Moss, wtf is this stuff

[congealedmeat]

I got some moss today, I bought it without researching because good plants go really fast around here, and there's only a couple stores with plants worth looking at.

The moss is a dark green with some red/brown hairs in it. I haven't been able to find pics of any kinds of moss like this. For now I stuck it in a crack in a rock up in the light. It's almost a ball right now, just a tangled mass of moss fibers. Nothing nearly as fine as with Cladophora balls though, much longer thicker strands. I can take pics if no one knows what it is without them.

Does most moss like higher light? I've only got about 1.5 WPG.

 

[Harlock]

I'm not that familiar with moss and since it's not a marimo ball... Maybe RTR or someone else who has been in the plant biz for a while will pop in and have a look see?

 

[Timmain42]

Are the "hairs" more like fronds? Might they be decayed moss fronds?

Moss will grow under higher light than 1.5, it'll also grow in less. It tends to be pretty hardy stuff.

 

[beviking]

Java moss is green and dead pieces look brown. Does it look like this...
http://www.tropica.com/productcard_1.asp?id=003

It looks nice in the pic, but when it's loose, it's just a mass of moss.

 

[congealedmeat]

It could be, I'm not sure if the brown/red stuff is dead yet. I'll try taking a couple pics later today and post em. It could be Java Moss, but it's definitely not 100% green.

The guy at the pet store said that he recieved it just wrapped up in newspaper, not even in water, but it was still pretty wet.

 

[beviking]

Most plants are shipped in wet paper. Shipping is a bit more when you include the weight of water.

 

[congealedmeat]

Oh ok, I wasn't sure if that was typical or not beviking.

Ok so here's a pic of the moss, one from my 10G and one from my 30G.

It is redder than in the pics, and thick.

 

[james1644]

What you bought is Java Moss and it is very undemanding. It will take a little time to acclimate to your tank and you may have some areas that die off. You did a good thing to put the moss in the wood as for Java Moss doesn't do well if it is put into the substrate and generally anything underneath the substrate will die off. If you want the moss to gorw all over your wood or would like to anchor it to the wood you can use fishing line to tie it to the ornament until it takes hold itself.

I use Java moss for some of my decorations and tie it to it with the line and after a few months I can cut the line. The moss grows slowly at first, but after some time it gets a better growth rate. It will grow in the 1.5 watts.

HTH

Jim

 

[congealedmeat]

are you sure though? I've not seen any pics of java moss that looked like this. It has red and brown hairs in it.

Does anyone have any large pics of javamoss so I can see what the hairs look like?

 

[Mooch28]

Sorry, dont mean to intrude this thread with other questions, but can moss be trimmed pretty much any where? Lets say i wana keep it at 1-2 inches in height on a piece of wood, can it be done by trimming?