Riccia help wanted please

[earhtmother]

Went to the local clubs annual auction on the weekend WITH a sort of list, shrimp, platys, mollies, maybe kribs, hobs & heaters "for new to me" larger tanks and maybe some low light plants/moss. Ended up pity buying some riccia which I recognized by name but that is about all I knew. Now I am looking for some personal experience stories as other than it's a floater I have gleaned no knowlwdge from the net

[Autumnsky]

I have killed it off a few times over the years. It doesn't care for Excel and too much in the way of ferts, mine does fine without added ferts.

More recently has some luck.

Best growing was to let it sit on top of my small breeder net where I had put it to keep it from floating everywhere in the tank. A cheap $4 thing. It formed a thick pad. I moved it to a Spec V and it ended settling in the end where the current pushed it.

I have also heard of people using fine hair nets like ladies would use to keep their hair buns in shape. This keeps it around a driftwood or stone. I think you could use a cork as a buoyant option with a double cover of hair net.

Soon, I might try this myself as I removed that big chunk in a massive tank clean out and it pretty much fell apart and has tiny bits every where. They went into some planted bowls or vases. It seems the water circulation is key to getting it to knit together like a mat.

[drjallen3]

Originally Posted by earhtmother

Went to the local clubs annual auction on the weekend WITH a sort of list, shrimp, platys, mollies, maybe kribs, hobs & heaters "for new to me" larger tanks and maybe some low light plants/moss. Ended up pity buying some riccia which I recognized by name but that is about all I knew. Now I am looking for some personal experience stories as other than it's a floater I have gleaned no knowlwdge from the net

The plant you're referring to "Riccia Fluitans" is quite often grown as a floating plant and makes a nice cover, especially if you ever have fry in the tank that needs protection. It also looks great and thrives well underwater. You can do this by binding it to a rock with thin nylon string...or even thin rubber bands that are large enough to hold it to the rock without cutting into it. It then looks like a carpet of green. If you like the carpet look, you need to trim it occasionally as it has the tendency to grow upwards. You will also see small bubbles of oxygen on it when grown underwater. Growing it this also doesn't eclipse the light in case you add other underwater plants. It will live just fine off the nitrates in the water an really thrives in a planted tank with CO2 injection.