AU US FISSIDENS MOSS - Small Variant

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(Information written by Aquarzon based on actual growing experience, observations and research. Please do not copy any information or photos) 

Portion Size : Around 3cm (around or larger than 50 cents coin size)
Portion Type: Loose/Unattached

Growth Speed   : Medium
Difficulty Level   : Easy
Temperature      : 10-30°C
PH Range          : 5.5-7.8
Min. Light Needs: Low         
Origin                 : United States

This fissidens is one of our all-time favourites as it has very beautiful, fine, delicate leaves and grows very compact. Its "fronds" have a beautiful pattern that resembles the pattern of phoenix feathers. Each leaf has a downwards curl pattern. It has a nice medium to deep green tone. It is a really popular fissidens and moss used in many award-winning aquariums and shrimp tank aquascapes. It is well-loved by shrimps that can spend hours continuously picking on the biofilm and organics trapped on the fine leaves of this fissidens.

This fissidens is one of those that can thrive in both Co2 and non-Co2 supplemented tanks which makes it a plant that can be used in many aquariums to create a beautiful aquascape. New growth tips are brighter green and a large concentration of these tips in a particular clump is a good indication that the plant is thriving in a particular aquarium. 

It is great to be positioned in the foreground or midground. In our aquarium, it is used to grow over rocks and gaps, which can create a very natural and beautiful aquascaping effect. This fissidens can be used to create "mountain effect" in mosscapes, attached to rocks and wood or as a groundcover like a natural carpet.

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Regarding the Mix Up between "US Fissidens" and "Fissidens Fox"
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Based on our research, we found the 2 fissidens, "US Fissidens" and "Fissidens Fox", to have been accidentally mixed up in the Australian aquarium hobby.

In Australia, the fissidens known as "US Fissidens" here is in fact, not the same "US Fissidens" known globally. Around the world, it is actually known as "Fissidens Fox". On the other hand, the fissidens known as "Fissidens Fox" here in Australia, is in fact the "US Fissidens" known globally. This can sound very confusing but is actually just a matter of the ID of these 2 fissidens being accidentally mixed up in the Australian aquarium hobby.

Both of these fissidens have similar phoenix feathers pattern but relatively big difference in size. The accidental mislabelling of the smaller variant as "US Fissidens" happened in Australia since 2007 or possibly earlier and this occurred very likely due to the reasons below:

1) This fissidens which is the smaller variant of the 2 phoenix feathers pattern fissidens was most likely widely mislabelled as "US Fissidens" when it was available in 2007 or earlier in Australia as the larger variant was not available in Australia during that period which physical comparison by Australian hobbyists not possible back then.

2) It was relatively hard for Australian hobbyists who had the smaller variant which was mislabelled in Australia as "US Fissidens" back in 2007 to correctly ID or realise the smaller variant circulating is not the actual or same "US Fissidens" known worldwide as the only available public reference back then was Google which did general photos of the fissidens in aquarium, but lacking detailed photos which show measurement or size comparison (it was a very different situation compared to now when there are websites now such as LiquidCreations and BolbiAqua that clearly shows size difference between the 2 fissidens and when Australian hobbyists can now get a hand on the larger variant so that a physical size comparison can be made).

3) As both fissidens had similar phoenix feathers pattern and originate from US, the initial hobbyists in Australia in 2007 that traded or sold the smaller variant would most likely have thought that "US Fissidens" just refers to the phoenix feathers pattern fissidens without realising there were 2 variants of it. As such, when they traded and sold this fissidens, it was accidentally sold under the mislabelled name "US Fissidens". As years passed when this fissidens was continuously traded and sold to more and more hobbyists in Australia under that incorrect name, "US Fissidens" became the common trade name for the smaller variant in Australia.

We have made a comparison table below for easy reference between the 2 variants:of the phoenix feather pattern fissidens, both originating from US:

Due to the many years of the smaller variant of the phoenix feathers pattern fissidens being known as "US Fissidens" in Australia, it would be very confusing to many if we were to just label this by its standard global name which is "Fissidens Fox" especially when "Fissidens Fox" is still accidentally known here as being the larger variant. As such, to minimise confusion while at the same time starting the proccess the get the labelling right in accordance to actual global trade names, the 2 variants will be labelled as below:

Smaller variant: AU US FISSIDENS - Small Variant
(The reasoning for this is so that hobbyists in Australia hobbyists can still easily recognise this as being the smaller variant as this fissidens had been given the name "US Fissidens" in Australia for so many years. The label "AU" placed at the front indicates that this name is used in Australia and is therefore not the same as the name used globally. There is also a label "Larger Variant" at the end to make it even clearer that is the larger variant of these 2 phoenix feathers pattern fissidens originating from US.)