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Java Moss Use and Handling



> I was wondering if anybody could help me with some problems handling Java
moss.
> How do you use it in your aquariums. Although I really like the dark green
colour
> and the texture, the thing keeps desintegrating and I have all these threads
> floating around the tank. Do you use anything to hold it together.
>
> I liked the idea of placing it under a stone in a bundle. I thought this would
> solve my problems, but it still started to separate and disperse around. The
uy in
> the shop said to just leave it at the back of the tank behind the other
plants,
> and lit it gradually grow and cover all the back glass. This doesn-t make much
> sense though. On one hand I still think it is going to separate. On the other
in
> order to cover the whole back of a 30 gallon tank it will take ages..... Any
> suggestions would be appreciated....

Hi Nicholas and greetings to all from Sunny Singapore :)
I use java moss as groundcover on my 4-footer. What I did was to tie a
couple of stones (I tied only 4 I think, but they're buried now, so I can't
tell for sure) with the moss. I use ordinary sewing thread, cos the moss
will eventually anchor itself to the surface of the stones.

Next, I placed the stones a couple of inches apart. They will look like
little green balls ( or squares, depending on your stones) at first. After
they grew, they spread and spread and spread :)

Pretty soon, they covered one whole corner of the tank and were growing
about 4 inches high (thick?) Then on a whim, I tried pulling them to "thin
out" the growth. Surprisingly, they literally "stretched"! So all I needed
to do was simply pull them right across the front of the tank, and I had
virtually instant ground cover!

To cover the back of your tank, you might like to try what some of us here
in Singapore do. Use a sheet of wire mesh (well, make it plastic mesh) that
looks like "chicken wire" and cut it to fit your back glass. Simply shove a
couple of strands in the spaces between the mesh, or if you're really picky
tie them there with thread. In a few weeks, you should have the entire back
of your tank with a moss carpet :-)

This works particularly well with the other species of moss: Fontinalis
Antipyretica (as Amano calls it). We call it Christmas moss as it really
resembles an X'mas tree.

Hope this helps.


Mark Pan
--
It is far better to do the right thing than to just do things right.