Moss: How life starts in every aquarium!
Many different species
Until a few years ago it appeared to be very difficult for us to offer mosses. Of course, you can find mosses anywhere, but it seemed to be impossible to collect some mosses from nature and cultivate them in a way that you can call “production”. Time after time species were mixed. So the product: “mosses, mixed” was the only product we could offer.
But we kept trying and after a while more and more people succeeded to cultivate pure Javamoss. At first shuffled with a little bit of algae, but at the end the product became better and better. Also in the vitro-technology in the laboratory the technique of cultivating these species became better and better.
20 species moss
The result is that we have about 20 species nowadays. All pure and very special! Take a look at our catalogue. It is wonderful to use these plants as a foundation of a certain landscape or just to play with the structure and the beautiful contrasting colors!
How can you use the plants in the aquarium?
Moss can be divided into three different categories:
- Moss, that makes roots, perfectly suitable to fix on stone or piece of wood.
- Moss, that does not make roots and very often tends to float.
- Moss, that sticks together into a slice/ball, for example Chladoflora.
The best way to work with moss:
- Moss, that makes roots
- Moss is perfectly suitable to fix to a rock or piece of wood.
- Take the moss out of the cup and rinse the agar/gel under running water.
- Take a little piece of moss and tighten it with a little line or a thin hairnet.
- You can also use the ADM glue which is safe for the plants and the fish. It is important that you take quit a thick piece of moss. Otherwise you will always see the glue through the plants.
- Moss, that does not make any roots
- These plants normally are floating in the water.
- They are very useful for fish, because it enables them to secure their eggs. Also shrimps and little fish love to hide themselves in a little flag of moss.
- Sometimes it is not so very nice, that moss really floats on the surface of the water. In that case it is very difficult to see the moss, because there is very often a dark skirt just above the surface of the water. Another disadvantage could be that a floating plague of moss can cause shadow. The solution that can a piece of moss in a hairnet. This tiny hairnet is almost invisible and you can fix it anywhere in the aquarium. The moss will grow through the hairnet and you can trim it now and than with a sharp pair of scissors.
- Another very nice thing to do is, letting the moss grow on a very fine meshed background. For example a little tree with very tiny branches. The moss will stick to the branches and in this way creates a nice green semblance.
- Moss, that stick together in a slice/ball
- Chladoflora is a mossball that can be found in rivers and lakes in the east of Europe (Russia, Ukraine etc). The history of a chladophlora could best be described as the way that you make the big snow ball for a snow man! Just rolling! At the top of the mountains there is a little piece of moss that is getting separated from the ground. It will be taken by water towards a creek and it rolls and grows at the same time. Is it moss? Is it algae? It is a mix of all the experiences faced on his way. After years and years the journey ends in a lake where people come and gather it.When you put your fingers in a ball and make it open carefully you will see that it actually is a slice of mosses. This slice of mosses can be perfectly used to place on a big stone. Beautiful!
- Chladophloras can be delivered in various sizes:Mini, standard and Jumbo.
- You can use the Jumbo as an eye catcher or you can split them to fix the slice on a stone. The mini’s and standard size is very beautiful when you place 4 or 5 together in a nice formation.
- Very thick Chladoflora’s sink, but you also have a little more loose balls. They swim. Taking that fact into consideration another nice product has been made: the Bioshere ball. These are three mossballs that are connected to each other with a tiny line. In this way you can place them in the vertical position that you want!
A real eye catcher! Everyone, who is looking at your aquarium, will notice this!
