java moss

[ctruz1110]

i bought a java moss that attached to a rock. how do i trim it??

[Chrona]

Scissors + net or just pull out what you don't want.

[ctruz1110]

those that i've removed can i put it on the gravel to make carpet? how??

[cocoa_pleco]

you want to make a carpet on the gravel with the trimmings?To do that, i guess you would have to stuff a small amound of gravel in the moss to hold it down. chrona probably has a better idea

[ctruz1110]

yeah.. but i think it will be quite messy.. better not.. i saw many nice plant to make carpet.. such as glossostigma (???) but i dont think i can find it in malaysia.. and i'm new to aqua planting.. wanna start with something easy. any suggestion??

[Chrona]

yeah.. but i think it will be quite messy.. better not.. i saw many nice plant to make carpet.. such as glossostigma (???) but i dont think i can find it in malaysia.. and i'm new to aqua planting.. wanna start with something easy. any suggestion??

Marsilea hirsuta makes a nice, thick carpet plant even in low light. Malaysia is actually where a lot of the aquarium plants we have in the US came from, so it should be rather easy to get them over there at nurseries and stuff :)

[ctruz1110]

how do i know if my java moss got enough light?? how bright is low light??

[Chrona]

how do i know if my java moss got enough light?? how bright is low light??

How big is your tank? And how much lighting/what kind (ie incandescent, fluorescent, compact fluorescent, etc)

[ctruz1110]

12g tank.. i'm not sure what kind of light. its long double u ( UU ) type. anyway.. can u pplease recommend what type of light i need to use.. Brand,type,watts etc.. thanx..

[cocoa_pleco]

java moss is very undemanding. with no light, it will grow extremely slow, with incandescent, it will grow at a fair speed, with a regular 15 watt fluorescent, which is best, it will grow at a nice pace. with a massive high output light, you will have a swarm of java moss.

a regular 15w fluorescent will work nicely. i like hagens aqua-glo bulbs, but other brands are fine

[Chrona]

sounds like you have a screw in compact fluorescent. Should be fine. What's the wattage? It should say on the bulb.

[ctruz1110]

i'll go home and check.. get back to you on saturday ok?

[ctruz1110]

i guess mine should be ok cos i removed them from the rock and tie them on a driftwood that r quite high and near to the light.. but some r looking brownish.. i just bought a disposal co2 yesterday. hope it helps me to grow healthy j.moss.

[cocoa_pleco]

ohhh, you have a compact fluorescent. Thats good enough. in a 5g i have java moss, 5 corkscrew val's, and some other plant that do extremely well with a compact fluorescent

[Chrona]

i guess mine should be ok cos i removed them from the rock and tie them on a driftwood that r quite high and near to the light.. but some r looking brownish.. i just bought a disposal co2 yesterday. hope it helps me to grow healthy j.moss.

Don't put them too close or your risk getting algae on it. What do you mean by disposal co2?

[ctruz1110]

opps sorry..disposable co2 can.. and my light 14watt.

[Chrona]

How big is the tank? 14w should be fine. And I'm still confused, what do you mean by disposable Co2 can? Do you have a link to it?

[cocoa_pleco]

disposable CO2? for CO2, all ive seen is those plastic bubblers on Ebay, the nutrafin can/counter combo, and the old skool fizzy tabs with the can and plastic trap. do you mean you have like paintball CO2 cartridges or something?

[ctruz1110]

i'm sorry.. i couldnt find it either. the fish shop's staff recommended it because i'm new to aqua planting.and also...i'm lazy to make diy co2. it's cheap and easy. just press the co2 from the can everyday and can use 2-3 weeks. i'm not sure whether it is good or not.. just started few days ago.

[ctruz1110]

oh no..i'm not very good in english. i dont know if what u said is what i'm using. oh...i'm so stupid.. i dont know how to explain either.. i'll go home tonight to check the box and post to you soon..

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, its okay, im sure soon enough we'll find out

[Chrona]

How long do your press the can for? It takes a constant supply of CO2 going into the water because it dissipates so quickly. Even if you brought up the Co2 levels to the recommended 30 ppm using the bottled CO2 spray can, it would be all gone within a few short hours. DIY CO2 is really quite simple and usually lasts 2-3 weeks. Really not that hard to do.

[cocoa_pleco]

yep, CO2 is needed constantly. All systems have a slow-release formula.

My nutrafin CO2 system has the regular canister design, and my old skool fizzy one fizzies, then the CO2 gets trapped into a plastic rectangular thing below water and slowly seeps

[ctruz1110]

Chrona and cocoapleco.. here's my co2.

[cocoa_pleco]

Thats kinda what my old fizzy one was. There was a plastic cup outside the tank with a airline tube going to that plastic box, and that hose with the 0 shape on top stays above the water. I get what you have. SO instead of a plastic cup outside the tank you have a press can? seems good, since my fizzie one fizzied for about 5 min and i had a good few days of CO2.

[Chrona]

Gotcha, looks like a reactor. Doesn't look like there is much water movement in there, so it isn't as efficient as it can be if there were say a powerhead attached but it should be more than sufficient for java moss in a 12g.

[ctruz1110]

pls rotate the picture yourself.. i dont know how to do it in mac ibook.
set up description on the box:- vertically place the diffuser into the tank to fill up the chamber with water. connect the diffuser outlet with the pipe. gently fill up the chamber of diffuser with co2.