The same moss you probably have seen in some of my previously published videos.
And as you may remember, the moss growing on rocks is the easiest to clean.
Here is a close up view.
Let's wash the moss clean in cold tap water.
Wash the sample very thoroughly - it is a very important step for preventing rot!
I am going to set up a one liter jar aquarium garden to grow this land moss underwater.
The sample seems to be clean enough.
Put the clean moss in a glass jar and fill it up with cold tap water.
It takes about 24 hours for chlorine to evaporate.
Put the open jar with moss on a windowsill.
The next day, I cover the jar leaving some gaps to reduce water evaporation.
I let it sit for a couple weeks.
The moss exposed to direct sunlight produces a lot of oxygen that makes it float.
March 26th, 2020.
A couple weeks went by.
The water is clear, there is no smell and the oxygen bubbles indicate that the moss is growing.
Let's add gravel.
Here I use some Imagitarium blue star gravel from Petco.
It looks nicer with a tilted background.
I think this seashell will look nice here too and serves to anchor the moss.
Put the moss in the gaps between the seashell and the walls of the aquarium.
Colorful sea glass looks great in aquariums.
Also, I add dwarf hairgrass.
Some small rocks.
And a cutting of Elodea.
Next, I add ramshorn snails.
Keep aquariums with pets away from direct sunlight!
And there is some duckweed that comes along with the Elodea.
Put the planter on the jar.
This planter reduces evaporation while providing housing for land plants that grow with their roots in water.
Here I put a cutting of a Wandering Jew plant.
Make sure the pipes of the planter always stay above the water level.
Congratulations!
We have made a sustainable aquarium garden.
Add whatever plants or cuttings you may want to try in your aquarium garden.
One month later on April 28th the newly grown strings of moss are already clearly protruding everywhere.
One more month later, I remove the old bottom parts of Elodea.
It is a necessary step to prevent algae bloom as I explained in previously published video.
Check it out for details!
Add dechlorinated water to the level as necessary.
In the past month, I added some new plants on top as you can see.
Snails feed on algae growing in the aquarium.
The algae and plants feed on waste produced by snails.
Plants growing with roots in water help control algae growth.
It is a self sustainable aquarium garden!
All you have to do is to add water and remove wilting plants as needed.
No feeding snails or water changes are necessary.
Simple and beautiful ecosystem.
June 20th.
3 months went by fast and some strings of moss have grown almost to the top of the aquarium.
This land moss grows fast underwater!
Let's pull some of the moss out.
Some strings measure about 16 cm long.
And it is just in 3 months!
Let's trim the old part of the moss.
It is not wilted yet.
So I can put it back in the same or in another aquarium.
I anchor the new cuttings with a small seashell.
And back into the aquarium it goes.
Also, I add a cutting of guppy grass.
This sustainable aquarium garden can grow beautifully like that month after month, all year around - for as long as you want with very simple care.
Though, with the same simple care, things get much more interesting and complicated when we add new different critters.
Here I add half a dozen scuds (gammarus) with algae.
And that is going to be a story to tell in another video ;)
Speaking of land moss growing underwater, you may wonder how it looks like after one year in a larger aquarium.
Here you can see my much larger magic cave aquarium garden.
And here you can see a mesh of similar land moss growing underwater for over a year.
The whole mesh grew from the small bush clearly visible here.
I never trimmed moss in this aquarium.
And the long strings of the moss growing continuously tangled in the mesh.
My dwarf guppies have been growing and breeding in this aquarium for a couple generations now.
You can see green algae growing nicely.
The magic cave does not look as attractive as it used to.
I don't change water in my aquariums.
It is a fully functional sustainable aquarium garden with fish.
More about it in future videos ;)
Have fun and happy aquarium gardens :)
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