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RE: KL's Moss Question



KL wrote: 
>>You know, I find it hard to understand why quite a few of the folks who 
got the moss told me that the plant isn't growing despite the fact that they 
seem to be doing everything right. Maybe it's the water or rather, I should 
say, something in my water. To be absolutely honest, I really don't know 
why the moss grows very well in all my tanks. I used to believe that it was 
because I have cooling fans which keep my temperatures low. But how cold 
can my tanks be when compared to the hobbyists living in the US of A and 
Canada. Singapore is so near the equator and over here, normal room 
temperature the whole year round is 30 Centigrade (about 86 Fahrenheit) 
and even with my cooling fans blowing non-stop 24 hours a day, 
the temperature in my tanks hover around 27 C (about 81F). I'm sure their 
tanks are much colder but why isn't their moss growing? <<

My tanks with the xmas moss are from 75-79F now -- in the summer it was probably 80-83F.  I remember thinking that the tiny bit of Moss KL sent me would never grow -- it took a while to get established, and I had several major algae plagues (BBA, Staghorn, Thread AND GW!!) and even did a 5 day black out.  4 months later, and the moss survived nicely, so much so that I have it in 3 tanks and have more than enough to trade to others.  My main tank is 3.4 WPG with lots of CO2 and ferts, and it seems to grow out of control.  I have a little 5.5 with one 15 watt tube and DIY CO2 and it has grown in nicely.  Same story in my 10G.  I do have SAEs in the 10 and 60, but the moss seems to out pace them.  I think my AFFs actually eat more of it than the SAEs.  In the 5.5 I have 12 ghost shrimp that are continuously foraging in it.  Who knows?  


>>I kind of suspect that there could be some fish inside their tanks which are 
keeping the moss's growth in check. A nice lady living in the US of A wrote 
me just 2 days ago to say that she found compelling evidence that her Cherry 
Barbs had been munching on her Christmas Moss. I discovered myself too 
recently that adult SAEs eat the moss. Maybe there's some other fish that 
treats the moss as a delicacy too? <<


I think my ghost shrimp might eat a bit -- the fronds are not as "triangular" in the little tanks.
I tend to agree that it is probably something eating the moss.  

>>I'm forwarding his question here because I hope that those of you who are 
living in the US of A and whose moss is growing well can help him 
better. I can't offer him any good advice. I'm an idiot, really. Up to this 
day after having been in the hobby for more than 30 years, I still can't figure 
out the relationship between Ph and Kh. And don't even talk about phospates, 
nitrates and all. I haven't got a clue what those things do to my fish and 
plants. 
All I do is change water and add fertiliser. Speaking of fertilisers, I 
never add 
any to my nursery tanks and believe it or not, that's where the moss grows 
best. <<

You crack me up KL!  You're obviously doing something right intuitively!  Any new pics of your current aquascape?


-Tony

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