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JAVA MOSS Vesicularia dubyana |
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Introduction: You need no gravel or substrate to grow Java moss. However, it will attach to bits of gravel which keep it from drifting throughout your tank Java moss attaches even better to rocks and driftwood (and plastic tubing and sponge filters). It looks like the above in the beginning.
Origins: Originally from Java and other Southeast Asian countries. Java moss now comes from aquatic plant farms or from friends’ aquaria -- or, of course, from Aqualand. Oddly enough, the moss we ship in comes in brown and looks dead. We raise our own. It grows better in some tanks than others.
Suggestions: If you want faster growth, fluff up your moss to let more light get to it. If you want to colonize a rock or piece of wood, lash your moss to your decor item with fishing line or rubber bands. You can also staple it to your wood. Not practical on rocks. Java moss looks best as an inch-thick growth on your wood. Personal opinion. Fertilizers: When you fertilize Java moss, you get faster growth and greener growth. Your fish provide plenty of fertilizer most of the time.
Water Flow: Java moss loves moving water. Put some in your outdoor pond waterfall spillway. It grows unbelievably well in spillways -- becoming almost a terrestrial plant. Check the flow of water in your aquarium. Its love of fast moving water can plug your filter. When the strands get sucked into a power filter, they tend to wrap around your impellor and impede or even stop it.
Dirty Moss: In tanks with inadequate filtration, digested food and other detritus can accumulate in your Java moss. Solution? Clean your tank, you lazy turkey. Seriously tho, you can vacuum it with a slow gravel cleaner or take it out and rinse it lightly in the sink.
Terrarium/Paludarium/Frog Tank: Any terrarium with a drip system or waterfall could probably carpet a wall or floor with Java moss. Since it grows emersed. This stuff makes a perfect anole waterer on an anole tank wall. Java moss works as well as misting and definitely looks better. Staple it to strips of plastic window screen. Make sure it reaches a continuous water source.
Lighting: Medium level lighting encourages Java moss to grow fast --
possibly so fast you need to thin it out. After all, you want your fish
to swim around your tank -- not stay in one place.
Killifish Tanks. Many killie keepers use Java moss as an egg-laying site. Java moss pulls fish wastes out of their water. It also grows in the low light small aquaria many killie keepers maintain. You still need to make water changes, however. To make a killifish spawning mop out of Java moss:
Tetras/Barbs/Danios: Java moss makes a perfect egg-laying site for these minnows. Ditto goldfish, a much larger minnow. All the Livebearers: Newly born livebearers elude their hungry parents by hiding in the Java moss. Lots of tiny edible critters also live in the moss. Much better baby saver than hornwort. Also way better for the mommas than those miniscule breeding traps.
Water:
Java moss grows just fine in
Brackish
Water: Some fishes (mollies, archers, bumblebee gobies, puffers,
morays, etc.) require extra salt. Java moss grows just fine in brackish
water.
Reproduction: Many plants reproduce by root division. Java moss reproduces by dividing up your current moss colony and spreading it from tank to tank.
Willow
Moss: Oft times you see this name used synonymously with Java moss.
The two are actually different but are both so often used interchangeably,
that you may never know which is which. Does it matter? Several species
of both exist to further confuse the issue. Willow moss grows in cooler
water. Java moss grows in warmer water. Last
Word: Java moss thrives under less than perfect conditions. It grows
best in medium light. And, once you add it to a tank, it is not always
easy to get rid of. Under different conditions, Java moss grows
differently. LA. © 2003, © 2004, © 2005 LA Productions
3600 Sixth Avenue Corner of Sixth & Euclid Avenues Des Moines, IA 50313 515 283-0300 |
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