Phil Edwards
Member
- Joined
- 16 Oct 2013
- Messages
- 201
SSSSS2 originally started as a holding tank for plants I got from the nursery to use in tanks at work but ended up having no room for. After a rescape of the 80 gallon all the moss I had to remove got tossed in there to live or die. One day while preparing some of the moss to grow in trays I got the bright idea to take a rock I had in a bucket and see if the leftover moss would grow on it. Not wanting to spend a load of time doing the whole tying down with thread thing or annoying my wife off by stinking up the place using the yogurt method I just threw some of the moss in a small blender, coated the rock and tossed it in.
Once it was clear the moss was growing I grabbed a few more rocks, got them soaking wet, pressed some wet moss to the rock so it would stick, and tossed them in the tank in some semblance of order. More rocks were mossed and added over time when I wanted something aquatic to tool around with. There's no rhyme or reason to it except to make sure the rocks fit somehow. Eventually I got the bright idea to do a scape that was primarily mossed rocks in a semi-cobblestone arrangement with Crypts growing in the spaces between. Substrate will be added at some point in the far future when time, space, and money permits a full submergent setup for shrimp. At that point I'll decide if I want to use both species of Crypt or take one out. Adding some hairgrass might be fun to give it an old abandoned stone path feeling. Until then it's just rock, potted Crypts, and water. Once the moss looks like it'll survive with a lower water level I'll moss up some smaller rocks for the front and call it good.
It turns out this is a great, and very lazy, way to use a little bit of moss to cover a lot of rock for use in larger aquascapes. I may try doing this on the deck when it warms up a bit more.
My Mossing Method:
Specs-
Maintenance is irregular and as simple as it gets; the moss in front gets pulled out and rinsed and the water gets shop-vacced out when I think about it. Sometimes it's every week sometimes it's not. In between water changes everything gets a good spray with tank water when I remember.
3.3.17-
Original rock, approx 1 month of growth
Second round of rocks, approx 2 weeks of growth
Third round of rocks, less than a week of growth
Whole shebang
Thanks for watching,
Phil
Once it was clear the moss was growing I grabbed a few more rocks, got them soaking wet, pressed some wet moss to the rock so it would stick, and tossed them in the tank in some semblance of order. More rocks were mossed and added over time when I wanted something aquatic to tool around with. There's no rhyme or reason to it except to make sure the rocks fit somehow. Eventually I got the bright idea to do a scape that was primarily mossed rocks in a semi-cobblestone arrangement with Crypts growing in the spaces between. Substrate will be added at some point in the far future when time, space, and money permits a full submergent setup for shrimp. At that point I'll decide if I want to use both species of Crypt or take one out. Adding some hairgrass might be fun to give it an old abandoned stone path feeling. Until then it's just rock, potted Crypts, and water. Once the moss looks like it'll survive with a lower water level I'll moss up some smaller rocks for the front and call it good.
It turns out this is a great, and very lazy, way to use a little bit of moss to cover a lot of rock for use in larger aquascapes. I may try doing this on the deck when it warms up a bit more.
My Mossing Method:
- Throw any thread, mesh, or glue in the trash or misc. aquarium crap bucket.
- Get the rock nice and wet.
- Grab a hunk of moss, tear off a small portion, spread it into a super thin mat, then press it gently to the rock where you want coverage.
- Put rock in tank.
- Spray the tank liberally with tap or tank water and (re)cover.
- Ignore
Specs-
- 10ish gallon sample tank from work
- 2x 6 watt 8000K LED fixtures on between 8-10 hours a day when I remember to turn them on and off.
- No filter, substrate, CO2, or fert mixes
- C. wendtii 'Tropica/Bronze', C. undulata, and Java Moss
Maintenance is irregular and as simple as it gets; the moss in front gets pulled out and rinsed and the water gets shop-vacced out when I think about it. Sometimes it's every week sometimes it's not. In between water changes everything gets a good spray with tank water when I remember.
3.3.17-
Original rock, approx 1 month of growth
Second round of rocks, approx 2 weeks of growth
Third round of rocks, less than a week of growth
Whole shebang
Thanks for watching,
Phil
