Moss plays an excellent supporting role in Nature Aquarium. Although it is not a main star, it gives a touch of elements like primordial and refreshing senses. Also, when it grows thick, quite a few people may feel the passage of time. In this article, we are introducing moss products that match different layout styles, verifying something that we are wondering, and sharing planting tips for moss.

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ADA’s Living Moss Products

ADA’s moss products have lineups in three different forms to accommodate different uses. Please use the information as a reference to find which moss is suitable for your style.

LINEUP.1 WABI-KUSA MAT
This product is a mat with moss attached for epiphytes. You can use this product lineup as it is, for System Terra, System Paluda, and Mizukusa Mist Wall, or you can also use it by adding extra epiphytes to it. The lineup has most moss species among the three forms, and the key point is that it promotes the growth of emersed leaves.

 

LINEUP.2 MOSS-BAG
This product is Taxiphyllum barbieri packed in a bag that is convenient for Nature Aquarium. A sufficient amount of Taxiphyllum barbieri comes in a bag, and it is totally ready to use for a layout. It can be utilized as a hideout for fish or a spawning bed for Kill fish if you just loosen it up a little and put it into a small aquarium.

LINEUP.3 BIO MIZUKUSA NO MORI
With this product, you can use clean moss that is cultivated with high quality tissue culture. Because it is easy to plant with tweezers, and has less risk of pests and mold, it is most suitable for small Paludarium layouts in Glass Pot MARU and SHIZUKU that enable us to keep humidity.

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Placing tips for moss

Many people are worried about where to place moss at first. We will explain about the placement by focusing on 4 different key points. Please use the information as a reference.

Point.1  Hide unnatural cuts with moss
Although intentionally showing a tip of a branch can be an expression, some driftwood pieces for aquariums have unnatural cuts and broken ends. We suggest that you wind some moss and hide those parts. It also has the effect of adding a soft impression to rough tips.

Point.2 Place some moss in the shade where shade-loving plants cannot be planted
In the shade of composition materials, you can basically mitigate the dark tones of the layout by planting Cryptocoryne or Anubias. In an area where the contrast is relatively high with bright colored cosmetic sand, you can tone up the brightness by placing pebbles with moss attached.

Point.3 Place randomly
In terms of arranging moss on driftwood, we suggest that you mix and match the height and width while considering an overall planting plan. By randomly attaching moss to places where driftwood pieces intersect, or places where you want to ease the strong impression of composition materials, a more natural expression can be created.

Point.4 Make it seamless between composition materials and aquatic plants
If placing moss with epiphytes like Bolbitis and Anubias along with composition materials, you can comfortably connect powerful materials and aquatic plants. For maintenance, be careful not to hide epiphytes when the area with moss expands.

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Detailed oriented verifications for winding moss

Since Taxiphyllum barbieri is very hardy, it is unlikely that you would fail growing it because of how you wind it. However, we earnestly verify which winding method is really suitable for the moss.

Taxiphyllum barbieri grows well without cutting in pieces. Is there any advantage in cutting in fine pieces?
We opened a Moss Bag, and cut into about 10mm in one direction. When cutting in pieces, you’ll see some of the long ones exceed 100mm, but by doing this, it will be about 30mm or less at the longest. To make it easier to compare and observe this time, we wrapped moss around resin rods containing wood of the same shape with Moss Cotton.

【Predicted results 】
By purposely wrapping the cut moss pieces, they all come out finely from the beginning, and we think it will increase the volume.

18 days later Results

“Without cutting in pieces”
Although we cut some moss that popped out after wrapping, the growth points with new shoots are uneven.

18 days later Results

“Cut in pieces”
Since most moss is cut in pieces, only few pieces end up popping out, and it looks a little more aligned than the uncut moss (subtly).

Results 

The cut moss grows finely and looks good.

・It is easier to stretch and less likely to look uneven when it is wrapped.
・The variation in growth between the grown moss and new shoots is not so much.
・The appearance of the moss looks different from the beginning of the layout.

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What is the best pitch width of winding moss to finish neatly?
We wrapped moss around rods of the same trait as the verification 1 at three different pitch width in 5mm, 10mm, and 15mm. We used Taxiphyllum barbieri from a Moss Bag that we cut in advance and carefully cut any pieces that popped out. When the pitch width of winding was 15mm, it gave us an uneasy feeling.

【Predicted results 】
When the pitch width of winding is tight, there are many contacts with the rods. It may help moss take root even more.

18 days later Results

“Pitch width in 15mm”
Moss has fallen out, and it looks uneven.

18 days later Results

“Pitch width in 10mm”
Between each contact point with Moss Cotton, some parts are raised.

18 days later Results

“Pitch width in 5mm”
It is clear that the moss comes in contact with the rod more evenly.

Results

For cut Taxiphyllum barbieri, the 5mm pitch width is suitable.

・When winding the moss with Moss Cotton, the moss stays well and grows tightly.
・It is hard for the moss to fall out and unlikely for long moss pieces to pop out.
・You can expect the moss to take root even more neatly.