tank and not sure on which ferts are most important. The shrimp are great at cleaning though i constantly see them eating stuff from the moss. I also have malaysian snails (i think thats what there called) in the tank as well. The bit of moss that i have in the tank looks like its growing though because i see these bright green buds at the tip of the fronds


Mike, shrimps and moss are great combination. Shrimps can clear debris from the moss and the moss provides a natural environment for the shrimps to breed  But i hope it is not Yamato or Amano shrimps. They are large enough to eat up your moss.

Good to hear that your moss is growing with those bright green buds, which shows the moss has adapted to your water condition. Most of us are waiting to see these buds when we just introduced moss to the tanks. All you need is just add more moss to form a lawn or something and stick to your regime of no fert and they will do just fine.


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## Mikee (May 8, 2006)

wow those are some great pictures that flame moss looks very nice i need to get my hands on a different variety of moss.. right now i only have one type and im not quite sure what it is.. looks like it could be java moss or maybe taiwan i really like the look of that weeping moss though. I only have cherry shrimp and crs in the tank so i dont think ill have any problems. I think i see a shrimp in the first pic that you showed  keep the pictures coming!


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## Tankman (Feb 19, 2006)

I really like your tank a lot. It looks really natural and pleasing to the eye! You've really got it going there with the mosses... How do you manage the hair algae without the moss-devouring SAEs?

I've been trying to catch mine but they're totally not easy to remove...


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## zen (Apr 25, 2005)

Tankman said:


> I really like your tank a lot. It looks really natural and pleasing to the eye! You've really got it going there with the mosses... How do you manage the hair algae without the moss-devouring SAEs?
> 
> I've been trying to catch mine but they're totally not easy to remove...


Hi Tankman, there is a great site here http://www.aquamoss.net/Articles/Siamese-Algae-Eater-And-Aquatic-Moss.htm, where the writer gave a fabulous write up on how to catch SAEs in a tank. There is another article of an experiment done by having SAE and Moss in a same tank. Just after an hour and the moss was destroyed! :icon_hang

Like in most newly setups, my tank had its taste of algae. I focused on nutrient management to get rid of them. After 3 months, I hardly see any algae. In addition, I added shrimps instead of SAEs for cleaning task.


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