Christmas Moss help

[Root]

I introduced some Christmas Moss last year and it died off over the months (so I thought) and now it is growing in various areas throughout the tank. The Christmas Moss is spreading on a good bit of the driftwood nicely, but there is this one spot right under the light and filter output that is super leggy. It has reached about 4 inches. Is this normal behavior? 

[JoeQ]

Yes, i have a huge bush of it growing attached to the back of my tank. So much so its starting to push out against my tall stems. Ill try to post a picture if I can get a good angel

[nabokovfan87]

Yes, this is pretty normal.  Moss actually can take a lot of light and will grow pretty quickly towards that light source.  As long as there isn't algae also on the moss, then you're doing good.  Adding iron into the tank can also help the moss a little bit.

[Root]

On 8/21/2023 at 2:48 PM, JoeQ said:

Ill try to post a picture if I can get a good angel

Yeah I would appreciate that if you get a chance. Thank you 

[JoeQ]

Here is 1 I took earlier today but its not at a good angel.  The Christmas moss is all throughout the back so youll need to zoom in. Ill get a side view tomorrow for ya which should be better.

[JChristophersAdventures]

@Root Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand most moss is also grown out of the water (immersed) like most other mass propagated aquarium plants. The big difference being that on moss the immersed leaves versus the submersed leaves don't look that different, at least not to the naked eye, so we don't tend to think of melt-back with moss like we would with crypts, swords, etc... but, it does.  

[JoeQ]

More pictures hope this helps.

I'm also trying to get it established in my 10g but it's 'leggy' I believe from not enough light. When it finds its happy place it'll grow differently.

[Root]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:23 AM, JChristophersAdventures said:

@Root Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand most moss is also grown out of the water (immersed) like most other mass propagated aquarium plants. The big difference being that on moss the immersed leaves versus the submersed leaves don't look that different, at least not to the naked eye, so we don't tend to think of melt-back with moss like we would with crypts, swords, etc... but, it does.  

I think so! It makes sense that it would be grown that way especially since it is prone to algae. 

On 8/22/2023 at 1:03 PM, JoeQ said:

More pictures hope this helps.

I'm also trying to get it established in my 10g but it's 'leggy' I believe from not enough light. When it finds its happy place it'll grow differently.

Wow this looks beautiful. Do you have it attached to anything or is it just taking to the glass naturally? I have always been intrigued by the moss backgrounds.

[JoeQ]

On 8/22/2023 at 6:24 PM, Root said:

Wow this looks beautiful. Do you have it attached to anything or is it just taking to the glass naturally? I have always been intrigued by the moss backgrounds.

It somehow attached itself, i think i originally stuffed it in a dark corner and it found its happy place and exploded. This is probably about 3~4 years of growth, the majority happening after switching to the EI method of fertilization.