Moss Advice

[Philosophos]

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a tank using dry start method for a while now. I would like to use some weeping moss on manzanita wood, and I'm trying to get it as perfect as possible. I'm looking for any information on the finer points of attaching moss to objects, how to grow it in preparation, making it look good through trimming and so on.

I figured this was the best site to go to for advice; I have seen few forums so dedicated to moss as it relates to aquascaping.

-Philosophos

[Philosophos]

Bump.

Come on, I've helped plenty of people from this site who have asked for it on other forums. I've spent hours teaching members from this forum how to mix their own fertilizers.

-Philosophos

[blue33]

lol... ok here's from me, though i'm almost semi-retired. You can use cotton string or nylon fishing line to tie it. As it grow about and inch just trim it, the more you trim the more bushier it will be, as it get thicker use string to tie it again. Personally i prefer normal cotton string then fishing line cause i 'll be tying down few times to get the best effect. Another method is try to find some groove or gap on the wood, slot it in and leave it for it to grow, it will stick to the wood by nature.

Below is one of my moss using this method.




Here's the link to tie the moss. Click >Here< and this one >Here<

Hope it helps!

[StanChung]

Hi Phil,

Sorry for not noticing this but it's currently hard to find posts with so many marketplace advertisements.

Here's what I do-

1. Determine if moss will stick to the surface you're tying to or not. This will determine whether to use cotton or nylon string. Cotton will melt. This maybe a nasty surprise when you see your creation floating a month or two down the line! Mosses like Weeping, Spiky/Peacock, Willow and Flame[?] do not stick while mosses like Fountain, Java, Singapore, Taiwan, X'mas all do.

2. Layout the wood in the tank, then mark the wood with a permanent marker where you want to place the moss with some dots.

3. Then use a thin black/brown nylon/fishing string and make a knot in the middle of one section you've marked. Remember to leave a 5" lead or longer for the closing knot. Place the moss along marked section, then move the line spool to make a diagonal pattern like candy cane then roll back in opposing diagonal once you reached the end of that section so it becomes 'XXX' pattern and continue to the other end and back to the middle. Finish with a knot[granny knot works fine] cut and trim the line ends. Repeat with other sections.

4. It's a good idea to trim the stray ends of moss poking out to ensure it grows out nice and even. I usually trim it till it almost lays flat on the wood.

5. Remember to keep a water spray filled with ice water to keep the moss damp while you're working. Try not to handle the moss for long periods because our hands are warm.

6. Trim the stray strands again once it reaches 1" long to keep the growth even. I sometimes make uneven pattern to make it look more natural.



My attempt with weeping moss back in 2005.
I was not the best weeping moss grower those days as I kept it in 27-29C water sans chiller. All floated away one day when the string melted.
I use a black nylon nowadays, the thinner the less chances of the knot slipping.

Hope this helps. Sorry I don't have a diagram to show how to tie the moss.

[Shadow]

yeah too many selling post nowadays but now stan already answer all of them

However if you are talking about growing moss emerse, I never try that

[Philosophos]

Thanks for the replies all of you. I appreciate the time taken to explain things to me.

I know how quickly threads can jump off the front page.

Blue33 I admire how controlled your moss growth is. I may try to do somewhat the same with my own; perhaps a little messier since it's weeping. Did you use fish net or fish line? I see fishing line being used in the links you provided. How fine of a mesh if it's net?

Stan, I'll be sure to use nylon. I've spent too much time on this tank to have moss falling off. I'm already expecting some bacteria growth and tannin staning on the wood for the first few months

Shadow, I'm hoping to avoid emersed. I've got some sort of uID'ed fissidens-like moss growing that way (found it in a stream) It gets very stringly when it's submerged, and needs to be re-planted to look good.

-Philosophos

[blue33]

Nowadays i use those selling SGD$1 cotton string to tie and it last pretty long, for the net i use mosquito net, try not to use fishing line, that is because the moss after sometime may dislodge itself from the wood when it starts to grow massive, those underneath will turn brown and sometime die off, so the best way is still use good cotton string that can last sometime in the water.

[Philosophos]

I'll try mosquito net if I can track it down then. Mosquitos aren't enough of a concern around here to be common.

I'm not too bad with stitching and knots; I think I might be able to make multiple layers of net easily removable with the right methods.

Thanks again for the advice. I’ll probably have questions once the dry start phase of things is done.

-Philosophos

[blue33]

LOL... you only use one layer net only, dont need few layer(you'll suffocate the moss grow) , i prefer to make the mosquito net hole bigger by cutting some hole bigger and pull out some moss to grow out easily. For wood branches - best is use cotton string, for rocks - mosquito net is prefer. I prefer those thick cotton string than thin cotton string, they last longer by the time the moss grow massive and the cotton just degrade itself at the same time rather than fishing line it dont degrade at all.

Note: Not necessary to buy ADA or quality string, rather the thickness that make up the lasting.

Happy moss growing.

[Philosophos]

So you end up re-tying the moss with cotton then as the moss grows larger?

ADA sells cotton thread? I think that’s taking merchandising a little too far.

Congratulations on your IAPLC ranking by the way. I may not be the biggest fan of most ADA products, but I respect the difficulty of placing within the top 100 (or even 200) of their competition.

-Philosophos