Plant Profile: Fissidens Fontanus

Why I love this plant: this moss has a delicate look to it with a nice light green coloration and clings to wood and stones naturally.

Fissidens Fontanus is also known as Pheonix Moss. Although it is on the pricey side, growing a nice thick carpet of it will give the tank a nice full leafy green look to it. I purchased my moss off of ebay from some sellers in Singapore. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fissidens-fontanus-Live-Aquarium-Plant-Fish-Moss-Tank-/260713686058 I wish I had purchased more, however, it's a pretty expensive and hard to come across! It took me a long time to find this moss. I wanted to buy it from a seller in the US, but it never seems to be in stock. If anyone knows where I can get more fissidens, I would love to know!

Fissidens Fontanus grows quite slowly for a moss, but it is often used to make a carpet or to cover driftwood. The shrimp love the moss and enjoy grazing through them. It originates from the US and is easy to care for. Once it takes root, it does not need much maintenance. It does not require extra CO2 and only needs low light to thrive.

I have attempted to try and grow a moss mat, but I don't think i purchased enough to start one. Also, I left the moss in a cup to the side of the tank for a little too long, and lost quite a significant amount from my original purchase. The moss that I have put into the tank is starting to grow, so perhaps it will start to really take root in another month or so.

I followed this technique to make the carpet square: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMJzW7-iI08