# First time working with Riccia



## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

*First time working with Riccia (Photo added 7/26/05)*

Hey guys,

I just got my hands on some Riccia and am wanting to use it on some wood. I'd like to hear your experiences on how you attached it to wood and rock.

FYI, the tank has 5 active Botia sidthimunkii in it.


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

depending on how much riccia you plan on using on the wood I woul go in one of two directions. If you plan on covering alot of wood I would get a mesh onion bag. The stretchy ones with lots of small holes in it and wrap the riccia around the wood with it. If you plan on using a small amount I would just use the fishing line technique(u may need to wrap alot here). Either way its a little painful and time consuming.

Here is a good site for growing riccia with some good pics

http://www.nature-aquarium.com/home.htm

Good luck with the riccia!


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

I've found a great way to attach Riccia and moss to rocks, wood or anything else. If you go to a flyfishing store and ask for a fly tying bobbin (link below) and then get some thread or monofilament, you can use the bobbin to neatly wrap even the smallest Riccia or moss to small and large objects. The threads they use in fly tying are exceptionally thin and come in hundreds of colors. Or (What I use) you can use Flourocarbon tippet in size 6X. Flourocarbon is not cheap, but is designed to be completely invisible underwater and the 6X size is hair thin and strong. Try it...I think you'll like it.

http://www.bearlodgeangler.com/tools.htm


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Thanks guys. I ended up using 4lb monofilament to wrap my Riccia on. It took a while, but was a good experience. I can see how Amano (well, his assistant) would have "Zenned Out" doing tanks with lots of Riccia.

Imatrout, I thought quite a few times that this was a lot like tying a fly. Stick a big piece of riccia to the wood, wrap the end of it, pull the excess off, repeat. It's like one huge sinking nymph. Too bad the only good flyfishing here in my part of the world is using a popper or wooly bugger to catch sunfish. *sigh* 

Best,
Phil


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

Phil,

Where's your part of the world. I think (and have tried) to flyfish almost anywhere. Here in the Phoenix area, they fly fish for 30lb carp in the irrigation canals! LOL!


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

I'm in Charlotte, NC. We've supposedly got "trout" in the mountains, but after growing up in Seattle the East Coast version of a "trout" is a little dissapointing. I actually have yet to go flyfishing for panfish, but I bet it would be a lot of fun. Especially when a bass hits the line instead of a bluegill.


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

I fish for bass all the time with a fly rod and it's real fun. You can trow a 4" berkely power worm on an offset hook and it drifts naturally in the water and the bass go crazy. It's kind of hard to set the hook with a soft tip fly rod though. Of course, this is a fish friendly forum so I must say that I ALWAYS catch and release and use barbless hooks.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Tank:
All-Glass 20g (This is the 2nd tank I ever bought) 
Light: 3x 36w PC 8hrs/day 1x 6700K and 2x 10,000K (Reef leftovers)
Filter: Eheim ECCO 2213
Substrate: Red Sea FloraBase w/ undersubstrate heating cable
CO2: Pressurized Gas 2 bubbles per 3 seconds
Red Sea Reactor 200 diffusor

Fertilization:
Modified EI

Fish:
6 Endler's (Endless) Livebearers
5 Botia sidthimunkii
2 Ottocinclus affinis (had 3, one jumped yesterday)

Plants: 
Riccia fluitans
Vesicularia dubyana
unknown native stemplant (it's flowering now, an ID will be forthcoming)

I'm debating what else to put in there. Right now I'm thinking some Anubias nana behind the moss bunches running along the seam and up into the space where the wood is visible to tie it all together. I'd like to try Eliocharis too. It'll probably get interplanted with the Anubias, I've always liked that look. The rest of the open area is likely to be Glossostigma. Of course, no Phil Tank would be complete without a Cryptocoryne somewhere, but the trick is finding where to put it. Time will tell!

Best,
Phil

The tank is 4 days old in this picture and the loaches have started digging under the wood which kicks up the dust you see on the moss.


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## rgrycki (Jun 13, 2005)

Hey Phil, There's plenty of trout up here in the mountains! You just gotta know where to go.  If you wanna come out to Asheville sometime we can talk about aquariums and do some flyfishing.


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## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

Alittle off topic but i used to do some carp fishing at our flood control dam in california. That is until we got tickets for trespassing on government land! Although it wasn't fly fishing these things were huge, but i doubt they were 30lbs. I believe the largest one we caught was 17lbs. Takes quiet an eye too, they gently suck bait into their mouth and you just see a twitch in the line.

Back on subject, thats quite a bit of ricca you have in there! I love the effect it has, but it is quite the pain to clean up after. I'll be looking forward to seeing your tank progress though!


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

SnyperP,

I really like the effect as well. I just hope it maintains and the more shaded stuff doesn't die. The entire top area of the tank is covered by AHSupply reflectors so it should be getting -some- light all throughout the tank. We'll see how it works out over time. Right now I'm just happy to have some plants that appreciate all the light.


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## owengibson (Apr 21, 2005)

Very Nice!


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Thank you Owen, I like this tank a lot. I hope it gets better after the mid and foregrounds are finished. We'll see.


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## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

Wow Phil, you weren't messing around with the Riccia. My Riccia doesn't usually look like that until it's grown for a couple of weeks. The street value of that much Riccia up in Canada would be staggering


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

I have that much again sitting in a bucket outside waiting to be used. All in all, the stuff in the tank covered 1/3 of my 75g about an inch deep and grew from 1/2 cup's worth in a couple weeks. I think about that sometimes and it boggles my mind. It blows me away that people will actually charge an arm and a leg for this stuff when it grows faster than it can be given away! I know wholesalers that want $6.00 for a golf ball sized portion that probably grew from an errant thallus floating in a fish storage tank somewhere. *sigh*

Best,
Phil


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Does your native stem look like a _Polygonum_? I wonder if it's the caespitosum.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

There we go! That's it. Good eye Cavan.


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