Sphagnum moss

["Scott Davis" <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

> Sphagnum doesn't just grow in the far north.  The Okeefenokee swamp is
loaded with peat and in Florida you can find it growing in nearly any damp
acidic area.

Humm,

I wonder if there are different species of Sphagnum growing in wet acid
bogs. I could see where moss from Georgia or Florida would do better in
aquariums that some from a colder climate.

And collecting in the Okeefenokee swamp or getting a tiny slice of it always
has had something of a fish-head's holy grail feel to it.

No horticulturalist am I, but a quick look at a Google search,  ( boy don't
we make that sound scriptural ;)  )  has the Irish claiming it for their
bogs. One herbalist site has medieval Laplanders, Scotch Highlanders,
Kashmiris and Germans binding wounds with the stuff. Some Wisconsin,  New
Zealand and southern Chilean commercial sites suggest a diversity of
locations too.

Evidentially it has been around since the Jurassic Period. Or when killies
may have come upon the scene. Or about when I was a budding fish head in
junior high.

One of the coolest looking sites (from Michigan) gives instructions for
Building a Sphagnum Bog Garden.

That pond garden could be a perfect (summer place) for rainforest killies or
pygmy sunfish. Now I'm getting intrigued by the possibilities for something
outside - maybe next year. (What would you expect a Chicago Baseball fan to
say?)

Unfortunately several sites also talk about a fungal disease called
Cutaneous sporotrichosis which one can pick up from living, spore producing
Sphagnum. The wetter the culture, the more spores there are. Rats!

Of course one could just avoid putting hands with cuts into the stuff (good
advice for aquariums too) or sticking your head in the tank and breathing
deeply.

Steve, thank your for your gracious offer. Asthma boy here had better do a
little checking before setting up such a tank.

All the best!

Scott

In Chicagoland which feels like Humid Jax :)

And the Cubs just blew another one!


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