In article ,
Koi-Lo wrote:

"Richard Sexton" wrote in message
...
Moss is my secret weopan. Any tank with moss has a hard time growing
alage. I've
experiemented with all sorts of plants tryiong to keep betta jars cleanm
longer
and noting works like moss. I suspect if you threw a garbage bag of the
stuff
into a pond it owuld have a dramatic effect of water clarity. It sure
works
that way in aquaria.

In Asis the moss that grows around ponds is the stuff we grow in
fishtanks. It
even grows in lawns there.
======================
Are you talking about what we call Java Moss? It grows here on rocks in the
woods, damp driftwood by the lake in water itself. I believe this is all
the same plant.

Nah, the stuff that grows in lawns and around ponds in Singapore is
"xmas moss". There's about 17 common aquatic mosses and while java moss
is the oldest kept in tanks and the most common, it's not the most common
one found in Singapore gardens. But any of them will work.

I have on tank four feet long with a three foot clump of this stuff
and if I'm lax about water changes and fertilizer then it grows alage
but only where moss isn't close. The tank is utterly stuffed with
plants.

I'm not suggesting moss inhibits alage but that it's a very efficient
consumer of nutrients, probably due to the massive surface area all those
zillions of tiny leaves have.

--
Need Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net