I just bought 20 shrimp and some java moss on ebay and was wondering how to look after java moss.
I have a 2.4 which is the main reason I bought the moss, the tank is on my windowsill, will the moss grow? The plants seem to be growing outrageously in my 17litre im not sure the bulb wattage but everything looks awesome. What I want to know is will this plant die in direct sunlight?
Java moss is extremely easy to care for and has very low requirements. I have some in my "tank of fate" (where I put excess snails and plants that I don't think will make it) on my windowsill too. Just make sure the moss stays wet and has nutrients to feed on and doesn't bake from the heat of the sun.
For those with experience with moss, what do you recommend? It seems that all of them will spread and will need eventual trimming. Are some less invasive than others? What is best for a "carpet look." Are all of those going to need regular trimming?
You'll need to tie the moss to somethign to weigh it down; otherwise as far as I am aware it needs nothing. I have recently bought some and the tank gets natural light (not direct light); tank lights are almost never on. The window next to the tank faces north and I don't fertilize.
I wanted something really low maintenance as was recommende java moss :). I can't use fertilizers in my tank so I was more limited than normal.
Java moss has the least amount of care requirements. If you want a carpet look, simply get enough moss to sparsely cover the area you want carpeted, then cut a section of craft mesh/needlepoint canvas to size and sew the moss onto it with fishing line or cotton/nylon thread. Place it in the tank so that the moss is on the bottom and the canvas is on top. Over time, the moss will grow through the canvas and give you an even carpeted look. If you are impatient, you can sew the moss to the top of the canvas--but the result tends to be a lot less even and you get a very lumpy lawn. You will also need a lot more moss to get started.
The downside to using java moss is that the strands often come loose and can look very sloppy if you have other plants that end up with strands all over them--or other parts of your substrate end up having strands poking out of them. So annoying. Christmas moss looks a lot like java, but it has higher care requirements and is thicker. It also grows in a bit differently, also, and doesn't have a tendency to shed strands nearly as much. I prefer to tie this moss onto rocks or driftwood.
"The downside to using java moss is that the strands often come loose and can look very sloppy if you have other plants that end up with strands all over them--or other parts of your substrate end up having strands poking out of them. So annoying."
See, I like that look - it looks SO natural, IMO. Different strokes, I guess. :)
Im being optimistic here but if my moss does grow how do I trim it, can I just cut it with a scissors? by this I mean, if I wanted to put some of the plant in to a different tank could I just simply cut it in half?
As for the mesh idea, I was going to do something similar as a background but I like the carpet look too. Maybe i could turn it into a green box lol
Java moss is really just a tangle of individual strands. If you wanted to separate a ball of it to place in separate tanks, it would be better just to pull it apart gently so you keep the strands mostly together. As for pruning, scissors work fine. You will have to do this when the java moss grows because as it does, the top strands begin to take up all the light, causing the strands below it to die off. If this happens, your carpet starts to lift up off the mesh and you have a floating clump rather than a carpet.
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