# Terrestrial moss in aquaria



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

There have been a couple posts lately about terrestrial mosses and whether they will survive in the aquarium. Here is a moss (no idea on what Genus or species...just a common moss found around East Texas in shady areas) that I collected about 3 weeks ago from a sidewalk at work.



















I put it in a 1 quart tupperware with some other aquatic plants/mosses on my desk at the office and kept it under a 30 watt flourescent fixture (and set it outside a few days when the weather was nice). All the emersed growth turned very dark/brown after 1 week. Then, new submersed growth started showing up. It looks the same as what the emersed growth did at the time I collected it (currently, the emersed moss outside that I left alone is in a reproductive stage), except much lighter in color. The lighter color may be from low nutrients (the flame moss and fissidens I have in the same container are also very light compared to my tank at home).


















*Under a 10X magnifier*:









I'm going to bring some to the house soon, once I'm sure I can keep it from getting covered in algae. I'll post updates as they come.

-Dave


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hmm, interesting.

I'm not sure it will be able to tolerate submersed conditions on a permanent basis, but heck, keep up the good work and let us know! Perhaps this is an untapped resource for new aquatic moss species 

Nice pics by the way, what camera/lens are you using?


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Zapins said:


> Nice pics by the way, what camera/lens are you using?


It's a Sony Mavica MVC-CD400. The lens is fixed on it (not changable) and says "Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar; 6x precision digital zoom". I don't know if that means anything special or not.

My camera at home is one of the cheaper Canon's (powershot?...less than $150) . So, when I want good close-ups, I borrow the Sony from work. I also have an Olympus Camedia C-4000 at work, but the Sony is FAR better.

-Dave


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## gsparsan (Jan 9, 2009)

Nice. Keep us updated.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Update:

As of Thursday, there has been no more growth. Even if it could have been coaxed to grow (with better lights, CO2, more ferts... ) , there are much easier mosses that look just as nice in a tank. I have tossed this one.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Aww... experiment over 

I was looking forwards to success


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

Dr Tan ("The Moss ID guy" from Singapore) said at the AGA convention (paraphrased):

"Don't drown terrestrial mosses, it's not nice"


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Hey Zapins! Yep, it just didn't do anything. In fact, it kinda looked like it was diminishing, but I didn't take any pics to compare. 

Hooha, that sounds like good advice.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Yes, Dr. Tan said we need a PETA for mosses, PETM. We would have to turn you in, Dave!  You too, Zapins, as an accomplice.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Ehehe! Moss-prison might not be so uncomfortable


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

:yield:


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