Weeping Moss

Vesicularia ferriei

epiphyte on stone and wood nano tank

(Cardot & Ther.) Broth.

Other scientific names:Ectropothecium ferriei, Ectropothecium rotundifolium, Vesicularia apiculata, Vesicularia apiculata major, Vesicularia cuspidata, Vesicularia japonica

A moss whose shoots hang downwards in teardrops rather than sprawling sideways. Tied to a branch it drapes over it like a small green willow.

Light: medium
Difficulty: medium
Height: 3 – 5 cm
Temperature: 15 – 30 °C

Leaf colourgreen

Plant typeepiphyte

Growth rateslow

CO₂ demandlow

Tolerates lightlow – high

pH5 – 7

Carbonate hardness0 – 14 °dKH

General hardness0 – 30 °dGH

Placementon stone and wood, nano tank

Propagationdivision, daughter plants

Grows emersedyes

Appearance

Bright green shoots 3–5 cm long grow downwards, teardrop-shaped and slightly fleshy. On a piece of wood the moss forms a hanging curtain, which is what sets it apart from the mosses that simply spread flat.

Keeping

Not demanding: moderate light and no carbon dioxide are enough. It needs trimming with scissors — an overgrown clump loses its hanging shape and the shaded lower layer dies off. Some water movement keeps dirt from settling in it.

Placement

Tied to a branch or the upper edge of wood, so the shoots can hang free. In a nano tank a single covered branch carries the whole layout.

Propagation

Pull a clump apart and tie the pieces down elsewhere; each grows on by itself.

Water conditions match

The water suits 861 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Butterflyfish Julii Corydoras Featherfin Synodontis Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Homaloptera bilineata Red-tailed Rasbora Boraras naevus Lampeye Killifish Spotted Raphael Catfish Corydoras melanotaenia Festivum cichlid

Will eat this plant

These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.

Bengal Loach Zebra Loach Burmese Border Loach Emperor Botia Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.

Vesicularia ferriei 'Weeping Moss'