[CampCreekTexas]

Has anyone ever seen this moss before? Is it a "new" one, or just another common name for one already known in the aquarium trade? I've done searches on it, including searching this forum, to no avail.
Aquabid Oak Moss listing
Direct link to the picture only

Thanks in advance! :biggrin:

 

[Clone]

FWIW I have never heard of it. Twelve dollars for two sprigs is expensive. If you are truly interested ask the seller some basic questions; scientific name, where did the seller get it from, where does "Oak Moss" come from, etc.

 

[CampCreekTexas]

That's a good idea, Clone ~ I'll do that. I just thought I'd try here first since I'm very impressed with the wealth of knowledge here and figured if it were well known, y'all could tell me not only what it was but how to grow it. I'm a newbie and have been reading a LOT of old forum posts these past few weeks and have learned quite a bit from you all.

Since I am new to planted tanks, I'm not really interested in buying it now as I've still got some practice that needs to be done before I branch out into plants that aren't well known (I'll still need to call on all y'all experienced ones quite regularly I imagine :help: ). But I am interested in growing a lot of different mosses in the future, so am always on the lookout for new ones to add to my Future Wish List along with Taiwan, XMas, Weeping, etc.

So, anybody else know what it is, if it's an oldie with a "new" name, how to grow it, etc.? If I hear back from the Aquabid seller, I'll post it here in case anyone's curious.

 

[typically]

looks kinda like xmas moss. i definitely wouldn't pay that much for it though.

 

[hooha]

I haven't seen the plant before. I would venture to say it isn't a moss....see how the leaves/fronds are growing off a stem? there even seems to be a rhizome on the far left one. It may not even be aquatic.

Unless you can get a true name for the plant and can verify it is aquatic, I'd leave it be for that price.

 

[Color Me Blue]

Have you seen the seller's "Dragon Ball Moss"? I wonder where he/she got this stuff from.... Outerspace? hehehe It does look neat, but I highly doubt that it's aquatic. Maybe emersed??? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....

 

[247Plants]

On top of everything else that is NOT a healthy specimen.....

 

[CampCreekTexas]

I would venture to say it isn't a moss....see how the leaves/fronds are growing off a stem?

I was kind of thinking the same thing, Hooha, since it looks a lot more like the blackstick maidenhair ferns that grow along one of my creeks here on the ranch than the java moss I have in my tanks.

I didn't even notice the "Dragon Ball" stuff, Christin. That DOES look WILD! It'd be cool if it really is an aquatic and ends up being more common.

On top of everything else that is NOT a healthy specimen.....

I was wondering about that brownish color myself, Kurtis...


Well, I registered over at Aquabay so I could email the seller. I asked what the botanical latin name was for this, how to grow it, any CO2 needed, high or low light, etc. and here's what he replied:

I don't have botanical name for it. It is related to Moss. It is very rare
in US, I grows them for 6 months already in ADA soil with my CRS. I'm
including some of the oak moss in my tanks. Don't need high light or any
fertilizer, Yes on CO2.
I also tire to some wood and its root grows into the wood.
Thanks

Do these clues give anyone a better idea of what it might be? Even what family it could be from? Thanks for the comments so far. :biggrin:

 

[macclellan]

FWIW: I wouldn't by ANYTHING from someone with a username like "Hard On G"...

 

[mrbelvedere]

That seller has been known to distribute a lot of dubious mosses.

It appears he collects them, then distributes them as aquatic. I would assume they aren't, because they appear very infrequently. An aquatic one would reappear often.

I will withhold judgement as I have never bought from him.

EDIT: I thought it was that "friend-some number" guy on Aquabid. Same thing still applies.

 

[sandiegoryu]

Wow. Dragonball moss seems awesome but useless in an aquascape lol. That's saying if that damn thing is aquatic. He does sell some "real" stuff. Of course you can't trust a seller from other things for sale. You can only trust the product.

 

[Ibn]

I don't have botanical name for it. It is related to Moss. It is very rare
in US, I grows them for 6 months already in ADA soil with my CRS. I'm
including some of the oak moss in my tanks. Don't need high light or any
fertilizer, Yes on CO2.
I also tire to some wood and its root grows into the wood.
Thanks

That's total BS.

The seller hasn't been growing them for 6 months in ADA soil with his CRS. The CRS that he says that he's captive bred was part of a shipment that he brought back from overseas and is reselling. To the best of my knowledge, this is his first time keeping CRS and he's never bred anything. They came in a shipment that landed about a month ago.

Same applies for the moss. He's totally pulling stuff out of the air. He had that moss brought in from overseas and he's had that about 2 more weeks than the shrimps. That would make it 6 weeks, not 6 months (his ADA soil is also only about 2 months old).

Total misinformations and lies in his listings. :angryfire

 

[Oqsy]

looks like rotting bolbitis to me... pass this one up.

Oqsy

 

[CampCreekTexas]

Don't worry, everyone ~ I'm not about to buy two little pieces of something for twelve bucks plus shipping when I'm such a newbie. Knowing my luck, I'd kill it right off the bat. I'm sticking to vals, anubias, java ferns and moss, and only getting a few "harder" plants ~ and all from SwapNShop where I feel I can trust the sellers to not take advantage of my ignorance. But thanks so much for the concern! :icon_bigg

FWIW: I wouldn't by ANYTHING from someone with a username like "Hard On G"...

YAHAHAHA! I didn't even notice that, Macclellan!

Wow. Dragonball moss seems awesome but useless in an aquascape lol.

Shumpei, I'd just love to have something like that in one of the tanks to freak out the grandkids next time they're over. :hihi:

That seller has been known to distribute a lot of dubious mosses. ... It appears he collects them, then distributes them as aquatic. I would assume they aren't, because they appear very infrequently. An aquatic one would reappear often.

That right there tells me it's more than likely a fake then.

That's total BS. ... To the best of my knowledge, this is his first time keeping CRS and he's never bred anything. ... Same applies for the moss. He's totally pulling stuff out of the air. ... Total misinformations and lies in his listings. :angryfire

And that right there tells me that when I finally do have enough confidence to buy plants on Aquabay, I won't buy from him.

looks like rotting bolbitis to me... pass this one up.

I just looked up Bolbitis and you know, you're right, Oqsy. It sure does look just like that, but real sick ~ like maybe an emersed form of it transforming to submersed?


This is exactly why I asked here ~ to see if it was real before I frustratingly go chasing after it a few months down the road. Thank you SO much, MrBelvedere and Eric, and everyone else, for the help! :biggrin:

 

[mrbelvedere]

The "dragonball moss" certainly doesn't look aquatic. Also, it's in the sporophyte stage, meaning it wasn't grown submersed. I've only seen one moss produce a sporangium submerged, and that was some mini moss. Still miraculous, as I have never heard of anyone else have it do that. I think I'll start a thread on it.

I also don't like the way he calls his CO2 glassware "pollen glass", that's an ADA hallmark.

However, this is pretty cool: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?planta&1174684219

 

[CampCreekTexas]

Aren't algae and liverworts sporophytic? So, IF it's a true aquatic in the first place, maybe it's not a moss at all, but one of those two. Some of the "leaves" reminded me a bit of Suesswasstertang or Pellia. Regardless, as I'm sure you know, the "balls" that make it "Dragon Ball" won't last long so it's rather dishonest to sell it without mention of that.

I'm still learning about CO2, so would you mind explaining to me what that "Pollen Class" thing is? I think it's something that helps the CO2 bubbles dissolve, but how exactly does it do that? Is it upside down in the picture? Do the bubbles gather under the bell portion and slowly dissolve that way?

 

[mrbelvedere]

I was under the impression that the leafy parts od liverworts was the gametophyte stage. Sporophyte stages in liverworts might not even be noticed, as the seta/sporangium are reduced.

 

[CampCreekTexas]

IIRC, the leafy parts DO represent the gametophyte stage, but they can still be present in the sporophyte stage since the sporophytes are sometimes dependent on them for nutrition, sort of akin to how a developing bean seed is dependent on the parent bean plant. The way I understand it, when a bryophyte moves from the gametophyte stage into the sporophyte stage, the "leaves" don't necessarily cease to exist ~ only parts of them, a few cells, combine with other gametophytes to form the sporophytes. The only time I know of anything like that happening (sporophyte stage being wholly and completely independent of the gametophyte stage) is when unicellular algae move from the gametophyte stage into the sporophyte stage as each haploid cell combines with another haploid cell to produce the diploid sporophyte cell. Since these are unicellular plants, it would only make sense that the haploid gametophytes "cease to exist" as each pair are turned into sporophytes.

Of course I certainly could be wrong as I've never really studied this at length (and had to do a quick Google to refresh my memory on terms and such:icon_lol: ). The little knowledge I do have about bryophytes has been picked up in bits from my life-long passion for terrestrial gardening and a few years of aquatic gardening in ponds. AAMOF, before this past few years of "pondering", I'd never even known liverworts were plants. The name just sounded like a funky disease to me! :icon_lol:

 

[CampCreekTexas]

Forgot to add this...

Sporophyte stages in liverworts might not even be noticed, as the seta/sporangium are reduced.

Again, I'm pretty new to liverworts so that may be the case with some. But I did find this page on bryophyte reproduction with a picture of a liverwort in it's sporophyte stage and both "leaves" and sporangium are quite noticeable.

 

[RESGuy]

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?liveplantsp&1174704606
:hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :icon_lol: :icon_lol: