# Need Help with Moss Growth, Moss Dying



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Moss likes cool, clean water. If you have that are dosing and providing good co2 you shouldn't have a problem. I see some algae issues that could be interfering with its growth. Is the setup new? You don't want to run lights that long, especially if a new setup.


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## Aqua Virtue (Feb 9, 2017)

houseofcards said:


> Moss likes cool, clean water. If you have that are dosing and providing good co2 you shouldn't have a problem. I see some algae issues that could be interfering with its growth. Is the setup new? You don't want to run lights that long, especially if a new setup.


I've had this tank going for about 6 months now.


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

Sometimes Java Moss will take a break from growing if it's gone though a big water chemistry change. The new growth means it's coming back. I'd give it some time, it's not exactly real fast growing even when it's happy with it's conditions.

EI for your tank, with it as lightly planted as it is, seems a bit heavy on the ferts. Can you reduce your dosage by half?

And the recommendation to keep your tank cooler is a good suggestion. Java fern grows best at upper 60 to mid 70's. 80 degrees is a little warm for both your fish and plants. If those are Flame Tetras, ( BTW great choice.) they are perfectly happy with low to mid 70's F temps.


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## Aqua Virtue (Feb 9, 2017)

GrampsGrunge said:


> Sometimes Java Moss will take a break from growing if it's gone though a big water chemistry change. The new growth means it's coming back. I'd give it some time, it's not exactly real fast growing even when it's happy with it's conditions.
> 
> EI for your tank, with it as lightly planted as it is, seems a bit heavy on the ferts. Can you reduce your dosage by half?
> 
> And the recommendation to keep your tank cooler is a good suggestion. Java fern grows best at upper 60 to mid 70's. 80 degrees is a little warm for both your fish and plants. If those are Flame Tetras, ( BTW great choice.) they are perfectly happy with low to mid 70's F temps.


I know, I love my little Flamies, they're are super pretty and very spunky, I swore I was never gonna get Tetras again after a group of red fins tore all the fins off an old Corie I had (I returned them to the store, and the Corie grew back his fins ok, he's still in the tank alive and kicking) until I saw these guys and decided to try again with them, so far they're very friendly with the other few fish in the tank and I do love them so. 

But as to the topic, I'll leave the Willow moss where it is then until it starts to improve, and I'll turn the temp down to about 75? The only other fish in there are a Dwarf Gourami, 3 Platies (1 adult about a year old, 1 juvie, and 1 baby, all female), 2 Rainbow Celebes (the last two left from a group I had, of which I won't be restocking) 5 Flames, and my last Corie. In the future I plan not to have such variety in the tank, and I'm thinking about just keeping it one centerpiece fish (the gourami) and a schooling fish, with the Flames being that. I do have a few amano shrimp in there so I think they'll do a good job keeping the bottom clean like my Cories used to. 

I'll also cut the fert dose in half then as well (I use measuring spoons to dose them out so I'll just bump it down to the half sizes). 

I forgot to mention I do a water change once every week and gravel vac what little I can without hurting the plants.


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## snarkinturtle (Mar 4, 2017)

I've got willow moss and java moss in my tanks and I find them very different. Willow moss is a temperate moss that has a definite preference for cooler water - common in the wild here in Canada for example. It did much better in an unheated, unfertilized, 5 gal algae/pond snail farm than in my 75F planted tank. Java moss is tropical and while it might prefer cool temps it does much better at higher temperatures than most other mosses (especially Willow). Their size, shape, and growth habit is also quite different. Java moss seems easier to attach - I find it spreads across wood and rock on its own - while Willow can attach very strongly it does so less eagerly. Anyway, I think that if you can get a little bit of Java moss you will have better success with it should try it again while you wait on the Willow moss to recover.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

If this is true fontinalis which looks to be so, it loves the current. All i can say. Attach it better as well.


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## Vasibreaban (Jul 22, 2019)

Hi ! I have a different problem whit my moss,it keeps growing sideways and then eventualy kinda turns black or brownish and dries off ,does`ent matter what kind of moss,I have tried three different species,what could it be?


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