Java Moss (Tissue Cultured)
Java Moss (ABC Plants cultivar)
Our Java Moss is now tissue cultured (like all of our plants) so you never have to worry about snails, algae or any other nasty pests!
The quintessential low tech plant, Java moss is so flexible, it can be used to cover hardscape or create moss surfaces all without needing CO2. Of course, moss will grow faster in CO2 and good lighting, these conditions are certainly not needed. Moss can survive in a huge range of conditions and if you're aquarium can grow any plants at all, it will grow Java Moss.
There are tons of different ways to use Java Moss - you can tie it to driftwood, create a moss wall with mesh, make a moss tree or moss ball. The possibilities are endless!
QUICK NOTES:
Difficulty: Easy - super easy
Type: Aquatic moss
Size: Highly variable - fronds on only 3-5mm across.
Position and Usage: Foreground, midground and background (as a moss wall)
Growth rate: Very slow to Very fast
Lighting: 1/5 - 5/5
Water Conditions: 18 - 25°C
CO2: Not required
Propagation: Breaking an existing strand makes new moss fronds
Special Requirements: Water movement or a well filtered tank to prevent the fine fronds from being gunked up. Shrimp help the growth rate of moss immensely. Seems to benefit from red light.
Description
Java moss has been called various scientific names throughout it's existence and there is doubt about whether any of those scientific names are correct at all or whether it is even one species of Java Moss in the first place. Many samples from different sources and geographic regions are subtly different and likely to be different species. ABC Plants cultivates a soft moss that grows very much like classic Java Moss. In bright lighting and with CO2 fertilization, it grows more like Christmas moss.
What everyone agrees on is that Java Moss is a beautiful plant - whatever the actual species - and does fantastically in low light, low tech tanks without CO2 while also being great in high light tanks that run tons of CO2.
Java Moss is extremely versatile and maleable - it can be tied to pieces of driftwood or rocks or wrapped in mesh where it grows out of the holes for a gorgeous effect. You can place it under some plastic chicken wire in the foreground to grow a great a moss carpet or behind a grate in the back and for a breathtaking moss wall. You can tie it to the tips of driftwood to create trees. The creative opportunties are endless and can be done even in low tech tanks without CO2. Each time you break a moss frond, both pieces become new plants.
Moss has very few special requirements except that it prefers cooler temperatures but is very well suited to the average environment of a planted aquarium. Our moss variety thrives in all lighting conditions including very bright light, grows extremely fast with CO2 supplemendation and will pearl! Not all Java Moss does well in high light tanks but our variety thrives under virtually any lighting conditions.
Java Moss is tolerable and adapts well to a huge range of water chemistry. It will do every well in virtually any planted tank. Fertilization through the water column is more important than substrate fertilization so you should dose liquid fertilizers. Moss is also better than most plants at absorbing nutrients from the water column and if growing rapidly, can deprive your other plants - thus regular fertilization is highly recommended!
Moss should be kept free of detritus under which it can suffocate. It is best used in clean tanks with plenty of water movement or scavengers.
Curiously at ABC Plants, we've discovered that our Java Moss grows astoundingly well with shrimp. Perhaps shrimp not only groom the fronds free of waste and debris, but in the process, cause micro-abrasions that promote branching and the development of new fronds. In turn, moss is extremely beneficial for shrimp - baby shimp even feed on small invertebrates living in the a patch of Java Moss. It could be argued that this in an example of natural symbiosis at work so moss and shrimp definitely go well together.
