# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk > Aquatic Moss Club >  The Moss Growers of Boon Keng

## timebomb

Hi, folks,

In Singapore, many fish shops sell mosses and liverworts. A few even specialise in these plants. One of such shops is called "System Engineering and Control". It's a strange name for a fish shop but that's because they were previously a hardware store. Hobbyists know the shop as "Bioplast" because they are the sole dealer for this particular brand. The shop is located just opposite my house, along a street called Boon Keng Road.

The folks at Bioplast grow bryophytes better than any one I know. Most of their tanks are brightly lit with suspended metal halides. The 2 display tanks at the front of the shop get a lot of sunlight in the afternoons but there's hardly any algae in their tanks. They use chillers to keep the temperature at around 24 degrees Centigrade. They say that one of the key factors to grow mosses well is to change water frequently. It seems they do it once every 2 days although the tanks have very light fish-loads. Anyway, here are some pictures:

The display tank. There are all kinds of bryophytes in the tank. You may already be familiar with some of them. 


The same tank from another angle:


I've seen the Mini-Pellia (_Riccardia sp_)grown well in quite a few fish shops but only in Bioplast, does the plant grow so thick and green:


I have more pictures but I'll post them a few at a time over the next few days. This is so you have to come back here everyday  :Laughing: 

Loh K L

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## Piscesgirl

Wow, I'm very impressed!

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## FC

Yes, this shop has nice display tanks, the owner put alot of efforts in upkeeping them. The shop is really dedicated to planted tank hobby. However, they carry too little equipment, fish foods, etc, so it is not a one-stop-shop. I like to visit the shop but there is hardly anything to but there, even though I tried hard to partronise the shop. I really think that they can do better (business) than that.

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## amber2461

Wow ... this is one of the shop(s) to go visit when I am in Singapore then ...  :Wink:

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## wEiPInG

Yes. Bioplast is a nice place with *many many* types of mosses. Almost all in the market. the owner can give you an intro to the mosses there. I agree that they do not sell a lot of equipments there. They also do not sell much fishes there too. Plant wise, erm, they so sell some, but not much, and the moss are mostly not for sale, i think. One very good thing about that shop is that they give CO2 refill in 10 minutes!!! Normally you need to wait for 3 days thereabout. the price is the same as most other shops. Will definitely visit the place if i am in the area.

Wei Ping

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## timebomb

Okay, folks, more pictures as promised.

The Mini-Pellia growing beautifully on a rock.


The plant can be grown several ways. One is to tie it to drifwoods.


Or to simply wrap it up with netting. This method is good when the
plant is grown on smooth, round rocks. 


One can also grow the plant on wire mesh. This method is useful if you're using it as a carpet plant for your foreground.


Next up is the mysterious _Fissidens_ that Ben Yau found. The professor says this _Fissidens_ isn't native to Singapore but look how well it grows in Bioplast's tanks. 


A close-up:


Even closer:


The plant is tied to small pieces of wire mesh and sold that way. Don't ask me how much one piece costs though. It's best if you find out yourself.


I'll be gone for a few days but when I come home next week, I'll post more pictures. In the meantime, drool  :Laughing: 

Loh K L

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## Yong Foo

I always frequent there to admire their moss.  ::smt023:  
I think they are the only shop left that is able to grow moss into it's true form. Shop owners are also very friendly.

Regards
Yong Foo

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## kimco

Hi,

Is it only me or does the mini pelia looks suspiciously like the so-called "coral moss"?? or as the Tropica guys call them "special moss"??

KG

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## erirku

Damn, Just DAMN!!!
That tank is just too damn wonderful. Too bad this petshop wasn't in my neighborhood, just Damn! I would be purchasing everything that they had to sell form that tank, especially the mini pelia and fissidens species, just makes me drool really hard looking at those pics! I blame you Kol and only you! Just kidding Loh, nice pics. Thanks Eric.

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## timebomb

KG, 

It so happens when I was in Kuala Lumpur, I saw the *moss* you mentioned. Tropica lists it under the category "various mosses". I think it's fair to deduce from such a categorisation, that Tropica does not know the identity of the *moss* they're selling  :Laughing:  If you're wondering why I put the word *moss* in asterisks, it's because I suspect it isn't a moss in the first place but a liverwort. I could be wrong, of course but I'm quite sure the so-called Coral Moss isn't the same as the Mini-Pellia which is a liverwort.

Anyway, here are more pictures. This is Bioplast's second display tank. As with the first one, it's full of byrophytes:


This picture shows the high rate of pearling in Bioplast's tanks. The streams of bubbles are never-ending.


Willow Moss (_Fontinalis antipyretica_) tied to driftwood and pearling as if they're _Riccia fluitans_  :Laughing: 


Loh K L

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## timebomb

More pictures of the mosses in Bioplast fish shop:

We do not know the identity of this moss but it's very beautiful. I've not seen it on sale anywhere other than in Bioplast.



Loh K L

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## greenmiddlefinger

Jeez . . . I'm swooning over that last moss, can't get it outta my head . . .  :Opps:  

um . . . I don't know if my opinion would help any, but the crowns of this moss reminds me of how plagiomnium branches look when they bud emersed.

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## timebomb

It could very well be a _Plagiomnium_, Steven but we won't know for sure until the professor has examined it. I'll be posting more pictures of the tanks in Bioplast later.

Loh K L

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## timebomb

Besides those we already know, Bioplast also has a new moss which looks very much like Java but isn't. It does not have a common name yet and I'm tempted to call it Mini-Java. Although I detest how the market attaches the prefix "Mini" to various types of mosses, this moss in Bioplast certainly looks like a mini form of Java Moss. Here are the pictures:





I'll be bringing some of this moss to the professor next week. I'll let you know the results of his examination.

Loh K L

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## greenmiddlefinger

Loh-- before I left for college I put some of my plagiomnium in a water-fall environment. The change in the moss is huge:

before:


after:



I'll try to get a better after shot, but all in all, it's formed crowns like the ones in the photo of the moss we were talking about!

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## Martin

> Loh-- before I left for college I put some of my plagiomnium in a water-fall environment. The change in the moss is huge:
> 
> before:
> 
> 
> after:
> 
> 
> 
> I'll try to get a better after shot, but all in all, it's formed crowns like the ones in the photo of the moss we were talking about!


arrgh... where's the last photo!!?

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## Green Baron

I had plagiomnium growing in my office tank for more than 6 months. While they can survive under water, they do not look as nice as when they are growing emersed and under humid environment.
I have since discarded all the plagiomnium.

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## fish newb

Nice display tanks there. My lfs near me is setting up a 150gallon tank so that should be nice when it is done. Its nice to see a store that is deticated to moss. But with that does come a price. Your pictures are great too. 

More Pictures Please?

- Andrew

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## timebomb

Sure, Andrew. Your wish is my command  :Smile:  

Bioplast has many display tanks, some of which are "one plant tanks". In other words, there's only one species of aquarium plant in the tank. Usually, it's hard to create a nice aquascape with only one species of plant but Bioplast does it quite well with the various bryophytes. Here's an example:

Close-up:


Doesn't it look like a single tree growing on a field of grassland. The Crystal Red Shrimps are like cows grazing on the field.

The bryophyte is _Fissidens fontanus_, a plant that came from Tony aka Gomer who lives in the United States. According to the professor, the _F. fontanus_ can be found in most parts of North America.

Loh K L

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## RRG

> Doesn't it look like a single tree growing on a field of grassland. The Crystal Red Shrimps are like cows grazing on the field.


Even before I read the comment (I saw the picture first) that was my thoughts exactly!  :Laughing:  

The shrimps would look more like a grazing cows if it is one of those black and white shrimp (bumblebee shrimp?).

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## escahmo

> Sure, Andrew. Your wish is my command  
> 
> Bioplast has many display tanks, some of which are "one plant tanks". In other words, there's only one species of aquarium plant in the tank. Usually, it's hard to create a nice aquascape with only one species of plant but Bioplast does it quite well with the various bryophytes. Here's an example:
> 
> Close-up:
> 
> 
> Doesn't it look like a single tree growing on a field of grassland. The Crystal Red Shrimps are like cows grazing on the field.
> 
> ...


What moss is that????

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## Martin

read the comment for the 2nd picture... 



> The bryophyte is Fissidens fontanus, a plant that came from Tony aka Gomer who lives in the United States. According to the professor, the F. fontanus can be found in most parts of North America.

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## fish newb

> Sure, Andrew. Your wish is my command  
> 
> Bioplast has many display tanks, some of which are "one plant tanks". In other words, there's only one species of aquarium plant in the tank. Usually, it's hard to create a nice aquascape with only one species of plant but Bioplast does it quite well with the various bryophytes. Here's an example:
> 
> (pictures removed to save space.)
> 
> Doesn't it look like a single tree growing on a field of grassland. The Crystal Red Shrimps are like cows grazing on the field.
> 
> The bryophyte is _Fissidens fontanus_, a plant that came from Tony aka Gomer who lives in the United States. According to the professor, the _F. fontanus_ can be found in most parts of North America.
> ...


Loh K L,

could you see if the prof. has a picture of the moss emersed? i might have to go hunting for it, but winter is fast aproaching so i only will have a few months. On the other hand a person my age in Canada reported finding some fissidens emersed and was trying to submerge them. He made a topic on TPT will look for the link for you. 

Thanks for those pictures, I have seen tanks like this and they look amazing especially with those red cows tending to the field  :Very Happy:  i hope to someday create a display tank like this with a fissidens, hopefully a local one to make more of an impact!

As I'm always begging, more pics please? Living in the USA has some disatvantages, especially not being able to go moss shopping with you guys over in Japan  :Evil:  !

- Andrew -

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## RRG

> Living in the USA has some disatvantages, especially not being able to go moss shopping with you guys over in Japan  !


Actually these fish shops are in Singapore, but I'm sure Japan is another great destination to go shopping, and also don't forget Denmark.  :Very Happy:

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## Martin

Denmark isn't a place to shop moss. We have very few species here unfortunately..

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## Martin

though I do collect, covet and hoard mosses.
And I'm trying to convince Tropica to start producing more mosses. Especially Fissidens

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## fish newb

> Living in the USA has some disatvantages, especially not being able to go moss shopping with you guys over in Japan  !
> 
> 
> Actually these fish shops are in Singapore, but I'm sure Japan is another great destination to go shopping, and also don't forget Denmark.


Stupid me. Stupid me. 

Sorry, im an American lol. I'm sorry about that.  :Sad:  

back on topic now, More pictures?! Please!

- Andrew

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## timebomb

Andrew,

I don't think the professor has any pictures of the _Fissidens fontanus_. The moss came from Gomer who said it sprang up from a piece of driftwood he collected from a pond in Louisana. 

As for more pictures, I'll see if I can get some more over the weekend. I have to pay Bioplast a visit before I can take new ones.

Loh K L

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## dzwarych

The Bioplast fissidens tank pic is great...but with all background blacked out to hide equipement, would be fantastic!

Kwek Leong, Ok to blackout background equipment using Photoshop for my personal use and to post here?

DaveZ

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## timebomb

Sure, Dave. Feel free to do what you like with the pictures. As long as you don't remove the "www.killies.com" stamp, I'm okay with whatever you want to do with the pics.

Loh K L

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## fish newb

> Andrew,
> 
> I don't think the professor has any pictures of the _Fissidens fontanus_. The moss came from Gomer who said it sprang up from a piece of driftwood he collected from a pond in Louisana. 
> 
> As for more pictures, I'll see if I can get some more over the weekend. I have to pay Bioplast a visit before I can take new ones.
> 
> Loh K L


Oh I see, Well I have relatives in Mississippi and we are going to visit them in November for "Thanksgiving" We are flying into Louisiana. So maybe, just probably  :Rolling Eyes:  I will ship home a box of moss collected there!

- Andrew

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## PLee

Pardon me for noobie... Can anyone let me know what is the address of this amazing shop. Need to "Pop" in!!! :P

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## lEddyl

> Pardon me for noobie... Can anyone let me know what is the address of this amazing shop. Need to "Pop" in!!! :P


BIOPLAST (System & Control Engineering Co.)
BLK 22 Boon Keng Road, #01-23, Singapore 330022
Tel: 62964916, 62964919

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