# Any alternatives to hygrolon?



## bmore (May 11, 2010)

Can’t find it anywhere


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

I seem to remember the "tactical mesh" being sold on Ebay being suggested as an alternative to Hygrolon. What are you trying to do with it? Hygrolon isn't magic - there might be alternative approaches to do what you are trying to do. The stuff wicks well, but it also loses moisture quickly if it is not constantly in water. That means that it may or may not grow moss well.

Mark


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## DPfarr (Nov 24, 2017)

I can’t remember but I feel like someone used the same thing from what the people in Sweden, hygrolon/epiweb and was selling it here in the US. 

Epiweb could work though right?


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## bmore (May 11, 2010)

I was going to use it for a 3 side viv. I know it’s not magic but wanted to try something different than just great stuff. Do you have any suggestions? I’m all ears 


Encyclia said:


> I seem to remember the "tactical mesh" being sold on Ebay being suggested as an alternative to Hygrolon. What are you trying to do with it? Hygrolon isn't magic - there might be alternative approaches to do what you are trying to do. The stuff wicks well, but it also loses moisture quickly if it is not constantly in water. That means that it may or may not grow moss well.
> 
> Mark


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

I am a big fan of Dendro Dave's Cracked Cork Mosaic. I use it on almost all of my tanks. Would this work for you?

https://www.dendroboard.com/forum/p...-mosaic-living-drip-wall-pond-method-how.html

Mark


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## mclance (Oct 10, 2018)

I am also looking for something like hygrolon. I want a planted background that my vines and moss can easily grow over. I did a greatstuff background with coco fiber on my last viv and nothing will grow up it very well. Do plants root to the cork? Excuse all the questions I have only done a few vivs and I am working on a new project now! I did find this on amazon when I searched for hygrolon and it seems very similar. However, I have never worked with hygrolon in the first place so, I really have no idea. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R8S7Q99/ref=twister_B07M6MTRK3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Yeah, vines and shinglers grow all over the crack cork mosaic background. I will post a picture of some of my backgrounds with plants all over them in upcoming Viv Discussion of the "Week" threads. In the cracked cork mosaic, the plants can also root into the sphagnum-filled gaps in the cork. It doesn't surprise me that the plants aren't rooting in the Great Stuff-covered background. That was the experience I had when I tried that method, too.

Mark


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## Drthsideous (Oct 14, 2019)

Glass box tropicals is the only US supplier of hygrolon. He is getting a new shipment in early September I heard.


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

I am 100% certain that hygrolon like almost every dart frog product in existence is an off the shelf product with packaging / name branding. You can surely buy it off alibaba. The only trick is you will need to do the leg work to figure out what its non brand name is, once you figure that out you will probably be flooded with options.

https://www.amazon.com/Spacer-Sandwich-Fabrics-Hygrolon-Breathable/dp/B07M6NBTH9?th=1

https://www.wish.com/product/5e75a4...2hiKD-IMaI06BP5LYjua9RoC3MgQAvD_BwE&share=web

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/329...fhFFX4400dRUxe_-8BxoCZ2wQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


Maybe those will get you started


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## gonzalez (Mar 28, 2018)

I used on of the sandwich fabrics off amazon. Doesn’t really wick water all that well but will hold it long enough that if the backgrounds gets misted it’ll grow vines, which is all I really wanted. Always available and 1/4 the price of hygrolon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

> Yeah, vines and shinglers grow all over the crack cork mosaic background. (...) In the cracked cork mosaic, the plants can also root into the sphagnum-filled gaps in the cork.


FWIW, here's another vote for cracked-cork over, well, anything else as a +/- vertical substrate for viners, shinglers, etc. Also, if you use some roundish cork pieces, or I suppose even sections of small-diameter tubes, you can get some proper "dirt" up there and make some trailers & spillers happy. Or you can start your vines in that and let them run rampant elsewhere.

Using different thicknesses of flat cork, and different degrees (<90 up to full 180) of round, you can get quite a bit of "topographical diversity". I like to start thickest & roundest at the substrate level, and go thinner & flatter as I work up. This makes a lot of 3-D animal play space, and helps light punch down further into the viv in any spots without plants. In addition, the thickness of cork dictates the thickness of LFS packing in between. Thinner LFS dries faster, so using thinner cork higher up amplifies the ecological gradient begun with 1) your lights, and 2) gravity draining water downwards, from a relatively hot sunny dry top of viv, to a cool shady moist bottom of viv down at substrate level. 

Finally, the cork is dry enough to mount stuff (broms, most orchids) that doesn't want wet/rotten "feet", _even if you keep_ the LFS packing moist enough to grow a decent moss crop. Really, the versatility and aesthetic appeal of cracked-cork is tops. If you use small cork pieces (more crack, less cork) the cork will just disappear under the jungle. But if you use bigger cork pieces, or just the odd big piece in a field of smaller pieces, you will retain some visible wood for the long haul.

Good luck!


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