# Moss?



## yotetalker (Jul 11, 2009)

Has anyone ever used the sheet moss from Lowes....Its an greem moss they use to cover the soil on plants, I think it would look neat on the walls but dont want to use if its going to be harmful....Any answers would be appreciated...


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## stitchb (Jan 26, 2009)

It'd probably work. Youd have to keep it in fairly high humidity and bright light until it gets established-which could be a while, but yea I think it would work!


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## JoshK (Jan 5, 2009)

I have used that sheet moss(Mosser Lee) with no ill effect. However, after a day or two in the viv it is no longer green.


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## Deli (Jun 24, 2008)

That, and It takes forever to green up again. Just get some Orchid Moss from lowes. I've had some in my 40gal for 2 months and its already greening up.


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

Sometimes they spray the moss with chemicals and preservatives. You should contact the company who produces it to find out---otherwise, I would get some live moss from a vendor. That way, it will help filter your frog's wastes.


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## yotetalker (Jul 11, 2009)

I'm getting impatient at the end of Aug. I will be going to a rep. show where Joshes frogs will be there an i Can get some live moss there but just trying to get stuff alll setup for the frogs.....I know shortcutts never get you anywhere besides redoing everything....Thanks for the answers, guess I will ue it in my household plants


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## smitty (Jul 23, 2009)

yes, ive used it and it will come back but i like to go in my backyard and find live moss as well as millionsof termites in my cardboard pile it sucks inflorida huh!!! please dont yell at me i wasnt braggin!!! rinse the moss good though!!!


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## 0823angeles (Feb 13, 2009)

Moss from TNC work very well... The moss from lowes looks nice but is not the tropical moss your looking for. And someone already mentioned that they do treat those slabs of moss with chemicals so its very bad for breeding in the future..


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## smitty (Jul 23, 2009)

smitty said:


> yes, ive used it and it will come back but i like to go in my backyard and find live moss as well as millionsof termites in my cardboard pile it sucks inflorida huh!!! please dont yell at me i wasnt braggin!!! rinse the moss good though!!!


rinse the moss real well


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

It sounds like you already decided against it but in case you change your mind I would be careful using mass-market moss... Mainly because of the chemicals used to rid it of bugs - but also because most of those mosses will go thru a dormant period. You are looking for tropical moss which doesn't need a dormant period. 

Plus nowadays you can get moss cheap from all sorts of sources online. We sell it @ NE Herp and other dendroboard sponsors (Dart Frog Depot) have tropical moss on here too. 

Pretty much anywhere online is safer than getting it at a mass-market home improvement center.  As easy as that would be.


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## JoshK (Jan 5, 2009)

earthfrog said:


> Sometimes they spray the moss with chemicals and preservatives. You should contact the company who produces it to find out---otherwise, I would get some live moss from a vendor. That way, it will help filter your frog's wastes.


 I spoke with someone at Mosser Lee long ago and was assured their sheet and sphagnum moss were chemical free and 100% safe. They even pointed out that ther sphag is suggested for use with amphibians. 

I personally still rinse mine VERY well, not that I have used it very much, it isn't the best.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

^^^^ Mosser lee stuff = Sphagnum...

The OP said "green sheet moss"... I assumed he actually meant sheet moss - if he meant sphagnum - then I agree with you. Safe to use.


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## JoshK (Jan 5, 2009)

I believe the green sheet moss from Lowes (at least all of them in my area) is all Mosser Lee brand. They said that their sheet moss wasn't handled any different than the sphag, but that they had suggested sphag was great for amphibians on the packaging. 

IMO, dried sheet moss would be much safer than wet, wild-harvested moss which could contain chytrid among other things.


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## yotetalker (Jul 11, 2009)

Yes it was Mosser Lee green sheet moss an no I'm not useing it since its not what I was wanting but was wanting something to get going ....I'm just going to wait until I go to the reptile show at the end of august an get some there... Thanks for all the info that you all have given.....


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## Cinnamon B (Jun 28, 2009)

Hey, I'm a noob here, and I was just wondering:

If I want to collect moss from outdoors and use it in a display, what is the best and safest way to ensure I'm not bringing in any unwelcome guests? I've been reading up on it here, and I've seen things like "submerge in RO water for 1/2 an hour" and "dilute bleach in RO water to a 1:10 solution and submerge for 5 minutes and then rinse *thoroughly*."

But each of these suggestions were almost immediately followed by saying that it was either insufficient or too damaging to the moss.

So what is the best method, and how can I be sure I'm not about to destroy a beautiful piece of moss i'm planning to transplant.

Great forum you have here. I think I have a new hobby, although I think it will be years until I actually get PDF's of my own. I'd rather dabble in terrarium design and maintenance first, then learn the ins and outs of FF culturing before I even consider frogs. I don't like rushing into pets, especially fragile ones.


Edit: and now that I think about it, does anyone have any good care tips for moss, beyond "mist and give lots of light"?


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

MeiKVR6 said:


> It sounds like you already decided against it but in case you change your mind I would be careful using mass-market moss... Mainly because of the chemicals used to rid it of bugs - but also because most of those mosses will go thru a dormant period. You are looking for tropical moss which doesn't need a dormant period.
> 
> Plus nowadays you can get moss cheap from all sorts of sources online. We sell it @ NE Herp and other dendroboard sponsors (Dart Frog Depot) have tropical moss on here too.
> 
> Pretty much anywhere online is safer than getting it at a mass-market home improvement center.  As easy as that would be.


is this vendor feedback?????  jk 

i agree, plus i have to believe that some of that crap gets dyed, theres no way the moss is THAT green.


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

Thanks for the plug! 

Much like many things in this hobby...there isn't a right or wrong. 

We all experiment with different ways of doing things and have various levels of success. I myself have found keeping "natural" tanks with heavy micro-fauna loads leads to the best success in breeding obligate egg feeders (pumilio - do to the small size and delicate nature of the froglets). Due to this I opt to take the risk of using wild collected materials in my tanks. I also use springtail cultures with mites. The mites are just additional food for the frogs. I get a wide variety of welcome and some unwelcome guests (ie. snails) but have never lost animals due to parasites or fungus.

Now that isn't to say it isn't possible and the impact of a chytrid infection could devastate a collection quickly, but that is how I choose to do things and have had no major issues in the last 20 years. 

Depending on the source "wild collected" can mean many things. The mosses I sell are collected from temperate rain forests in northwest Washington State. It is thoroughly rinsed as the intended use of the vendor is to supply floral shops and such for use in weddings, displays etc and bugs wouldn't go over well. They do not however bleach, boil or treat the moss in any other way.

Some of my tanks contain wood or moss collected from my local area. That moss gets hosed and put in....it is teeming with insects and the frogs love it. I can travel for work for over a week and not worry about feeding such a tank. 

For my basic 10 gallon breeders for say tinctorius I used the Zoo-Med (I believe) "bales" of dried moss as it is the cheapest (albeit not the prettiest) substrate to use and I go through it quickly. Those tanks are not for display and thus I don't invest much into them.

So...point is there isn't a right or wrong and it really is a matter of your intended use, acceptable level of risk and personal preference.

Cheers,

Chris


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

james67 said:


> is this vendor feedback?????  jk


No he didn't mention that his moss stinks and mine is great! Just Kidding!!!!!! 

NE Herp is a respected vendor here and I am only teasing. 

My only comment would be that even if you didn't choose to purchase from me specifically I would hope you would send your business to one of the sponsors of the site. Most (if not all of us) do this on the side and don't make much if any money. The important thing is you will get quality product from experienced people who have the backing of many of the members of the board.

More important is that they keep Dendroboard funded giving us all this great place to share information.


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## Cinnamon B (Jun 28, 2009)

UmbraSprite said:


> Thanks for the plug!
> Depending on the source "wild collected" can mean many things. The mosses I sell are collected from temperate rain forests in northwest Washington State. It is thoroughly rinsed as the intended use of the vendor is to supply floral shops and such for use in weddings, displays etc and bugs wouldn't go over well. They do not however bleach, boil or treat the moss in any other way.
> Chris


So basically, a thorough rinsing should be enough to get rid of any insects, insect eggs, and snail eggs?

What about the soil it's attached to, should that be removed first?

I'm aiming to minimize introduction of insects to my soon-to-be display, since there won't be any frogs to eat them.

EDIT: just looked it up, apparently snail eggs are way easier to spot than i expected.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

^^^ lol Chris  I'm right with you there on the "not making money" thing.  It really is just a side-hobby that sort of became a part time job.

There really are two frames of mind when building a viv... Natural or Sanitized. Granted - it'll never be "sanitized" no matter what you do... People have success with both ways. I have ONE natural viv that's been happily running for over a year with no issue housing a few azureus and quite a bit 'o micro fauna - however all the other vivs we've built are "sanitized". I use that term loosely. 

We suggest 10% for 3-5 mins as listed on the moss caresheet on our site. (shameless plug - but at least it's good info! ) I don't think 10% is too rough on most mosses. We've used it on our tropical moss, pillow moss, feather moss (we don't sell feather moss yet - but DartFrogDepot does), and even riccia as of last week. 

That's not to say the "natural" approach is bad - just different. It's extra important depending on where you get your moss. Dart Frog Depot's stuff as well as our stuff is both guaranteed pesticide free. Gathering it outside somewhere may not be. Most mosses at large chain stores are either dried or not pesticide free. 

Hope this helps.


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