Looking for suggestions: Driftwood cover

[jehenry89]

I have two pieces of driftwood in my 55 gallon that I really want to "decorate". I want to get some type of moss to put on them but I haven't ever had any experience with moss. I was looking for some suggestions on what everyone likes.

Also, what is the best way to get it started growing?

I have 2x54watt t5 bulbs and Pressurized co2. My Ph is 7.0, Kh is between 6 and 7, Gh is around 175ppm.

 

[Niccobacci11]

first probably the easiest is Java moss which looks good on anything rocks or driftwood and it grows in all directions up, downish, sideways, they say it grows slow maybe compared to stem plants but in my opinion it grows relatively fast for a moss.

or you could do christmas which also looks good but it usually grows sideways only good for moss walls though, i think this could be one of the slower growing mosses and is very hardy. i ordered some of this off eBay and didn't know it was coming from Thailand a week and a half later it came and it was all brown except for some small parts so i blasted it with high lights co2 and ferts and it came back like a champ.

Flame moss looks good but may be a little harder and when i say little it means that it barely needs more light but it basically grows in all conditions but it grows straight up which could look really good on driftwood, it grows at a moderate pace, it usually stays 3-4 inches in my experience.

or fissiden fontanus moss it looks particularly good on driftwood, super slow grower, this is a harder to find moss but you could most likely find it on eBay or if you search it on google.
i just learned about this species thanks to Old Scales build thread

 

[jehenry89]

first probably the easiest is Java moss which looks good on anything rocks or driftwood and it grows in all directions up, downish, sideways, they say it grows slow maybe compared to stem plants but in my opinion it grows relatively fast for a moss.

or you could do christmas which also looks good but it usually grows sideways only good for moss walls though, i think this could be one of the slower growing mosses and is very hardy. i ordered some of this off eBay and didn't know it was coming from Thailand a week and a half later it came and it was all brown except for some small parts so i blasted it with high lights co2 and ferts and it came back like a champ.

Flame moss looks good but may be a little harder and when i say little it means that it barely needs more light but it basically grows in all conditions but it grows straight up which could look really good on driftwood, it grows at a moderate pace, it usually stays 3-4 inches in my experience.

or fissiden fontanus moss it looks particularly good on driftwood, super slow grower, this is a harder to find moss but you could most likely find it on eBay or if you search it on google.
i just learned about this species thanks to Old Scales build thread

never heard of the last one you mentioned. I wanted to stay away from java moss because I have heard its like impossible to get rid of and grows way to fast. I will have to look into flame moss.
Thanks

 

[jehenry89]

I am really interested in fissiden fontanus. Does anyone know how to care for it and would it grow with my setup? How do I attach it to my driftwood? Most I am seeing are sold on a mesh pad.

 

[azmodan]

I am really interested in fissiden fontanus. Does anyone know how to care for it and would it grow with my setup? How do I attach it to my driftwood? Most I am seeing are sold on a mesh pad.

You can just use fishing line or thread to tie it your driftwood, or a lot of people use super glue as well. Like most mosses fissidens doesn't really require anything special (although the pressurized co2 and your lighting will help, as will any ferts). As already noted just remember that fissidens is a slow grower so it could take a little time for it to take off and fill in. If you're looking to buy some check AAs classified section, as I myself even RAOKed some a while back. Also aquabid and theplantedtank.net's classified section are two other great places to find it. You can usually get 1/2 - 1 golfball size for around $10-$15.

 

[jehenry89]

I am assuming that it eventually roots itself with a java fern and I can cut the line?

 

[jehenry89]

Man, I can't find this moss anywhere other than ebay and it will be shipped from the other side of the world. Figures the one that I really like is virtually impossible to get lol.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

If you can't get the moss get some of the prettier varieties of java fern like the lace and narrow leaf and put those of it. Also anubias petite looks great of driftwood. I have all of the plants anchored to my driftwood and I have a very large piece now completley covered after a year.

 

[jehenry89]

My LFS sells Christmas moss and I was looking at it yesterday when I was there. Does Christmas moss attach itself to driftwood? I have malaysian driftwood.

I already have java fern and anabuis (sp?), so I wanted something different.

 

[DragonFish71]

Did you check aquabid for the fissidens? Folks don't even think about the awesomeness of aquabid.

Here's a seller:
AquaBid.com - Item # liveplantsm1395865899 - Fissidens Fontanus-USA seller-Free shipping. - Ends: Wed Mar 26 2014 - 03:31:39 PM CDT

and here's all the moss sales:
AquaBid.com - Aquarium Moss Auctions - Tue Mar 25 10:15:38 2014

 

[jehenry89]

Ya, I just made an account and they just activated it. I sent the seller an email asking if he could ship it either today or Monday/Tuesday of next week since I am away for work between Thursday morning and Monday morning. Hopefully he is ok with that

 

[jehenry89]

How do you pay for an item from aquabid? Has anyone ever used it?

 

[Mr Fisher]

How do you pay for an item from aquabid? Has anyone ever used it?

usually paypal, some prefer postal money orders. I've bought a fair amount of stuff from there. It's a lot like Ebay in that you need to check sellers feedback.

 

[jehenry89]

Ah the guy wanted paypal payment, I didn't realize that I had to email the person to get email address to send payment. You would think a site like this would be amazon where you can make payment over the site lol. He had good reviews from other users, I checked before I purchased it lol.

I was able to get the phoenix moss that I wanted and also picked up some peacock moss and didn't charge me shipping since he can send them together. Super excited. Thanks for your suggestions and help everyone!

 

[Old Scales]

Fissedens fontanus moss

I'll chime in about the Fissedens moss. A good guy in here sent me some for my new scape and I am LOVING it. It grows pretty slow but that's a good thing on DW. It doesn't take it over completely so that you have to trim it a lot. No special care, light, ferts and leave it alone. The delicate looking fronds overlap each other and are such a true green. I noticed algae doesn't seem to get on it also. Like a true moss, any piece of it that breaks off will grow into another patch. I've got some sprigs down in my Glosso and they are growing. I'm going to stick several pieces into the splinters of my DW and start it into extra patches for sharing with people but it will be months before they are big enough. lol. Here's a close up view of some my friend sent me after about 6 weeks growth. OS.