Bought Some Plants Yesterday

[poconogal]

Went to pick up my cabinet yesterday at That Fish Place and I couldn't resist buying just a few plants. I got Anubias Nana (Round Leaf), Java Fern and a few Moss Balls. Anybody have any Moss Ball experience? I just love them. All you have to do is scatter them around the bottom of the tank. Substrate is not necessary. I thought they'd work well and seem to be perfect for a BB tank:
Moss Balls are a truly unique addition to planted aquariums. They are colonial, non-invasive moss structures. They are fascinating single or in numbers. Moss Balls are low maintenance, tolerating a wide range of water conditions and requiring minimal lighting.
Anyway, I thought these would be good, along with what :santa: Larry is kindly sending me!

I will be potting the plants (except for the Moss Balls) and using my 48" strip light. I hope it works!

Connie

[pcsb23]

Connie,

Hope you have more look than me with the moss balls, they depend on a lot of water movement to keep them as balls, mine just spread out and looked a mess :( Ended up vaccing it all out.

Anubias and the fern though should do well.

[poconogal]

Connie,

Hope you have more look than me with the moss balls, they depend on a lot of water movement to keep them as balls, mine just spread out and looked a mess :( Ended up vaccing it all out.

Anubias and the fern though should do well.
Paul, unless I put them along side the pots, they roll around. I do have quite a bit of water movement, but the Discus don't seem to mind. Were yours okay with Discus temps? I've been reading conflicting things about them. Some say low, minimal light, some say high, some say temps in low 80s, Larry said he had problem with them in 70s. I hope they work out, I really love them.

[lhforbes12]

Paul, unless I put them along side the pots, they roll around. I do have quite a bit of water movement, but the Discus don't seem to mind. Were yours okay with Discus temps? I've been reading conflicting things about them. Some say low, minimal light, some say high, some say temps in low 80s, Larry said he had problem with them in 70s. I hope they work out, I really love them.

Actually I said "They are temperate water plants from Far East Asia and Europe and so need cool water" I had no problem with mine in 70's F water. As Paul said, unless they roll around they flatten out, you can just move them manually every once in a while (In nature they live along lake beaches and so are tossed around by the waves) they will do VERY POORLY in a discus tank. Mine only do well in high light, in low light they turn brown and begin to die back.

[hexed]

Connie,
I had them and everything being said is exactly what happened to mine. Without water movement and a higher light mine went brown then flat then into the garabge cause it was "deader then a door knob" I think if I get another batch of moss balls I will unroll them and attach it to driftwood. It was a very dirty mess cleaning up a dead moss ball as the pieces floated all over the place :(

[poconogal]

I've seen so much conflicting information about the moss balls online. Some people posted that they are doing well in higher temps and with only a regular strip light. Other places selling them say high light, but others say low light and some say low to high. All of them, however, said that there is a broad temp range. If I see them start to turn a color other than their beautiful green I'll get more light for the tank.

I put them on the side of my tank that gets daylight from my 20 ft.high windows. If I pass my hand in front of them, it casts a strong shadow, so they are getting light, but no sunlight, from the windows as well as the strip light. I have them blocked from rolling around right now with a few potted plants, otherwise they will roll around my tank. Guess its the AC500 on a 45g tank! My new tank will have an XP3 instead.

[Dissident]

Be sure to rotate them too. They typically grow in high current areas that keeps them moveing, so to simulate that you want to roate them so they keep that round shape.

[poconogal]

Be sure to rotate them too. They typically grow in high current areas that keeps them moveing, so to simulate that you want to roate them so they keep that round shape.
Yep, I may just get more light and let them roll around by themselves. It was pretty funny, though, because when I was putting them in the tank my Discus were chasing my hand around and attacking the balls, trying to eat them. Maybe they'll play soccer with them on the bottom, once they see them rolling around? Either that, or they'll be terrified of them! :D

[poconogal]

Actually I said "They are temperate water plants from Far East Asia and Europe and so need cool water" I had no problem with mine in 70's F water. As Paul said, unless they roll around they flatten out, you can just move them manually every once in a while (In nature they live along lake beaches and so are tossed around by the waves) they will do VERY POORLY in a discus tank. Mine only do well in high light, in low light they turn brown and begin to die back.
Ooops, sorry, when you said you had them at 78 but felt they were more suited to a goldfish tank, I assumed that they were not at their best at 78.

[poconogal]

I'm thinking of getting a different strip light, either a double strip for a total of 80W or a double strip that takes 2 55W bulbs, for a total of 110W, just for simple, low light plants. Which would be better? Would the 110W be too bright for the Discus?

[poconogal]

Connie,
I had them and everything being said is exactly what happened to mine. Without water movement and a higher light mine went brown then flat then into the garabge cause it was "deader then a door knob" I think if I get another batch of moss balls I will unroll them and attach it to driftwood. It was a very dirty mess cleaning up a dead moss ball as the pieces floated all over the place :(
I'm just wondering about how long it will be before I begin to see that the moss balls are not doing well? A week, 2 or 3 weeks? Longer? They still look great, but of course I only have them in the tank for 4 days!

[pcsb23]

I'm thinking of getting a different strip light, either a double strip for a total of 80W or a double strip that takes 2 55W bulbs, for a total of 110W, just for simple, low light plants. Which would be better? Would the 110W be too bright for the Discus?
Connie, I would go with the 2x55, that will be fine for the discus and good for the plants too. Both would do it though.

[pcsb23]

I'm just wondering about how long it will be before I begin to see that the moss balls are not doing well? A week, 2 or 3 weeks? Longer? They still look great, but of course I only have them in the tank for 4 days!
In my case it was a few weeks, they first went brown where they rested for too long, then sagged and eventually spread out and, well made a damn nuisance of themselves:)

From memory they should do ok in medium or medium/low light provided there is enough current and I think they are ok at discus temps, but like a lot of plants won't cope with the very higher temps we sometimes use, above 86f.

[poconogal]

In my case it was a few weeks, they first went brown where they rested for too long, then sagged and eventually spread out and, well made a damn nuisance of themselves:)

From memory they should do ok in medium or medium/low light provided there is enough current and I think they are ok at discus temps, but like a lot of plants won't cope with the very higher temps we sometimes use, above 86f.
Thanks, Paul. I know I've seen it listed online as 82 degrees F or 28C as top of the temp range. My tank is at 83, so maybe that'll be okay. They get a lot of daylight, too. And they are moving around the bottom, unless the discus are playing soccer.... ;)

[poconogal]

Connie, I would go with the 2x55, that will be fine for the discus and good for the plants too. Both would do it though.
Okay! I've actually found a retrofit kit for exactly that, which I will probably purchase.

[poconogal]

In my case it was a few weeks, they first went brown where they rested for too long, then sagged and eventually spread out and, well made a damn nuisance of themselves:)

From memory they should do ok in medium or medium/low light provided there is enough current and I think they are ok at discus temps, but like a lot of plants won't cope with the very higher temps we sometimes use, above 86f.

UPDATE on the Moss Balls... so far, they have not made a nuisance of themselves... :) yesterday was 4 weeks ago that I placed them in my tank. They are still nice and round and a deep green color, and they have grown quite a bit. They seem to be thriving in my tank, so far, with a 24W 50/50 bulb, 83 temp and a lot of ambient room light.