Java moss (plant names: Vesicularia dubyana) is an excellent aquarium plant for bottom feeders to take refuge in.This is a fairly undemanding plant as long as it is given bright lighting; patience is required to grow this plant as it is very slow growing. It is used extensively in planted tanks to create Aquascape as it can be attached to any surface, even filter intake pipes.

Java moss has small roots and is usually used to create moss wall or carpets in the aquarium. Attach this plant to some rock and add some fertilizer for acclimatization. Good lighting is necessary. Depending on aquarium lighting, temperature and pH, it can be green (good conditions) or brown (bad water conditions). However, brown color doesn't mean that the plant is dead.


Vesicularia dubyana
- Maximum size: 0 - 5 cm ( 0 - 1.97 in )
- pH of water: 6.5 - 7.2
- DH of water: dGH 4 - 30 °N
- Recommended water temperature: 21 - 27 °C ( 69.8 - 80.6 °F)
- Recommended substrate: Rocky
- Light conditions: Bright
- Place in aquarium: Foreground
- Way of propagation: Divisions
- Plant origin: South Asia
- Growth: Slow

Despite being one of the aquarium plants for beginners - It's nearly impossible to grow Java moss nicely in harder and alkaline waters. Such waters cause brownish colour, but the plant will grow anyway. There are plenty of ways to grow Java Moss or Vesicularia dubyana, and plenty of ways to control it. But be ruthless. Every piece you discard represents nitrate you're finally eliminating from your system.

One thing I like to do is float Java Moss from a little chunk of natural corkbark, so that it hangs down like Spanish Moss. Try this at the front corners of your aquarium, or use this to hide a sponge filter at a back corner. Fishes that spawn in a spawning mop will use it happily. I tie monofilament round the corkbark and just insert some Java Moss under it. Maintaining it is easy: from time to time I take the bark with its attached moss, and trounce it in a bowl of water to clean out detritus. I roll it gently to keep it moderately dense. If it's getting too long I clip the end.

Java Moss can grow on a coconut shell like a green lawn. Steep the coconut shell first in boiling water to leach out some of the tannins. Cover the wet coconut shell with half-inch clippings of Java Moss. Let them fall where they may, all over the coconut, and spritz them to make them lie flat. Put it in a saucer of water with a glass bowl over the top for three weeks in a sunless window, till the Java Moss is covered with fresh pale growing points. Later, whenever the moss needs clipping, take the coconut shell out and shear it close with the flat of the blade of scissors. Try this same trick with that ceramic hollow log that should look more real than it does.

Nothing saves more Platy fry than a tank almost full of loose tangles of Vesicularia dubyana. Nothing makes a Betta fish or a Dwarf Gourami more comfortable than a thicket of Java Moss.

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The following is a series of photographs by aquamoss.net that clearly illustrate how to create an aquatic moss wall as aquarium backdrop. A very simple technique could be employed to create a backdrop using aquatic moss for the nature aquarium. The stuffs needed to create the moss wall are commonly available, and the following simple steps will show you how to get it done with a little effort.

Picture on the left are what you would need to create the moss wall:

- Plastic Mesh
- Scissors
- Suction Cups
- Tying Wire
- Aquatic Moss


The plastic mesh is commonly available in most hardware stores, plant nuseries, and large supermarkets. It's main use is to be mounted on windows to prevent mosquitoes and other insects from entering the house. Well, we have different use for it. The meshes come in different colours and sizes, but for our moss wall, we would need one that is about 7mm to 8mm in size, and black colour is more appropriate for the backdrop.

The mesh is cut to 2 times the size of the tank that you want the moss wall to be in. You would need to fold the mesh in half and stuff the moss in-between. Cut some holes on the perimeter of the mesh so as to stick in the suction cups.

For my demonstration, it's for a small 1 ft tank, hence one suction cup is sufficient. If you are doing a large wall, you will need to put in more suction cups especially on the 4 corners, and also some suction cups around the centre of the mesh to prevent warping when the mesh is in the tank.


Next, you would need sufficient quantity of moss. Open up the mesh, and spread out the moss evenly onto half of the mesh. Try not to leave any space uncovered, else you might have gaps in your moss wall later when the wall has been erected in your tank and the moss starts to grow out.

Fold back the other half of the mesh, and tie up the 2 halves together. I'm using some tying wire here, since it's simple and I have it available on hand. You could also use fishing line or nylon thread to tie it up. Do not use any cotton thread since it will disintegrate after a short while in the tank. Remember to insert in the suction cups.

The above diagrams illustrate the final product.


Next, insert the mess against the back panel of your tank. Try to leave as little gap between the mesh and the glass as possible to prevent small fish from entering and stuck inside. One tip to prevent fish from entering the gap is to cut the height of the mesh to be slightly taller so that you can tuck the bottom of the mesh slightly into the substrate, and the top slightly above the highest water line. As for the length, try to measure it accurately so that both sides of the mesh fit closely to both sides of the tank.

The final step, wait for the moss to grow out of the mesh, and thou shall be rewarded.

Growing aquatic moss in the aquarium is not very difficult. Aquatic mosses can be considered to be the easiest aquatic plants to grow in the tank. In general, if you can keep Java Fern alive, you should have no problem keeping Java Moss and most of the aquatic moss. Most of the moss are not very demanding in their requirements. They can tolerate lower light levels than the higher plants, and they can grow well even without the supplement of Carbon Dioxide to the aquarium. They can also grow with minimum nutrients. However, with proper lightings (about 2 watt/gallon), CO2 supplement, and some macro-nurtients and micro-nutrients, one would really be able to see the true beauty of these aquatic moss wall in the aquarium.

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