Vesicularia Dubyana 'christmas'

[mark4785]

Well I recently ordered some plants in, all of them being very slow growers and very easy to grow. But on closer inspection I noticed that one of the smaller plants that I ordered was not dispatched to me and it seems the seller had swapped it with a 'Vesicularia Dubyana Christmas' moss which has the same dimensions and same growth rate but it's very difficult to keep alive.

I have contacted them to ask for a full refund due to breach of contract but in order to ensure it thrives while it's in my ownership, I have put it into the aquarium, partly because its a space-filler and secondly, the seller will not reimburse me if I send a shrivelled up plant back to them should they bother to send me return instructions.

So I'm stuck with a difficult to grow plant and I was wondering if such plants require a different sort of care regime. Maybe they need more nutrients, 02 etc?

I have taken a picture of my 'redecorated' aquarium and inserted it below, the hard-to-grow plant can be seen on the small pieces of bog wood at the forefront of the tank to the right side.

I'm currently treating the water with 10ml of Easylife Profito per week. I may add Fosfo 1 or 2 times per week and I try to ensure my Nitrate level is around 15 ppm. This is what I perceive to be plentiful nutrients for my current plant stock, am I wrong or right?

Mark.

 

[PDSimon]

Tanks looking much nicer Mark. Are you sure the moss isn't mislabeled? i bought some and realised it was java moss just in a different box. Fish looking healthy too

not to sure about the moss if it is christmas moss though sorry!

 

[mark4785]

Tanks looking much nicer Mark. Are you sure the moss isn't mislabeled? i bought some and realised it was java moss just in a different box. Fish looking healthy too

Thank you. I took out the fake mangrove as it was taking up a stupid amount of room up that the plants needed!

It's definitely the wrong plant has it resembles sea weed and is classed as a form of moss. The plant that I wanted, which is called 'Taxiphyllum Barbieri' resembles conifer leaves and I'm not sure it is a form of moss.

It looks nicer than the plant that I actually wanted but it's twice as hard to keep alive.


edit: The fish are much healthier; I have eradicated the gill flukes but occasionally I notice the male Ram itch himself (every 2 days or so) so I may need to start another 10 day course of skin fluke treatment soon

 

[PDSimon]

My rams sometimes flick themselvs on stuff (very occasionally) I think it might be something to do with their behaviour? the cockatoo flicks sand up and thats definately behaviour towards the female or showing off etc

 

[mark4785]

My rams sometimes flick themselvs on stuff (very occasionally) I think it might be something to do with their behaviour? the cockatoo flicks sand up and thats definately behaviour towards the female or showing off etc

Well when I catch my male flicking you can see in its facial expression that something is getting on it's nerves and then it will flick itself on 2/3 objects in quick succession.

Originally the male and female GBR got on well together but the male will chase the female around the aquarium now really quickly. It's funny to watch but at the same time I feel quite worried because she will lose colour after being chased and often stays out of the way behind the filter system to avoid the male GBR. It seems more like aggression as he will chase and try to nip the singular Dwarf Neon Rainbow if it's in the way.

The last Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish to die from gill flukes had no caudal fin (30 minutes before it died) so I'd hazard a guess that the male Ram ripped it off!

 

[Dave Spencer]

For the record, Taxiphyllum barbieri is Java moss, and Vesicularia dubyana is Singapore moss.

Java moss is just about the most falsely identified, and wrongly named plant around.

Neither type of moss should be difficult to keep.

Dave.

 

[mark4785]

Ok thanks Dave.

Is there anybody that has a similar arrangement of plants? If so what ferts are you using and how often?

Thanks.