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Christmas moss/Narrow Leaf Java Ferns
>Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 21:35:43 EDT
>From: ROlesen104 at aol_com
>Subject: Christmas vs. Java moss
>There isn't a day that goes by in which I don't look at them and think good
>thoughts about you. I should have said so much earlier.
Thanks for saying that, Bob. You don't know how much that means
to me. Folks like you make it all worthwhile.
After my request for feedback 2 days ago, I got so many messages, I'm
swamped. I haven't got round to replying to all of them but I will.
It's nice to know that I was wrong, seems like many people are growing
the moss and ferns very well. It was even more heartening to learn that
many folks are now seeing the triangular patterns on their moss. I feel
vindicated.
I like to share something which I discovered recently about the christmas
moss. You can also grow it like Riccia. What I meant is you can tie the
moss to flat stones, either with a net or with strings, and let them lie around
the tank to form a carpet. I saw that in a new fish shop which opened here
recently. Unlike Riccia, however, the moss will not float. They only
grow thicker and thicker until the stones are no longer visible.
For those who are still keeping their moss in holding tanks, I would suggest
you try lowering the temperature by adding ice cubes. It would take a lot of
ice to cool a big tank but if your holding tank is small, I believe a tray of
ice cubes a day will have a significant effect on the temperature. Believe me,
nothing is more important than low temperatures as far as the moss is
concerned.
But in his private email to me, someone said his moss was growing very well in
his tank which is about 82 degrees Fahrenheit. I can only think in metric
so I
took a look at my thermometer and realised that 82 F is about 29 degrees
Centigrade.
That's news to me. I've always thought that the moss will not grow in
temperatures
of above 28 C. Well, maybe I am wrong again.
Someone also said he's going to get some SAEs to eradicate the hair algae
growing on his moss. If you are planning on doing that, I would like you
to know
that I have now confirmed that adult SAEs eat Christmas moss. They kept
pruning
the tips that were growing out of my moss wall.
As for the narrow leaf ferns, I observed in my own tank too that the new
leaves will sprout from only one end of the stem. I suppose the other end is
either dead or dying. Sometimes, the new leaves will have tips that are
transparent
but will turn opaque after a while. I know this syndrome happens to normal
Java Ferns too. And just like normal Java Ferns, the narrow leafs can
sometimes sprout new leaves from just a leaf. I have many small leaves coming
out of an old leaf which I squished into my moss wall. Maybe I should have
sent the leaves instead. I couldn't do that with the stems which were hard
but
I would have easily squeezed a few leaves into every pack of christmas moss.
To think that I threw away bunches of them, what a pity :(
Loh K L