# peacock moss or christmass moss?



## MissCris (Mar 7, 2016)

Slow growth seems like a curse in the beginning, but it can be a real blessing later. 

Haven't had peacock moss, but my christmas moss was fluffy and slow growing, and much better behaved than java moss. I like the stuff. It didn't take over the tank and require constant trimming, and it doesn't hitchhike on everything either.


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

Make your choice tougher and include mini Christmas moss too!


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## madcrafted (Dec 23, 2017)

My xmas moss exploded in growth after about month. Weekly trimmings were needed under bright light and plentiful co2. It looks very similar to peacock moss but has a tendency to curve upwards as they grow out. Both are hard to keep clean, though. I constantly battled hair algae with mine. Keeping a super clean water column is key.


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## tourist585 (Sep 25, 2017)

Ok, my water column is clean and I have a lot of beneficial bacteria. What about the mosses attaching themselves naturally to hardscape? I´ve heard the christmass moss dosent attach itself even after 2 months growing and I´ve also heard others saying it does attach itself, so I don´t know. Does peacock moss attach itself easly too? I think I might go for christmas moss but I´m still not sure, I don´t want to buy many mosses because then I´ll have a hard time identifying which one is which.
Kubla I´ve heard mini christmas moss is hard to grow so idk about that  .


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## Tank Stand (Jan 24, 2018)

I added Christmas moss to my tank on Friday. I'll send updated pictures for you during the weekend but after a few days, the moss started turning slightly brown. 

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## JusticeBeaver (Oct 28, 2017)

tourist585 said:


> Ok, my water column is clean and I have a lot of beneficial bacteria. What about the mosses attaching themselves naturally to hardscape? I´ve heard the christmass moss dosent attach itself even after 2 months growing and I´ve also heard others saying it does attach itself, so I don´t know. Does peacock moss attach itself easly too? I think I might go for christmas moss but I´m still not sure, I don´t want to buy many mosses because then I´ll have a hard time identifying which one is which.
> Kubla I´ve heard mini christmas moss is hard to grow so idk about that  .


Mini Christmas moss is not hard to grow from my experience. I threw some in my tank and it's been doing really well with minimal effort put towards moss care aside from the regular fert dosing I do for the rest of my plants.


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## madcrafted (Dec 23, 2017)

tourist585 said:


> Ok, my water column is clean and I have a lot of beneficial bacteria. What about the mosses attaching themselves naturally to hardscape? I´ve heard the christmass moss dosent attach itself even after 2 months growing and I´ve also heard others saying it does attach itself, so I don´t know. Does peacock moss attach itself easly too? I think I might go for christmas moss but I´m still not sure, I don´t want to buy many mosses because then I´ll have a hard time identifying which one is which.
> Kubla I´ve heard mini christmas moss is hard to grow so idk about that  .



I haven't had much luck getting any mosses attached, at least not naturally. They may grow enough to get tangled in some types of driftwood but their 'rhizome' doesn't really attach very well per say. It will just lift up with the current as it grows larger. Best to wrap with fishing line, or thread (preferably nylon or polyester so it doesn't break down from bacteria). I have also had good luck attaching smaller pieces with superglue gel. Mosses tend to grow better with less issues when spread out thinly.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Pretty much all mosses will eventually attach. The roughness of the wood and the speed of growth are factor in how quickly they do. There's really no truth to the rumor that Xmas doesn't attach, etc, etc. There was another thread on this not too long ago where someone was listing which do and which don't attach and then realizing it wasn't really accurate.


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## madcrafted (Dec 23, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> Pretty much all mosses will eventually attach. The roughness of the wood and the speed of growth are factor in how quickly they do. There's really no truth to the rumor that Xmas doesn't attach, etc, etc. There was another thread on this not too long ago where someone was listing which do and which don't attach and then realizing it wasn't really accurate.


 It may very well attach with some time, I'm sure. The bigger question is, how many folks are willing to wait months or years for this to happen? The few places I didn't glue down my xmas moss pulled off the driftwood 'branches'. Granted, it wasn't a really rough piece of wood, but it had places where it could bite into like a few splits and knots here and there. The moss was like a sheet that just lifted away with the current. Maybe I had too much flow or I just let the moss grow out too much. Not sure. To save the hassle of re-attaching in a completed scape, all my mosses get glued or tied from now on.


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## tourist585 (Sep 25, 2017)

Thanks Tank Stand, I will appreciate that. But in the end I think im going for the christmas moss, I might consider going for the mini christmas moss in the future. I prefer the christmas moss because I´ve noticed in many pictures that it grows quite symmetrically producing fronds which grow horizontally, whilst the peacock moss grows a bit sporadically growing fronds in diferent directions, but not as much as the java moss.


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## Tank Stand (Jan 24, 2018)

tourist585 said:


> Thanks Tank Stand, I will appreciate that. But in the end I think im going for the christmas moss, I might consider going for the mini christmas moss in the future. I prefer the christmas moss because I´ve noticed in many pictures that it grows quite symmetrically producing fronds which grow horizontally, whilst the peacock moss grows a bit sporadically growing fronds in diferent directions, but not as much as the java moss.


Here are the pictures of my Christmas moss. They've been in the tank for about a week. The ones I tied tighter are more brown than the ones that are slightly loose.
















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## tourist585 (Sep 25, 2017)

Hmm, ok from what you described I thought it would be slightly worse . Do you use CO2?


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## KrypleBerry (May 23, 2017)

I tie my christmas moss with black sewing thread, but not as many wraps in as small of a space, mines kickin ass. Mine appreciates bright light, good flow and occasional trimming. I fan it out every other week but very little build up takes place in this tank, despite the 80 fish and many inverts in there. Waters soft 5 dgh, 1dkh, ph 5.8, pressurized co2 added, I dont add nitrate as my current stocking keeps it just under 10ppm consistently but I dose phosphate and potassium every week as they are always otherwise low. My tank gets 50% waterchanges weekly using remineralized reverse osmosis and the light is a 100w LED flood light 6,000k (2x 50w bridgelux cobs). I made a diy guard for the light to keep it in the tank and out of my apartment.


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## Tank Stand (Jan 24, 2018)

tourist585 said:


> Hmm, ok from what you described I thought it would be slightly worse . Do you use CO2?


I've started using liquid co2. I plant add fertiliser as well in a week's time. 

How long did it take for your Christmas moss till become like that?

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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Tank Stand said:


> I've started using liquid co2. I plant add fertiliser as well in a week's time.
> 
> How long did it take for your Christmas moss till become like that?
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


Everyone's will grow/attach at different rates depending on conditions and the type of surface the moss is growing on. Here's some Peacock moss in one of my older tanks. It took a couple of months to firmly attach.


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