CHRISTMAS MOSS – carEGuide

Christmas Moss - (Vesicularia Montagnei)

Are you looking for the most attractive moss you can purchase for your planted tank? If so, Christmas Moss is a plant you should consider. Today, I’m going to do a full overview on the plant and discuss why it is such a staple in our aquarium hobby!

Christmas Moss is an excellent ground cover plant. It is a hardy plant that will survive a wide range of aquarium parameters. This moss has been used in award winning aquascapes and is easy to groom. It’s easy to shape it so it takes over the spots that you intend for it to grow over.

Christmas Moss Difficulty

Aquarium moss in general is very hardy. This is what makes them great for beginners. Christmas moss is no exception. It is just as hardy as Java moss and Flame moss. Personally, I find it the most attractive of all the mosses you can purchase. The plant comes from Asia, India, and Japan. In the wild, you will usually it find it growing outside of water of all things. However, it grows well in an aquatic environment.

As long as your parameters stay stable, this is a easy plant to care for. If your parameters are out of wack a common issue with Christmas Moss is the moss will “melt” away. This will also happen if the tank gets too cold or too warm. As always, test your aquarium parameters to ensure you have the proper levels using an aquarium test kit.

Christmas Moss Care

Difficulty - Easy

Size - 3” tall

Propagation - Creeping & Clipping

Fertilizer - Liquid

Growth - Moderate

pH - 5.0 to 7.5

Temperature - 23 to 28 deg C

Co2 - Low

Christmas Moss Light Conditions

Christmas Moss is a moderately demanding plant when it comes to lighting requirements. I wouldn’t consider it a low-tech moss like Java Moss. You will need a specialty planted tank light to grow it. You will want to place the plant in an area where it is not going to get shadowed by other aquatic plants. If you grow it under high light, it will grow more horizontally then vertically. If it grows up, then you know that you lighting is not that strong. You can adjust your lighting intensity or move the moss up in order to get it to grow horizontally. Horizontal grow is considered more appealing when it comes to mosses.

Christmas Moss Growth Rate

Christmas moss is a moderate grower. It does not grow at fast as Java Moss. This is helpful for a busier hobbyist who does not want to be pruning all the time. You can slow down the grow of the moss by not using CO2 injection at the cost of a less thick moss. Pruning is very easy to do. You just trim with pruning scissors and can even shape the moss if you chose to. If you have a piece of moss that is overgrowing in an area, you can slice a piece of the carpet and remove it from the aquarium.

Christmas Moss Co2 and Fertilizer Needs

Christmas Moss can grow with or without an active substrate. It’s completely optional. However, for it to thrive you will want to use liquid fertilizer to get it going.

Christmas moss will grow without CO2 injection. However, if you want to bring out the full potential of its growth and have a thicker moss CO2 will help with this greatly.