# Riccia Covered Water Fall - Before /After



## Smashtoad (Apr 27, 2007)

I have posted before how awesome this stuff is, as it carpets anything wet. Also, pull a sprig off and throw it somewhere and if it's wet, it grows.

Anyway, wanted to throw up a "before and after" shot of my flow log, so here it is. At the time of posting I only have the before shot...sorry...only planted it a couple weeks ago, but the stuff is already spreading. 

The water fall flow essentially covers the whole surface of this piece of Malaysin dw (that's why the thing looks so shiny in the picture), so in a few months the whole thing should be green...stay tuned.


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

I have used riccia in a viv before. It is great!
This is what I did with it in mine:
















It's great stuff. Not too bad in aquariums either 
I can't wait for your wood to be nice and green


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> I have used riccia in a viv before. It is great!
> This is what I did with it in mine:
> 
> 
> ...


Now that is a bit extreme  I don't think I want that much.


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## andrew__ (Sep 23, 2007)

That's amazing. Are those anubias in there too? I'm guessing it'd be wet enough in there for them if riccia's doing that well...


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

jubjub47 said:


> Now that is a bit extreme  I don't think I want that much.


lol


andrew__ said:


> That's amazing. Are those anubias in there too? I'm guessing it'd be wet enough in there for them if riccia's doing that well...


Thanks, Yes and yes  There is also a cryptocoryne in there in the back right and some other aquarium plants


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

I like it overgrown like that, so green! This stuff grows so fast, mine has tripled in size in the past month. How long has your tank been set up clwatkins? any "before" shots?


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## andrew__ (Sep 23, 2007)

clwatkins10 said:


> lol
> 
> 
> Thanks, Yes and yes  There is also a cryptocoryne in there in the back right and some other aquarium plants


Cool... I should start propagating riccia in my emersed crypt tank so I've got spare when I set up my viv I think...

How often do you mist?

This would make a beautiful tank for some sort of blue frog like azureus with all that bright yellow-green.

and oh ya, I think I can see some bacopa too now that you mention it


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## jausi (May 14, 2008)

Really nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Question I see you have a Anubia there, is still alive?? since is out of the water??, I know that anubias will eventualy grow out of the water but i'ts slow process, did you have a water area for that anuabia or did you just planted in there??, I really like how the riccia cover your tank, do you have any frogs there??, I bet they love that green stuff.


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## andrew__ (Sep 23, 2007)

If misted often anubias will go from submersed to terrestrial pretty well, does not like being dry at all though!


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

brians tropicals sells terrestrial anibus, i don't know of anyone else whos selling it currently...


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

Sorry for the thread jacking 

The anubias transitions great. I just plucked it from my aquarium and put it in there. I misted with a hand mister a few times a day. No before pics. This tank is no longer set up. Oh, and yes that is bacopa monnieri in there. Good eye 
Sorry again smashtoad, I didn't mean to take over your thread


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## iridebmx (Oct 29, 2008)

Smashtoad said:


> I have posted before how awesome this stuff is, as it carpets anything wet. Also, pull a sprig off and throw it somewhere and if it's wet, it grows.
> 
> Anyway, wanted to throw up a "before and after" shot of my flow log, so here it is. At the time of posting I only have the before shot...sorry...only planted it a couple weeks ago, but the stuff is already spreading.
> 
> The water fall flow essentially covers the whole surface of this piece of Malaysin dw (that's why the thing looks so shiny in the picture), so in a few months the whole thing should be green...stay tuned.


how would you trim that stuff? i dont want it to get out of control.really i need to find a moss that i can maintain for a long time does this stuff die off easy?


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> I have used riccia in a viv before. It is great!
> This is what I did with it in mine:
> 
> 
> ...



that's stephen king in creepshow!


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## Smashtoad (Apr 27, 2007)

clwatkins10 said:


> Sorry for the thread jacking
> 
> The anubias transitions great. I just plucked it from my aquarium and put it in there. I misted with a hand mister a few times a day. No before pics. This tank is no longer set up. Oh, and yes that is bacopa monnieri in there. Good eye
> Sorry again smashtoad, I didn't mean to take over your thread


Dude...don't mention it. That tank is fantastic...I am a big fan of seeing my animals, so the tanks that are wall to wall vines and broms don't do it for me. A tank such as this might not work for thumbs...but terribilus would graze crickets like a small herd of insectivorous cattle in there...sweet.

Having the courage to vivscape with less has a big payoff once maturity arrives. Artistic theory says less is more, this tank poves that. Awesome.


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## andrew__ (Sep 23, 2007)

Sorry for so many questions but this viv is pretty much just what I'm looking to make. Last night I potted up some anubias to convert to emersed growth just to get this underway.

How wet is the substrate and what type of soil (or equivalent) did you use?
Any sort of false bottom or drainage layer?
How often do you mist?
What sort of ventilation do you have in this viv?
Any fans or similar to move the air around inside or exchange air in/out of viv?
Assuming this is a pretty wet viv in terms of having a wet substrate and very high humidity what sort of darts would do well in here?
Smashtoad mentions terriblis but they're out of my price range right now, how would tincs do in here? leucs?

Thanks


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

looks great i think!! how long did it take to cover the entire terrarium??


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## Smashtoad (Apr 27, 2007)

Well...here is the tank a few months later. The tank I love, but as you can see from the bottom photo...my Riccia is being inundated by some kind of algae. It's Malaysian driftwood, so I don't know what has caused this...I guess it kinda has to be the wood, huh? Or maybe some nutrient imbalance...who knows...

Any thoughts are appreciated. If it is possible, I'd like to make this stuff go away so the Riccia can fill in.


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## jausi (May 14, 2008)

Smashtoad said:


> Well...here is the tank a few months later. The tank I love, but as you can see from the bottom photo...my Riccia is being inundated by some kind of algae. It's Malaysian driftwood, so I don't know what has caused this...I guess it kinda has to be the wood, huh? Or maybe some nutrient imbalance...who knows...
> 
> Any thoughts are appreciated. If it is possible, I'd like to make this stuff go away so the Riccia can fill in.


Nice setup!!!

Is your riccia getting moist ( a little of water) of is it getting soak?? almost cover with water??, if it does plus the light that's why thre riccia got the algae, I'll say cut the light for a week,but I'm not sure how your plants will do with out light for a week


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

That might be cyanobacteria. Not sure if I spelled that right. If so it's easy to get rid of in fish tanks, but I don't know what affect the meds would have on frogs.


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## jausi (May 14, 2008)

jubjub47 said:


> it's easy to get rid of in fish tanks, but I don't know what affect the meds would have on frogs.


I think the safest way to go is cutting the light, but again not sure how your plants will handle that


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Well if it is cyano aka "slime algae" then typically maracyn will kill it in a fish tank. The dosage is very small and maracyn is a general antibacterial med. With the amount of water you have in that system as little as an eighth dosage should be sufficient to kill it, but the affect on the frogs may not be desireable. There are some members on the board that may be able to tell you how safe a treatment like that would be to try.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

That is a beautiful viv you have there. Very nice.

I think your problem is from something organic. I don't think its cyanobacteria but it could be. I would say your best bet of getting rid of it safely is to toss all of the stuff that has it in the garbage. I've got some of this growing on some java moss and it came from a cutting that rotted in the moss. It grew this same material.

Good luck.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Frogtofall said:


> That is a beautiful viv you have there. Very nice.
> 
> I think your problem is from something organic. I don't think its cyanobacteria but it could be. I would say your best bet of getting rid of it safely is to toss all of the stuff that has it in the garbage. I've got some of this growing on some java moss and it came from a cutting that rotted in the moss. It grew this same material.
> 
> Good luck.


Rotting decaying organics is the number 1 cause of cyano. At least in aquariums.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Yeah I know. Its also usually blue-green but not all the time (sometimes rusty colored). I am wondering if its some sort of mold though...

Either way, I say toss it and start fresh. Haha!


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## Smashtoad (Apr 27, 2007)

Frogtofall said:


> Yeah I know. Its also usually blue-green but not all the time (sometimes rusty colored). I am wondering if its some sort of mold though...
> 
> Either way, I say toss it and start fresh. Haha!


Thanks very much for all the input and kind words, guys. I agree that I need to just try to strip it and try to grow the Riccia again...Lord knows I have enough of the stuff. The light seems sufficient by the color of the fireballs, and the riccis is on the flow log, so has water flowing through it continuosly. 

The weird thing is that this stuff feels somewhat stiff when dry...not slimy at all. In the picture...I had just misted, and it made the stuff look very slimy, but it is not normally...rather, it is very dry and dusty looking.

Thanks again.


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## jausi (May 14, 2008)

I think what you got after your explantion is hairy algae, you could try waht I said, but It will be better if you take that out or redo it and put new riccia again, but if there is some algae left good luckk the algae might come back


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

you could try excel it is pretty effective in aquariums for algea removal and a blackout out would be a good way of a double attack


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## jausi (May 14, 2008)

I won't recomend using excel it's a strong stuff to kill algae, not sure if will harm the frogs


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## Link3898 (Sep 18, 2008)

if its for aquarium use and is fish safe wouldnt it be frog safe?


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

if diluted in a spray bottle you could remove the frogs for a short time


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## clwatkins10 (Nov 15, 2008)

H2O2 should kill that algae. Shouldn't hurt the frogs...


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

What is the air flow like in your tank?

I had a similar thing start to grow on my waterfall that was covered in java and riccia... I just put a computer fan right in front of it and a week later it was gone. Also, if its the same stuff I had, springtails will help cut it down a little bit too


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## mattolsen (Feb 26, 2009)

where can i find this riccia stuff? i just did my first viv and i have a great waterfall area that would look amazing with that stuff. any help, much appreciated.

matt


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

any update on your riccia waterfall ? id love to see it.ive had mine a few weeks and its just starting to grow.
you can get riccia on alot of aquarium plant suppliers.


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## Bananaman (Mar 21, 2009)

mattolsen said:


> where can i find this riccia stuff? i just did my first viv and i have a great waterfall area that would look amazing with that stuff. any help, much appreciated.
> 
> matt


You can usually find riccia and java for sale in the classified section here. Aquaria Central
Though I would be sure to clean it before you introduce it into your tank.

my apologies if its not proper etiquette to post other forums links! Just trying to help.


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## ralph (Sep 13, 2006)

clwatkins10 said:


> H2O2 should kill that algae. Shouldn't hurt the frogs...


Have to agree. This is a good suggestion. Pipette or mist with diluted Hydrogen peroxide on the affected area. It will kill and dissolve the cyanobacteria but leave the riccia safe.


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## Parkway Drive (Aug 21, 2009)

haha awaken the dead


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## Bjcg (Jan 4, 2013)

Where can we get this stuff? Looks sweet!


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## KRich Frogger (Feb 15, 2013)

Is that Riccia the same type of Riccia that you would buy from a fish store? or is a different kind all together. The stuff i have bought from the local fish store in the past is stringer and when i try to grow it out of the water it drys/dies no matter how wet i keep it.


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## WeeNe858 (Sep 13, 2010)

I had a richia wall that suffered from the same issues. There would be moldy, fluffy, algae like patches that eventually took over the wall. I tossed everything and the wall now sits dry. Do you have a filter hooked up to your pump? Its possible that the high nutrient and light levels might be allowing the faster growing "algae" to take over


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

I think I have the same thing on one of the walls in my paludarium. I just removed most of it with a toothbrush, but I think it will probably grow back again.


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