Riccia question

[Cliffz]

Folks,
I have a ping pong ball size of Riccia. If I pull it apart and make like 4 small gumball size chunks will it grow faster/better? Currently I have it floating in with the Pennywort.
I would like to eventually attach it to a piece of driftwood or just let it float and grow.
Thanks

 

[SparKy697]

Riccia just grows, period. I don't think it matters how big or small it is, it will grow. I use netting to attach it to rocks and other things. The problem is that it needs to be trimmed always. If you let it grow it will tear away from its attachment and float to the top. This plant does not have roots and needs something mechanical to hold it in place.

 

[dapellegrini]

As long as it is all getting good light then you don't need to separate it - but if it is too thick, the bottom layers will start to die on you. In this case separating it would be a good idea and you will get more growth.

A trick someone else taught me is to put a small quantity of moss on a porous stone (lava rock), then the riccia then attach it with a cheap hair net from the grocery store. The moss grows underneath the riccia and helps keep it anchored a little longer than otherwise.

 

[7Enigma]

As dapellegrini said, the big thing is the thickness of the Riccia. It doesn't matter how wide it is, I had mine carpeting the entire top of my 10 gallon tank (started from a small 1" square), but rather the thickness. I didn't trim it and the bottom 1" or so (it was about 3 1/2" thick) started to rot. It's quite difficult to trim once this happens so avoid waiting as long as I did. This was in a low light 10 gallon tank with a 17w NO light btw.

I wouldn't break it apart only because it will start to fray off and if you have a HOB filter or other area of high flow it will go all over the tank and get sucked up in your filter and otherwise make a mess of the tank.