growing moss in the viv.

[Louis]

hi. if anybody could tell me where they got their moss from how they put it in the viv, if it grew and how fast it spread i would hugely appreciate it

[Kris]

all of my moss died. i got some at the local lfs and it was lovely for about 2 weeks.
what animal do you have in your viv?

[audiotaylor]

Ive tried several times with no success. I am going to try one more time in my up and comming 80 gallon paludarium. I am going to have it lit by 260 watts of light @ 6700K and am going to mist it LIGHTLY with RO or distilled water only. The problems I had in the past were using hard tap water to mist it, low lighting, and soggy substrate. Well see how it goes. There were several places I ordered it; ebay (multiple sellers, and multiple mosses), LLLreptile.com, and a nearby reptile store.

Another route is java moss. When tied to a piece of wood or rock which is kept damp at all times, it will begin to grow terestrialy. I am also planning on using java moss in my tank tied to grapevine. Good luck with your project.
-David

[Louis]

hi. i'm currently having limited success with growing some moss but not in a tank with any animals because its on a sunny windowsill. by the way i doubt grapewood can survive the dampness required for java moss without rotting but i may be wrong.

[Zurp]

I have local moss, from around my house. Most mosses like low/med light with constant moisture. Not constant saturation. Potting soils with clays and high lime mixtures are liked by some mosses, while others like acidy soils. Most can survive in a PH from 7.2 - 6.2.

Great food for mosses are... (In order of desire)
Starch
Lime
Beer
Fat
Soured Milks
Clays
and
Mineral Sand

Chinese wash excess starch from rice onto moss stones to accelerate growth. Most mosses grow on stones and surfaces with high amounts of lime. Fremented yeast from beer can also spark a quick colony, don't do that in your tank. Fats (Lipids) have the same digestive effect that lime has, promoting moss growth. Soured Milks can help or hurt moss, they also activate bacteria and slime molds. Clay contains micron sized minerals and lime that become food and help the moss digest the minerals from the sand in the clay. Mineral sand, important, because pure silica (glass) will not grow moss, the sand must have a high miniral mix in order to supply the rootless plants with nutrition.

High sun, and cold air makes moss thrive. Heat and lack of food, not light, kills most mosses. We have several mosses growing in the center of our summer yard, direct sunlight all day with moderate heat. It gets thinner, but puffs up with every rain. Our yard is mostly sand and clay. We can only grow moss and weeds.

The moss in our backyard, in the constant damp and cool shade of our house, with no direct light, has little moss. The moss that grows there is more like a plant, wide and rigid needle like leaves. While the stuff in front is more like soft clump-mosses, and miniature vine plants. Small and bright circular leaves that tower on a single stalk.

[Wheat]

I also use java and other moss I find outside I usually go to a lake and pick the moss that is kind of close to water. Bring it home and wash real good with tap water final rinse with ro and grow it on bed-a-beast coconut husk and it looks great for years. Just make sure you use a full spectrum light. I use java moss in the wet areas and it does grow very good out of water its great stuff.

[xxll]

probubly the best moss is tropical, you can get this from blackjungle.com, when you are planting it, dont pack down the substright, keep it nice and loose so the roots can get a grip easyer, keep it moist and provide high light, i also yous local moss, and i have found that the only way to make them grow is in a very humid enviroment, im growing some in a acrilic cube and they grow stright up!

[Louis]

yeh but blackjungle doesnt ship to the uk where i live so i am going to try and get some java moss

[caeciliankeeper]

For those who are interested, moss can be purchased at
www.mossacres.com and http://www.sticksandstonesfarm.com/Moss.html. I have had dealings with both companies before and have had no problems. - Just a thought for those who may not want to collect local moss.

[Piscesgirl]

Thank you C-keeper for those links -- very interesting.

[boyer420z]

I just moved from Los Angeles, Ca to Portland, OR. I purchased my moss from several vendors but found most of the times I needed it I couldn't find it. Now it grows as a weed here in Oregon. I've identified three type growing everywhere in the woods. Where are you from?