Saturday, March 9, 2019

Land Moss Underwater and Above


May 20th, 2018
I picked different types of land mosses growing on the ground and the trees for my aquariums.


Buy live land moss on Amazon (paid link):



This time, I got samples of moss growing on a wall made of rocks.


 This moss comes with much less dirt.

I like the rich green color and bushy appearance of this moss.

Wash moss thoroughly.
Dirty moss tends to get spoiled.


Shaking moss in a jar with water seems to be the most effective way to clean it.



This sample comes with a nice worm.

Check my video about this worm in an aquarium.

 Put the washed moss in a jar and fill it with dechlorinated water.




 Cover the jar to reduce evaporation.

I keep the jar on the windowsill.

Also, I tie some of the moss to driftwood made from a chopstick to use in a new aquarium.


I use fishing line to secure the moss.


Wrap the fishing line around.


Put the moss in the new nursery.



There are only pond snails and seed shrimp in this nursery for now.

This is a double walled aquarium.



 June 6th, 2018
Ghost shrimp enjoy this moss.



 I use some of the moss in "Algae Control" experiment.


Usually I trim moss in aquariums with fish.
In this example, I let the moss grow underwater without trimming it.

June 12th, 2018
 I use small size jars in this experiment.

 The fast growing underwater land moss was able to reach the surface in one month’s time.


And it keeps growing above the water like nothing happened, retaining the same characteristics as the part growing underwater, including its appearance and growth pace!



This tree I made using the same land moss in June 2018.


Here it is in October 2018.

 It gets very bushy.

Some strings of moss already grow above the water.

It looks very cool :)



 Some strings have grown more than 10 cm long.

November 3rd, 2018
Usually I trim moss with scissors to give it a desirable shape and size.


This time, I trimmed only the parts protruding above the water.




3 weeks later on November 26th, 2018
Never trimmed moss growth in long strings you see here at the bottom.





The previously trimmed moss continue to grow and it is already protrude above water.



Once again, I trim the protruding above the water parts.



This time I put them in a cup of water for later reuse.
This moss growth continuously!

The long strings can be wrapped around the tree.


Looks good. 

October 2018
I use the grown underwater land moss from "Algae Control" experiment to check how this moss will grow above water in my newest aquarium garden setup ;)


I put the grown underwater land moss on the aquarium cover with a hole in the middle.

The hole is large enough to feed the fish and move it in or out if necessary.






Cover the aquarium with another jar placed upside down to keep the evaporated water in.


 December 16th, 2018
 In this example I pull out the moss tied to the chopstick.



The moss has grown creating a green wall that can be used as a divider in an aquarium.
A thick mash of this moss is a great protection for little critters and fish fry.



Use scissors to trim the moss.



The moss tied to the chopstick goes back into aquarium.



I rotate aquarium once in a while to let light from the window to shine on plants from every side.


There are dwarf lily, elodea, duckweed and frogbits in this aquarium.


Put the cover with a hole in it on the aquarium.

Place the trimmed moss on the cover.
 Cut the moss on smaller pieces to cover more area.






This is a different type of land moss I have been trying to grow underwater.
More about this moss in some future videos.


I put this moss on the back of the garden and on the tree.




 A rock and...hmm...a sculpture in the garden make it more interesting.




Spray the garden with dechlorinated water.

Cover aquarium with another turned upside down box to keep the humidity in the garden high.

January 2nd, 2019







February 20th, 2019

The first moss has grown noticeably in long string the way it grows underwater.


Moss attach itself to the tree and the sculpture.

I trim the moss leaving cuttings this time right here on the cover to make it grow even thicker.








 I spray the garden with dechlorinated water once every other day for now after feeding fish.

Moss in this garden has nice fresh green appearance.

 I keep this garden always under cover!

The same moss in the jar was originally exposed to direct sunlight that gives it yellowish color.


So here I have the land moss adapted to grow underwater continuously all year around.

This moss grow above the water in high humidity retaining the same characteristics.

It's already adapted to grow again underwater.


Above water...

underwater 


and again :)   


Cool quality for terrestrial botanical.

Have fun and happy gardening :)  

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