Flame Moss Wall

[Lemsip]

Have a Fluval Edge 23G (dosing ferts and easycarbo, no co2 - lighting is the mr16 LED upgrade) and looking to cover the back wall, or at least conceal it.

Would a flame moss wall work? Seen here:

http://aquaristik.bplaced.com/fluvaledg ... G_5631.jpg
http://aquaristik.bplaced.com/fluvaledg ... _54841.jpg
http://aquaristik.bplaced.com/fluvaledg ... 1_1280.jpg

I believe this is flame moss? Any ideas how he would have managed that (netting etc as in the moss thread)/ reckon it's possible without CO2 injection?

 

[Emyr]

That looks like flame moss to me. Most mosses will grow without co2, just much slower than they would with it. In your tank setup you could probably achieve it, just very very slowly. Here's a link on how to create one. http://www.aquamoss.net/How%20to%20crea ... 20wall.htm

 

[Lemsip]

I think I'll give it a shot, might upgrade to co2 later on. WIll be a bit fiddly with the edge's access hole. Any opinions on whether Flame Moss is a decent choice (any easier ones to grow)? Xmas moss seems to be fairly popular!

 

[Emyr]

Yeh go for it. Java moss is the easiest to grow of all of them probably. Go with whichever one of the three that you like the look of though. I would seriously consider co2 though.

 

[clonitza]

You can plant stringy moss on stones in the back and in around 2-3 weeks without CO2 you'll have the wall. It's faster in growth than flame moss and grows straight.

 

[Lemsip]

Thanks for the input - I think I'm going to give flame moss or xmas moss a shot with addition of co2. Out of interest how do you think he managed to get the flame moss to grow like that in the pics I linked? It doesn't look like he used a wall? (unless I'm missing it!)

 

[clonitza]

Don't think it's really needed to be anchored to a wall as it grows kinda vertical.
Just give it a shot.

 

[Lemsip]

Does it tend to grow towards the light dramatically? Since the lighting on this tank is mostly focused on the centre/back, concerned that the wall on the left/right edges wont form a wall and just grow towards the middle.

I have co2 for this now so should help!

 

[bigmatt]

I've not noticed any tendency for my moss to grow towards light - moss benefits from really hard trimming anyway so you can keep it in shape and transplant any cuttings to "bald" patches. Just as an aside i followed SteveUK's advice and use Bonsai wire to secure all my moss and rhizome plants now - it's dead cheap and is SO much easier to work with than thread, and in no time at all it gets covered by moss
hope this helps
Matt