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I love the look of Christmas moss on driftwood, but I haven't seen any on the few plant websites I've looked at. The LFS in my area don't have a good selection of plants so I have to order online.
I don't know the requirements for Christmas moss. I have seen it in LittleFish's 20g and I like the way it looks.
Does anyone know a good plant site where I can order some? Also what are the light requirements?

*Kristin*

GirlieGirl8519,

If you don’t tell anybody, [link=This]http://www.freshwateraquariumplants.com/" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link] is my source for the original batch of Xmas moss that I have in my 29G.

In that tank, with 65W over 29G, it grows very well.
In the 20G, with 40W it grows pretty well too, but not so good in areas that are slightly shaded by other plants.
In the 125G with 384W it grows very well too.

I think in general it needs more then just low light to grow dense and not stringy.

Hope this helps, glad you like it in my 20G,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks...I'll check it out. I like the look of Xmas moss alot better than java moss. I definitely want it in my 10g...but it only has 2wpg. Maybe I can get it to grow if I can make sure it has direct light. I want it in my 55g when I get a new piece of DW. My 55g has 2.4 wpg.
My DW looks really bare without anything on it. I tried anubias coffeefolia before in my 55g, but the just melted away...so I haven't tried anything else on the DW. Thanks for the site.


*Kristin*

Have you tried weeping moss? When on wood it looks quite similar to xmas moss only it grows less erratically and more predictable. It doesn't get stringy or grow out into balls of puff like some of my xmas moss has. I started out attempting to cover the whole back of my 90g in a wall of xmas moss but somewhere around 1/4th done I'd already exhausted my resources. That's when I found a ton of weeping moss on aquabid and I'm much happier with it. It can also be a little easier to find. There's a bunch on aquabid.com again but the picture they have up doesn't look anything like how it's growing on my moss wall and driftwood.

Where is DaMossMan (aka DaFishMan) when you need him ?

sham - That sounds very interesting. Did you ever show us a picture of the moss in your tank. I would really like to see it in action .

I have to say that I never had issues with Xmas moss growing string, except when there is not enough light available. Also, this is the first time that I hear it creates a ball-like structure. Very interesting.

Thanks for the info sham,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

xmas moss does not like my tank. It's mostly just grown out away from the wall into a tangled ball instead of spreading. It never did much when I put it on driftwood. The weeping moss though is doing quite well. You can see pictures if you promise to ignore the thread algae.

[link=http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/aqh88/fish/moss/]http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/aqh88/fish/moss/" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]

What Algae, I didn’t see any

Are these new pictures? It would be interesting to document the growth pattern and duration it takes to cover the back wall.

I have to say that my Xmas moss didn’t really have the chance to grow into new areas in my tanks, so your point of not spreading might be valid in general and not only in your tank. I usually spread it out very thin over the areas that I want to have covered and it grows thick all over these sections.

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 04-Jan-2006 19:53

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sham, do you know any websites that have the weeping moss...besides aquabid? I want to get more plants than just the moss, so I was looking for a plant site that had it.

*Kristin*

Those pictures are new but the moss did most of it's growing in the past few weeks. It took over a month for it to get established. I think weeping moss is a little faster growing than xmas but I also might have put the xmas moss too thick. I didn't want to use that many staples and I don't really see any good way to tie it onto cork board. Even when I spread it thin on the driftwood it just lived and looked the same. If I had enough to cover the entire tank then it might work fine but first I would of had to find a few pounds of it, pay a fortune for it, and then attach all of the moss. Not worth it.

I know aquariumplant.com had some weeping moss but it says they are sold out. I didn't really look for it elsewhere because there are often sellers on aquabid for a good price and someone tore down their tank and sold it off in 1g bags just when I needed some. I know I've seen it other places but in my experience you pay alot when you buy plants like that from stores.

I found this thread on weeping moss with several pics [link=http://killies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1803&start=0&sid=20527dab81c97723be976def9672c93e]http://killies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1803&start=0&sid=20527dab81c97723be976def9672c93e" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]

I have searched for it on the AOL search and didn't find many sites. The site you mentioned..Aquarium Plants...did come up. Too bad it is sold out.
I think I will go with the Christmas moss...maybe it will grow. It is a little cheaper and more readily available and I found it on a site where I can order other plants I want. Thanks for the suggestion though. I can't wait to get a new piece of DW and get some moss.
Is tying it to DW with some kind of string or fishing line the best way to attach it? I have never had any kind of moss...so not sure what to do with it when I get it.

*Kristin*

Lay the xmas moss out on the wood in a very thin layer then wrap the string around the wood and the moss. If you use cotton string it will eventually break down but the moss may or may not attach to the wood in that time. If you use fishing line or nylon string you can cut it off later if it's visible and the moss can take all the time it needs attaching. This moss seems to really hate being in large clumps or too thick. Anything not touching the wood just grows out in a tangle and anything underneath it not getting enough light dies off. I have lots of brown moss and lots of stringy tangled balls with thread algae mixed in but very little healthy xmas moss.

sham,

Do you ever sleep ?

Trimming my moss for the first time made me quite nervous. It is true that if the moss is allowed to grow too thick the bottom part will die off (and as such come lose from its anchor).

I had at some point a thick carpet of maybe 2 inches on the driftwood in my 29G and the trimming went easier than I anticipated. It was like giving a haircut . And the lower levels of the moss still looked fine. I guess one reason why this might have been the case was that the moss is half way up in a tank with over 2.25wpg.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

DaMossMan here. Sometimes the Cryptkeeper too LOL.
I am three !!!

Ingo and Sham have you well covered.

Extra notes, just so I can ramble and ramble and .......

Christmas moss does better the cooler the tank is.
Long and stringy for xmas moss means temp too high, missing nutrients, or water extremely hard.

Christmas Moss is your stuff to make a moss wall or across logs and stumps to make a forest picture. Piney looking. Peacock moss a fairly new strain looks like a large version of christmas moss.. If you need some of that I'd recommend to do a quick google search for a gent named 'Aquatic Magic'.

I am concerned re shipping in the cold though. So more research and things in the meantime.

I have just a few strands of weeping moss, it's in the 40 right now and I'm hoping it will grow. I can tell by the finer more delicate fronds that this is a very nice moss. It truly does have a 'weeping' look...

Regular java moss alone can develop into quite a beautiful moss.. Mine is standing up like erect moss in the 10g at 78F.. No maintenance or ferts. This is your multi-purpose moss, does well in fry and breeding tanks and appears to be the hardiest variety I've encountered.
When I upgrade that tank, that moss is being traded for crypts

Regards,
DaFish



The Amazon Nut...

DaFishMan: Is weeping moss the same as willow? I would guess no, but I really don't know.

Also...I plan on ordering the plants Friday..possibly..may wait until next week. They are coming from Florida (floridadriftwood.com) and I live in Alabama. It was near 75F today and should be in the mid to late 60s next week, so its not that cold here. Hopefully, coming from FL, the temperature shouldn't affect them.

Will the Christmas Moss do well at about 76-78F? That's what I plan on keeping the tank at.

Thanks for your info!

*Kristin*

Glad to be of any help
The whole moss addiction is a zen kinda thing for me.

Weeping Moss is Vesicularia ferriei,
Willow Moss is Fontinalis antipyretica
Christmas moss is V. montagne I think.

Temp sounds ok where you are... LUCKY.

"Will the Christmas Moss do well at about 76-78F? That's what I plan on keeping the tank at." - should be ok
Although it might get stringy, try it ! It'll get alot more xmas tree look the cooler the water gets. 76F is the recommended temp for a plant tank btw, but certain fish like it warmer so go figure ! My apt is warm, if I did a nano with xmas, it would be room temp. 74F.

Now to get you FULLY ADDICTED on mosses.
Maybe you can make a post in there soon, telling us YOUR experience with it, and how you used it in your tank.
And pics. Consider yourself invited. Mine is still in a bottle, awaiting it's time.

An FP introduction to mosses by it's members. Enjoy !
[link=http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/65272.html?200512302042]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/65272.html?200512302042" style="COLOR: #FFFFFF[/link]

Peace,
DaMossMan

The Amazon Nut...