Java Moss Died:(

[Lukenasia]

Last month I ordered some Java Moss on rocks, these were pourous rocks though not smooth, and put them in my 42 Gal aquarium. Its now been a month and I've had to remove them today because they all fell apart, was all brown and obviously wan't blooming as well as I hoped.

I am currently abit over-stocked but I'm keeping up with that with weekly water changes of 50%. I'm using fert tabs (I know this won't affect the Moss because they have no roots!), Liquid ferts (Not sure if you've heard of it, might be UK only, Nutrafin Plant Gro), and I'm using a CO2 yeast bottle attached to a diffuser.

The pH of the water is about 7.4ish and I have very hard water (can't give exact number because I don't have a GH test kit anymore!, though it is around 16degrees. For lighting I am using 2 Aqua Glo T8 bulbs, which after just reading the box says its in the 18k Spectrum, I have a feeling this is my problem.

Hope I've provided enough info and thanks for reading!

[korith]

For plants you want to stay in the 6500k range. There are also super daylight spectrum some sw people use for their tanks, that I was able to use in my planted tank well enough.

Odd that the moss died off, it can keep alive in low light conditions.

[LadyHatred]

I must congratulate you! I've never heard of someone who was able to kill java moss! Want to come to my place? I'm still trying to get it out of my 25. lol

[Lukenasia]

Yeah, well I've just ordered a bulb that is 6700k, and when I said 18k in my previous post i meant 18000k :P, so it might have been too high in the spectrum and over cooked it maybe, either way hopefully once I get the new bulb that I will be able to get some better results. Don't wanna really have to fork out for some more though, maybe someone on here has some that lives in the UK and would be willing to post some. Though I'm not sure if i should go with a brighter moss like Xmas moss or Flame moss.

[Lukenasia]

I must congratulate you! I've never heard of someone who was able to kill java moss! Want to come to my place? I'm still trying to get it out of my 25. lol

Hmmm, been to Florida before, too touristy for me, but I think I'd enjoy watching your tanks and going dip netting somewhere there more than any amusement park in FL :P

[LadyHatred]

Hmmm, been to Florida before, too touristy for me, but I think I'd enjoy watching your tanks and going dip netting somewhere there more than any amusement park in FL :P

I've never been to Florida. Too many creepy spiders. If you want to watch my tank, come up North to Canada, it's where my tanks are. :hmm3grin2orange:

*edit* Your in the UK so...come out West? lol

[Lukenasia]

Oops, where it said in your location it said sunshine coast, mixed it up with 'sunshine state', always wanted to come to Canada at some point though lol

edit: And yes LadyHatred, I'll start swimming now :hmm3grin2orange:

[Plant Man]

I have killed Java Moss in the past. Java Moss will die in hard water, over 10-11kh.

[SunSchein89]

Getting the new light is definitely a step in the right direction, especially if you're already dosing ferts and co2. Have you experienced algae problems at all? Most plants won't be able to use much of the light spectrum that you're supplying them, so algae will most likely take control of the extra nutrients you're adding to the mix.

[Plant Man]

Yes, I would say don't add ferts unless your tank is heavily planted and you are running over 2 watts per gallon of light with 20-30ppm Co2. If your plants look good (no yellowing) and your doing 10-20% water changes per week don't fertilize. Wait a bit, the algae will die off, keep that routine going maybe for a month. Then add a small amount of fert to your water change and watch the tank very carefully over the next 24 hours. I have found that if the tank still has enough nutrients with just water changes and I add fertilizer within 4-5 hours I’ll get a small amount of green hair like algae on the glass. It goes away within 3 days but it’s a good sign to me that adding ferts are still too early. When I add the fertilizer and don’t get the algae then I keep doing it every week increasing slowly always looking for that sign.

Good luck with your tank,

Shawn