Java moss problems

sivic

sivic

rum's my friend
Aug 6, 2004
211
0
16
43
Cincinnati Ohio
sivic.has-my.info
So i recently got myself some java moss. Got a pretty nice size ball that i broke apart into 4 decent pieces. I have 3 pieces in my 55gallon and 1 piece in my smaller other tank. The piece is my small tank is very green and perfect just like when i first got it. Well 2 of the 3 pieces in my 55 gallon are starting to develop alot of brown patches. And the other piece is growing some kind of black fuzz on it but is staying green. Anybody have any kind of advice? My lights really arent that great but its supposed to be a low light plant.

Is there any kind of supplements i should add into the water to provide for the moss? Thanks
 
Java moss shouldn't need any special care. It's probably the hardiest aquarium plant I know of. I don't think supplements are necessary, especially under low lighting. That would probably just lead to algae problems.

I've had the brown and black fuzz before. I think it's algae. Snip off as much as you can. I'm pretty sure Java moss lead to a serious and persistent case of black bearded algae in my tanks, and I ended up getting rid of it all. I more recently got another bunch, and haven't had any problems - yet...
 
I have the Java moss and also a case of BBA. I was wondering though is the Java moss supose to send out long string across the tank. Its like a spiders web floating across the yard. Anyway it gets on all the plants. It seams no mater how much I pull out its still back the next day.
 
Okay so the black fuzz isnt anything to worry about, but why is patches of the moss turning brown? if this stuff is supposed to be so as you say the hardiest plant what am i doing wrong that its turning brown? I do have a high pH in the ~8.0 range cause thats just how my tap water is. Could that lead to its brown color change?
 
I have the same issue with my moss and BBA - infested my entire tank with the stuff. I am continuing dosing my ferts and have CO2. I am currently testing out a siesta period of 4hrs starting at mid-day. This is coontorlling it and the stuff I have removed has not returned - still loads of it in the tank though!
 
The black fuzz is a problem.

I have a similar problem right now. I pulled most of the moss washed it out in a bucket and it is now sitting in a bucket of clean water. This was in my Dwarf Puffer tank. I take it to be a sign that the tank is too dirty in general. Over feeding seems to be a problem with those little devils. I think the algae is smothering the moss.

I keep clumps of java moss around because it grows so fast, though most it is attached to driftwood. I find the clumps do best in clean low light tanks, but I still wash them out periodically. I even pull the whole piece of driftwood out, java fern and moss and all and rinse it out every so often. More water flow and better filtration would probably help.

I had a similar problem with hair algae in another tank. It was growing on a piece of driftwood and out competing the moss. I used Flourish excel in that case and it killed off the hair algae and didn't effect the java moss.

I pull java moss out of tanks almost on a weekly basis. I find I prefer less of it, especially on driftwood. Just enough to see that it is covering the wood. It stays cleaner and looks better that way, at least to me.
 
regarding the moss turning brown..

When i introduced mine to the tank, I tied it to a rather large piece of driftwood. I found that if I spread it out thinly over the driftwood it all stayed nice and green. But if I layered it too deeply, the stuff on the bottom turned brown. The initial thin layers grew (rather quickly) and soon I had a nice thick layer of deep green moss.

Put it where you want it.. a thin layer at first.. and soon you'll have more than you know what to do with.
 
It's also fairly common to have alittle bit of die-off when you move plants from one tank to another. I had some browning of my J-maoss when I first got it, and after a bit it started growing nicely and has ever since. the brown spots won't come back, but you'll see new green shoots off the end eventually. I have found that Java Moss is harder to kill than any algea I have ever seen.
Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom