# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk > Aquatic Moss Club >  Why does my Moss turn brown?

## theanswerseeker

You know, I got several types of MOSS in my tank.
They are Taiwan, Java, Flame and Spiky.

Initially, they grew really well. However, after awhile, they start to turn brown. Not the whole thing brown, but several strands here and there. Like, for every 5 strands, 2-3 are slightly browned. 

It is really sad. I am afraid that they will die off and gone!

Please let me know what can be done to aid this situation.... 
Any tips from the professionals or experienced? :Well done:

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## Shadow

is it algae? or roting?

Care to share your setup parameter? light, tank size, CO2, fert dosing, On time, water temp, etc. Otherwise it is hard to say.

How old is the setup? Emerse moss?

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## theanswerseeker

> is it algae? or roting?
> 
> Care to share your setup parameter? light, tank size, CO2, fert dosing, On time, water temp, etc. Otherwise it is hard to say.
> 
> How old is the setup? Emerse moss?


My light is 20watts. My tank is 8.5 gallons.
I never use CO2 but I will dose Flourish Excel daily. I also added Seachem Flourish once a week. 

Temperature, I am not too sure. But whenever I put my hands in the tank, the water is actually quite cold. I usually on for 9 hours. 

what is emerse moss?

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## Shadow

some of the moss sell at LFS, the one that tied to the wood, if I'm not mistaken it is look like emerse moss. Meaning it was grown out of the water.

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## theanswerseeker

They are Taiwan, Java, Flame and Spiky...
Anyway, any idea why it will turn brown?

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## blackBRUSHalgae

perhaps post some pictures?

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## blue33

What is your water temperature? Water circulation, lighting, etc?

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## Viper007

Any bro have have idea how long does a yellowish moss take to turn back green. If the right measure is taken?

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## Shadow

it may not come back at all.

Yellowish can be due to not enough light or converting from emerse to submerese.

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## Viper007

> it may not come back at all.
> 
> Yellowish can be due to not enough light or converting from emerse to submerese.


Yah I agreed. As I have faced this problem. Moral of the story is do not buy moss that are out of the water from LSF.  :Smile:

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## theanswerseeker

I'm really confused. What are moss that are out of the water?

You mean some moss that I have are actually non-aquarium moss?

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## Viper007

> I'm really confused. What are moss that are out of the water?
> 
> You mean some moss that I have are actually non-aquarium moss?


Nope what I meant was some LSF pack the moss in a plastic bag and it is out from water. (Could be for more then 2-3 days.) Compared to those pack submerge in water in a tub.

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## Shadow

for your info most of the farm grow their plant emerse, because it grow faster nad more cost effective. Emerse mean only the roots that under the water. Back to moss, some moss that is attached to wood is grown in the same way as well. Usually it is nicely stick to the wood without any string. It does not matter what moss, all can be grown the same way.

so if you happen to have digital camera or camera phone, maybe you want to post your moss. It may or may not help identify the problem

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## theanswerseeker

Ok... I am now doing a test...
I cannot remember where I read it from. But I remembered someone saying that we should give a 3 days blackout. Meaning, we off our lights for 3 full days. 

Now, I have offed it for 2 days. I am already seeing results... Wonder if it will work. Anyone tried the same thing as me before?

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## torque6

blackout already ? from the looks of it, it should be conversion from emmerse to submersed form. My experience with taiwan moss is to trimm all the brown leaves, and new submersed form grow in its place. My mosses were nice and green in about 8-9 weeks time with regular dosing of excel (daily)+ trace (weekly).

The thing with mosses is its slow growing, you wouldnt see the effect so soon as oppose to fast growing stem plants.

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## theanswerseeker

goodness... If there any website that i can go to? 
Because you guys know so much that I have totally no idea about.

It is very cool. But my taiwan moss are growing really fast.

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## Shadow

good website on moss: http://www.aquamoss.net/Introduction.htm

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## beetroot

> Ok... I am now doing a test...
> I cannot remember where I read it from. But I remembered someone saying that we should give a 3 days blackout. Meaning, we off our lights for 3 full days. 
> 
> Now, I have offed it for 2 days. I am already seeing results... Wonder if it will work. Anyone tried the same thing as me before?


you mean you did a blackout and the moss turned back green? so what's the result now, did it work?

i thought it was the other way round (not enough light), hehe. initially, i also had moss turning brown and i thought not enough light or nutrients. then i transferred the moss to another tank where it got more sunlight and hopefully more nutrients from the water, and now it's green  :Smile: . low tech for me, no fert, no co2. what's your result of black out?

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## theanswerseeker

It didn't work really well... still black here and there... but my lights was really bright.

You gave it more lights and it became green... Could it be the temperature of the tank? Do moss need cool water?

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## beetroot

i heard moss do well in cooler waters. but i don't have a fan or chiller. temperature hanging around 28C. 

maybe luck  :Laughing: .
my java moss on coconut used to have black strands here and there too like yours. but after about 2 weeks+ in my current tank, with sunlight and perhaps getting nutrients from the ADA soil i'm using, it's back green. Although not as green and pretty like what people using co2 and ferts get, but i'm quite happy with it considering it's a very low tech tank (so long as black strands are not visible like before).

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## theanswerseeker

Yes! I always wanted to have CO2.. but its scary leh.. I heard about it exploding etc. Gosh...

But I really hope my moss will look green and nice

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## Shadow

> i heard moss do well in cooler waters. but i don't have a fan or chiller. temperature hanging around 28C.


Spiky moss, Taiwan moss, Singapore moss and US fissiden are ok in normal water temperature (without chiller). I didn't see any different between those moss in my tank with chiller and with fan only. On the other hand, flame moss and whipping moss does grow differently in cold water (with chiller). Flame moss have more twist and whipping moss does not whip in tank without chiller. but they all grow in tank without chiller.

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## stephan

You have 2 problems

1) Temperatures above 26C are detrimental to most mosses even those from tropical areas
2) Fluorish excel is toxic to most mosses.

Both result in burnt out moss.

regards

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## theanswerseeker

really...?
I dose excel too. but I do face major problems. Just that it looks brown and weird

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## sandeepraghuvanshi

Excel has glutaraldehyde in it as active ingredent.
This kills moss and is also not good some plants like vals, anarchia etc.
Further if they are kpet under direct high light they get killed.
High temp > 25 C also hurt them.

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## blue33

> You have 2 problems
> 
> 1) Temperatures above 26C are detrimental to most mosses even those from tropical areas
> 2) Fluorish excel is toxic to most mosses.
> 
> Both result in burnt out moss.
> 
> regards





> Excel has glutaraldehyde in it as active ingredent.
> This kills moss and is also not good some plants like vals, anarchia etc.
> Further if they are kpet under direct high light they get killed.
> High temp > 25 C also hurt them.


Over dose of excel maybe but excel dont really kill moss, i dose excel in my tank but i've never see my moss die.  :Grin: 

High temp >25 dont kill moss also unless is like 30 degree and above  :Opps: , my tank usually hover around 28degree but my moss flourish well.  :Smile:  Check my tank under my signature, "The Rising Sun" and you know what i mean.  :Wink:

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## Viper007

> You have 2 problems
> 
> 1) Temperatures above 26C are detrimental to most mosses even those from tropical areas
> 2) Fluorish excel is toxic to most mosses.
> 
> Both result in burnt out moss.
> 
> regards


Eer are you sure? :Surprised: 

My tank temp is currently 26C to 27C and I does excel... It kept my moss clear from hair algea and my moss is green and healthy leh.... :Roll Eyes:

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## Morgan01

spiky and java are easy to keep as long as you have matured good quality water

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## stephan

1) Fluorish excel has a different toxicity according to the species of moss you have. With 'normal' dosing tough mosses eg Taxiphyllum species, are not affected at all. However many types of Fissidens, Barbula, Plagiomnium etc are badly affected even at normal concentrations. One extra dose of fluorish excel can easily damage the mosses. I have stopped dosing Fluorish excel when I realised this and mosses like Fissidens nobilis are growing beautifully.
2) Tough moss can grow at temperatures up to 30C, Java even more. But growth is best for all mosses below 25C. I have done many trials before I can say this. With CO2 you can grow mosses at higher temps than they normally prefer. 

good luck 

Stephan

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## lampeye

I have some experiences with moss and Excel that might help shed some light on things. I used it several times in the past with spiky, Taiwan, Singapore, flame and _Fissidens_ mosses, as well as an unidentified _Vesicularia_ I found in a conservatory, and while I would get a week or so of good growth, all would die off rather suddenly until this regimen. I've tried again recently, but this time I'm adding just 3-4 drops per 10 gallons, and I'm getting good growth without browning. It still makes me nervous, though.  :Very Happy:

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