# Moss carpet help



## Atom

I've attempted to make a moss carpet out of a piece of plastic canvas, moss, and fishing line. Instead of using 2 pieces of canvas and sandwiching the moss in between, I tried a method I saw of using only one piece of canvas and tying the moss to that for an instant carpet. 

One of my questions is: why do people more often recommend sandwiching the moss between two pieces of canvas if one piece of canvas works just as well? Would 2 pieces of canvas weigh it down more or something?

Another issue I had was the canvas was lifting on the sides and fish and shrimp could swim under it. I weighed it down with some rocks, but I'm wondering if anyone has a better technique to weigh it down more evenly so no edges will stick up? Even after weighing it down with rocks, small shrimp could get underneath. Is there any way to keep the carpet flat and flush with the gravel instead of floating and warping over time in areas?

People make it look so easy and with awesome results and I'm having so much trouble with it at the moment  Any advice or tips would greatly help me  thanks!


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## Kimchi24

as far as I know, people use SS mesh instead of canvas and that stuff sinks by itself.


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## Atom

I guess SS mesh would be easier to use :\ If I can help it I'd rather not, but otherwise I'll try to look for some for cheap. Thanks for letting me know


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## Ryan s

I got my stainless steel mesh on eBay. Works great. http://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_odkw...=Stainless+steel++mesh+for+aquarium+&_sacat=0


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## Ryan s

With the stainless steel mesh you just lay the moss on top of the mesh and tie it down with fishing line. The mesh will stay down and not float up.



Atom said:


> I've attempted to make a moss carpet out of a piece of plastic canvas, moss, and fishing line. Instead of using 2 pieces of canvas and sandwiching the moss in between, I tried a method I saw of using only one piece of canvas and tying the moss to that for an instant carpet.
> 
> One of my questions is: why do people more often recommend sandwiching the moss between two pieces of canvas if one piece of canvas works just as well? Would 2 pieces of canvas weigh it down more or something?
> 
> Another issue I had was the canvas was lifting on the sides and fish and shrimp could swim under it. I weighed it down with some rocks, but I'm wondering if anyone has a better technique to weigh it down more evenly so no edges will stick up? Even after weighing it down with rocks, small shrimp could get underneath. Is there any way to keep the carpet flat and flush with the gravel instead of floating and warping over time in areas?
> 
> People make it look so easy and with awesome results and I'm having so much trouble with it at the moment  Any advice or tips would greatly help me  thanks!


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## Atom

Would aluminum sheets work as well or would those float?


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## Kimchi24

Atom said:


> Would aluminum sheets work as well or would those float?


im assuming they'd float considering aluminum is a pretty light metal. Another option that doesnt involve SS mesh is siliconing the mesh down  but im sure you would want that. I'm planning on doing a similar thing soon when i get my breeding rack ready. I just thought about this now but what if there was a DIY frame we could make to cover the bottom? My original thought was to use Marine/Outdoor EPDM foam rubber weather stripping but i dont know how i'd get that on the mesh


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## Atom

D: not entirely sure what you mean so I'd love to see it if/when you get it done! Another thing I thought about was using suction cups, but even that seems slightly complicated for the bottom of the tank when gravel is involved. Thoughts on that? 

Also, is it at all possible to re-scape a tank while fish are in it? Do you empty out maybe 50% of the water and leave fish in while you reorganize? Or is it better to take all fish out into a separate tank/container while things are being moved around?


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## jimmyjam

STainless steels is the way to go, I have 1 inc wide x what ever length you want. a buck for every 2 inch x 1 inch.


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## Ryan s

Agree with Jimmy. Mesh is the best way. I tried doing it other ways and failed. Its so much easier with the stainless steel mesh.



jimmyjam said:


> STainless steels is the way to go, I have 1 inc wide x what ever length you want. a buck for every 2 inch x 1 inch.


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## Atom

Bah  how do people who make moss walls with plastic canvas manage to not get any fish stuck behind there? I bought two small squares of moss on mesh and it's so nicely packed. Does it just take a while to grow out or do you really have to pack it on thick beforehand?


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## zzz

jimmyjam said:


> STainless steels is the way to go, I have 1 inc wide x what ever length you want. a buck for every 2 inch x 1 inch.


I believe that you had some shrimps in the past. Didn't you have problems raising shrimps with metal mesh in the tank?


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## Atom

I just thought of an idea and thought I'd bring it up with you guys to see what you thought of it.

What if I tied the moss down to a slab of rock like slate or similar (where would I find this rock in Ontario)? Or even if I got some tiles from a hardware store and tied the moss to that to weigh it down? If those work, does anyone know if tiles are aquarium safe or which ones are/aren't?

Thanks and sorry for the slight tangent :O


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## Ryan s

See how i have mine in my crystal red shrimp tank. No problem with the mesh with my shrimp. My moss needs to be trimmed though. I think you complicating things too much. Just get stainless steel mesh if you want to make a Moss carpet you won't regret it.


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## Atom

Looks great! How long did it take to get that green and fluffy? Will it get that green even in low light? No shrimp have been caught underneath that? Looks really good


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## bob123

Tying screening to slate sounds like a good idea. You can buy slate or similar rock at any landscape supply retailer. It took me about six months for my moss wall to look the way I liked it to look. I laid the moss on a slab of wood that I had and tied the plastic screening to the wood that was already water logged so it didn't float.


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## Atom

Some great ideas in here  thanks for all the input! I'll have to try some of them out. I may go with tiles tied to plastic canvas first because that's what I have available (unless anyone sees a problem with ceramic tiles in the aquarium?)

Thanks again all


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## Kimchi24

Atom said:


> Some great ideas in here  thanks for all the input! I'll have to try some of them out. I may go with tiles tied to plastic canvas first because that's what I have available (unless anyone sees a problem with ceramic tiles in the aquarium?)
> 
> Thanks again all


as far as i know, cermaic tiles are fine. i've hear of people using it as a cheap baffle in sumps haha


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## Atom

Thanks for the confirmation on that. Was just worried about whether or not they leach things out and harden the water. I'll give it a go! Might grow them out in a separate container first and then put them into the tank when they're nice and fluffy.


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## DaFishMan

Atom said:


> I just thought of an idea and thought I'd bring it up with you guys to see what you thought of it.
> 
> What if I tied the moss down to a slab of rock like slate or similar (where would I find this rock in Ontario)? Or even if I got some tiles from a hardware store and tied the moss to that to weigh it down? If those work, does anyone know if tiles are aquarium safe or which ones are/aren't?
> 
> Thanks and sorry for the slight tangent :O


What everyone did in the 'old' days, tied moss to driftwood and rocks.

It wouldn't stick to tile well. You could probably use thin tile and scuff the surface with a dremel, drill lots of tiny holes then pull some tufts of moss through. If would sure beat tying it with fishing line. Faster to use ss mesh though.


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## Atom

Hey thanks for the reply. I'm actually still trying to get my java moss to green up properly  it hasn't fluffed up or greened like pictures I've seen.

I may just tie bunches to rocks and arrange the rocks in a carpet as shown in this tutorial here http://borneosucker.blogspot.ca/2010/08/java-moss-carpet.html But that seems like it'd be a pain to maintain.

Otherwise I'll just get some flat rocks (hopefully thin slate) and sandwich the moss between that and some mesh.


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## balutpenoy2oy

you said you will used tiles right....use the unglazed side of it , cut a screen (like in the storm door or window, use the fiberglass not the aluminum ) of same size as your tiles. then glue ( dollar store crazy glue , this what i used) the four corners and edges on tile to sandwich your moss. Hope this will help..

the unglazed side is good for those tiny roots to clings on..


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## cb1021

Atom,

Let me get back to you in a few hours with a tip that is potentially helpful for your needs. I'll show you something when I get home in a bit.

Okay here's how I'd do it. You can buy this slate for very cheap at Big als. I'd buy the thin pieces so you can break them into smaller pieces easier. What I'm showing you in the photo, I would break it into 3 pieces. The mesh is from Asian grocery stores as some fruits are packaged in such mesh bag. I simply put the slate into the bag and made it taut by stretching it over the slate, but this is not what you need to do. To make your life easier, cut the mesh into long strips that are 4-5cm wide, then wrap it as you would as if you were wrapping cotton thread. So essentially, you are wrapping 5-10 threads at once (since it's a mesh, not a singular string of plastic). This way, you can get a tight wrap. In order to secure the wrapping, simply tie it with a zip-tie on the underside.

I feel using this method, you can get the most natural look. Also I personally like texture and layers in my aquariums. Using the method I outlined, it essentially gives you incongruence so that you can achieve the natural look. If you are interested and have more questions, please let me know.


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## Atom

Wow I really appreciate you guys taking the time to reply. 

I didn't know Big Al's had cheap slate I'll have to check that out the next time I'm there  thanks for letting me know. If not, I'll go for the tile. Thanks for the ideas balutpenoy2oy I wasn't entirely sure if tiles would alter the water chemistry and didn't think of crazy glue either.

I've saved some mesh from a packet of noodles exactly like that one in your picture cb1021. Thanks for the picture  nice looking tank you've got going on in the background too. I might aim for this technique or a hybrid of what you guys suggested. Another good source of mesh like that is from those dollar store bath puffs. If you cut one open you get a ton of mesh.

Thanks again for the help and I'm sure this'll be a great resource for anyone trying this out in the future. Good luck to anyone else trying this out as well!


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