webtrawler84

hi all.

As some of you will have seen from another thread I have just setup my first planted tank. The Foreground plants are not looking so good so ive been looking for an alternative.

Ive been thinking about making a carpet from java moss, Using the Plastic mesh that are used as tank deviders in another thread.

My tank does not have enough light really for something like HC but Im thinking that if trimmed and cared for a moss carpet would look really nice.
Im thinking towards my next project aswell so this could be something that makes its way into a number of my tanks.

what do you good people think? Ive ordered some java moss and should have it next week to try it out. Ive also got a small amount of christmas moss that could be used in a simular way but dont have enough to do a full carpet at the moment.

thanks again in advance

mark

eiginh

Yes that could work but you will have trouble anchoring the plastic mesh down. If you can get metal mesh/riccia mesh it would be easier to anchor down. Also look for weeping moss that also looks nice as carpet plants.

Nutter

I've done similar to this in the past with moss. All I did was get some of those fake plant mats with the 2inch plants on them & installed them as usual. Then I tangled the moss all through the protruding fake plants. After a few months the fakes were all grown over by the moss & couldn't be seen. The flexibility of the plastic mats of fakes allowed me to carpet over hills etc in my tank.

Beth1965

fantastic idea!! where is the picture??

Nutter

Sorry Beth, no pics. It was in one of my very first tanks years ago now.

webtrawler84

thanks for the replies all, I finally decided to bite the bullet and upgraded my lighting anyway. I will take onboard all of the above comments and suggestions, Im hoping to weight down the mesh with stones etc... so should not be too much of a problem.

I like the idea about the fake plants, I might try something like that.

I have already ordered the java moss so will most likely end up using that, I will post up some kind of a guide if everything works out the way I hope as it may be useful for others that dont have the lighting requirements to use some of the other plants that are used for carpeting.

thanks again all

mark