Re: Java Moss

[Wright Huntley <jwwiii at pacbell_net>]

Scott C. Wiersema wrote:
> My question how far from the lights are you planets.

One astronomical unit? :^)

> They must be within
> two feet of fluorescent bulbs to receive enough energy to grow. 

That depends on the kind, size and number of tubes, the reflector design 
and the phosphors. This statement is much too general, I think.

> It is not
> clear where the lights are located in you fish room. I am a horticulture
> major and I am sure that I could bore everyone to death with the discussion
> of the relative foot candles in proportion to the light source. 

Since foot candles are a psychophysical unit, defined by vision of the 
standard human observer, it would be as misleading as it is boring. Plants 
simply don't see light that way. :-)

Useful plant light is usually defined as PAR (Photosynthetically Active 
Radiation -- measured in Einsteins, as I recall).*

The important factor is how much light, within the growth action spectrum 
of the particular plant, actually reaches it.

I have kept Java moss in an enormous range of illuminations. The main 
effect is that the darker it is, the slower the growth. In my water in 
Fremont and Santa Clara, it stayed alive and green in anything short of 
total darkness.

Here in Modesto, my current tap water seems to be almost identical to 
Barry's well. It comes out of the tap at pH of 8.9 and resists dropping 
pretty well. Some pretty old tank water was down near 7 with lots of 
redwood shreds and peat (and fish poop) making the water amber. Tap tds is 
only 34 ppm, today.

My Java moss is growing poorly, and some has died, even though the tanks 
were by a bright north-facing window with plentiful daylight. I'm pretty 
sure it is a lack of one or more essential nutrients or an imbalance in 
them in this nearly-distilled water. As I tinker and add stuff (plant food 
and salt, mostly) I seem to have stopped the dying, and my moss is putting 
out nice new shoots.

In addition to plant food, I plan to add some oyster grit to see if that 
brings things into better balance. At such high pH it will have very 
little impact, at first. CaCO3 (shells, limestone, o/e) is pretty 
insoluble until the water provides enough acid to convert it to the more 
soluble CaHCO3 (the bicarbonate).

My water may differ from Barry's in one area. It seems to fairly readily 
drop to pH in the high sevens and low eights, characteristic of a normal 
carbonate-based buffer system. Obviously, it doesn't stay there reliably, 
at such low tds.

> Especially
> light travels through water.
>

True. Aquatic plants like that fact. ;-)

Wright
____________________
*Pity such a famous man had such an obscure unit named for him. It fits 
though, for he won the Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect 
(not Relativity), and the unit is about the number of photons involved.

> 
> 
>>[Original Message]
>>From: Kent Carpenter <kcarpen1 at rochester_rr.com>
>>To: Killitalk <killietalk at aka_org>
> 
>  > Date: 9/2/2002 10:12:48 AM
> 
>>Subject: Java Moss
>>
>>	I'm glad to see Wright and others have had difficulty
>>with this plant. 
>> 
>>I attached a clump to a piece of driftwood in a 55 gallon tank
>>with sand substrate, dozens of Crystal Vals, 2 large swords and
>>a couple of thriving Java Ferns. There has never been a filter
>>in this tank that has run for over 4 years now, with a fair fish
>>load (no Killies). Lights on timer, 14 hours/day. The water gets
>>changed maybe twice per year, and the Java Moss grows well enough
>>to require trimming occasionally.
>>
>>However.........I keep clumps of moss in shoeboxes in the fishroom
>>in the basement with 14 hours of light, topping up with tank water
>>for "fertilizer" The temp stays between 67 - 70 year-round. TDS is
>>180, KH 89ppm, GH 125ppm. It always slowly dies off. I move it to
>>fry tanks between times, where it still receives light and nutrients
>>from snails, food, etc., but I cannot keep it going, I'm constantly
>>buying new clumps at my LFS. 
>>
>>If anyone knows how to stretch out its' lifespan, I would certainly
>>appreciate it.
>>
>>Kent Carpenter
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> 
> 
> 
> --- Scott C. Wiersema
> --- vkngbar at ix_netcom.com
> --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.
> 
> 
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-- 
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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