Riccia and Erect Moss

[jacquetlc]

Hi!

I've just started shrimp tank about 3 weeks... I tied my Riccia (about one palm size, separated into two lawns) and my erect moss onto plastic mesh.

Riccia seems to be okay... green and feels soft and lush.
But tried to cut them away from mesh and then they float upwards!
(a) How to actually sink them and thus create a lawn effect.
(b) Do they spread like 'crawlers'?

My erect moss not erecting!
(a) Am I tying them too tightly to my mesh?
(b) Should I cut them away from mesh and just let them spread onto my lapis? Or should I insert them into lapis?
(c) Do they spread like 'crawlers'?

*kinda frustrated now*

Thanks.

[oblivion]

Hi!

I've just started shrimp tank about 3 weeks... I tied my Riccia (about one palm size, separated into two lawns) and my erect moss onto plastic mesh.

Riccia seems to be okay... green and feels soft and lush.
But tried to cut them away from mesh and then they float upwards!
(a) How to actually sink them and thus create a lawn effect.
(b) Do they spread like 'crawlers'?
Thanks.

a)
you can't actually sink riccia.
they are floating plants afterall.

to create a riccia lawn you have to tie to mesh/rock/wood or whatever
the idea is for the object its tied to to hold it down in the water
riccia by itself will just simply float up.

b)
erhmm spread by crawlers?
riccia just simply grows thick and thicker and thicker!

though i have to warn you that a riccia lawn takes a lot of maintenance
riccia grows very fast and in a lawn the top layers will overshadow the bottom layers
that will block off the light and nutrients to the bottom layers and they will start to rot
well the bottom layers are the ones that are initially tied to the object
the top layers are the new growth..
so you can guess what happens next........

YES the whole chunk floats up.

but riccia lawn can be really nice, with good pearling effect seen

but though i'll let you know what you are getting into

[jacquetlc]

Hmm.. sounds like I will need to lawn my riccia carpet from time to time... Can I simply cut it from the top like crew cut?

Can't help it ... Got to work hard for lovely things... I simply love the kind of green the riccias are showing!

[oblivion]

Hmm.. sounds like I will need to lawn my riccia carpet from time to time... Can I simply cut it from the top like crew cut?

Can't help it ... Got to work hard for lovely things... I simply love the kind of green the riccias are showing!

yeah you have to constantly trim it to prevent rotting of bottom layers
but take care when trimming cos the cut off bits tend to float around and get snagged somewhere hidden out of sight in the tank and start growing
so after a while you might start to see riccia all over the place

some people siphon water from the area while trimming to try to siphon out the cutoff bits to prevent this

[SmallFish]

My erect moss not erecting!

not erecting .... hmmmm ....

[Justikanz]

Smallfish!... Don't be naughty!

Jac, is that erect moss or the spiky moss you bought?

[jacquetlc]

oops... did i make a mistake... anyway, the moss are somehow growing (ie. more green and lush but NOT spreading) ... should moss be tied (to a mesh to be left on floor so as to achieve carpet effect) or just let go? *sigh* ...

[kemp]

jac, you'll most probably need to tie them to a mesh. Lay them out nicely, sufficiently spaced apart, sink the mesh to the bottom of your tank. As time past, you'll be able to achieve a nice lawn of moss as foreground

[jacquetlc]

actually comparing my riccia and moss... i tink riccia will make a tremendously good looking lawn effect plant for foreground! ... how to let the riccia spread? ... currently, i've got only two 'patches'. Then i'll let the moss be cut loose and become sorta background...

[kemp]

i think what you could do is to trim your existing riccia, then have a few pieces more of the wiremesh, tie them to it, then lay them across your foreground that you wanted to get them covered.
In the long run, the foreground would be covered, then in future, just do trimming.

[Sweet Angel]

Yup, for riccia, if you have enough light, juz keep trimming & trimming... otherwise you'll get rotten riccia below...
Just trim your riccia when they get high enough, then tie the cutting onto other mesh.

For moss, you can let it lay on the substrate if you don't have strong water current which can blow them away. Then they will spread as foreground lawn...

[jacquetlc]

how high is high for riccia? initially, they are flat against the mesh, but recently, after about a month from day 01, they are about 0.5cm tall. What length should i start to trim them? can't wait for my riccia lawn!!!

[Sweet Angel]

I think they can be so high / thick, depends on the bottom part of riccia, as long as they're not rotten, they wont get loose from the mesh.
So you have to observe at what thickness should riccia be fit in your scape.
IME, they can reach about 6-7 cm thick before the bottom part rot...

[waterone]

does riccia require much C02? can they grow decently withou C02?

[Sweet Angel]

IME, yes they need CO2 to grow lushly, but of course you need many many trimming...

[jacquetlc]

my 8" shrimp tank has got no CO2. But i think there's sufficient (or more than) light - 7-8 hours / day. so far so good. they are growing nicely. but almost a month already... haven't trim because they don't seem to grow tall fast. maybe due to lack of CO2... *puzzled*

[kemp]

yup, seems like it's your lack of co2 which is resulting in the slow growth

[Sweet Angel]

It's okay than... slow growth means minimal trimming
As long as their colour still beautiful green.
Do they pearl...?
This oxygen pearl on riccia will make them float easily...

[jacquetlc]

I guess not enough co2, no photosynthesis, therefore no pearling... but i do see one or two bubbles sometimes. VERY Pretty! Not constantly bubbling though...

[Sweet Angel]

It's okay, minimum pearling means they won't float up so easily too...
Better then you have to fix your aqua decor all the time

If you want to see riccia pearling beautifully, just do google, enjoy the pics
Believe me it's more fun then you have to rescape all the time...