# I have discovered moss



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Well, sort of. I am sure it is not something new but its new to me. The story behind it is also of interest i think. It seems to testify to the hardiness of the mosses. Just after the new year, I went home for Christmas. Home for me is southeastern Ohio but I live in New England now. Anyway, one thing I wanted to do while I was home was check out the local lake for driftwood, rocks branches and the like. Now two things. First the lake is mostly drained in the early winter for flood control in the spring so most of the lake is only up to 12' in the summer and almost dry in the winter. Also, at the time when I was home the weather had been bitterly cold for a while. The entire time I was there it never went above 20` F. I found some nice pieces of driftwood in varying weathered states. 

I packed the pieces, which were mostly dry and frozen in a box, in my suitcase and brought them back. They sat around and dried out for close to month before I decided to use one as a centerpiece for a 10 gall low light. I am impatient so instead of soaking and boiling and all I washed it well and used some fishing line to tie it to a piece of slate and put it in my tank.

About 2-3 weeks ago I decided to vamp up the scape a bit and so I pulled the wood out to tie some anubias and ferns to. In the process I relieve I had mossed some mud adn leaf litter so I decided to scrub it off again in the sink. While doing so I found what looked like moss on the underside. It was all brown and I figured it was dead but I decided, what the heck and put some of it in a shallow bowl with some water in my emerged setup. Today I discovered it was growing. Very small and new growth but it is a lovely bright green and there are numerous "branches"about 1/8-1/4 inch long. It looks like pics I have seen of erect moss or something. Actually, it looks a lot like Geo's "nano" moss from a while back. 

I just wanted to share this. Sorry Also, does anyone have any ideas to help it survive. I would have to kill it at this point. Some of the growth seems to be above water. Should I try to separate out the obviously live stuff. How can I best continue to propagate this.

Thanks


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## Daemonfly (Mar 21, 2004)

Does it look like this:

http://www.daemonfly.com/images/mosses/urkevitzmosssubmersed.jpg

http://www.daemonfly.com/images/mosses/urkevitzmossemersed.jpg


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Dennis, give us a photo when you think its the appropriate size for ID. There are a couple of avid moss growers on the forum. I would say keep it moist in a shallow bowl of water, and use the fertilized tank water so it get a little nutrients. Keep it warm. You may have a nice find there.

Steve


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I will post a pic when possible. I looks a lot, at least in the shape and structure, like what deamonfly has. Hard to tell from pics and the small size of mine. I am sure it is nothing special but I was amazed to have it after the story that goes with it Does it matter if mossed grow submersed or emersed. Do the change over from one to the other well?
thanks all.


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## Daemonfly (Mar 21, 2004)

The moss in my pics is from New York state. It grows _straight_ up, about an inch long. As far as I can tell, theres very little difference I can see in either emersed or submersed states. Emersed just has more of a "patch" at the bottom. According to the guy I got it from, he thinks its one of the very common mosses in the US. I did just ship some to Loh Kwek Leong to give to his scientist friend for examination.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Daemonfly,

I've had that moss come in on FAN plants on occasion. In fact, I've got some growing along with hairgrass right now. I'll be interested to know what it is if it's a greenhouse pest.

Best,
Phil


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## Daemonfly (Mar 21, 2004)

He did a Google search and _thinks_ it is Leptodictyum riparium, or "Streamside Leptodictyum" moss.

Other than that, I have no idea. Not sure about being a pest, as it spreads quite slowly


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## wicked_good_guppies (Mar 19, 2004)

I have a couple things you can do to try and keep it ailve;
1. Try and keep it cool most mosses prefer water temps below 80.
2. Try and keep the water moving if you keep it immersed most live in moving water.
3. Don't over fertilize most like less rather than more.
4. Some prefer to be emmersed so experiment to see the way it likes it.
5. When it grows out trade some it to me for some asian mosses :lol: 

Good luck if it looks like the pictures it should be very cool looking in a tank.


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## nonamethefish (Feb 25, 2004)

Not sure whats going on, but do you guys just find stremside moss and see if it will grow in your tanks? I've found some really stringy looking stems in a pot of sphagnum moss I have. They look like the "mini anacharis" one person was offering on aquabid. Should I try and see if they will grow submerged?


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## Daemonfly (Mar 21, 2004)

Sure. You could always put it in a small jar, etc...

I saw the Mini-Anacharis moss and it looks similar to mine, and sounds similar to Dennis' moss. If so, it does well submerged. I found minegrows emersed ONLY if it has a higher humidity level available to it, so it likes a lot of moisture


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## nonamethefish (Feb 25, 2004)

Allright, I'll give it a try. They are multiplying in my Venus flytrap pot.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

that moss looks so cool..... reminds me of Gomer's nano moss from southern california


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## Aaron (Feb 12, 2004)

The "mini anacharis" can be found in humid, wet spots in the mountains of Oahu, Hawaii. From what I've observed there are four or five prominent mosses in these areas and of those, only one will actually live submered. It grows very loosely over rocks, and solid substrate, I have never seen it on decaying/ dead wood. It doesn't really attach itself to anything. The person who posted it on AB introduced it to me a while back and I have been keeping it off and on ever since. It needs very soft water to grow. 

Last sept, I went to Hong Kong and bought a moss that was obviously pulled off of some terrestrial substrate. It looked interesting, the fronds were circular in shape. After cultivating it submersed it ended up looking EXACTLY the same as the "mini anacharis"! 

A couple of years prior to this, I was in Washington state and came across a really pretty moss in the woods that looked a lot like xmas moss. At the time, I had no idea what xmas was, but I brought it home and submerged it. The result, you guessed it... mini anacharis. 

Maybe all terrestrial mosses that can withstand being submersed grow this way in an attempt to breach the water surface, some kind of aero-tropism? Still I am puzzled how much they look alike when grown submersed.


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## timebomb (Jan 23, 2004)

Daemonfly said:


> I did just ship some to Loh Kwek Leong to give to his scientist friend for examination.


Daemonfly,

This is to let you know the moss you sent arrived in good condition. Thanks. The professor is taking a break from his work but as soon as he's free, I will bring your moss to him for identification.

Loh K L


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## Daemonfly (Mar 21, 2004)

Ah, good to hear. I was told it didn't make it well. I sent some to another guy in Singapore & his got crushed & came in mostly brown.


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