frozen Java Moss???

jjohnwm

Potamotrygon
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Mar 29, 2019
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I like planted tanks, but even after decades of keeping them I am still not a "plant" guy. I buy the occasional plant and try it out; if it dies, it dies. If it turns out to be one of those tough species that happens to like the conditions in my tank, it usually grows like gangbusters and I wind up using it in every tank, as well as giving or throwing away handfuls.

One of the plants that does this for me is Java Moss. It thrives on neglect; I like that!

Last year I was experimenting with various types of aquarium plants in my outdoor pond, and while introducing them I must have inadvertently added a few sprigs of Java Moss. I never saw it last year, and at the end of the summer season, before my pond began to freeze solid as it does each winter, I removed whatever plants and fish I could and brought them back into the house. A few days ago, the ice finally melted off the pond surface and I wandered out to check things. To my astonishment, I saw a large round mass of Java Moss, maybe soccer-ball-sized, jammed up against the pondwall. Further inspection revealed several more similar masses at various points, and each was either solidly encased in ice or at least partially frozen into the melting mini-glaciers in the pond. The moss looks bright green and completely healthy. I considered taking some inside but since the temperature differential is still something like 40F degrees I chose to leave it.

Has anyone ever experienced this with Java Moss, or other plants? For all I know it will turn brown and die as soon as it warms up, but at the moment it still looks terrific. Is this stuff going to live?
 
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DwarfCichlidLvr

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Feb 26, 2020
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The chances of survival are slim. Chances are that I will melt away. I'd just leave it and see what happens.
 

fishhead0103666

Alligator Gar
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That sounds seriously cool if it survives, I'm gonna be watching this thread.
 

jjohnwm

Potamotrygon
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Mar 29, 2019
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Okay, May4; we have had some warm days that have raised the pond temperature, at least in the upper layers, to 60F. The past couple days have been chilly, below freezing at night, and the pond is back down around 48-50F.

The Java Moss appears that it is extremely healthy, vibrant green and noticeably growing. There is much more in there than I originally thought. The largest individual mass is a flattened football-shaped oval approximately two feet long; smaller bundles are literally everywhere on the bottom, amonst stones and wood.

I can't understand how this is possible...but now I am starting to hold out some hope for my water lily, which I was unable to remove last fall before a hard freeze covered over the pond while I was away on a job. It's not supposed to survive freezing solid...but I'm sure that moss isn't either, so...we'll see.
 

DwarfCichlidLvr

Dovii
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Feb 26, 2020
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Okay, May4; we have had some warm days that have raised the pond temperature, at least in the upper layers, to 60F. The past couple days have been chilly, below freezing at night, and the pond is back down around 48-50F.

The Java Moss appears that it is extremely healthy, vibrant green and noticeably growing. There is much more in there than I originally thought. The largest individual mass is a flattened football-shaped oval approximately two feet long; smaller bundles are literally everywhere on the bottom, amonst stones and wood.

I can't understand how this is possible...but now I am starting to hold out some hope for my water lily, which I was unable to remove last fall before a hard freeze covered over the pond while I was away on a job. It's not supposed to survive freezing solid...but I'm sure that moss isn't either, so...we'll see.
WOW! Congrats! That's amazing
 

fishguy1978

Redtail Catfish
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Mar 30, 2020
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I’m surprised that it made it through the winter. I have added java moss to my pond but it never survives.
 
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jjohnwm

Potamotrygon
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Mar 29, 2019
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I'm far beyond merely surprised; amazed is more like it.

Bear in mind that this was not merely in cold water. All of it, or at the very least the vast majority of it, was solidly encased in ice for approximately 4 months.
 
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