Monosolenium tenerum (Pellia)

Tank Conditions & Fertilisation
Eventually I managed to get some fragments of the Monosolenium tenerum (used to be wrongly named Pellia) from Malaysia (18th Aug 2006). I tie all the fragments on to a piece of stone with cotton thread and place them in one of my 8L Tiger shrimp tank with 11W compact fluorescence light and CO2 supply (DIY yeast culture). Water pH is about 7, KH ~7.8 and GH ~16 (typical London tap water) and temperature about 22-24C. I dose the tank every other day with very small doses of Seachem Excel, Fluorish, Iron, Potassium and Trace. I prepare a 500ml bottle of Seachem mix for the ease of dosing. I find that the M. tenerum is not too fussy with light as my other 20L (11W) and 60L (22W) tank also have some fragments of M. tenerum and they still grow. One thing I found is that CO2 speeds up growth and also produces larger fronds. My 20L (hosting CRS) tank does not have CO2 supply and the M. tenerum grows much slower and fronds are narrower and more transparent. Overall, it is not a fussy grower but it is slow growing. Given CO2, it will grow a little faster and bigger!

A single frond fragment on my index finger. Note the ‘Y’ shaped branching pattern.

I tied the fragments on a piece of stone with some cotton threads.

After one month, new fronds emerged from the fragments.

6 weeks

2 months

Closeup

Left: Riccia fluitans (Crystalwort)  tied to a piece of stone. Middle: a small starter culture of M. tenerum. Right: 3 months old (the same plant shown in above photos).

this culture was grown in my 20L CRS tank without CO2 and low light. Note that the fronds are narrower and longer compared to the above culture in high light and CO2 supplied conditions. There is a 1 week old baby CRS grazing on it!