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Hi, 1st off thanks for reading this...

Okay so my friend sent me a whole bunch of plants(a LOT) and I payed S&H. Anyways she was unsure of one of the plants or moss she had sent me(she got it as a freebie plant).

It's called Christmas Moss. Anyone know anything about it? I would like to know info on it as I want to make sure it'll be okay with the other plants...

Any Comments/Suggestions/Adive/Opinions given are well apperciated!!

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

Hi,
The link below should help.

http://www.aquamoss.net/How-To-Grow-Aquatic-Moss.htm

Here are some pictures.

http://www.aquamoss.net/Christmas-Moss/Christmas-Moss.htm

Like other mosses, it likes growing attached to driftwood or rocks. And it should not cause a problem for other plants.

Hi there Fishrockmysox

I am just about to post an update to my 29G tank in this forum, so if you want to you can locate the log and take a look. In this tank, I have Xmas Moss, which most of the time does pretty well (so peruse a few pages in the log to see the moss in various stages).

I find that Xmas moss, in comparison to java moss, needs a little more light, but it is also quite a bit prettier as it appears less "stringy".

Have fun,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thank you both for the Info

Ingo:
I'm getting Java Moss too... Would the lighting be okay tho? And how much lighting. I'm not good with wpg or under lighting and over lighting, I have never kept live plants before lol

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

I'm taking a wild guess but did Christmas Moss get its name because it looks like a Christmas tree?

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

I'm taking a wild guess but did Christmas Moss get its name because it looks like a Christmas tree?

Good guess, and right you are
But it looks only like an Xmas tree in a 2-dimensional world as it is flat.

About your question with regards to the light: I don't see a reference to how much light you have, neither to the tank that the plants will be added to. So sorry, no yes or no from me here

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

About your question with regards to the light: I don't see a reference to how much light you have, neither to the tank that the plants will be added to. So sorry, no yes or no from me here

Ingo

It'll be added to a 10g first(it will be "held" there until I get the 55g). The wattage I have is 25W/per light bulb so 50w... Is that okay?

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

Hm,

What kind of light bulbs are these? Sounds like the wattage is very good, but I have the feeling that you are not talking about flourescent or compact flourescent lighting. Are these the types of bulbs that you would screw into your ceeling lighting? Did you create your own light or did it come with the setup?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

hm,
What kind of light bulbs are these? Sounds like the wattage is very good, but I have the feeling that you are not talking about flourescent or compact flourescent lighting. Are these the types of bulbs that you would screw into your ceeling lighting? Did you create your own light or did it come with the setup?

Ingo

Incandscent... I know they heat the tank. They screw into the top yes and it came with the set up. When I get around to it I will be buying bulbs made for 10g tanks that are flourescent....

Why?

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

Why?

Quite easy, because I have no real gage on how well 50w of incandescent light actually will do for your tank. Surprisingly, I have not heard about a 10G that comes with this setup, usually even when the light is incandescent it is much lower than 50w.

Anyway, as you have the plants already anyway, what else is there to do then to use them ?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Why?
Quite easy, because I have no real gage on how well 50w of incandescent light actually will do for your tank. Surprisingly, I have not heard about a 10G that comes with this setup, usually even when the light is incandescent it is much lower than 50w.

Anyway, as you have the plants already anyway, what else is there to do then to use them?

Ingo

Yes, I bought my Starter Kit at Walmart(much cheaper then petco's price. Very expensive). When I buy the 55g Deluxe Starter Kit I'll get Flourescent lights in that... Yes the bulbs are by AquaCulture and it's Pre Tested 25W/120V... I may have misread?

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

Hey, I was not saying that you were wrong, I just have not heard about them

But there is one advice I would give you for the 55G:

Forget about a kit

Yes, they are rather cheap and include all the basics, but that is about it.

If you are into the idea of having live plants and enjoy fish as well, you will find out in no time that the kits will not provide what you need.

Mainly, kits have:

- Weak filters
- A heater that barely gets the job done
- And, of course, way too little light to have a nice underwater garden (except if you are willing to restrict yourself to only having low light plants)

I have seen it quite a few times by now that people buy kits and as soon as they find out what fun a planted tank can be they start to do away with the "extras" from the kits and move to get better filters, heaters, and lights. And at that time they may find out that the cheap kit is of non-standard measurements (keep an eye open for that if you buy a kit) and then lights didn't fit and what not.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

100% agreeing with LF. A "branded system" wont work here. Get a custom made setup after doing some research and getting suggestions from seasoned hobbyists like LF.
(talking in terms of computer trade ..."branded" )

No, Ingo when I said "I may have misread?" I meant it as a question. I should've put it so it didn't sound rude. Sorry about that. I just buy the kits because it would cost too much for me... I only get $410(well $200 for x-mas plus savings) and I do want 2 filters and then the heater is like $30 and then all the gravel(about $30) and then plants and then all that stuff so it'd be cheaper... Can you safely say that:

55 lbs of Gravel
55g Tank
2 Filters
1 Heater
Any Meds I may need
Food
Air Bubbles(Optional)
Plant Fert.
Plants themselves
and everything else I need...

Wouldn't cost over like $350 and then plus the fish?

Just a question, not meant to sound mad(you may get the tone). I am asking the opinion on the cost of all that....

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

I should've put it so it didn't sound rude

Hey, you didn't sound rude at all, maybe I should have selected my words more carfully in my response

Anyway, I see, you have a tight budget. Hm, makes it a hard decision on what to do. I don't know the prices in your area, but have you checked for any kind of equipment on Big Al's already? Maybe you can get the parts that you would need there and still be in your budget. But it will be close, if not impossible.

You are in a pickle, you really want to have a nice tank, but you don't quite have the change to get a good setup. I don't envy you

Ingo

EDIT: Oh, almost forgot: mughal113 - thanks for the compliments, but I am by far not a seasoned hobbyist. I may have some knowledge, but there are people out there that know much more than I do. Thanks again, Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

It's okay... I think I might have to get 1 filter that pumps 350gph instead of 2... Then it'll be cheaper.

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

Any more ideas/suggestions, comments/questions? Any suggestions on the tank supplies I need(like a list?)...

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

The walmart kit doesn't save you anything. If you want to grow plants you will have to replace the tops and the lights because it only provides two tiny little 15w fixtures and no space to add on. The filter always breaks within a week or 2 and isn't big enough so count it out. The heater has no thermostat so it can't read what temp the tank is. It only puts out a set amount of heat causing temp fluctuations and is not big enough in the first place. It does not come with gravel. You are still going to have to buy a filter, hood, lights, and heater in the near future. You might as well buy just the tank and then slowly buy the parts over several months as you have enough money. Also if your lighting a 55g on a budget your better off buying glass canopies and then 4' shoplight fixtures from a hardware store. These don't look the greatest and spill alot of light unless you want to modify them but they cost around $5-$10 and it's possible to light a tank up to nearly 3wpg if you cram enough fixtures on it. I had to do that for awhile until I got enough money to buy a pc fixture.