Descripción
Hypnaceae are the aquarium mosses, and their most important rule can be summed up in one sentence: do not plant them. They have no roots to send into the substrate; tie or glue them to rock, wood or mesh, and from there they grow into an increasingly dense mat. Java moss and Christmas moss are the examples every aquarist eventually gets to know.
They are among the most forgiving plants you can keep: they grow in low light, without injected CO₂, and in tanks where almost nothing else wants to grow. Their value in a shrimp tank is enormous: biofilm builds up between their branches for shrimplets to graze on, while fry find shelter that adults cannot reach.
Their only enemy is neglect. When a mat becomes too thick, the inner layers lose light, rot and trap detritus. Light trimming from time to time keeps it green, compact and useful.
