Java Moss not growing.

[elfritobandito9]

I put Java Moss in my tank about a month ago and it is not growing much or attaching to the driftwood I tied it to. I have many other plants in the tank that are thriving. Any ideas? Would too much lighting hurt the hava moss?

[elfritobandito9]

Now that I look, my Micro Sword isn't doing great either. All other plants are doing great. (duckweed, Dwarf hairgrass, some clover stuff, wisteria, java fern, Red myrio and some other red leafed plant)

[KatzeSlaugen]

java moss is always said to be bullet proof. i have failed twice at growing it...haha. ive no experience with micro sword but if theyre like other sword plants they do need an iron rich substrate i believe.

[dbosman]

In my experience Java moss does not flourish in high light. If you have duckweed, it should be shading the moss, but the duckweed will be sucking the nutrients out of the water.

I'm experiencing the best growth I've ever had with several species of aquatic mosses in 12" tall tanks with a single strip power compact lighting located 6" above the tanks. They're spawning tanks, getting no added fertilizers.

The next best tanks for growth of mosses, have T5NO lights on the rims.

[Lady Hobbs]

I don't see mine going nuts either but as long as it stays green and clean, I don't ask much of it since prior to this nice bunch I bought from a member here, I've always managed to totally kill it. The two bullet proof plants, as so claimed, java moss and java fern........those are my two plants I've had less success with than all others.

[korith]

Just give it some more time. Can take a while before it hooks onto the driftwood. After a while you'll find it hooked onto everything in the tank. I have java moss in tanks that get no light other than the light in the room and it seems to do ok. Fairly slow grower for me in any tank.

[superbsite]

I've read somewhere on the net on making Java Moss attach to a coconut shell.

The user recommended that you keep the Java Moss on the driftwood/coconut shell in a dark environment for a week. You can do this by covering it and keeping it away from light. Keep a bit of water at the base so the environment stays damp and once a day spray water on the moss and driftwood. I think this may take longer than a week to attach on driftwood because coconut shell has fibers that the moss can latch onto. I did not try this. My moss is still wrapped to my driftwood in the tank with sewing thread for quite a while now.

[BrandonBCA]

What's your water chemistry? I had an impossible time growing java moss for a really long time, now it's growing fairly strong and has began attaching to some driftwood under T5HOx2 lighting in a 55 gallon(it's only a month old so might not be worth much) which I've softened the water by diluting it with RO water from 14 dkH to a 7 dkH. I believe java moss photosynthesizes poorly in very hard water, so needs low light in those situations but does a good job in softer water so can tolerate high light in those situations. This is a complete guess based on my experience using the same lighting in water with 2 different water chemistry setups, with no testing and am probably completely off base but that's my experience.

[CassieLEO]

My Java Moss is being a pain in the butt too. I feel your pain!!

[elfritobandito9]

Yeah, mine isn't growing at all. Its mostly brown from when I got it over a month ago but there are some small green shoots. All the string I used to tie it to the driftwood is now starting to disintegrate and it still hasn't attached. I have T5HO x 2 in a 40 gallon tank. The water is very hard so that may be part of the problem. Does anyone have tips on the best way to soften the water?

[Fisharefriends27]

Naturally or never. Ph chemicals cause swings and it's better stable. Naturally is alot better. Driftwood is an example, but you already have some. It can change it , sometimes. DON'T use chemicals.