# [Wet Thumb Forum]-java moss



## candoh (Mar 24, 2004)

i was wonder if java moss would be a good ground cover in a 10 gallon low tech tank?

if it is... is there anyway to control its growth other than pruning? and by pruning do you just pull this stuff up and throw it out?


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## candoh (Mar 24, 2004)

i was wonder if java moss would be a good ground cover in a 10 gallon low tech tank?

if it is... is there anyway to control its growth other than pruning? and by pruning do you just pull this stuff up and throw it out?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Sounds fine to me. However, since Java moss has no roots, I do not advise a gravel or gravel/soil substrate in this tank. I'd set it up with a very light scattering of gravel on the bottom. That way, everything stays aerobic. Do not make a deep layer (more than 1/2 inch) or you'll eventually get anaerobic pockets. Then you'll have to gravel wash. The Java moss can be held down by small stones or rocks.

Java moss is easy to "prune". Just rip off a junk and throw it out.

If you want a full substrate, you probably should use rooted plants.


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## candoh (Mar 24, 2004)

what kind of rooted plants would you suggest?

i have been looking at a lot of plants but none with specs so it is hard for me to know how tall it really is and how it looks planted in the tank.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Have you browsed the Plant Database section of the forum? There you will find some plants suitable for the foreground. Usually, people go with Echinodorus tenellus, Glossostigma elatinoides, and some others I can't recall at the moment. You can also check them out at:

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=4

Hope this helps









Paul


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

diana, does glosso work in your tanks??? can you produce a carpet using your methods? I'd love to hear more about this.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

You can easily prune the java moss by haircutting it with scissors. Then pick up the larger loose clumps and siphon off the rest at water changes. I do that in my 40 gallon lower light tank and it works well.


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## mm12463 (Mar 5, 2004)

If you are going low tech with low light maybe a Marsilea species for ground cover. I am going to use Marsilea augustifolia in my 1.5 watt no CO2 10 gallon as a ground cover. I have read it will grow in lower light, it is just a slow grower.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Algae Grower:
> diana, does glosso work in your tanks??? can you produce a carpet using your methods? I'd love to hear more about this.


Sorry, I'm not into carpets. My Riccia floats and that's fine. No hairnets!









Anubias nana (smallest Anubias) is kind of a nice plant for a 10 gal... along with the Java moss, small Crypts and E. tenellus. I don't think I've ever had glosso???

My advice to Candoh is to try several species that are small and that you think will do well. Which ones will do well under your tank's conditions is often unpredictable.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

Mike! It's an extremely slow grower oh man...it's so annoying in my tank....when one new leaf pops up the oldest leaf will start getting attacked by algae and then die off.... so basically i have had the same amt of marsilea for the last 4 months.....


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## JayO (Mar 9, 2004)

I found Java moss to be an issue in a low tech aquascaped tank. It just wouldn't stay where I wanted it. I am trying to get rid of it now and I wish I had gone with something else.


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## Maurici (May 31, 2004)

It seems to be a special difficult issue to make a carpet in a low-tech if you have also other plants shading on. Definitely glosso is not a good choice because its light requirements, and the problems of Java moss or other bryophytes have been well defined here by Diana (difficulties on attachment and posibilities of anaerobic layers behind the talli) which perhaps suggest a patching covering not a continuous one.
Some Marsilea species will be interesting but the low-tech technology perhaps determine their slow growing as algae grower points out.
Maurici.


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## MicNanDec (Feb 1, 2003)

In both my low-light/low-tech 10 gallons, I've given up trying to keep a carpet. I actually like it better this way. The java moss did "creep" along the substrate though. I just attached my java moss to a rock and let it do its own thing. It's beginning to look like one of those "marimo balls" that aquabotanic sells. It makes great cover for the guppy fry in there. I've never tried the Marsilea, actually this is the first I heard about it. As for pruning java moss, just snip it the way you want it to look like. It can get unruly though. Excess java moss always seems to sell well at my fish club as the plant seems rare to find in stores. Good Luck!


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## slurpor (Jun 13, 2004)

Here's my 10 gallon with a java moss ground cover. It used to look more lush-looking but I had to pull it all out when I moved and some turned brown! The substrate is all gravel, and I use a turkey baster to blast the java moss down into the cracks of the gravel. After a while, the moss takes hold of the gravel. I never cut it- I just blast it down, and it grows across the bottom and eventually gets so thick you can't see the gravel. When it piles up in the corners, I pull some out- it will grow back. It takes some regular maintenance, but if you want a low-light carpet effect it is possible to use java moss. This tank has 2 wpg.


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## Kolkri (May 15, 2004)

WOW how cool. I just got some of this plant I hope mine does as well.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by slurpor:
> Here's my 10 gallon with a java moss ground cover.


Very pretty tank!

I just noticed that my "Christmas Moss" is starting to make a pleasing carpet effect in my 50 gal. It's a moss that looks like Java moss, but it is shaped like a fern. Christmas Moss is very pretty and grows well.


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