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Instead of just painting the back of my 90g I want to do a moss wall. I tried it once in my 55g but I could only find plastic grids in little squares. I had to stick several of them together, the holes were too big for the moss to grow easily, and I never managed to keep java moss alive in the 55g. It was a complete failure.
For my second attempt I tried to find the material they used on this site: [link=http://www.killies.com/Mosswall.htm]http://www.killies.com/Mosswall.htm" style="COLOR: #008000[/link]
But I've yet to find any mesh of suitable size and grid size that is labelled plastic. I did find charcoal fiberglass... I found a few references of using fiberglass to block areas small fish might get into so would this be safe to use?
A few problems I have
What about heaters, filters, and my carboplus co2? Wouldn't the moss get sucked into the filter intake or grow over it and wouldn't it mess up the heating or kill the moss around the heater? What about blocking the co2 or having co2 bubbles constantly going through the moss? I know when co2 bubbles hit my plants constantly the leaves start to turn glassy and die.

Last would using christmas moss be better since I can't seem to keep java moss alive? Any suggestions where to get some?

Hi Sham,
Go to any store that sells crafts, or even a fabric store.
They use exactly what you describe to weave yarn or thread
through to make pictures. It somes in rolls that can be had
in feet x feet or inches x inches. The size of the open
weave varies as well from an 1/8 inch to as much as a half
inch. It is make of plastic and can be used for what you
want or even dividers in tanks.

BTW, here is an interesting site:
http://www.nature-aquarium.com/home.htm

This site should answer virtually everyone of your questions
and inspire you at the same time.

Every time I look at this site I am determined to duplicate
it in one of my tanks.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 05-Aug-2005 17:10

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I tried all the craft stores in the area. They only had small hard plastic grids like I originally tried and cotton mesh rolls. Next I tried all the hardware stores in the area but only found metal hardware cloth.

Why bother with mesh ? Corkbark and staple it on.

Christmas moss would be better. It's prettier, brighter, and grows much quicker then normal Java Moss.

You could also try Pellia. Neater then moss.

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

bensaf,

When you say Pellia, do you mean [link=This Plant]http://www.tropica.dk/article.asp?type=aquaristic&amp;id=564" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link]?

Thanks,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi, it can also be done with a piece of bark wood and a hair net instead of a mesh. I found stainless steel mesh in those little squares in hardware stores where they sell material to build chicken fences and such. Also another alternative could the material used on screen doors, it's' plastic and it's safe, it also comes in different sizes (the little squares).

And just a word of advice or a warning, be sure that if you are building the wall with all these materials that you don't have plecos in the tank, they get tangled or stuck i lost two of my golden nugget plecos when they got their spines caught on the mesh :#(

Yep, That's the one Ingo. Would have written the full name but I can't spell Monosellenium Those latin names tie my tongue in a knot, I feel like I'm choking on marbles :%)

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

The screen door material is what I have. Everywhere I looked they sold fiberglass or aluminum material not plastic. I might go look for cork. A solid wall might be better anyway so the fish don't get behind it or stuck in it. I have several little plecos in the tank and my big royal. Again what do you do with the filter intake and heaters? I don't think they suction cup to cork and doesn't the moss grow over it and cause problems?

I've also used aluminum, it works fine and it won't cause any damage to the fish. My heater is positioned in the side of the tank so that's no problem, and it's' easyer to hide. the filter intake won't cause problem if you avoid the spot, you have to keep in mind that a moss wall looks great, but it also needs a lot of maintenance, you have to trim it often so it won't look stringy, i once did one with Riccia, and it looked greeat the fist couple of weeks then it became a real hassle because it grew like crazy, i guess that christmas moss will delay the trimming, but you will still have to do a lot of maintenance.

Yesterday while doing my regular WC i remember a small detail to mention here, you also have to sure that the whole wall gets as equal light as possible, as it is vertical, the moss closer to the surface will be getting more light, so it will grow a bit faster and shadow the one on the bottom, you just have to trimm more often the upper section of the wall.

So it turns out solid cork boards are about 10times harder to find than mesh.... Cork sounds great to use but I don't think it's going to happen. All I can find is boards with a cork layer over sort of like cardboard fibers. Is the fiberglass or aluminum better to use?