Moss Experiments, results!

[Theplatymaster]

A while ago  i made a thread about trying to grow terrestrial mosses submerged.

naturally based on how i phrased it, and because that was 1week in, there was pushback.

I now have real results of this experiment after a month or two.

Here is a picture of the moss i was experimenting on:

and here is a picture after a month or two of the moss growing submerged (all the bright green tendrils are new and submerged, though they dont show up well in the picture) :

so what looks like the fuzzy tendrils on the moss are the new aquatic growth.

this post will probably also get pushbacks, i will disclaim it by saying i am just sharing my experience with this moss. (im unsure what species it is, maybe someone can help me with that based on the first picture).

@Lacey Grantyou were wondering about this.

ill say that this may not be worth it to people based on the time it takes, however for me it was 2 things.

1.i have an interest in bilology so it was interesting for me to watch it

and

2.i have a rather strict budget, but have plenty of time.

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Guppysnail]

Quite some time ago there was a thread about terrestrial moss from someone else. 
Many terrestrial mosses live in areas that flood for parts of the year and can survive submerged or emerged. I think I remember that thread had a few types in trial and some flourished. Some flourished for a time but then slowly declined. 
Hopefully you have some that will continue to thrive for you. 
If I remember @rockfisher grows terrestrial moss submerged with success. 

[TeeJay]

I am very impressed with this experiment. Something I would have never thought to try. But your results can help fish and aquarium plant keepers for years to come. Keep working with it!

[rockfisher]

On 3/15/2023 at 9:30 PM, Guppysnail said:

Quite some time ago there was a thread about terrestrial moss from someone else. 
Many terrestrial mosses live in areas that flood for parts of the year and can survive submerged or emerged. I think I remember that thread had a few types in trial and some flourished. Some flourished for a time but then slowly declined. 
Hopefully you have some that will continue to thrive for you. 
If I remember @rockfisher grows terrestrial moss submerged with success. 

I do. I use moss from my yard and the local area mostly. I have ordered large amounts of moss from Tennessee. Nursery online. In 1 tank the moss covers an entire bottom of a 20 gal. I also have it several other tanks as patches. I had some land moss that was 14 inches high. Unfortunately it not live very long but other types have lived for the years I have had them. After about 9 months it died. I left in one of the 55s and the corys loved it. The breed like crazy. Im planning on ordering it soon to breed Sterbais. I will say that not all terrestrial moss will work. I approach it simply. I try it if it doesn’t work I remove it before it breaks down. The moss does grow differently in water. It tends to work a more stringy and not as tight. The cold can be slightly off. In the first picture I posted you can see that it’s a dirty tank but it is not nearly as green as the moss ball. I have posted some photos. If and anyone has questions please ask. Feel feel to ask here or a private message. Of course if guppysnail asks I’ll alway answer. The first one needs a good clean. The moss is health but very dirty so it doesn’t look very green.

Here it is a a couple of pieces glued on to a coconut shell. Don’t use much glue if you choose to use terrestrial Moss. 

this last one is a piece that was growing next to the water we’re I know it goes under water in the summer here. The others I have worked with for several years and it does well. This one was a little brown went I put in the L-333 breeding tank. So it looks a little better

sorry about the Amazon sword. A friend said it was dying so I took it and have saved some but others don’t look great.

Edited March 16, 2023 by rockfisher

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/15/2023 at 10:21 PM, TeeJay said:

I am very impressed with this experiment. Something I would have never thought to try. But your results can help fish and aquarium plant keepers for years to come. Keep working with it!

i have currently setup a peanut butter pretzel jar by my window full of moss. I have it by the window for good lighting, and i have overdosed easy green in there. I also am running air to allow for better C02 in the jar. I should have a bunch of moss usable in aquariums in a month or two with this method. Part of this is actually knowing how long it takes for it to convert.

1-2weeks in, i saw no change, no growth, no death.

the next few weeks, it started dying back.

then after that, it started growing submerged (rather quickly i might add),i just want to get exact numbers on these.

On 3/15/2023 at 9:30 PM, Guppysnail said:

Hopefully you have some that will continue to thrive for you. 

i think its a good sign that it is growing new parts submerged, as a appose to just not dying.

@rockfisher

i apreaciate the offer, but im stickcing to my current setup. Im not going to order moss, just to test it, in that case ill just order Java Moss.

But this is moss i can collect in my backyard, so it is very easy for me to collect it.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[TeeJay]

Well I mean it's not really costing you anything but time. Yes time is valuable but you said you have plenty of it right now so 👍. The cost of free is always good. 

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/16/2023 at 6:40 AM, TeeJay said:

Well I mean it's not really costing you anything but time. Yes time is valuable but you said you have plenty of it right now so 👍. The cost of free is always good. 

even that,

maybe collecting +rinsing to remove dirt will take an hour.

once i have it setup, its really a forget about it, and it happens setup.

so it takes time, but i can use that time for whatever i want, its not like it need to do daily WCs on this thing.

[rockfisher]

On 3/16/2023 at 6:24 AM, Theplatymaster said:

i have currently setup a peanut butter pretzel jar by my window full of moss. I have it by the window for good lighting, and i have overdosed easy green in there. I also am running air to allow for better C02 in the jar. I should have a bunch of moss usable in aquariums in a month or two with this method. Part of this is actually knowing how long it takes for it to convert.

1-2weeks in, i saw no change, no growth, no death.

the next few weeks, it started dying back.

then after that, it started growing submerged (rather quickly i might add),i just want to get exact numbers on these.

i think its a good sign that it is growing new parts submerged, as a appose to just not dying.

@rockfisher

i apreaciate the offer, but im stickcing to my current setup. Im not going to order moss, just to test it, in that case ill just order Java Moss.

But this is moss i can collect in my backyard, so it is very easy for me to collect it.

I totally agree with getting form the yard. In the 20 gallon it’s all from the yard. I bought a bunch and glued on driftwood so it looked like trees  

 

I look forward to seeing your progress. As go go along I’m interested to see if you find that the terrestrial moth needs more sunlight, then say like Christmas or Java moss.

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/16/2023 at 10:03 AM, rockfisher said:

I look forward to seeing your progress. As go go along I’m interested to see if you find that the terrestrial moth needs more sunlight, then say like Christmas or Java moss.

maybe?

ive found that it grows faster in the higher light,but seems to be growing as well in the low light, but in that tank it may just be some java moss.

ive put a extra light on my jar, just for better lighting, so ill see how it does. (its a very bright light)

[rockfisher]

On 3/16/2023 at 10:23 AM, Theplatymaster said:

maybe?

ive found that it grows faster in the higher light,but seems to be growing as well in the low light, but in that tank it may just be some java moss.

ive put a extra light on my jar, just for better lighting, so ill see how it does. (its a very bright light)

I was wondering. I have seen that the moss form my yard does well in both high and low light but grows to the light in lower light. The different moss I gathered from the canal bank need way more light. Which sort makes since, because the moss I gather from the yard is in more shaded areas and the canal moss is in direct sunlight. I’m sorry you got some push back. I’m all for trying new things and am always interested when people try to see how it turns out. Keep it up!

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/16/2023 at 11:07 AM, rockfisher said:

I’m sorry you got some push back

it makes sense.

i had no real evidence, and was partially wrong.

yes the moss is growing towards the light like yours, though i collected some from the shade, and other stuff from direct sunlight.

but its the same kind of moss either way.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Theplatymaster]

 

as i experienced last time, the moss is going through a pearling stage, even with a running air stone.

im not so sure why this happens, that would require plant knowledge beyond mine.

it appears already most of the moss is turning brown, but a few bright green tips remain, this process may be happening faster then i thought, ill keep this thread updated.

i may launch some "real" science experiments on this.

i wonder if it would work faster if i took some moss that had a spore stem out, and put that under, so when the spores are released, they will adapt to the water, but im not sure they would then be fertilized...there are SO many tests i could run.

you know what, the weather is still nice, ill go find some moss with the spore stems out and add that to the jar, just for testing purposes.

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

This is my terrestrial moss that I've been growing for some time submerged.

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/18/2023 at 1:25 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

This is my terrestrial moss that I've been growing for some time submerged.

it looks like the same kind im working with,

but then again,

many mosses look similar.

 

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Yeah I'm only guessing at the species, based on the appearance when I collected it. I get most of my moss from work. Sometimes I find it already growing in the water looking like that.