Hey guys,

Very new here. However, I've been keeping fish for almost 20 years now. In my time keeping fish, however, I've never once owned a live plant. Most of the fish I've had have always been cichlids, and they don't exactly appreciate the aquascape you build for them...seeing as though they rearrange it religiously.

So, I'm trying my hand with java moss now. I started a blog site tracking my progress and explaining what I'm working with. I plan on taking weekly pictures to figure out what I'm doing right or wrong. Any suggestions you all have would be much appreciated. I'd love to get my tank overgrown with moss (I think that looks awesome). Please, be critical! I always have to learn the hard way!

Trash Tank! - This is the link.

I'm looking forward to talking to you all!

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Out of all the important things I've learned in two decades of keeping fish; by far the most important lesson to remember is this...never talk on the phone while you're feeding your fish.

-Dan

I have cichlids and they dig a lot but they havent dug up any of my plants! They do like to dig under rocks and such though. Plants are cheap,,try one and see if they mess with it.

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Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do.

One thing to do is partition the tank so there is a fish area and a plant area.

I did that on a 55g mixed reef and both the fish(and corals) and macro algae (marine algae that looks like plants) thrived.

Just a 1/4 square plastic grid used as lighting diffuser for dropped ceilings. 4'x2' section is like $11 or so a building supply places.
I just crammed it in 3" in front of the back glass and added 2 2 tube 4' utility foxtures behind the tank pointed forward.

Not that you might want to do exactly that but apply the concept to your tank.




my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Lookin' good so far. I've been wanting to add some java moss to mine, but have read it's super aggressive. I am anxious to see how quickly it takes root and spreads. Keep us posted!

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JoannaBanana

Java moss doesn't really take root. It can grab ahold of stuff and cling to it pretty good though. I have a ball of it just sitting in one of my tanks, not doing anything. It grows fairly fast and doesn't need more light, but I'd say it is only aggressive with higher light, CO2, ferts. Not that it needs all of that to grow. A good addition to any tank and it is very difficult to do anything enough to it to kill it.