Aquatic Mosses 12/07/08
Hello to all of you. Hope things are going well! Even though I have done some research on aquarium mosses I am still unsure of which one I would like to grow on my driftwood. One of my main concerns is the plant breaking apart and having to net out small pieces everywhere. Could you please recommend a moss that is attractive, good for beginners and will not fall apart easily? Thank you for your help.
James
<James, I'm not sure *any* moss qualifies in this regard. By their very nature, Bryophytes are fairly loosely put together because they lack vascular tissues, which is why, among other reasons, they never get more than a couple of inches tall. The only common moss in the trade is the Java moss (Vesicularia dubyana), though there are liverworts (e.g., Riccia) and even algae (e.g., Cladophora) that get sold as "mosses" from time to time.
The only other mosses you sometimes see are Fontinalis spp ("Willow" and "Christmas tree" mosses), but not all species do equally well in tropical aquaria and in general they're best suited to subtropical to room temperature tanks, depending on the species. In any case, my experience of mosses is basically this: in a tank with small, gentle fish they frequently become established very quickly and soon develop into a lush bed of green.
But in a tank with fish that root about or scrape (e.g., Plecs) mosses can be destroyed before they get a chance to become established. The "trick" if there is one is to carefully bind the moss with lots of black cotton to whatever bit of wood you want it to cover, and then to make sure big fish aren't going to destroy it. Cheers, Neale.>