Leaf colourgreen
epiphyte on stone and wood spawning plant nano tank
The moss every aquarist knows: it grows on anything, in any light, at any temperature, and asks for nothing. Its botanical name has changed more than once, which is why it appears in books under several.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- very easy
- Height
- 3 – 10 cm
- Temperature
- 12 – 34 °C
Parameters
Plant typeepiphyte
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightlow – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness0 – 21 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementon stone and wood +2
Propagationdivision, daughter plants
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Fine branching shoots 3–10 cm long with tiny leaves, mid green. In strong light it grows dense and bushy; in dim light it goes darker and looser.
Keeping
Very easy once settled. It tolerates up to about 30 °C but grows faster and looks healthier in cooler water around 24 °C. Feeding and carbon dioxide help but are not required — an iron feed is what keeps the colour strong. Trim it with scissors to shape it and to hold back growth.
Placement
Anywhere: it grips wood, stone, plastic and even filter mats with its rooting hairs, so it can be tied down and left. In dim light it also makes a carpet at the front. Fry hide in it, and shrimp graze the microscopic life it collects — the reason mosses became popular at all.
Propagation
By division: every scrap grows into new shoots.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1034 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasFeatherfin SynodontisRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus Brokopondo
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaSpined LoachMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight GouramiMelanotaenia parva
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Taxiphyllum barbieri, Taxiphyllum barbieri ’Bogor Moss’, Taxiphyllum barbieri Javamoos, Taxiphyllum barbieri Java moss 1 2 GROW, Taxiphyllum barbieri Javamoos in Vitro XL