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RE: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #881

>Aquatic Plants Digest      Tuesday, March 2 1999      Volume 03 : Number
881

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Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 11:48:34 -0500
From: Jennifer Glover <jglover at autometric_com>
Subject: Java Moss vs Algae

In reply to Russell,

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>I know that the ball of it that I have is huge!  Any idea where it is from?
It may
>be a plant from a temperate zone, so it is used to cold.  If it grows on
rocks, then
>when the winter comes, the rivers are usually lower and the rock could be
encased in
>ice or maybe even out of the water.  That would explain how it could take
being
>frozen/really cold.  I wonder if it would come back after being dried?

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Water Plants in the Aquarium by Ines Scheurmann (1950: Reprint 1987 by
Barron's)

Name: Vesicularia dubyana (Java Moss)
List it as being from India, Malaya, Java (Thus the name. ;) )
Requires about 1 watt/gal. 68-87' F and a pH of 5.8-7.5.
This will answer your question and is a quote from the book.
"Propagation: Division of the mat."

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>On a bit of a more serious note, now that I have little tufts of java moss
thriving
>in odd spaces between my plants, is there any way to get rid of them?  I
have tried
>physically pulling them out, but I guess I miss a fiber and it just keeps
growing.
>The algae eaters are being their polite selves and not touching it, because
it isn't
>algae.  I guess the moral of the story would be to keep your java moss in a
ball,
>contained, if you don't want it spreading everywhere.  It just looked good
blowing in
>the output of the powerhead...kind of like a piece of driftwood in a river
with moss
>growing on it...

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Other then hand picking EVERY strand? not that I'm aware of. I know my 55
gal plant tank got some "chunks" in it and if they get too big I pull them
out. I leave it in for several reasons. One being it's a great place for fry
to hide.

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>I thought that the flying fox was nasty to its own kind and you could only
keep one
>of them in a tank?

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I have no further info on this. One tank has one left, lost the other. I
don't think it was do to aggression. Every time I looked in the tank they
would swim in different area's. Maybe the "aggression" is based on pairs in
small tanks?

Russ

>Jennifer Glover
>Waldorf, MD, USA

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>Aquatic Plants Digest     Wednesday, March 3 1999     Volume 03 : Number
882

>Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 19:54:38 PST
>From: "K Will" <steelwill27 at hotmail_com>
>Subject: Flying Foxes

>I saw flying foxes mentioned in somebodies post about algae. Do they do
>as good a job as SAEs? I haven't been able to find any SAEs in my area,
>but have found FFs. They're supposedly a little aggressive and I
>wondered if they would harass the betta and tetras in my tank. My tank
>is only 30 gals, so I could probably get away with only one.

>Thanks

>Kevin

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Kevin as stated above I can't say for sure on the aggressive part as one
tank has lost one, well I haven't seen him in a week so I assume he's gone
to the big pond.

As for being "better" then SAE's I don't think so. I also don't think they
are "worse."

I intentionally let my tanks grow MASSIVE amounts of algae all over. I then
bought 2 Otto's, 2 Flying fox's and 2 SAE's. All of them went nuts and had a
blast. Within 3 days my glass was clean and the drift wood was 80% clean.
After 2 weeks all that's left is what is in the strands of my Java moss and
some still on the driftwood.

So this combination has worked well for me.

Russ

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>Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 19:10:53 -0800
>From: "alex pastor" <alexp at idirect_com>
>Subject: Daily pH fluctuations

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>The pH is 6.7 in the morning before the lights go on.  (3 watts/gal)
>It is up to 7.5 by the evening when the lights go out.
>My plants are growing like crazy, despite the lack of supplemental CO2.
>I give the tank trace elements and potassium and magnesium with every 20%
>twice weekly water change.  The iron level is not above 0.1mg/l.  Nitrates
>are just barely measureable.  Phosphates inconsequential.  No significant
>algae growth.  (a little on the older leaves).  SAEs busy doing their thing
>all day.
>General hardness is now 4 (Increased it a bit).  Carbonate hardness of the
>water I put in is 3, but when I measure it in the tank at the end of the
day
>it is maybe 1.5.  This concerns me. I assume it is because the nitrate is
>not zero.

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First off sounds like you may not need CO2.
Second the pH flux is due to your plants and is normal. Remember CO2 to O2
with light, O2 to CO2 without light.
My DIY CO2 on a 55 gal planted tank with 160 watts of "cool white" bulbs, I
know I've ordered 50/50's, has a pH "flux" from 6.8 in the morning to 7.2 by
early night with 12 hrs of light.

Russ

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>Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 22:11:36 -0800
>From: Tom Barr <tcbiii at pacbell_net>
>Subject: Clams

>I've collected these from the wild and bought them also. I've had a few
>make it a couple of years. As filter feeders , they are not the usual FW
>animals kept in tanks.

Tom I'd be interested in talking to you about this. I live in CT and would
like to collect or maybe you can send me some. Contact me. I love to keep
"not normal" fish. :)

Russ

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>Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 17:53:22 -0500
>From: "Erik Peterson" <erik2323 at voyager_net>
>Subject: Anyone have any extra plants they could part with?

>	Hi, my name is Erik Peterson.  I'm 15 and would like to get some plants
>for my aquarium.  I've tried plants before but they always died.  I think
>the biggest reason was because I didn't have enough light.

>	I've heard that Java Moss, Java Fern, and Crypts don't need much, or as
>much, light as other species.  I've looked and  couldn't find any of these
>in the area for a reasonable price.  I was wondering if anyone has any
>extra plants that they would send me rather than throwing away because
>they have too much.  I would be happy to pay the postage. I would greatly
>appreciate it if anyone did.

>- -Erik
>erik2323 at voyager_net

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Erik give me a month to re-build my stock of Java Moss, I just sent some to
a lady in FL, and I'll send you some if you want.

Russ

Sorry for the large post people. It's my day off and I had 8 copies of the
list to look over. :)

Russ