# what is this grass growing on my driftwood?



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Riccia fluitans


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Nice healthy riccia. 
Congratulations. Most of us have to tie it down to get it to grow like that.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

geeez..... where did it come from? I never heard of it. It just started growing there one day.


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## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

It probably got introduced as a hitchhiker plant and then attached to your driftwood somehow.


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## Lycosa (Oct 16, 2006)

Nice riccia! Are you sure you aren't just showing off? lol

I used riccia once for my carpet in a tank and it was probably the most difficult plant I've ever messed with. Not because it was difficult to grow.. one of the easiest actually, but it was always plugging up my filters, floating on the top, and generally just keeping me far busier trying to maintain it than I cared for. If you've somehow managed to just grow it on driftwood.. please tell me the secret. lol


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

well it is coming out of the water, it is growing so much. 
Should I cut it or something? I have java moss growing all over my driftwood, and 
now I have this stuff taking over the driftwood and growing on top of the java moss. Some of it is that lime green color, and some of it is dark green. 
Ha ha - at first I thought it was staghorn algae! At first I was pulling it out, 
but then I got lazy and just let it go. Now I have more of this than the moss.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

Lycosa said:


> Nice riccia! Are you sure you aren't just showing off? lol
> 
> I used riccia once for my carpet in a tank and it was probably the most difficult plant I've ever messed with. Not because it was difficult to grow.. one of the easiest actually, but it was always plugging up my filters, floating on the top, and generally just keeping me far busier trying to maintain it than I cared for. If you've somehow managed to just grow it on driftwood.. please tell me the secret. lol


I don't know how it happened. 
It must have been in the moss that got netted down,


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## Lycosa (Oct 16, 2006)

Ahh.. ok, that makes sense then. If it was netted then ya, you'd have a nice mat like that. Let that net loose and it'll float. If you trim it, do it with the filters off or it'll make a mess. Riccia makes an absolutely beautiful carpet plant, but it can be a pain. Once I had my CO2 pumped up and my riccia was pearling like mad and it literally picked up a rock and floated. It grows like a weed so you have to be prepared to keep it in check and trim it. Looks like you've got nice growth out of it, gratz. It's not junk and if you offer portions on swap and shop, you'll likely sell it. A lot of people like it; I do.. but I'm tired of messing with it.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

here is another picture of it, but it is a different color.


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## Lycosa (Oct 16, 2006)

Here's a pic I found on the net of how it'll grow. If you get a look at Amano's books you'll see some fantastic work with how it can be used. Maybe another member will show off their riccia too.










EDIT: I just realized the tank in my Avatar is the one I grew riccia as a carpet plant. Also, there's a decent article on how to grow it here.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

Lycosa said:


> Ahh.. ok, that makes sense then. If it was netted then ya, you'd have a nice mat like that. Let that net loose and it'll float. If you trim it, do it with the filters off or it'll make a mess. Riccia makes an absolutely beautiful carpet plant, but it can be a pain. Once I had my CO2 pumped up and my riccia was pearling like mad and it literally picked up a rock and floated. It grows like a weed so you have to be prepared to keep it in check and trim it. Looks like you've got nice growth out of it, gratz. It's not junk and if you offer portions on swap and shop, you'll likely sell it. A lot of people like it; I do.. but I'm tired of messing with it.


Ok. will it grow out of the water? Because right now it is about a quarter inch from coming up the top. 
I got the moss about 4 months ago from someone who brought it in to a LFS 
from their own tank. They have so much of it, they drop it off to the store and the owner gives it away.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

Lycosa said:


> Here's a pic I found on the net of how it'll grow. If you get a look at Amano's books you'll see some fantastic work with how it can be used. Maybe another member will show off their riccia too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow. That is really beautiful. Mine looks SO NOT like that. 
I will have to trim it up! 
Thanks!


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## Lycosa (Oct 16, 2006)

As far as I know, it'll grow emersed as long as a portion of it is still good and wet. I've never grown in emersed, but I've read other have.

I also edited my last post to include a link with a little more info on the stuff.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

Lycosa... I wish I could see a pic of that. I cannot find your tank to see, only in the small avatar pic. Do you have a bigger picture? 
Thanks.


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Some dart frog breeders use riccia in their habitats. So, yes it can grow quite well emersed.


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## timwag2001 (Jul 3, 2009)

if you dont trim it, the parts that are holding it down and other areas that arent getting enough light will start to die and then it will disconnect and float to the top. if you want to keep it tied down you need to keep it trimmed


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

The emersed form get ALOT fatter stem/leaves on it. It seems the farther down in the water it gets, the skinnier appearing it is. This is even evident in your pics of the stuff farther under water as compared to the stuff on top of your driftwood. When I first joined this forum I questioned the correct name of riccia since it wasnt anywhere near the size that I see it floating in the streams around here.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

Lycosa said:


> Maybe another member will show off their riccia too.


Here's half of a 55 I had a few years back with a riccia carpet. It was three inches thick and I loved the look but it was really a mess after a trim.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

chad320 said:


> The emersed form get ALOT fatter stem/leaves on it. It seems the farther down in the water it gets, the skinnier appearing it is. This is even evident in your pics of the stuff farther under water as compared to the stuff on top of your driftwood. When I first joined this forum I questioned the correct name of riccia since it wasnt anywhere near the size that I see it floating in the streams around here.


Thanks. You are right, the stuff at the top looks different than the stuff on the bottom, and even seems to be a different color, even tho you can't see in the pic. 
Well... I am not sure what to do with it as of yet. I have not had any algae problem in both of my tanks except for the moss. I got some kind of green algae growing in on it UNTIL that grass started taking over. Not the algae is gone. The grass started growing on the top and shaded some of the moss so that is why I left it. Then I guess some of it started floating around, and since the driftwood is really tall and really wide the current from the filter 
made it attach to other areas. I have some headstanders, and some pencil fish that hide in it, so I guess I will leave it for now and see what happens. 
I really don't want to trim it and have all that clogging my filters, and I don't run any kind of adequate CO2 to make it a carpet.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

Jeff5614 said:


> Here's half of a 55 I had a few years back with a riccia carpet. It was three inches thick and I loved the look but it was really a mess after a trim.


That tank is really beautiful. I wish I could do something like that. 
I don't run pressurized CO2, or use adequate ferts, and I can't even imagine maintaining something like that. 
I am jealous of you tho.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

The fact is...sooner or later youll have to trim it or the shaded parts will die and itll float. The plus side to this is riccia is a great plant to learn on about trimming and shape forming for other mosses. Just shut off your filters when you do and net or siphon to excess out. Riccia sells well on the SnS if you price it right too.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

Ok, so say I cut the top of it. So, if I cut one inch off the top of the whole thing, which is about 6in by 6in 
can I net that someplace else? Do I just net it like I did the java moss?


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## timwag2001 (Jul 3, 2009)

yup


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## Bowles42 (Mar 5, 2008)

In my experience riccia is more trouble than it's worth. It gets everywhere and grows like a weed. Also, you have to be really dilligent if you want to remove it all from your tank. Of course I try to keep my trimming down to a reasonable minimum. And, certainly people have used it to good effect in their tanks/aquascapes.

Good luck,
Ryan


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

LOL, alot of people have had bad experiences with riccia. Youve got 1 step ahead in the fact that yours was free. It also matters if you have the time/like messing with it to make it look good. I personally hated chasing it but am super jealous of the people that have beautiful carpets of it (as above).


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