# Fissidens fontanus



## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Yep, there are a couple threads (here and here) about that very thing.

It's a great look.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Please do try this. Although there are a few threads about it, I cant find any conclusive evidence that it happens this fast. I grow lots of moss, both emergent and submersed and I have a hard time believing that you can flood Fissidens in 10 days and not loose 3/4 of your moss. Especially to rock. It definitely attaches to wood easier. Start up a well informed thread, with daily pictures, so we can all finally put this matter to rest.  Out of 16 different mosses/liverworts, Fissidens is about 11 or 12 on the difficulty to grow emergent list in my book.


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

Tomorrow I plan to stop by a few gardening/landscaping places near my house to find some black lava rock. My idea is to split what I receive (4 sq inches) between some lava rocks and some manzanita to see which works best and how long it takes etc.

I purchased the fiss with the intentions of doing this because I wanted to used moss covered black lava rock in my low-light crypt tank and thought this technique seemed well worth trying out. I'll probably use those plastic containers used for leftovers and leave the rocks in those with some tank water in the shady part of my yard for a week or two. With the stormy weather we've been having here in SoFlo I don't see any problems with that. 

I'll keep everyone updated once the moss arrives... hopefully Friday.


Joe


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Here's another thread:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...82384-one-way-attach-mini-fissidens-rock.html


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

Oh man...I really hope this works lol I'll be thrilled if it comes out anything like what I have planned


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

jkan0228 said:


> Here's another thread:
> http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...82384-one-way-attach-mini-fissidens-rock.html


This is exactly the thread in question. He never says if he used 30 lbs. of moss to get that growth OR a top shot of the tank once he filled it to see what amount it takes to accomplish something like this. I got my money on the novice grower not having enough Fiss to even come close to his "Easy method" $150.00 worth of Fiss, maybe, in 10 quick days. Somebody prove me wrong and I will bow my head in shame and give you all of the credit and props for it. Until then....another fish myth...


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

In my opinion, Chad, it probably takes weeks and weeks and weeks to get that kind of growth.


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

I totally agree that it would take a pretty significant amount of fiss to accomplish a scape like the one in the thread but thats not what I am trying to do here. I just need to cover 2 or 3 fist sized lava rocks for the front of my scape and figured it was worth my $10 in fiss to see if this really works or not. 


Joe


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

So I couldn't find a nursery or Home Depot gardening center that had black lava rock but one of my favorite aquarium shops, a small mom 'n pop establishment in Ft Lauderdale, had mesh bags of them. I bought a bag of rocks about 3/4 the size of my fist and I plan to try out both fissidens and java using the outlined method. 

What I'm going to do is one or two ricks of chopped fiss and one or two rocks of traditionally strapped on fiss as well as a rock or two each of chopped java and traditionally tied down java all together in a humidified tupperware for a week or two to see what happens. 

I'll post pics when the moss arrives, hopefully by Friday.


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## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Cool, I'm doing the pretty much the same thing as you right now. LMK how this goes, we can compare results maybe. The tank in the link with the 'easy method' was also kept relatively dark, so I'm going to have one in a tupperware on a sunny windowsill and another in my garage. What are your plans for lighting?


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It should work great because you are reducing the moss to it's smallest form so after you rub it in good and it get some light and humidity the first thing it does is attach. If you can find a spay bottle with a super fine mist you might try a very light mist after day 5 or so but be careful too much will rinse your moss away. Our club is having a nature aquarium contest this year and I'm going to try this method for rocks and driftwood.

We need some pics of you progress!!!!!

This type of thing has been done with landscapes for years, when a client wants their new stone walkway to look like it's been there forever you take a pint of Buttermilk and let come to room temperature (2 or 3 hours) and you favorite garden variety moss in a blender to make an green milkshake, now pour lightly into the cracks and by the end of the week you walk has aged 10 years.


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

Fissidens arrived today but I worked until about 8pm so I didnt get started until it was already dark out. I did not receive as much as I expected, to be honest, so as a result I did not have enough to be able to make a 'paste' per say. What I did instead was cut the moss into as many small pieces as I could and placed them in a scattered single layer fashion all over the wet surfaces of several black lava rocks. These rocks were then placed in about an inch of aquarium water (moss exposed), the container covered in plastic wrap and then placed in my back yard on a chair pushed under a cast iron mesh-type bistro table. 

I think this will be the perfect spot for the rocks as they will be exposed to, at worst, dappled sunshine...but more likely, 20 minute bouts of beautiful South Florida sunshine between 2 hour sessions of thunderstorms lol I will post photos after work tomorrow but I am doubtful you will see much beyond the rocks as the pieces of fiss are pretty much just thin threads on dark black rocks. I'll do my best.

Thanks for reading
Joe


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

You could have put them in a blender of food processor, you don't need much of the finely chopped paste to grow plants, I hope you have good luck but be careful the heat in Florida may be too much for moss so I wouldn't let the sun hit the tank at all.


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

I agree with you about both how little paste is needed and not giving them direct sunlight. I would have done it as a paste but I just had so little of it. I should have taken a picture of what I received for you guys. It was almost pathetic. 

I ordered a 2X2 section on mesh and received a 2X2 section of mesh...not much more lol in all it was about enough to cover my thumbtip in a single layer and wasnt even attached to the mesh(it all floated off in tiny patches when I placed it in a pan of water to get a better idea of what I was working with). 

I'm pretty disappointed about it actually. To put that amount in the blender would have required so much water just to get the fronds to come in contact with the blades that I would have lost the bits in the mix and been unable to utilize it at all. What I ended up doing was chopping it coarsely and spreading it over the lava rock. To be honest I am confident it will work. I plan to let it sit emerged like this for a minimum of a week and a half. I will update with photos tomorrow night.

Thanks for the support and dont worry...I plan to order a larger portion from someone else in the near future to do this experiment more by the books. 

Joe


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## carolinyens (May 18, 2009)

Im assuming you bought off aquabid. I would suggest that if you buy any more to check in the swap n shop. Good luck.


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

**

You assume correctly. Also, I should let everyone know that I made another even stupider mistake today. Before leaving for work this morning, I placed the tray of rocks covered in the minimal amount of fissidens I had in a spot in my back yard that I thought* was shady all day long. After the previous discussion on this thread, I didnt want there to be any sunshine on the rocks at all. The problem is that the spot I chose actually gets about 4 hours of direct, unadulterated, skin scorching, water boiling, South Florida Sunshine. 


I baked all my Fissidens. 


I apologize to everyone following this thread. I'll get more, already posted on the S&S page. I'll keep this thread updated.


Joe


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

I just trimmed my fissidens in my 95G. 

Wish I could help out with your problem. It would be another 2 months before I trim again


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

In your experience, does this plant grow pretty quickly once established? Whats your opinion on the method of attaching it I plan to try out?


Thanks
Joe


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Personally I was planning on doing the same method that you're trying right now but I think that method better if you want patches of fissidens here and there. If you want to just coat your hardscape with fissidens, I'd recommend tying it with thread. That's how I did mine. Be sure to use plenty of thread to make sure its completely pressed onto the wood. That's how I did my moss for my 95G.

It grew pretty fast, it grew an inch in about two months with PPS-Pro, Co2 and med-lighting. Which is pretty decent IMO. But after every trim, the recovery period will shorter and shorter, aka it grows back faster and faster each time.

So what's your goal with your hardscape? Any pics of the hardscape? Are you trying to coat the rocks with fissidens or have patches of fissidens here and there?


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## JoeD323 (Sep 27, 2011)

My goal is for my lava rocks to have a natural looking patchy look to them. In nature moss rarely covers an entire surface as evenly as we often do in our aquariums with thread. After seeing the pictures taken by others who have successfully done this method, I think it produces a far more natural looking result and thats why I want to try it out. 

I do not have pictures of the hardscape in the tank yet because the rocks are not in the aquarium. They will be added to my already established, freshly rescaped planted tank. I have left room for them where I plan to place them but first I need to establish my moss emersed and highly humidified for at least a week I'd imagine.

Thoughts?



Joe


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Then I'd recommend the method you're trying to attempt now. 

You could also super glue some moss in patches but IME it can get a bit messy. You can still tie bits of moss on if you prefer that way


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## HiepSTA (Aug 23, 2011)

i have some fissidens.... how much do u need =)


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Lol, thats cuz you collect it in the wild bro! but nice scape, I like it, very mossy...:hihi:


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## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

Sorry to hear about the baking incident. That sucks. I got jkan's last bit of trimmings  But, there's a lot of other nice people here... with a lot of moss... 

Anyway, I have found that leaving things outside in the Hawaii sun isn't very helpful either. I've had plastic boxes of regular terrestrial moss die, even when sealed tightly, if I put it in a hot enough window. In nature I would imagine they don't get a ton of sunlight really, so I guess if you wanted to go that route, you'll have to make adjustments accordingly with humidity. At some point, it would be impossible to get humidity up any higher practically, so there's got to be a limit.


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## creekbottom (Apr 5, 2012)

This method does work, I've had success! I used lace rock, and driftwood. The lace rock worked better, or quicker anyway. After two weeks it was attached and I put it in the tank, lost nothing. The driftwood took a little longer but it still attached.

I put mine in a tupperware container on a windowsill in my basement, made sure to keep it moist, and sealed. Opened the container daily and misted. Granted the sun up here in Canada in the winter isn't like it is in Florida. 

Good luck!


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