Moss ball/carpet

[darbyy7]

I have one moss ball in my betta tank. I am moving it to my new 55g and was hoping to cut it to make another or to make a carpet/attach it to a log or rocks. How would I do this? If I cut it down the middle I heard there is a sac type thing inside. If I cut that would I be killing it or is that what it needs to grow. Also how do I get it back into a ball shape? Thanks =]

 

[Gillie]

I don't think that cutting and tying are the best route, they tend to look horrible because when the algae spreads the coverage is uniform everywhere except where the original piece was attached which creates a hump. what I did was just let the ball sit in the tank touching whatever I wanted it to spread to, the process requires patience but the overall look is natural because it spread by itself.
here is a piece I did four months into the process

it did go on to cover the entire piece of wood and several others in the tank and now I wish I never sold them

 

[darbyy7]

Wow looks cool. I just tore it open a bit and sat it on some drift wood. Thanks

 

[OkiTank]

Just got one of these moss balls yesterday. I really like the look of that wood. If I just put a piece of driftwood in the tank with it will it automatically start to cover it? I know it will probably take a long time, but how long am I looking at? Thanks. BTW I have decent light in the tank, but no CO2. Not sure it makes a difference or not. Also do you think it will cover and attach to coral? Reason I ask is that I see in the pic it is not attached to the sand, but it is all over the wood.

 

[Gillie]

Just got one of these moss balls yesterday. I really like the look of that wood. If I just put a piece of driftwood in the tank with it will it automatically start to cover it? I know it will probably take a long time, but how long am I looking at? Thanks. BTW I have decent light in the tank, but no CO2. Not sure it makes a difference or not. Also do you think it will cover and attach to coral? Reason I ask is that I see in the pic it is not attached to the sand, but it is all over the wood.

If you place the ball touching the wood it will spread, it took about 8 months to completely cover the one in the pic. It never did spread to the sand, I don't know for sure if it will spread to coral or gravel. I plan on experimenting with different substrates to see what it does, I would like to have a carpet in a 4 gallon nano.
Oh and this was done in a lowlight Apisto tank without co2, the spread may be accelerated in higher light and co2.

 

[aqua7]

If I was to place a moss ball next to a lava rock would it spread to the lava rock as well?

 

[OkiTank]

Awesome. I am going to get a piece of driftwood and try it. I would love it if I could find a substrate that it would grow on. I think it would make for a decent low light ground cover.