# Growing Moss Right



## TripleC (Mar 11, 2005)

I've had some Java Moss in my tank for a while now and I was wondering how people prepare their moss before using it.

Initially, when I ordered online, the moss came as a dead bag of brown hair...and didn't look like it could do much. The guy at my LFS assured me, however, that it always comes like this....so I strung it up onto my driftwood and prayed. 

After almost a month, some green stems began to emerge and now (several months later) I have a pretty good layer of moss. However, the dead brown stuff is still visible and is making a mess as it decays.

As I was perusing some forums, I noticed that some people seem to put their moss in a glass jar and put it by the window sill until it begins to pearl and grow. Is this a standard practice to get the moss growing? It seems like a good idea, I just don't know how I would prepare the water and what kind of carbon source I would use....I figure you could use almost any gardening plant supplement since it's not in a biological tank with fauna.

Thanks for any suggestions,
CCC


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

I am having problems with growing moss as well, I currently have some attached to my driftwood in my 20g with C02, we'll have to see what it looks like in weeks. I have a bunch extras and placed them in a jar. I will be getting 2 nize size softball of java moss soon, and i'll probably add that to another tank or something and see how it does.


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

I have never recieved dead and brown moss, that said, I let my extra moss float at the top of my aquarium and it quickly grew too large. I have since moved all moss not attached to my driftwood elsewhere. I think proper ferts, good light, and handpicking out the dead moss should do the trick. As far as on the windowsill, this stuff really isn't difficult to grow. As a child I grew it in a goldfish tank with one shoplight, and it lived for years.


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## depthc (Mar 7, 2004)

Ive never received browned java moss. Its tough stuff so it ships very well. Most likely it was sold to you in poor condition and because of this you have had to wait it out and watch for it to grow. Ive had much better luck growing java moss when i received it healthy.

Andrew


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Java Moss should be green when you purchase it, if your LFS is receiving brown moss then they are getting poor quality moss. You may want to trim back the moss and try pulling out the dead pieces, however that may be tedious work. Other wise just give it some time and all you should see is green.


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## TripleC (Mar 11, 2005)

The moss I got was from aquariumplants.com...not from my LFS. It definitely showed up brown. However, as I mentioned before, someone at my LFS told me that it was normal to come that way and would grow green with time. It deifinitely did grow and pearl a little bit, but it's just not as pretty as I'd like.

So what's the consensus on the window sill idea? Would it grow if I put it into a glass jar with some tank water and ferts?


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Maybe there wasn't damped enough, give it some time and it should grow.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

It should do just fine in a glass jar on a window sill but I would keep an eye out for algae and green water. The sun is much stronger than aquarium lighting.

I have made green water by adding a few grains of Miracle Grow to a quart jar and left it on a window sill. I have had it happen within a few days in direct sun.

I would probably just use some aquarium water and do water changes on the jar when you do them on your tank. Why don't you just put a small amount of your moss in a jar and see what happens? What can it hurt?

If you decide to do it, post your results. It would be interesting to find out how it works!


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## TripleC (Mar 11, 2005)

MatPat said:


> I would probably just use some aquarium water and do water changes on the jar when you do them on your tank. Why don't you just put a small amount of your moss in a jar and see what happens? What can it hurt?
> 
> If you decide to do it, post your results. It would be interesting to find out how it works!


I'm working on getting some X-mas moss...will post when I get some...I'm not going to up root my current Java moss, cause it's just getting itself established.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

never had green water on the window sill, becareful if it gets too hot it'll turn brown and won't grow.


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## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

I always put the moss on rock and wood and just fertilize the tank according to Tom Barrs recommendation, i have great success and have grown 7 species of moss. Light in all my tanks with moss is 2.5+ wpg. If the moss is brown then i would be upset with the place i got it from, it should be green it always is when i recieve it. I have had "dead" moss come back to life however. I put a peice of driftwood in my chlorinated pool for 2 weeks to kill the moss. it was brown and dead needless to say. But when i put it back in my tank it came back within a week full boar.


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## TripleC (Mar 11, 2005)

Everyone says that the brown moss is bad quality, but I placed the order from www.aquariumplant.com, which is a reputable place....Anyway, it's definitely alive, but maybe I'll get some moss from somewhere else next time.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Funny I have java moss growing beautifully in my son's 12 gallon guppy tank. Beautiful, thick, bushy, clean, etc. His tank is one of those eclipse with everything in the hood including a 13w compact light. No ferts, no anything, except fish poop.

Meanwhile I have a 46gallon planted, co2, ferts, 2 wpg and the stuff doesn't grow nearly as well.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I agree, it shouldn't arrive anything but green. Perhaps it wasn't the shippers fault, but maybe conditions along the way.

Anyway, since you have new healthy shoots coming out, I'd just seperate them and get rid of the brown stuff since it's just going to decompose in your tank. Your new shoots will multiply in no time in good conditions.

I've had a little cup (actually one of the plastic things that Betta's come in with the vented top) of Taiwan moss sitting on the counter out of direct sunlight, and it's been doing very well. The Java should do the same.


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