# Riccia: Creating a groundcover...



## FernMan (Jun 4, 2006)

Hello everyone...

Looking at many aquascapes using Riccia as a ground cover or mounds... how do they do it how have you accomplished this look?


----------



## Questin (Sep 30, 2007)

It starts out with being tied down with black thread most the time.


----------



## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Like Questin said, tied down with black thread or a hair net. Usually on mats/mesh or rocks.


----------



## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

Yeap... you do that .. i find Ada's Riccia Stone best for this pupose and also wire meshes...

Drew


----------



## jeff5614 (Feb 15, 2006)

Same here, tied down with hair nets over flat rocks.


----------



## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

In the UK we have these scrunched up lengths of netting in our shower cubicles, that only women know what their use is for. I used one to attach Riccia to some large rocks. Initially, it looked like this:










After a while, allthe rocks and netting were completely covered:










This was one seriously high maintenance tank with all that Riccia.

Dave.


----------



## FernMan (Jun 4, 2006)

Very Nice.. 

Now, will the most bottom portion of the Riccia die off since it's not receiving as much light as the top portion?


----------



## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

FernMan said:


> Very Nice..
> 
> Now, will the most bottom portion of the Riccia die off since it's not receiving as much light as the top portion?


Like most things in planted aquaria YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). It really depends on light and how fast your riccia grows. The stronger the light and the quicker grow will keep the bottom layers green for a pretty long time. I've had riccia very thick and it was green throughout. If you do start a riccia foreground, it's much easier to remove the rocks from the aquarium for trimming and then placing them back in. This way you will limit the amount of riccia that ends up floating all around the tank.


----------



## Mr. Fish (Oct 24, 2007)

One of the thoughtful ideas ive come accrosed is buying those plastic grids from a craft store.
Simply place the riccia in between the 2 plastic grids sandwiching them. They grow out neat....


----------



## fluffiebuggie (Sep 25, 2007)

Dave, I've been looking for something to use on ebay and it never occurred to me to use the old sponge things in the bathroom! Oh well, ordered green netting now.

I have tried the black thread method and it doesn't work, the cotton rots away at lightning speed and riccia doesn't attach itself to stone or wood like moss does.
I also bought from a person who used the wire mesh sandwich method and that didn't work too well either, the metal where the plastic coated grid is cut is exposed and rusts quickly causing problems with water chemistry depending on how much of it you use, size of tank and frequency of water changes.

I vote for netting holding riccia around stone, wood or plastic grid every time. Then use fishing line to tie the netting together.


----------



## Questin (Sep 30, 2007)

> In the UK we have these scrunched up lengths of netting in our shower cubicles, that only women know what their use is for. I used one to attach Riccia to some large rocks. Initially, it looked like this:


Hehe, yeah I use that exact stuff as well, but I use it for my saltwater tanks when I frag out mushrooms/ricordia. Out of everything you can frag, I have the hardest time with these, so I use the neting and I rubberband it around a frag plug and wait and wait and wait for the mushroom/ricordia to attach.

In a freshwater tank, I would think using it to hold down plants is great, but that means its there for good. The tread will rot away in time. But it does look very good in that tank pic you posted.


----------



## renaud (Oct 15, 2006)

hello 
In fact, when I use the riccia, I use stones and a fishing wire 
but the riccia Quite a lot of work 
an older version of my 90/45/45 
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/37890-new-diy-tank-90-45-45-a-3.html


----------

