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Re: Green Moss(Peat moss?)
It is most likely peat moss or Sphagnum. It grows naturally in swamps and acidic forests high in humidity. Peat moss in an aquarium will definitely lower the pH, since it secretes a number of organic acids. If you do have hard water with a high pH and want a natural way to lower the pH, then adding peat moss to your tanks will do this. If, however, alkalinity isn't a problem, then the peat moss may drop the pH too low for the fish to do well. This peat moss you buy at a nursery or hardware shop is dried but most will have at least some "sprigs" that are still alive and will grow in a suitable aquarium. Remember that peat moss grows best and survives for indefinite periods in an acidic environment. If you boil the peat moss then that will kill all of the living tissue, including any pests that may be "hitching a ride" within the moss. But dead moss isn't a real substitute for the living peat.
Carole in Jax (PhD in fisheries ecology and marine bio).
----- Original Message -----
From: Wright Huntley
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 8:18 AM
To: killietalk at aka_org
Subject: Re: Green Moss(Peat moss?)
Dale Medina wrote:
>
> I havent seen some peat moss before. But they seem to
> do a great deal for killy hobbyists. After looking
> around the local garden store, I saw a bag called
> Green Moss. The label says that it can be used for
> potting hanging plants and for terrarium use. Now, is
> this the peat moss everybody is talking about? If it
> is, how do I prepare it and use it for the benefit of
> my killies? Can this thing serve as a filtering medium
> too and as a PH Lowering buffer as I have red from
> recent internet articles.
Sphagnum moss (the dried "green" moss) does not become peat until it has
been buried and gone through many (hundreds of?) years of anaerobic chemical
alteration.
Get the peat at any larger garden shop. It comes in bales, in the US, as
Canada Sphagnum Peat, or in compressed pellets under the Jiffy brand. Ruth
Warner sells the latter through the AKA BNL, too. Get hers if not sure, as
she knows the safe kinds.
Boil peat to drive air out of the fibres, or it can take weeks to sink.
Rinse out the finest parts in a fishnet, under the cold tap, and to reduce
the strong tannins that can stain your water brown and do a number on its
pH.
> Another question of mine would be about my planted
> tank. It has a lot of bunched java moss together and
> some sticking out from the gravel. If I have a
> floating mop for the FP Gardneri, would they still use
> this even though they have lots of plants?
Fundulopanchax are substrate spawners, usually, though they will spawn
wherever *they* feel like. I use sunken mops with mine, usually, or a peat
substrate which they readily spawn in. They will choose the mops over the
Java moss, most of the time, if the mops are soft enough.
Wright
--
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679 huntley1 at home_com
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