----- Original Message -----
From: sorinus <sorin_at_imajis.com>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 1:07 AM
Subject: NANFA-- Christmas moss
>
>
> Hello and thank you very much for your kind reply full of information.
> Do you still have access to those two species you mentioned (decalaria
> and gracillis)?
> I will gladly pay for a small live sample of each species. I just talked
> with someone which is working with mosses and he recommended a
> monography on US species. The monography is the most compreshenvive,
> written until today, it comes in two volumes ...but it costs over
> ...$200. I was wondering if there is anybody around with access to a
> University library and kind enough to make some photocopies of the pages
> with Fontinalis. I will of course recompensate the effort, and I will
> make free copies for other interested people. If yes, I will provide
> the name of the monography.
> Regards
> sorin
>
>
>
>
>
> Jeffrey Fullerton wrote:
> >
> > > Subject: NANFA-- Christmas moss
> > >
> > > RE: Red shinner thread/
> > >
> > > Sorry about my ignorance, but what is the Christmas moss?
> > > Can you tell the scientific name, please? Looks like a native species.
> > > I always been interested in aquatic moss (besides the ubiquitous
> > > tropical Vesicularia dubyana) and I am wondering if this Christmas moss
> > > is a Fontinalis or Amblystegium species.
> > > Anyone knows how many native, fully aquatic moss species are in US?
> > > Thanks
> > > sorin
> > >
> > >
> > Hello
> >
> > The two most common varieties in the US known to aquarists and water
> > gardeners are species of Willow Moss- Fontanalis. I have Fontanalis
> > antipyretica which us the larger of the two and has very dark green
> > scale like leaves and grows in long flowing masses in some streams
> > locally. I've seen it even more abundant in intermittant streams in
> > northern Virginia where it often blanketed the clay bottom and grew as a
> > terrestrial form when the streams dried up in the summer and late fall.
> > Elsewhere I usually find it less abundant and usually grows on rocks or
> > wood.
> >
> > F. antipyretica - aka the 'Incombustable Moss' so named for its fire
> > retardant properties when it was once used as a filler material for
> > whatever in days of old. I never have much luck with it in a tank but
> > outdoors it fares better.
> >
> > Perhaps the best one for inside is F. gracillis (possibly the same plant
> > as F. decalaria) - not sure of the official common name but I call it
> > the smaller Willow Moss! Much finer in habit closer to Java Moss of the
> > aquarium trade and sometimes sold. Very wide range - I have collected it
> > locally and in a stream near Gulf Hammock Florida and last summer with
> > Ray in Wisconsin! It holds up much better than F. antipyretica in the
> > aquarium and I've used it sometimes in jars for raising pygmy sunfishes
> > , salamander larvae and Broken-striped Newts!
> >
> > In my pond and watercourse I grow both species by tying them onto peices
> > of waterlogged driftwood which I strap onto a brick or rock and sink to
> > the bottom. Great spawning medium for fish. Also have a thick mat of F.
> > antipyretica on top of the lava rock in the biofilter at the head of the
> > watercourse.
> >
> > One problem with willow mosses is that they accumulate algae. Since I've
> > seen the smaller variant growing in full sun in the wild I am sure it's
> > related to the problem I've had with milfoil. Related to my water since
> > the wild plants were free of algae. A temporary remedy is to move the
> > moss along with its holdfast to a shady location for a while or even
> > grow them terrestrially in the shade for a while. Out of water the moss
> > converts to a greenish fuzz that thightly hugs the log or stone and
> > quickly reverts back to long flowing strands when returned to the water.
> > This is sort of like the way the stuff in Virginia used to grow.
> >
> > There is another species which grows in cold springs and streams in our
> > mountains. The name I do not know but it is has even bigger scales than
> > larger of the two previous species. I don't mess with it because it is
> > not likely to survive in a tank without a chiller!
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > /-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> /-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
> / Association"
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/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org