How to achieve the moss lawn look in Amano's tank?

[hebi]

hi guys,

i currently planning to rescape my 3ft tank and wish to use only driftwood and moss lawn. will it look weird to just use one type of moss for the whole tank? so far only try spiky and taiwan.

next, how do i get the moss lawn look like this?
http://picasaweb.google.com/Virus31C...49896299155138
this pic is taken from the photoalbum of our AQ forumer. i notice for most of his moss lawn, it has a volume up effect, so is that possible to achieve using just stainless steel mesh or did he use small pebbles instead?

lastly, i know is a pretty dumb question. but how do you all tie your moss onto stainless steel mesh? i tie my spiky moss on them but dont know is it because i never tie tight enough so the spiky moss is actually just laying around on the bottom, rather messy, or do you sandwich the moss between 2 pieces of SS mesh? and in the long run, in terms of maintenance, is tying with fishing line much better than thread? since its much durable so wont break off.

[Reginald Ho]

I had the same question about how to tie mosses so that they look nice and neat. The uncle at my neighbourhood FS taught me 2 methods. 1 is to do it layer by layer. As in align the mosses in 1 direction, starting from the top 1st. Tie this layer, then lay the 2nd row, and tie that row, and it goes on and on. But this is reallyyyy time consuming, and irregular shapes of the wood or rock makes this very difficult.

Another method is to simply tie a whole chunk of mosses to the surface. Place it aside and wait for them to root to the surface. Then remove the string and carefully trim the mosses short. When they regrow, you'll see the fruits of the wait!

As for tying mosses to mesh, i've experimented 3 methods. 1 is as what you've mentioned. I realise that using this method (between 2 meshes), the moss takes a longer time to grow out of the mesh, but they're nice and neat.

If you simply plonk the mosses onto a mesh and tie them, it'll be really messy and unruly. Wun get the lawn look you want to achieve.

My personal preference is tying mosses between a piece of solid surface and mesh. This 'forces' the moss to grow out from the mesh only on the mesh side, and looks really great. The solid surface that i use is those plastic sheets that you can can at bookstores used for art.

I reckon that the moss lawn is tied to rocks, then trimmed. To make the tying easier, i suggest getting those 'plant net' with bigger spaces from any LFS, place a stone in the center and surround it with the moss of your choice. wrap it up, and wait for it to grow. Viola! You have a moss ball!

I use fishing lines for mesh tying, and regular thread for tying to surfaces. By the time the thread dissolve, the mosses whould have stuck itself onto the surface.

[hebi]

thanks reginald. but whats the purpose of tying it layer by layer? i thought normally one thin layer is enough? or its purpose is to give it a more mature look? but i will try out the plastic method you mention.

anyway, anyone else know how to get that thick moss lawn look as shown in the link above?

edit: btw, i dont know why my 1ft non-CO2 tank's spiky moss seems to be browning. the bottom layer and like dry up colour and slowly spreading. could it be due to lack of light since recently weather kind of cloudy.

[torque6]

hebi,

i also originally planned to use moss with valisa nana as backdrop to create the wavy appearance, but am stuck with jap HG.

[hebi]

ic. i was actually asking how he make the moss lawn, like even and thick like that. steel mesh or riccia stone?

[Reginald Ho]

thanks reginald. but whats the purpose of tying it layer by layer? i thought normally one thin layer is enough? or its purpose is to give it a more mature look? but i will try out the plastic method you mention.

anyway, anyone else know how to get that thick moss lawn look as shown in the link above?

edit: btw, i dont know why my 1ft non-CO2 tank's spiky moss seems to be browning. the bottom layer and like dry up colour and slowly spreading. could it be due to lack of light since recently weather kind of cloudy.

Yupz. doing the layering thing will give it a fuller look straight away.. but its really impractical IMHO..

Usually if the water is not cold enuff, mosses will get burnt. Do you have a fan for the tank?

[hebi]

yup. the temperature is constantly around 25C, at most 26C. what do you mean by burnt? for my 1ft tank, sometimes the temperature is 24C, but the inner layer still have the burnt look. cant be my thermometer inaccurate, cause i tested using 3 and 2 of which is from GEX, those blue liquid type.