I put it brand new into my tank on thursday night, misted really good. Well yesterday, I didn't make it home after work until really late and forgot to mist. I got up this morning to some not very healthy looking moss, kinda drired out and brown. Is there any hope? I didn't think it would die out after only 48 hours. I gave it a good soaking, hopefully it will come back. Its in a darker corner of the tank, away from direct light from the heat lamp.

The good news is, it only cost me $2. I'm not to familiar with taking care of moss. Other plants I have a very green thumb, so I figured I was going to be OK with moss.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

How humid is the enclosure and how moist is the substrate. You could try putting some straight peat or some milled sphagnum right under it to act as a buffer from drying out. Depending on the moss it should be ok, a little brown doesn't mean that it is dead, it's a huge colony of different individuals.

I'll find out how humid it is today, since I just bought my hydrometer. Right now my substrate is 50% organic potting soil and 50% coco husk. I could try some straigh peat. Its not brown, but its not green like it was before!

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Misting withthe wrong type of water will cause problems as well. It the water has too much calcium in it or is not declorinated it can kill it.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Good point Merlin, misting it directly with dirty water might be worst than not misting it at all.

misting with bottled spring water. no cholorine. I wanted to get the walmart brand spring water but they were out, so I had to pay a little bit more for a gallon of Deerpark.

My humidity is at 50% ish, and my temps are mid 70's. I need to bring both of those up. Its the first time I put a digital hydrometer/thermostat in there. I"ll keep misting a few times a day. Meanwhile I need to add some lexan to the top of my tank, to keep in some more heat/moisture. I also added some frog moss. The kind from the herp store that you soak in water and put into the tank. I actually put the new moss on top of a few little pieces hoping it holds moisture better. Hopefully this will also help keep the tank a little more humid.

Good thing I'm doing all this now before I get the frogs! I would rather lose a $2 bit of moss, than froggies. For the first time at a vivarium, i think I'm doing an overall darn good job.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

What about lighting? I found the higher the intensity the better.

Check the label on the bottled spring water. Much of it has levels of chlorine in it as well. "Spring Water" is an often misused term.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

no, i was sure to get spring water that wasn't chlorinated.

I have a 100W light for heat, as well as a 24" flourescent full spectrum.

the moss is in the back right hand corner. You can kinda see it.


note, its not the dead frog moss, its the really bright green stuff behind the plant with the red-tipped leaves. I only have about the amount of a hot wheels toy car in there.

I think it just got really dried out the first day in the tank. Some of it has greened back up but I'm still only giving it a 50/50 chance of pulling through.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Check the pH of the water you are spraying with. Most mosses require a neutral to acidic pH. If there is too much calcium in the water it will cause it to brown up.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!