# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk > Aquatic Moss Club >  Java Moss

## Scott_sg

Ok I am going to ask you all a simple plant question...
What are the ideal conditions for growing java moss? I can never get enough of the stuff, it does not die on me but never seems to grow that much either. When I hunt around online it gets more confusing, different people list different conditions, some say they have to throw buckets of the stuff every couple of months others say it is slow growing, some say lots of light some say not too much and so on..

I am thinking of setting up some to grow in a small tank or container by itself just to give me a steady supply for my fish. If such a thing makes sense??

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Scott.

----------


## timebomb

Scott, I grow lots of Java Moss but I never throw any away. There's always a hobbyist who wants it so I make it a point to give the excess to someone.

To grow moss, what you need is cold water. Under normal conditions in Singapore, mosses don't grow well. You need to have a cooling fan at least. Anything around 28 degrees C and below would be fine.

The other thing is light. Mosses can grow under low-light conditions but under high lights, they grow much faster. 

It so happens I have a bunch of Java Moss waiting for a hobbyist who wants it. I can mail it to you if you let me have your address.

Loh K L

----------


## keehoe

Scott, maybe lower it to 26 would help. Put some ice in growup tank help also. The most important factor is. Cold water and slightly low PH.

----------


## whuntley

To the good advice already given, I would add the following. Java Moss is pretty salt-tolerant and has even been collected in brackish estuaries. I once kept it alive for a couple of years in 50% sea water with my Pantanodons.

It is, however, like most living things, dependent on the balance of the dissolved electrolytes in the water. I moved to Modesto, where the water was too pure (<50 ppm tds) with virtually no essential sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium. When I tried to relieve the osmotic pressure of such pure water, by adding a little sodium chloride, I promptly ruined my Java Moss and Java Ferns. It also made the fish weak and sickly.

All recovered quickly when I added a little Seachem "Equilibrium" to restore some of those essential electrolytes. It didn't take very much, but I often wonder if the different results folks have with Java Moss could be for similar reasons.

Sodium and potassium are very interactive in cell-wall transport mechanisms, I am told. One, without the other, can thus be very toxic. If you can't get "Equilibrium" o/e, add a little of the salt-substitute sold at the grocery for folks on a low-sodium diet. It is KCl and sold here in the US under brand names like "No-Salt." The hard water ions (Ca++ and Mg++) are easy to get from shells. a bit of dolomite, marble or crushed coral.

Wright

----------


## akira_neon

Hi TimeBomb, do you have spare mosses for me? I would like get some for my planted tank. Thanks!

----------


## TsjaTTer

> To grow moss, what you need is cold water. Under normal conditions in Singapore, mosses don't grow well. You need to have a cooling fan at least. Anything around 28 degrees C and below would be fine.


The "cold" water is always strange for me, here in belgium the water coming out of the tap is probably somewhere between 10°C and 15°C. Summer temperatures are usually around 25°C, with 30°C during heatwaves....

Jan

----------


## fish newb

> Originally Posted by timebomb
> 
> To grow moss, what you need is cold water. Under normal conditions in Singapore, mosses don't grow well. You need to have a cooling fan at least. Anything around 28 degrees C and below would be fine.
> 
> 
> The "cold" water is always strange for me, here in belgium the water coming out of the tap is probably somewhere between 10°C and 15°C. Summer temperatures are usually around 25°C, with 30°C during heatwaves....
> 
> Jan


Heck everything is relative, I'm in the USA and cold water to me is around 50F, so every time I see 26-28C I try and transpose temps lol....

So To them, its cold, to you - warm, me? in the wrong units

Andrew  :COOL!:   :I win:

----------


## akira_neon

Hi Loh K L

I hope if you don't mind, please send some Java Moss to me. Or I would pickup from you if you don't mind. I need to start a 2 feet tank with submerge plant. Under 23-26C in air-con room in my office. Please kindly let me know if you convenient. Thanks!

----------


## stephen chung

> Scott, I grow lots of Java Moss but I never throw any away. There's always a hobbyist who wants it so I make it a point to give the excess to someone.
> 
> To grow moss, what you need is cold water. Under normal conditions in Singapore, mosses don't grow well. You need to have a cooling fan at least. Anything around 28 degrees C and below would be fine.
> 
> The other thing is light. Mosses can grow under low-light conditions but under high lights, they grow much faster. 
> 
> It so happens I have a bunch of Java Moss waiting for a hobbyist who wants it. I can mail it to you if you let me have your address.
> 
> Loh K L


Loh,

I am running my tank between 25 - 27 degrees C but the moss still dies on me but at a slower rate.. I have 4x39 T5 lights on 8hrs/day..

----------


## timebomb

> Hi Loh K L 
> 
> I hope if you don't mind, please send some Java Moss to me. Or I would pickup from you if you don't mind. I need to start a 2 feet tank with submerge plant. Under 23-26C in air-con room in my office. Please kindly let me know if you convenient. Thanks!


Billy, the reason I did not respond to your request the first time you asked is because there's no "location" in your profile. Over here, we expect all users to spell correctly, sign off with real names and include their locations in their profiles. It makes perfect sense, don't you think? How would I know whether I should send the moss to you if I don't even know where you live? You don't have to put in your full address but please let us know which country you're from. The internet is a big place, you know. 

Over here in Killies.com, please be assured I read every single post. Occasionally, I do not answer questions that are directed to me. That's not because I didn't see the question but rather, I chose to ignore it. And I frequently ignore questions for a variety of reasons - if you don't use a real name, if you use sms text in your post, if you anyhow spell, if you..... 

There, now you know what a demanding person I am  :Laughing:  Spell one word incorrectly and I'll ignore your request. Why do you think we have a spellchecker?  :Twisted Evil:  

Loh K L

----------


## akira_neon

Hi Loh K L

Thanks for you reply

Sorry for not stated clearly, since this is the very first time I join a forum. Not even know there is a profile to set and so many things need to follow up. Anyway I had updated according to you request. The location is Woodlands, I think you should know where is Woodlands. Billy is my real name.

By knowing the rules you set to the forum surfers, I wish you happy always.

I had tried Java moss before, but all of them eaten by the 2 x river scrimp before it start to grow properly on the pebble rocks. Anyway, I wish to have another chance, but I would plant the Java moss first before putting in the scrimp.

----------


## joteo

Scott,

I find Java Moss quite an undemanding plant.

But I do notice that if you stir up gravel or if there's a lot of sediment/particles in the water that get trapped in the fronds, those parts will start to brown and they don't seem to become green again. As the moss grows the uncovered portion will get green, but not the stuff below that has trapped dirt.

My tank uses tap water, is placed next to 4 large windows, has no artificial lighting, no CO2, no chiller. Now it has an AC fan attached. Before the AC fan was added, the Java Moss grew, but at a significantly slower pace.

I find that when I get moss from the shops, or from other moss growers here, they always need a long period of acclimitisation before they really start proliferating.

Sometimes everything seems to die - especially those that come from CO2 tanks, but I leave the moss inside and sometimes you will find some new green fronds sprouting. Observe those and when you get a good length of green, cut it off. and retie it to some driftwood.

After that, the moss seems to get used to the water conditions and when you cut and retie after that, it gets so much simpler to propogate.

I use a canister filter without a rainbar. If I tie java moss onto a plastic mesh and put it right next to the outlet point so that you can see the fronds waving about, the fronds here will grow longer than any other part that doesn't get the flow of water.

I find it also helps not to eyeball the moss too much. I think it feels the stress of having to grow.  :Wink: 

Good luck.
joanne

----------


## selena

Joane dear,

Took you so long to notice Scott's posting. Too bad, so sad, Scott MIA for a few months.

-----------------------------
Selena

----------


## RonWill

> J...so sad, Scott MIA for a few months


 and so have you, my dear  :Wink:  Will I be seeing you during Wright's visit? Hopefully, Scott know we all noted his absence.

Billy,
If you're just experimenting, I have a clump of dunnowhat moss with some riccia stucked in them. Not in the best condition but let me know if you're game.

----------


## akira_neon

Hi Ronwill,

Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate your good will.
I just manage to get small patch of Java moss from my friend 2 days ago, I had planted on the pebble rocks. For only 2 days, I saw something like spider web grow on top of the moss. And other plant in the tank also have it. I am quite sure the "spider web" is grown only after the moss was planted. But I am not sure why is it so.

----------

