General Information
Monosolenium tenerum (Monosolenium tenerum) is a submersed and emersed moss plant that originates in India, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hawaii and can be found in humid, shady and nitrogen rich soil.
Monosolenium tenerum is a liverwort that makes an attractive aquarium plant due to the interesting shape of its leaves that is quite unusual for mosses. Monosolenium tenerum is suitable for all tanks and can be placed in the foreground. Its leaves are not really leaves. The green part of the plant is called thallus with the thallus dividing into branches that form little cushions. The color of these cushions is dark green. They’re not very firmly attached to the plant so that the cushions can also float around the tank.
It can grow from 2 to 5 cm tall. Since it has a moderate growth rate, it should be combined with either a massive quantity of other moderate-growing plants or fast-growing plants in order to prevent algae.
The following sections give an in-depth overview on how to plant, grow and propagate the plant in your tank successfully.
How to plant Monosolenium tenerum
Monosolenium tenerum is a moss, which means it should not be buried under soil or substrate because it will rot. Instead it is best placed on driftwood, rocks or ornaments by glueing or tying it to the desired surface with fish-safe glue or nylon thread. If you don't attach it securely to a surface it can fly through the whole tank and grow freely by attaching to random surfaces.
Where to place Monosolenium tenerum
Due to its relatively small size of maximum 5 cm, Monosolenium tenerum is best suited as a foreground plant and can be used in all tanks from nano size upwards.
The step-by-step process to plant Monosolenium tenerum
- The Monosolenium tenerum will most likely arrive in a plastic (in-vitro) container or cup. Carefully remove the moss from its container and rinse it under running water.
- (Optional) Divide the plant into smaller chunks by pulling it apart with your fingers.
- Now place some fish-safe glue on a surface in you aquarium, pick up an individual plant and push it firmly onto the glued spot. Alternatively use some nylon thread to tie the plant onto the desired surface.
How to grow Monosolenium tenerum fast
The overall growth-rate of Monosolenium tenerum is moderate. There are, however, some things you can do to speed up the process further:
- Adding CO² to your tank: CO² injection doesn't have much impact on the growth of Monoselenium tenerum but also doesn’t affect it negatively.
- Add nutrients to your tank: Adding a little bit of fertilizer to your water can help Monoselenium tenerum grow more healthy and maybe even a little bit faster.
- Choose the right spot: Make sure to place your Monoselenium tenerum in a spot with medium to high lighting.
How to propagate Monosolenium tenerum
To propagate Monosolenium tenerum simply remove a small part of the moss from the main body of the plant and attach it to a surface as described in the "How to plant"-section.
Common problems with Monosolenium tenerum
- Yellow Leaves: In case the leaves on Monosolenium tenerum turn yellow, this is a sign for lack of nutrients in the water. We suggest to check the water parameters in order to determine which fertilizer to add.
- Melting Leaves: In case the leaves on Monosolenium tenerum seem to rot or melt, this might also be a sign for lack of nutrients in the water or soil. Other reasons could be too much or too little light. In these cases, it's best to measure your tank parameters and compare them to the data in the "plant characteristic" table in the top right of this page.