Moss melt ?

[Jackson]

Is this melt or something else . It's in my java moss . I've had this moss in for a few months now and it was all green growing well . Now this dark what ever it is .

[Guppysnail]

That looks like algae. You can use Reverse Respiration to kill the algae without harming your moss. 

 

[jwcarlson]

Agreed.  Looks like algae to me too.

The pink in this picture has been RR'd.  You can see the dark stuff, which is what it looked like before RR.

[Jackson]

Thanks guys . Anyone know why this algae formed ? My tank has been running well for some time now .

[Guppysnail]

On 4/15/2023 at 5:54 AM, GCH said:

Thanks guys . Anyone know why this algae formed ? My tank has been running well for some time now .

My moss up and grows algae sometimes no matter how long my tank has been running. Moss is great at collecting tiny food particles, mulm etc. then becomes a nutrient rich algae breeding ground. I don’t have as many problems with it when it is directly in the path of flow. 

[Jackson]

Have the R&R under way .. See how it goes . Kept forgetting the seltzer water on my trips to the store .... lol

[Jackson]

I looked at the moss this morning after the 12 hour soak in seltzer water. Worked pretty good . Had to pull out some of the algae , but seems like allot was removed by the seltzer water . Going to get another bottle and soak the moss again . It left some reddish dead algae , hard to see it when you take the moss out of the tank , but shows well under light . Some damage to the moss pulling out some of the algae that didn't soak away . Take a while for the moss to get all fluffy again . All in all not bad results .

[Guppysnail]

Be careful with back to back soaks. That stresses plants. 
RR kills the algae but does not remove it. Some falls off but not all. I find my shrimp snails and grazing fish flock to the dead algae and remove it efficiently. 
Im glad it worked for you. 

[Jackson]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:34 AM, Guppysnail said:

Be careful with back to back soaks. That stresses plants. 
RR kills the algae but does not remove it. Some falls off but not all. I find my shrimp snails and grazing fish flock to the dead algae and remove it efficiently. 
Im glad it worked for you. 

Looked like much diminished and seemed easier to remove than when I pulled it out of the tank . Could be my imagination though as it was an algae ball when I took it out . I will wait on another soak on your advise . Guupysnail was right about the food falling in the moss and sitting there cooking . The moss is right under where I feed the fish . My other moss that I push the water sprite over to clear a path for the food is all fine and not effected . Bummer though ,my moss was all growing well and looked really nice . I need to vacume out the moss when I do . Maybe that will help more in the future .

Edited April 21 by GCH