Weeping moss...?

[Bhu]

so why is it that in a semi high tech 150 lt aquarium; good flow, good light, high co2 injection daily plant feed and 50% water changes a week, my weeping moss is just browning out? Yet in the original plastic tub it came in on a bright window sill it thrives, stays alive and grows?!!! (No co2 suppliments, no liquid plant food, no flow, no attention!)

I've tried twice now to introduce it, at the bottom of the tank and at the top but both times it just browns out. I have also added it to a low tech fluval edge 46l aquatium that has standard lighting and daily feed and liquid co2 and its growing!

It really makes no sense to me!

The Java moss is growing well at all levels top, middle and bottom. But the weeping moss (aptly named maybe? 😉) and xmas moss are really struggling. Any insight appreciated 😉

Cheers

Bhu

 

[Mick.Dk]

Java is a Taxiphyllum and both x-mas and Wheeping are Vesicularia. Taxiphyllum(s) are more tolerant than Vesicularia(s) growing under water, generally speaking.
You could try Spiky - since that is a Taxiphyllum......or Fontinalis (Willow), which is also a forgiving species. Flame is Taxiphyllum, too, but slightly less tolerant than Java and Spiky.
That said, I have really not found neither Wheeping, nor x-mas difficult to grow at all - they're just not as easy as the good old Java.

 

[Mick.Dk]

Do you have Amanos or SAE in the tank??
- Those will sometimes terrorize Vesicularia ( eating the tiny "leaves", thereby damagingvthe plant), but usually not touch Taxiphyllum.

 

[Bhu]

That's good to know, but it is growing well in low tech and very low tech, just not in my high tech! In the low tech are amanos too. The high tech has amanos and soon to have sae so maybe I'll never be able to grow it in that set up! It just Browns out and dies. On the window sill it grows and grows so weird! Seems to prefer abuse than high tech care! Just wondered why?

 

[Michael W]

I've heard about Amanos causing havoc to mosses before but I have never witnessed it. I was thinking of putting two of my Amonos from my 80L to to shrimp tank, since I have had a die off of shrimps a while back, the population never took off. So I was hoping to remove some Amonos to my tank in order to help clean my Fissidens, but I'm concerned about them having a go at my mosses. Any thoughts on this?

Sorry for Hi-jacking Bhu, I just saw some common themes on this thread so I thought i'd ask it here instead of starting a new one.

 

[Bhu]

No problems 😉

 

[Mick.Dk]

I've never seen Amanos have a go at Fissidens fontanus or Fontinalis antipyrethica.
I've had SAE eating out an established, dense, healthy carpet of Eleocharis 'mini'(50X30 cm) totally, in two days !!! To be fair to the bastards they were full grown and likely starving a bit, due to size and numbers. SAE do grow quite big.........
Actually several different plants are on the menu for SAE, if they find food-supply too scarce.
In my experience Amanos munching on the moss is actually also due to overstocking - which I tend to do, sometimes (but I'm not the only one, I'm sure). Since I often don't do fish in the tanks, the poor bastards cannot turn to fish-food leftovers when algae are in short supply.
You really can't blame any living creature for trying to stay alive (though mosquitos really stretch the limit IMO)...........

 

[Michael W]

Makes sense, I often find people complain about Amanos not eating their algae and in those cases it was probably down to overfeeding them. Granted some fish/shrimps prefer different types of algae over another.This is why I don't like to have livestocks clean algae because you will always be left with something they don't eat and in the end you will have to go all the way back to the root cause of the algae, lights, CO2 etc.