Why is My Christmas Moss Dead? (Preventing Methods)

The Christmas Moss is a plant growing in the wet areas such as nearby to streams, river banks, wet rocks and trees. In their Natural Habitat they have been provided with all the requirements on their growth.

However when it comes to using these Mosses in to Aquarium planting indoors they should be taken care of in a proper manner.

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When these minimum requirements of these plants are not met within the fish tank or Aquarium that it has been stored into. Reasons will occur for it to get damaged and die.

Christmas Moss Dead
Christmas Moss Dead : Image Source

How can I identify when my Christmas Moss is dying?

A Christmas Moss plant turning brown from the inside of the plant and spreading through the branches to its leaves in the main way of identifying that the Christmas Moss in your tank or Aquarium is about to die .

Why is My Christmas Moss Dead?

It has been identified that several reasons cause for the Christmas Moss to turn its color in brown and die.

Such Basic Reasons are,

The Surface of Growth becoming Dry

If you are growing your Christmas Moss in a terrarium without water, then it should be seen that the surface of growth of the plant always remains wet. When the surface dries up it will cause the plant to dry and die off.

Too much of bright light or Sunlight on the plant

The Christmas Moss requires a bright amount of Light for its growth, however too much bright light received on to your Aquarium and the water becoming too warm will cause the Christmas Moss to Die and Melt off

Lack of Water Flow

One of the other factors affecting the growth of the Christmas Moss is a decent water flow within the Aquarium, when there is a lack in the flow of water, this will stop the growth of the plant and eventually make the plant to die.

Lack of Nutrients

A lack of Nutrients received on the Christmas Moss plant is another factor affecting on the death of the plant. Therefore it should be seen that the plant receives the required amount of Nutrients.

You can even add Fertilizer and CO 2 specified on these plants.

No proper Trimming

The Christmas Moss will do well in a tank when the plant is light and short. Even though this plant is said to have a slow growth, the branches of these plants will spread over a vast area making the plant too heavy on the roots.

In such situations it will be difficult for the plant to hold itself and the inside of these plants will turn brown in colour, which is the main factor for the plant to die.

Therefore a proper trimming of the plant is required for it to hold in shape and to receive light and water to all parts of the plant.

Changes in the Water Consistency

A change in the water Consistency of the plant can also affect the plant to die.

When you purchase these plants and place them into your tank or Aquarium at times they will feel a change in their waters which might cause them to die.

Also as a fresh water plant, these plants will not survive themselves in brackish or salt water.

How to prevent Christmas Moss from Dying?

Preventing the Christmas Moss from Dying is not that much of a difficult task.

Providing the plant with its basic requirements such as the required amount of clean and fresh water, enough amount of room light or sunlight, a place with a flow of water in the tank, proper Nutrients and a proper and regular trimming of the plant will help you to have a healthy growing plant without dying.

Is Dead Christmas Moss Bad for Aquarium Tank?

A Dead Christmas Moss will not be bad for your tank or Aquarium, however if kept for a longer period of time in the tank after death then it might badly affect the tank. As these plants tend to melt within the tank.

This will bring a bad smell to the tank as well as produce acids which will not good to the Aquarium, plants as well as the Aquatic life in it.

Therefore removing this plant from the tank after dying will have a positive effect on the health of the Aquarium or tank.

Is Dead Christmas Moss harmful to other plants in my Tank?

A Dead Christmas Moss will not always be harmful on the other Aquatic plants in your tank.

Is Dead Christmas Moss Bad for Fish?

A dead Christmas moss will not always harm the fish in the tank, but it would be better to remove the dead Christmas Moss plants out of the fish tank the sooner you identify them as dead and no longer be recovered.

Do Fish Eat Dead Christmas Moss?

The Mostly used types of Fish such as the Gold Fish who put in anything edible in to their mouth will feed on the Christmas Moss. Also certain Algae Eaters and other types of fish might also take a nibble on them.

Can my Fish Die if they eat dead Christmas Moss?

A Christmas Moss left in the tank dead without taken any care of for a longer period of time, like all other dead Aquatic plants will produce harmful toxins to the tank.

Fish eating these, might even cause them to die.

However this might not happen if you initially identify the dead mosses within the tank and take necessary steps to clean them off the tank as soon as possible.

Is Algae growing fast when dead Christmas Mosses remain in the tank?

A live Christmas Moss plant has a far more ability to get Algae attracted towards it faster than other Aquatic plants in the tank.

So when there is a dead Christmas Moss in the tank unattended, this will make the Algae attraction much faster than into a live Christmas Moss.

Can Dead Christmas Moss come back to life?

Identifying a Dying Christmas Moss at its initial stage of death and providing it with the basic requirements to get back in life might give you an opportunity to bring back the Christmas Moss plant back to life.

How to recover the Dying Christmas Moss?

To recover a Dying Christmas Moss plant the first step will be to give the plant a good trimming and place it in the tank where there is a good flow of water, as a good flow of water through the roots of the plant can help it to get back in healthiness.

Also place the Christmas Moss in a place where it receives enough amount of light which is not too bright or else it might attract the Algae towards the plant.

If there is any Algae attached in to the plant remove the plant from the tank and give it a thorough and a gentle cleaning without harming the leaves or roots of the plant.

If you find it difficult to treat your dying Christmas Moss within your tank with the other tank mates and plants, then it would be better to move the Christmas Moss to another tank or jar until it is recovered.

How to clean dead Christmas Mosses in my Tank?

A Christmas Moss has tiny leaves which tend to decay and melt more easily than the other types of Aquatic plants.

Therefore a careful and a full cleaning of the tank will have to done to remove all remaining dead moss parts out of the tank.

If you have attached your Christmas Moss to a drift wood, rock or any other type of Object you can carefully remove them out of the tank as well as the other tank mates and plants and give a thorough cleaning to your tank before replacing them back in the tank.

If the Christmas Moss is attached to the tank itself, then it would be better to remove the tank mates and the other plants in the tank initially before removing the Moss.

Thereafter give a good cleaning to the tank and replace the tank back with its tank mates and other Aquatic plants.

It should be also noted that the other Aquatic plants will also have to be given a good cleaning as there might be dead Christmas moss particles hidden and remaining within these plants as well as they melt with their death.

Conclusion

Recovering of a Dying Christmas Moss is not that much of a difficult task. When these plants are given their basic requirements and care they can turn back in colour and remain as a healthy plant.

A proper taking care of the Christmas Moss plant in your tank can prevent the plant from dying at the initial stage itself.

By Uswatta Liyanage

Hello. I'm Uswatta Liyanage from Galle, Sri Lanka. I am the founder of this website. Since my childhood I'm an aqua plant lover and I have professionally learned more about aqua plants. So I created this site for share my knowledge and experience with all of you. Now you can refer my site and feel free to contact me if any inquiry.