# Moss attachment techniques



## doubleott05

I see lots of cool scapes with mosses and fissidens and what not. some are simple some are very indepth difficult it seems.
Examples: (THESE ARE NOT MY TANKS)

















Since we are discussing aquascaping technique i believe this to be the appropriate thread to put this discussion in.

Lets see some techniques used to attach moss by the general population:

Wrap onto a rock with thread and place.
Wrap onto wood with thread.
shower scrubber netting
Jam between rocks and hope it dosent come loose and grows to attach itself (not popular).
Plant in foreground (not popular).

These are the only few that i know of.

Now i have seen people attach this stuff to the side of huge rocks with no evidence of strings or fishing line... how is this done?... superglue hmmm im not sure.(i want to say i read somewhere that Texgal superglued once.... if so what kinda of superglue?) i have tried super glue but it didnt work. ADA moss cotton .. perhaps, but before the moss can adhear to the surface the cotton breaks down. So, how is this method achieved?

I have seen scapes with beautiful displays of fissidens. Do they cover the whole item or just wrap some and it covers whatever it touches?

Now general population(thats you the reader) its up to you to educate us on different methods of attaching moss that are not listed here.
It seems so simple yet i have seen some people do some very "not so simple stuff".

Maybe if we expand on this the moderators can make it a sticky for all to learn.

Thanks
Elliot


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## jclee

I've tried wrapping with thread, with some success. I've seen moss wrapped around rocks with a layer of mesh, then wrapped with thread, which I just tried. (I used cheesecloth, simply because it was handy; we'll see what happens as it degrades. Shudder). I'll let you know how it goes.


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## doubleott05

excellent thank you for that bit JCLEE.

ok so here is another tank i found with excellent use of moss now "general public" what or how do you think this moss was attached or used. surly all this moss and anubias is not hand tied... is it??
Personally i think some of it might be but there must be something that this scaper is doing that "we" are unaware of.
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5694/011lxx.jpg

Thanks 
Elliot


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## jclee

Ooh. That looks like one of Takashi Amano's tanks. He's the lord of aquascaping. Most of those pieces are hand tied/planted and grown out. Tanks like his would take serious crafting and years of growth. Do an online search for his name and you'll see what I mean. 

(In my fantasy land, I've dreamed of creating a tank like that, but I know I'll never really have the time, money, and/or patience.)


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## doubleott05

I pulled these images from other sources. They are images from top ranking entries from the International Aquatics Layout Contest from different years. They are not Mr. Amano's


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## Tex Gal

I have super glued mosses to rocks. I always use the gel superglue. Using the glue on wood doesn't do too well. I don't know why. The superglue degrades after a while. Be sparing with the glue. It will kill the moss that it hits but the rest of the moss will continue to grow. The glue turns white in the water. I touch the glue to a wad of moss and immediately hold it to the rock, either under the water or not. The water helps the glue to cure. I've done this with bolbitus, anubias and others. It works well.


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## doubleott05

Thanks very much Tex Gal. So now we are that much closer to knowing some of these aquascapers secrets. And to my suprise you can even do it while there is water in the tank thats great . 

Tex Gal what brand of super glue do you prefer?

thanks
Elliot


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## doubleott05

Quote from Tex Gal from a PM.

"It doesn't matter. I just get any old brand. ... the cheapest! lol 

Drinda"


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## houseofcards

I've always used hairnets to attach moss to rock. With wood I use small zipties.


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## prBrianpr

I think they use glue,with time the moss attach itself to rocks,substrate gravel or driftwood. When I Make moss balls the attach itself to the gravel, if I put it in touch with driftwood or rocks, part of it attach itself to that decorations. What make that the plant attach itself naturally and fast? I dont know but in my El Natural setups the mos attach itself easily.


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## doubleott05

ahhh yes houseofcards i didnt think of zipties. you could use that for anubias and for assorted ferns as well. good suggestion

interesting you should say that prBrianpr i have lots of trouble getting my Xmas moss to attach to my rock work..

Here is another question "general public" that some might know the answer too..

*Are there some mosses that attach to items and some mosses that dont attach at all???*

good work people. lets keep this going then one day it can be a refeance for all to read.

Thanks 
Elliot


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## doubleott05

HAHA i have made a personal discovery that some others have already made.

Tex Gal you are the most awsomest i attached my moss with super glue gel type here are the results
i could attach the moss to vertical surfaces without string


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## crimsonbull57

I wonder if you could create a moss wall by superglueing the moss on to the back pain of aquarium glass. Or would the super glue desolve and then the moss float off?


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## J-P

crimsonbull57 said:


> I wonder if you could create a moss wall by superglueing the moss on to the back pain of aquarium glass. Or would the super glue desolve and then the moss float off?


That would just be wrong (shudder).


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## doubleott05

well yes and yes. moss will not attach itself to glass.. so yes you could superglue it to the glass but sometime in the future you might find your wall floating in your aquarium. 

ok people lets get some more input from you people. maybe a few pics perhaps. i would really like to get this added to the sticky column so that all can benifit from it. 

Thanks 
Elliot


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## Tex Gal

doubleott05 said:


> HAHA i have made a personal discovery that some others have already made.
> 
> Tex Gal you are the most awsomest i attached my moss with super glue gel type here are the results
> i could attach the moss to vertical surfaces without string


Looks good. Just remember the glue will dissolve over time. I have had moss attach itself to rocks and wood AFTER the glue dissolved. I have some rocks that I keep pulling the moss off and it continues to grow back.

I wouldn't glue it to the back of my tank. Use a piece of plastic cut to size. Glue or trap it to that and wedge it to the back of your tank.


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## doubleott05

ill tell you Tex Gal you sure have brought your game to this thread as well as a plethura of information. thanks alot


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## Tex Gal

Thanks for the kind words. I've learned so much from people here at APC. Don't know where I'd be without them!


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## doubleott05

no problem


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## Daniil

In this tank they attached moss to the rocks, to me it looks like they did it with fishing line and it's still visible.


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## doubleott05

Thanks Daniil this gives us more information. this scaper has instead of tying it to the roots there he/she has tied to rocks and shoved it between the roots to keep the visual appeal of the moss growing from behind the roots and keeping the roots visible. thanks daniil. 
good work.

elliot


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## Tausendblatt

I have tried rubber bands and (obviosly on wood) staples. Both work OK but probably not as well as zip ties or hairnets. Rubber bands can shoot off of rocks sometimes, but they work well on wood. I use string for rocks.

I feel like sharing a cool new species of moss!
STRINGY MOSS!
http://www.aquamoss.net/Stringy-Moss/Stringy-Moss.htm

























Here it is compared to willow moss... Quite stringy. Ordinarily it grows straight up but I took it out of the water to get close ups.

It grows like flame moss, but even more straight up and exotic looking. It gets like 3 inches high. I had a large amount at one point but it was destroyed by goldfish once they were introduced to eachother. I never got a chance to get a picture of it in action... I took the close ups after it was mostly destroyed. I haven't found any bits recently, I presume it died out... BUT it indeed does thrive underwater for extended periods of time.
BUT these guys did...

http://www.daemonfly.com/images/mosses/urkevitzmossemersed.jpg
http://www.acquariando.info/wp-content/uploads/image/Stringy Moss-Leptodictyum ripariummoss.jpg

Contrary to what one might be led to believe, some Plagiomnium species can be grown underwater. The one I tried also grows straight upwards.


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## doubleott05

Tausendblatt thank you for you wonderful input. you know what i think a few years ago i used to use rubber bands for ferns and anubias because they would eventually breakdown and then you dint have that stuff in your tank.. so there you are folks another method for attaching your aquatic plants brought to you by Tausendblatt.

Thanks
Elliot


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## A.Dror

Very interesting topic..

I usually use the familiar methods,tying,or in between rocks but I heard about another technique- epoxy glue(the same one used for pasting coral)

first you tie the moss/plant on a piece of plastic or wood and then attaching with the epoxy to the rock.
the big advantage is that you can work under water.
and this particular glue does'nt release anything to the water:rain: 


(excuse me for my English..)

Thanks
Dror.


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## doubleott05

thank you A. Dror. and yet another aquascaping techinque surfaces. excellent idea i think that way you can place anything anywere in the tank with an added weight if needed. i also think it would be much more effected to glue rock to rock rather than plant to rock and risk damaging the plant. i think i have seen others and Mr Amano using this technique.

Thanks all who have added to this thread
your knowledge will be passed on for others to read

Elliot

oh and your english seems fine to me.


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## DarrylR

I believe if not stated yet, people use fishing line as well.

I primarily use shower-scrubber netting and sewing thread.


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## doubleott05

yes yes DarryIr fishing line is a good application for riccia or to tie wood together because it wont break down at all and is good for very long term applications.
thanks darrylr

Elliot


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## doubleott05

ok i got some more for you guys to analyze.
in this picture the Fissiden F. seems like its growing right out of the wood can somebody explain this.
how is this done?
i dont see any evidence of glue(white spots) or moss cotton or fishing line or netting so how has this been done. 
i have never used fissidens but it cant be that much different from java right?


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## houseofcards

There's actually a couple of ways that could happen. Moss does attach itself to pores in the wood. So more than likely it was once attached by string, glue, etc. and then it was pulled off and what you see is what was attached to the wood itself. It cold have also spread there from another area and attached to the wood at one point.

The pic below is from one of my tanks where the moss is attached to the wood itself. I originally attached it using a small ziptie but that was removed and now it is attached directly to the wood.


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## Garon

Reading this thread is making me want to start growing moss! Great photo house of cards.


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## chadly

House of cards is right. I have fissidens and it will spread onto the wood eventually and grow naturally like that. That is the eventual intended result of tieing the moss. Depending on how you affix the moss to the rock or wood, it will eventually attach itself and spread from where you attached it. I recommend cutting most of the moss off along with the zip tie, etc and re-affix the moss you cut off and place in a new area. This is good to do for long term setups in which moss is very good for. The reward for being patient with moss greatly outweighs how ugly it looks when you first tie it down.


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## A.Dror

By the way,i may not re-anything but i use 0.15mm fishing line he is so transparent that It's almost an half consolation :fish2:


Dror.


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## doubleott05

houseofcards said:


> There's actually a couple of ways that could happen. Moss does attach itself to pores in the wood. So more than likely it was once attached by string, glue, etc. and then it was pulled off and what you see is what was attached to the wood itself. It cold have also spread there from another area and attached to the wood at one point.


excellent point house of cards(supported by chadly), i havent used wood for a while and i forgot about that happening. so there is another great point readers.

wood pores+ moss= spreading moss

thanks everybody who has contributed to this thread 
i hope everybody that reads this has benifited from it in some way or another 
i myself know quite a bit about growing moss and i to have learned loads from it and new techniques. 
keep at it readers i know there is more out there to add to this ongoing thread.

so moderators what do you say, does this merit a graduated spot to the "hall of the sticky?"

thanks
Elliot

great pic house of cards


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## doubleott05

bump any new information out there?


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## brackish bro

i use fishing line and when i see the moss is attached i just clip it with finger nails you could also try the hair nets that they make you wear around food.....


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## FBG

I avoid hairnets for a few reasons. One of the main reasons is that I have lost a few fish due to their curiosity, or possibly food getting into the hairnet. This happened twice when I went out of town and let someone take care of my tank for me. The other reason I do not use hairnets any more is that besides costing about as much as a cheap roll of fishing line (which goes further!), they don't really work that well. 
The nets seem like they fall apart faster than cotton thread, thus making the point of using them fall further behind fishing line/super glue. 

I have never seen fissidens grow like that before... that is really cool! I can't wait for my small clump to grow that large. (Mine is about the size of quarter right now)


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## doubleott05

you know what guys thats give me a new idea 

now that we have gotten some great ideas on what is useful lets now do ''what not to do'' 

so ya that will help some of the noobs that are exploring 

Thanks
Elliot


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## houseofcards

It should be noted that when you use any of these methods it becomes a DIY type of approach so everyone's mileage will vary. I have never lost a fish or shrimp in a hairnet. It needs to be tied tight and the excess cut off. I have also never had one break apart either and I've taken apart tanks over a year later with the hairnet still in place. The benefit of a hairnet is you get a uniform look from day 1 since the hairnet covers the entire planting surface. With thread or fishline only part of the plant is held down initially and the rest sways in the current so you get a less pleasing looking initially. There is nothing wrong with using thread/fishline but I just found it easy all the way around with hairnets. CVS 3 for $1.


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## Aquaticz

I recently found a place in Santa Monica, called the Nature Aquarium. The owner grows lots of moss. I was inquiring about how he attached plants in his scapes, just today. LOL he uses super glue already mentioned but he also uses stainless steel screens or mess. I have actually stapled plants to wood using a construction type stapler. I also am a big fan of the almighty zip tie. I use the smallest size & connect mutiple ties in most cases.

Great thread - Thanks


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## woofy666

ohhh great


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## doubleott05

yes house of cards that is and excellent point.

remember guys that some methods that work great for others may not necessarly work for you. so experiment some of the many uses and see which works best for you.

Thanks
Elliot


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## oosul

wow. thanks pep.probably saved me years of pulling my hair out.


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## doubleott05

im glad this thread has helped you oosul.

does anybody have any new information.
unfortunatly i have been very busy lately with work. (and a new DIY ADA style stand... keep a look out for that one)

well new information or updates on applicated styles would be great.

Thanks
Elliot


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## joshd

I don't have any new info but rather a question of technique. I have used the tie down with thread and fishing line with success. My question is how much moss should be used in tying down? I had recieved a significant amount of java moss and attached varying amounts. it all seemed to grow well, but maybe less moss attached itself to the rocks and driftwood better or more quickly. Do you generally put on a very thin layer or thick?

Thanks
Josh


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## doubleott05

in my own opinion:

i put just enough to cover the surface that im "mossing" that way it gets adequate exposure to water movement and light. now when this moss grows out enough to cover what was tied down, the moss that is under your fishing line or thread will probably die. so in putting on a thin layer you minimize your die off. and, in doing so you minimize the amount of organic materal that your aquarium needs to process.

hope that helps 

but what it really comes down to is what works best for that particular scaper. so experimint and share your results with us when you have time

Thanks
Elliot


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## A.Dror

Here's another good example of 'mysterious connection'..


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## Tausendblatt

What makes this mysterious? I hypothesize they put the moss on thinly and the string rotted away. My moss looks like that sort of.


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## Amirk

i simply creat the shape i want with plain rocks, and than place on top of them small pieces with moss tied to them.. when it grows, it will hide the rocks and you will get the shape that you started with...

another option for us to understad the idea behind this, is to get cliff hui here to explain us how its done (second pic on the first post). anyone???


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## Tausendblatt

Things similar to 2nd picture in first post are confusing to me. How is it done? The petrified wood (I think that's what it is) Is obviously not that shape underneath. Perhaps some homely and tall rocks are in between and covered with a large amount of moss.

A similar question can be asked as to how dwarf hairgrass or other really short plants can be grown up near the top of cliff type 'scapes...


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## doubleott05

they are both cliff hui's scapes actually.

Great pick A Dror


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## Ultimbow

Hi i use polyester sewing thread usually brown or black (color the match you hard scape). Since its polyester its last quite a while. Plenty of time for the moss to hook itself. And for hard scape i use fly-fishing tippet line. I get it in brown so for permanent hard scape work like a charm for me.


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## doubleott05

i never even thought of tippet that stuff is super small great idea Ultimbow


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## Jane in Upton

Hmmm, I'm not sure if a technique I've used should be in the DO or DON'T category, but here it is.

I had a piece of aged driftwood, and attached moss by using a very thin, very sharp dissecting tool - it's used to tease apart tissues, like a needle, but much stronger. It gets thick after about 2 mm of length. Anyhow, I took the strongest rhizome part of the moss (I think it was Christmas Moss) and pushed it into a lateral crevice (in line with the wood grain) I made with the tool, AS I was pushing the moss in. The wood sort of closed up around it, and the moss stuck. I used a sort of lateral motion to do this, all in one sweep.

However, this was VERY tedious! For three evenings, while watching the evening news, I worked on this piece of wood, "slitting" pieces of moss into it, working in a plastic shoebox with a few inches of water to keep everything wet, and returning the wood to the aquarium afterwards. 

It did work, and was quite attractive when the moss started growing well, but after less than a year, the wood started decomposing very rapidly. I finally removed it because it was discoloring the water so badly. I think it was on its way out already, since it was soft enough to do this technique on anyhow; it had been in another tank for nearly 1.5 years before that. 

Of course, the part of the moss that was buried in the wood itself died, but not before the surrounding pieces attached themselves. I have not had the inclination to do that technique again.

Currently, I use polyester thread, as Ultimbow does, and a nice dark green works pretty well. Being careful not to cover the moss with itself (it will smother itself) seems to be an important part of this, too. So, going slowly, patiently (not a strong suit of mine) and carefully is the best way. 

I'll have to look in to Tippet Line, as I've tried very thin fishing line before, and found it very difficult to work with. 

I've also wrapped a bunch of moss around a rock with a nylon mesh ("Tulle" at a fabric store, much finer than the hairnet stuff) and used a small crochet hook to pull sections through to the topside surface. It was rather "wild" looking ('80's big hair, anyone?) but worked. I think if I had had more patience, and perhaps used the Tulle in 1" wide sections along a form more like a branch or twig, the effect would have been a LOT better. 

I'm going to pursue the Tulle technique if I decide I have the patience to embark on another moss project.

And I must say... the SuperGlue technique sounds right up my alley, LOL!

Good Thread, Elliot!
-Jane


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## doubleott05

Jane in Upton said:


> Good Thread, Elliot!
> -Jane


Thanks Jane

you know that tedious trick of yours sounds quite riviting actually to bad your wood kicked the can.DO YOU GOTTA PICTURE OF IT before it rotted? your way total eliminates the need for any artifical anchor. i know exactly what your talking about and i think i might try it in my 60P actually. its the same concept of shoving moss in the crevices of "whatever" only your the one creating and placing the artificial crevices. i like this idea it would make the tank look more natural from the start and would eliminate the need for the moss or whatever your attaching to grow over it and cover your artifical anchor.

great addition Jane

Thanks 
Elliot


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## Jane in Upton

Sorry Elliot,

no picture of it. My picture taking ability is not great - ancient camera. I could try and get a picture of the tool I used tomorrow AM.

I'm not sure I'd recommend that technique, as it didn't last all that long. Just as it was getting good, it started going downhill. The wood being soft already was a key part of it. Something extra hard like Mopani would never work. Also, I nearly stabbed myself quite a few times w/ the dissecting tool.

I used to work with clay, and there are more and more "realistic" looking artificial 'wood' decor on the market all the time, which gets me thinking about something I'd always wanted to do. One thing I'd toyed with was making a "mold" of a real branch in plaster, then "casting" the form in clay. That way, it would look natural, but NOT decompose, and the fired clay surface is very inviting with a good attachment surface for the moss. Little crevices and anchor points could even be scratched into the form before its fired. Ah, well, someday when I have copious spare time, LOL!

-Jane


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## doubleott05

ahhh clay molds..... hrmmm 

buahhaah new ideas


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## geeks_15

I have a method not yet mentioned. It works well on driftwood and would probably work on porous rock.

Take a clump of java moss and rub it like crazy on the driftwood. It makes a bit of a mess so I usually do this outside. Also gardening gloves are a good idea to save your hands. The process will probably destroy the java moss, but you will be jamming tiny pieces of moss into the tiny cracks and crevices of the wood. Now place the wood in the aquarium. You likely not see any java moss on the wood at this time. Over time, you will get moss growing out of every surface that you rubbed. It takes a while for the moss to show up (weeks) but it creates a pretty cool look once it is growing.

Sorry, no pics due to an old computer crash. I haven't used this technique in a while, but this thread made me think of it and I may do it again soon.


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## doubleott05

wow geek thats pretty impressive. im thinking of a good question that somebody might know the answer too. 
now i know you said that unvisible tiny peices of moss get jammed in the wood but.....
does moss have Spores? or Seeds?

lets go people this is a good question.

hey geek im gonna try your method that seems interesting. in fact i think im gonna try it tonight. 

oh and update i just tied on a bunch of moss in my 50 gal 
does anybody have trimming techniques on how to trim moss to grow to its full potential such as stems?

Thanks 
Elliot


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## londonloco

I've read several times on freshwater sites that gel super glue will melt overtime. This has not been my experience. I had corals in a reef tank for literally years glued to live rock, and it did not melt away. It could be the difference in fresh vs salt water, but I would think the saltwater would be more prone to melt glue than fresh water. I'm more inclined to think it's not the super glue that's melting, but the driftwood that is somehow "marred" by the superglue, and the driftwood is actually breaking down, not the super glue. Has anyone had experience with supergluing moss to rock and the superglue melting away?


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## doubleott05

i have had superglue in my tank for a while now (6months) and so far i cant pull it off at all. in fact the moss that was under the glue has regenerated and started growing back. last week i removed all teh moss attached by the glue but the stuff that was stuck in it, i couldnt get off.


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## chadly

I've been enthralled with moss for a long time. I hit upon this website http://www.mossacres.com One thing I pulled away from it was that terrestrial moss can be ground up (in a blender) and spread on like a paste. I am planning to try a similar technique like this myself with whatever aquatic moss I have sitting around. I'm assuming this will work just as well in an aquarium.


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## doubleott05

yua but if you make it a paste when you put it in the water whats to keep the paste from dissapating? or to say dissolving, fall apart?


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## chadly

I'll have to play with it and let you know how it works out... I've done it with suswassertang where I cut it up with scissors or ripped it up like I would with lettuce when making a salad. Then I used hair nets to attach it.


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## doubleott05

ya i did that the other day with some tiawan moss. sliced it and diced it in to fine peices so when it grew in, it would be nice and thick . and covered it with a couple hair nets.


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## chadly

thinking about this more, I kinda wanna start a low tech tank and litter the bottom with stones and just dump a bunch of this ground up moss mess into it and see what happens.


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## doubleott05

lol good project for a cheapo 10 gal with a $5 filter and 26w cf


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## Lydia Rose

that sounds very cool looking. 
i really love moss as well...
what are some other things you have done with it?


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## doubleott05

eaten it....


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## doubleott05

just kidding


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## grak70

Slightly different goal, but still a neat way to attach:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/40170-moss-rope-ladder.html


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## doubleott05

holy crap thats amazing thanks for sharing grak70


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## Guns286

grak70 said:


> Slightly different goal, but still a neat way to attach:
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/40170-moss-rope-ladder.html


I was actually checking out that thread the other day. Very cool idea. I especially like the idea of braiding the rope around a thin, bendable, piece of metal. That way you can shape your moss in alot of different ways. 
Since this great thread that we're on concerns attachment techniques, what do you think is the best way to attach moss to nylon rope? I would imagine string or fishing line would work best, but I'm really interested in trying super-glue. Does anyone think it would work?


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## doubleott05

yes i have used super glue and for spot attachment i dont think i could do a better way. the gel super glue is the best

and the glue has not broken down so far.


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## doubleott05

any new updates?


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## oscarjamayaa

doubleott05 said:


> ok i got some more for you guys to analyze.
> in this picture the Fissiden F. seems like its growing right out of the wood can somebody explain this.
> how is this done?
> i dont see any evidence of glue(white spots) or moss cotton or fishing line or netting so how has this been done.
> i have never used fissidens but it cant be that much different from java right?


With Fissidens is really easy, just put a little piece of it in any cracks o holes in the wood and it will grow attached by itself, you just have to make sure it doesn´t scape from the hole the first days and it will never go away. With java moss is even easier.. Just get it attached the first days with some line or net and a week or two later take the line away it will never go out fro the palce you put it ...:kev:

Greetings

Oscar


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## doubleott05

oh wow thats good to know about the fissidens. thanks


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## leena_aries

The tank set up is awesome ! It would be a miracle if I am able to do something like that someday with my tank. what all plants are there in the tank except for Moss?


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## chadly

I've had the same experience with fissidens. I had removed all remnants of the moss from my tank and out of nowhere the fissidens started growing on a rock, no moss in sight. From that, I deduce that it is invisible to the naked eye until it grows from some sort of bud (you can see how technical I am with that statement).

In a new tank I setup here: Chadly's 5.5

I have xmas moss which I wrapped around the stump for a couple months. In that time I let the water level drop from evaporation down to about half depth and the xmas moss grew up the side of the stump partially emersed. I then moved and finished setting up the tank (filling it, adding filter, plants, lighting). The xmas moss did not show any changes from when it was growing emersed to being fully submerged. It is now spreading a growing thicker where it had started growing up the stump. Also, in this tank I didn't add any fissidens, But there is fissidens that must have hijacked it's way in there and is now growing in random places. I expect it to fill in just as the fissidens has filled in the tank shown in the above posts.

I haven't attempted to grind up any moss soup yet...


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## wearsbunnyslippers

here's a pic of the setup, i cant see any tying being done...


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## doubleott05

i think his moss was tied onto small rock and placed into its growing area.


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## tiffc

This thread is SO helpful to me right now...I'm expecting a package of peacock moss soon! I bought super glue gel already, so I may try it on the moss. If I don't, I'll tie it to the driftwood using cotton thread.

Wonderful info everyone!


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## doubleott05

glad it helped someone


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## brutalmonk

i recently attached java moss to a driftwood... by cotton thread and my shrimps had made it gone... how is this possible? i should use plastic?


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## doubleott05

cotton tends to break down and fall off. certain mosses do not attach themselves to all surfaces. therefore i think it best to use a 2-4lb clear fishing line if you like to wrap your moss up.

people (accidently) tend to sell mis-identified moss as a different kind of moss when they sell it.. True java moss will readily attach itself to wood or rock. 

ex: i was sold Tiawan moss and it turned out to be flame moss.


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## brutalmonk

i used now fishing line on driftwood and hairnet on stone. both look like working well. 
thanks for the info!

i try to make moss carpet as well.. i just plug the moss into the substrate! from my readings i think this will work as well.
some of them started to attach to the substrate pieces and grow, filling in. had to trim once already, if its turns out nice, i'll post pictures :]


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## brutalmonk

and yes.. i was "accidently" given wrong moss at the store.. it think its Fontinalis antipyretica... i dont know thats good or bad for me..


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## doubleott05

ohhhi wanna see thoes pics when it grows out


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## bradsd

I just watched a video of a guy hanging mesh to the back of the tank. Worked well and the mesh disappeared over time.


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## doubleott05

yup the classic moss wall that was really popular from 2005-2007


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## joshd

So I have a Christmas moss specific attachment question. It doesn't seem to want to attach itself to my DW or rocks as it grows. I had used some ADA moss thread to tie it down, and by the time the thread deteriorated the moss had not attached itself at all. Does Christmas moss not attach as readily as other mosses? What have some of you experienced with it?


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## doubleott05

it does not attach itself at all EVER. 
so what i did was super glue the fronds to the surface of "whatever" and let it go from there. after you get some growth out of it from there you can trim it down an allow it to thicken up. 

i superglued mine pretty close to each other so it would grow in thick. all about a half inch from each other. it will look kinda nasty at first but after a couple of weeks you will like it. 

thanks
Elliot


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## neilshieh

i use super glue for rhizome plants and fishing line for mosses. superglue is really cheap at home depot like a box of 12 for 3-5 dollars, its the original brand with the car stuck to the bill board.
as for mosses, i just tie with fishing line or onto a plastic grid (i use the stuff for screen doors... looks like metal but if you look closely its plastic, plus it's really flexible.) and i just glue the mesh onto the wood. 
here are some pictures of my flame moss, got it as a grid and cut it up into small cubes. i then just used the black bands that girls use to tie their hair... about the size of a penny and stretch really well. and i just used the rubber band to tie it to the wood. it spreads well enough and isn't messy. also the other two pictures are of my anubias marbled, some i just sunk with a rock (wrapped a rock around the rhizome via small black hair tie) and they are growing as fast as the ones attached to driftwood. as for the driftwood you can see the cured super glue but it allows me to place the plant anywhere i want. i superglued my windelov java fern to a huge chunk of driftwood and they have grown into a huge mass.
http://img109.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img0063g.jpg


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## spypet

I noticed this thread keeps referring to pictures of "Fissiden sp" sold by AquaticMagic on ebay.
I experimented with this Fissiden several years ago and reached the conclusion the wood you
see with the Fissiden attached was actually grown Immersed and then submerged later for
photographic display purposes - but I highly doubt it was kept Submerged that way for long.
submerged fissiden fontanus acclimate and grows much slower than other mosses, so a great
deal of patience is needed to grow such things properly.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/aquaticmagic/27490-wood-shining-armor-fissiden-sp.html

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plants/51604-fissidens-splachnobryoides.html

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plants/54356-how-tie-fissiden-nobilis.html

MOD: please forgive me for linking to my old threads on another forum.
if anyone has questions after reading those threads - post them here.


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## doubleott05

mine grows hella fast


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## spypet

awesome tank double.
true, with high light
and compressed Co2
anything is possible 8-[


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## doubleott05

thanks man


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