# Wild moss?



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Hey everyone, i had a question. A bike trail near where i live has a lot of nice moss around the warm time, and it is warming up. I was thinking about going down there and collect some. Would it be okay to use it in a pdf tank? Would i need to steralize it anyway or would it be okay to put it right in the tank?


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Wild temperate moss doesn't tend to do well in vivariums. It's seasonal so it'll probably die in a little while. I think I read somewhere that vivariums are also too humid for temperate moss to thrive.


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Oh okay, i had it before and thought it did alright, but i didnt have it in that long, so it might of died if i left it in longer.


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## DKOOISTRA (May 28, 2009)

Ive got some that has done ok thus far, going on 6 months now.
BUT. The snail population in those tanks is boomin and it drives me nuts.
not good for the plants, not good for eggs either. Its tempting, but not worth it in the end, in my opinion.
derek


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Alright, i'm pretty sure i remember snails when i had the moss also. Man i really wanted to go get some for a tank im going to start building for my Azureus tank, darn.


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## karl47 (Sep 3, 2008)

heatfreakk3 said:


> Oh okay, i had it before and thought it did alright, but i didnt have it in that long, so it might of died if i left it in longer.


Chris,
Knowing full well that it will be dead in about a year, I still use temperate zone moss from my yard in most of my new viv builds. I give it an overnight bath in diluted bleach water and mist it every other day for a month or two before any of my 30 PDFs put a foot on it.
I primarily use it to "carpet" the soil mixture and keep it from being tracked all over the glass by climbing darts and I'm pretty certain that they appreciate not having jungle mix, leaf mulch or coconut fibers clinging to their undersides, as well. Even after it dies, some of it will revive enough to keep it from coming apart. None mossy areas, usually in the deep shade, are covered in multiple layers of Southern Magnolia leaves and I populate that are with Springtails. I've done it this way for two years and never lost a dart because of anything introduced by the live moss (or any other reason, Praise the Lord!). 
Just take good precautions with it,
Karl


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Thanks Karl  ill try it, what is diluted bleach?


karl47 said:


> Chris,
> Knowing full well that it will be dead in about a year, I still use temperate zone moss from my yard in most of my new viv builds. I give it an overnight bath in diluted bleach water and mist it every other day for a month or two before any of my 30 PDFs put a foot on it.
> I primarily use it to "carpet" the soil mixture and keep it from being tracked all over the glass by climbing darts and I'm pretty certain that they appreciate not having jungle mix, leaf mulch or coconut fibers clinging to their undersides, as well. Even after it dies, some of it will revive enough to keep it from coming apart. None mossy areas, usually in the deep shade, are covered in multiple layers of Southern Magnolia leaves and I populate that are with Springtails. I've done it this way for two years and never lost a dart because of anything introduced by the live moss (or any other reason, Praise the Lord!).
> Just take good precautions with it,
> Karl


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## karl47 (Sep 3, 2008)

heatfreakk3 said:


> Thanks Karl  ill try it, what is diluted bleach?


It depends on how much luke warm water you're using but I tend to use about a Tablespoon of Clorox bleach per quart of water. You only need to make sure that all of your moss is submerged and that over-night evaporation doesn't leave your moss "high-n-dry". Rinse it very well afterwards, with luke warm regular tap water until you can't hardly smell anymore bleach in the moss. I mist it almost daily for a month when I first introduce it into the vivarium before the Darts go in. Any store bought plants get the same treatment but I rinse them before submersion in the over-night bleach water. The roots should be totally free of any planting soil that it came with.
Hope this helps,
Karl


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

A couple fellow UK froggers use native temperate moss species in their tanks, with great success.

I done some planting today and crammed tonnes of the stuff into the gaps of my background etc.

I myself would rather stay away from the whole bleach solution thing, as it harms the moss and can turn it brown, which has been shown by some experiments on here.

As long as you collect it from a place where you know no native Amphibians hang around to be safe from Chytrid, all you really have to worry about are the critters that may be in it, In my case snails.

I simply give my moss a blast under the cold tap and soak over night with cling film on top of the bowl leaving no air, so any bugs in there drown.

Good luck

Richie


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Thanks, ill probably do your thing Richie


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## Bananaslug (Feb 18, 2010)

I use some moss I found out at Mohawk park and some from turkey mountain, is been living and looking good for almost three years now!!


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

I got some wild moss that I really like. Only problem is I got gnats from it. Now I got a ton of gnats in my tank and I dont want to CO2 bomb it because I finally got a good springtail pop going.


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## Bananaslug (Feb 18, 2010)

Yeah that's a drag... I learned the hard way too lol. Eventually the bugs quit coming. Now I CO2 bomb everything in a cooler before putting it in the viv.


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Nice man! Where at mohawk park? I work at the zoo at mohawk park. Also last year i went to turkey mountain, that place has a lot of good moss to.


Bananaslug said:


> I use some moss I found out at Mohawk park and some from turkey mountain, is been living and looking good for almost three years now!!


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## Bananaslug (Feb 18, 2010)

In the 'ponds', more like perpetual puddles between the creek and the N/S road leading to oxley. Grows on fallen branches laying in the water and comes off in nice long sheets. Just be sure to kill everything with carbon dioxide before putting in the tank!!!!


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

How do you do the carbon dioxide? I was just going to rinse it off well...will that not work?


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