Spanish Moss as media test

[TCLynx]

I thought I would do a little test to see if Spanish Moss might be a suitable media.

I put six small catfish fingerlings in a small tank and a basket of Spanish moss under the inflow to the tank.

I started the test on June 12. Well on June 20 I discovered one of the six catfish looked like it's tail was all chewed up. Not knowing if it was a case of illness brought on by the Spanish moss or if perhaps there was fighting going on. I removed that fish from the tank and into an isolated aquarium but left the moss in place.

Well today I discovered another fish in bad shape in that tank. I've removed the Spanish moss. I'm gonna see if the fish recover..

As things are now, I will warn that there is a possibility that Spanish moss may be bad for catfish. More testing is still required to make sure it wasn't something else that was irritating them but I'm gonna be cautious. Bummer, I had been hoping it would be a good organic alternative.

[TCLynx]

The spanish moss was pulled off an oak tree out in front of my house. Anything that was on it was likely simply from the air and on everything around the house. No one has been spraying the moss on their trees around here. I did not do any special treatment to the moss before wadding it up in a plant basket and spraying it off in the basket before putting it over the little 20 gallon tank and letting the water run through it. No guarantee that what ever bothered the catfish was from the moss either. More extensive testing is required to be sure but I haven't done anything else in regards to the spanish moss. I did find worms living in it when I pulled the moss out of the basket which I had left set aside for a while so I chucked it into the worm bin.

Spanish mos does make a nice mulch around potted plants and other landscaping as it allows air movement but still helps retain moisture and looks attractive.

[Michelle Silva]

I had learned that Spanish Moss has been used as a media in some aquaponics set ups and had been considering it as well. Did you rinse it before? Did you get the Spanish Moss off of your property? Possibly there were pesticides or something else that may have been on it?

[TCLynx]

Nate, the reason I did a small test had to do with my knowledge that catfish do have very sensitive skin. Even if there isn't any specific disease, bacteria or fungus associated with spanish moss (which isn't really a moss) that specifically attacks catfish, it could be something as simple as some compound in the moss that causes a skin reaction and leaves the catfish prone to skin infections. Simply stressing the catfish out too much can cause an outbreak of skin infections. Or it might also have been associated with the house plant that was living in the tank that I did the test in. So Now I have to eliminate variables one by one and re-test. So far no deaths associated in any case though the one fish is still looking pretty poorly.

Even if using fresh spanish moss in a system turns out to be a bad idea, I know in the old days they used to compost the fresh moss till it was noting but the thin black fibers left and that would be used for mattresses and car cushions, apparently it was the best mattress material for hot climates before things like air conditioning and synthetic materials abounded. So perhaps I just need to harvest spanish moss and bury large bundles that I can later dig up for the string material which does last a long time around here.

(In the past I have tested using wood chips as media, I tested those on tilapia. Wood chips have the same drawbacks in AP that the coco coir does, it stays too wet and turns the water too dark to see the fish.)

[Nate Storey]

Interesting experiment Aleece, I know that there are lots of fungal diseases associated with some mosses. Peat is usually ok because it's pretty decomposed/composted over time, but I've heard of some pretty pathogenic fungi associated specifically with sphagnum moss (don't handle sphagnum moss with lots of cuts on your hands). I wonder if there are some fungal pathogen issues with your thin-skinned cats.