I ordered a bunch of moss for my tank. I plan on building a moss wall with some Java and xmas, but bought some star moss and other breeds for some fish structures I am setting up.

The structures will be rock tunnels and caves, but before I place the structures into my live tanks, i am going to put them into a spare plants only tank. I am curious what I can do to make sure my moss thrive? Is there any specific substrate they preffer or maybe some nutrients I can add to the water? I am planning on setting up a DIY CO2 system and I am not quite sure what lights I will get just yet.

Also my PH settles at around 7.4 and with the winter comming I am thinking this water will reach 63-65f at night, and 70-75 in the evening. Is that going to be too much for the moss to handle?

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I have java moss growing, it is doing very well!! no co2, and just a small florescent light that came with the tank. 29 gallon tank, and I use (flourish) with my weekly 3 gallon water change. the results have been great ! We have a few other plants in the tank, neons, guppies, and clown loaches. the tank has been running for 2 years and the java moss is thriving. I would highly recommend it. the fry love to hide in it, and provides great cover for them.

The saying is: Java moss will grow even in a bucket in the closet. It is relatively slow growing, and seems to prefer some water movement and cooler temperatures and light that's not TOO bright. For instance, I like to have it under a hood with old bulbs in it. If you are just trying to make a moss wall, you will want to trim it back when it starts to get unruly (kinda like mowing the lawn) which will prevent the stuff that's actually attached to the "wall" from just dying and then releasing the moss all over your tank in a mess. It is best to shake the crap that has settled onto your moss off when you're doing a water change (or just whenever it looks icky) so it looks less icky.

Christmas Moss is just a cooler looking moss that is often mistaken for Java. Good luck keeping them separated in your tank. lol. It seems to like the same conditions that Java does.

Star Moss... if I recall correctly, it would like some additional carbon in its diet, which can be obtained with Flourish Excel, but your CO2 system will do just fine. as far as substrate, don't worry about it with moss. It's highly unlikely it will affix itself to the substrate. The only way I've seen people make a moss carpet is by pinning the stuff between two plastic crochet screens in little sections and then "tiling" the base of the tank with it. If you want to do that, go right ahead. Personally I like to just tie it to driftwood and call it a day. OR let it tumble around the tank.

Good luck!

Java and Christmas Moss are relatively easy mosses to grow. They both do well in low light setups. In more moderate lighting, they will still more "full" instead of a stringy appearance.

Star Moss, unfortunately, is a terrestrial moss and will not grow submerged. Sry.

Crap that is the second time i bought an aquariumnplant only to find out later its not submergeable. I will have to be more thourough next time.

I have some plastic crochet grids I was planning on using for the wall. My buddy used the same stuff and sandwiched his moss between two pieces. I was just thinking of weaving the moss into sections of the grid and allowing it to grow out and fill the entire grid.

I am planning on laying the grid flat in the spare tank to let it grow. I wasn't thinking of running a filter but maybe ill find a pump or something to give some decent waterflow.

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The plastic grid material is excellent to use. I use it all the time myself.