Re: AUS pairs

[Wright Huntley <jwwiii at pacbell_net>]

LeeH920226 at aol_com wrote:
> In a message dated 9/1/02 4:43:35 PM, jwwiii at pacbell_net writes:
> 
> << a lot of what Sue and others gave me died or just didn't grow 
> very well. :-( >>
> 
> There are only two reasons why Java moss dies - 1) too warm or 2) too acidic. 
> Too warm is anything over about 78 degrees F. Too acidic is anything under 
> about 5.0. There is no reason why either condition should be needed except 
> occasionally 78 degrees is better for some fish, but that will usually not 
> kill, just inhibit Java moss.

Didn't work that way, this time, Lee. My tanks were running pretty cool 
(low 70s) and pH well above 7 (what little checking I did). Lighted by 
being next to a north window, but some late afternoon sun through a west 
window. They were cool, alkaline, and dying or not growing, much.

I stopped the dying by adding some salt and getting tds up a ways. 
Long-haul, I think I will need oyster-shell grit or something to improve 
GH and KH before I can zing up the lights and get it to grow faster.

Sometimes we discuss Java moss as if it is one species. It is not. Some 
will grow in soft water. If I remember correctly, the Xmas-Tree variety is 
one. It is all called *Vesicularia dubyana*, but there really are probably 
several different species in the hobby.

A left-coast distributor/importer once told me that all the Java moss we 
got in the stores, here, was collected in estuaries from rather brackish 
water with large salinity changes.

I've had little trouble growing it in 50% sea water (SG=1.010 to 1.015), 
so maybe he was right.

OTOH, a lot of wild Java moss lives in the spray from rain-forest streams 
and  thrives in totally soft water. I just suspect it is a different 
species and needs less Ca and Mg in the water (or maybe is getting it from 
the soil, which is most unlikely in rain forest).

I agree that warmer water slows growth dramatically, but I have frequently 
had Betta tanks at pH below 5 with fairly decent Java moss growing in with 
them. I had to thin it from time to time.

Bottom Line?

I think we need better definition of species before Java moss generalities 
will hold. That's my $0.02. YMMV.

Wright

-- 
Wright Huntley -- 209 521-0557 -- 731 Loletta Ave, Modesto CA 95351

"The main political divide of our time is between those who trust
   the state and those who do not." -- Alberto Mingardi

                  http://www.sfbaka.net/


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