# Best tropical mosses



## hannamaxgracie (Jan 4, 2020)

Can people list best mosses for viv and sources please! Was hoping to find a sticky somewhere.
Thanks!


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## scrumpydc (Mar 9, 2015)

i have used dusk moss mix but i find it grows slowly but aquarium mosses are great for vivariums thy like the moisture and grow well and are hardy java moss is a favourite i would recommend just getting some that you like the looks of that will go well in your tank and try it


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## RobJersey (Apr 23, 2019)

*Re: Best tropical*

Here’s what I currently know of an have used with tiny reviews.

Dusk moss: probably the most talked about mix. It does grow moss. Takes about 6 weeks to see noticeable growth. At 6 months it gets very dense. I’ve hade random ferns, a unknown begonia and ugly grass pop up. Easily pulled and only a few blades. Needs to remain saturated at all times while establishing. 

Neherp slurry: comes wet, noticeable growth in 2-4 weeks lush growth at 4 months. Decent moss, looks somewhat like a lighter colored aquatic species and sphagnum. No noticeable other oddball plants.

Ferns frogs moss graffiti: 6-8 weeks before noticeable growth. Only 3 months in now but it’s filling in nicely. By far the nicest of all the mixes. It has sprouted some random bladderwords, and I think possibly a butterwort. It’s mosses are bright green and fine. Also lower growing mosses. Takes longer compared to other 2 but so far it’s been worth the wait. 

Aquatic mosses

Java moss: tends to branch a bit, sends out runners which branch up and coat wood, and wet areas. 

Christmas moss: makes fern like pattern it is like one little branch with multiples coming off of form a triangular shape.

Flame moss: grows upright in single blades sometimes curly or wavy. Lighter green than the others.

Peacock moss: larger, it looks just like Christmas moss. 

weeping moss: kind of like peacock and Christmas with a sagging ‘ drooping growth. Great for cascading look over wood. 

Riccia: not really a moss, it’s a bladderwort which is bright green looks like tiny little stag horn ferns. Clumps and spreads well. Great for ground cover tree fern, and wood. 

My favorite is to take all the mosses above which I keep in my fish and shrimp tanks place in a blender with ro water distilled works as well, and blend it so they are chopped up a bit.. not green juice chopped but enough so that they are tiny pieces. Then spread where I want moss. Because it’s all alive it tends to grow in fairly quick;y.. 4 weeks you’re getting growth, and starts filling in at 6 weeks. 

Not sure that all the mosses actually take, but I think giving a good mix let’s what is strongest survive where it wants. I defiantly notice different moss types taking hold in different levels of light.


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## DPfarr (Nov 24, 2017)

Bladderworts are not a bryophyte. You mean liverwort, or the Marchantiaceae.


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## PBM3000 (Oct 4, 2019)

Bear in mind that Weeping Moss, although quite an attractive species, does not generally attach itself to wood or hardscape. Certainly doesn't in my experience.

If I may link to a thread on another (aquatic) forum, here's a consensus of those which do and don't: www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/mosses-that-do-or-dont-attach-to-hardscapes.41464/


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

My favorite is just whatever volunteer mosses (and liverworts, and...) that grow off my wood over time. I have never had a lot of success with encouraging that type of ground cover to grow where I want it to without keeping the tank too wet and bright for the frogs. I like what just grows by itself in the conditions that I know the frogs do well in.

Mark


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## Woodswalker (Dec 26, 2014)

I personally favor Java moss, since it grows differently depending on the tank's conditions and its placement. I'm trying Dusk moss mix for the first time in all of my tanks, since I've always been curious about it.


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

I’m like Encyclia; I think I keep my vivs too dry for mosses etc. And I usually go for a tight bright canopy with a dark understory. And by “go for” I mean that’s how the plants usually end up and I’m too lazy to change it. 

Except for stupid sphagnum- I cant seem to get rid of that stuff. And it never looks great and grows too fluffy. Stupid sphagnum.


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## hannamaxgracie (Jan 4, 2020)

I am intrigued by the moss graffiti so will look that up! I picked up some peacock fern at the local petstore and do need to get some java moss. 

Thanks for the info!!


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

hannamaxgracie said:


> I am intrigued by the moss graffiti so will look that up! I picked up some peacock fern at the local petstore and do need to get some java moss.
> 
> Thanks for the info!!


I share the opinion that if you want a moss terrarium, the terrarium is not suited for dart frogs because it needs to be kept to moist.

The peacockfern is a realy good choice for a vivarium, it grows like crazy here!


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

Tijl said:


> The peacockfern is a realy good choice for a vivarium, it grows like crazy here!


It's funny, I've never been able to get Selaginella to grow (that's what you guys are talking about, right?) Everyone says it grows like crazy but mine always dies.


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## Woodswalker (Dec 26, 2014)

If you hand mist only the spots on your background where you want your moss to grow, you can still keep the general humidity from getting too high, but it's more high maintenance this way.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

Broseph said:


> It's funny, I've never been able to get Selaginella to grow (that's what you guys are talking about, right?) Everyone says it grows like crazy but mine always dies.


yes, weird. here it grows like crazy


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## madagascarmama (Sep 9, 2019)

Thanks for the recommendations! Think Im going to try to DIY a moss slurry, but also try the graffiti.


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

> I share the opinion that if you want a moss terrarium, the terrarium is not suited for dart frogs because it needs to be kept to moist.


Could be true, but doesn't need to be true. I think (well, I know...) it depends on how you supply the water. 

If aerially, and wall-to-wall, well yeah, that's gonna be stinkin' wet. 
If by gravity, and localized, with substrate-wicking countermeasures in place, everything else could be kept extremely dry. Or less wet, by just misting occasionally.

I've got some nice true mosses, club mosses, spike mosses, ferns, and liverworts. I don't keep frogs, never have, I keep humid-subtropical snakes. They REALLY do poorly if kept too moist, and they especially need good ventilation. Point is, they are kept drier than (I gather) any dart frog should be.

The way I pull off the happy cryptogams is to just pump water up into the viv via airline tubing. Just a couple times a day for a minute or two. 

The airline tubing terminates in a full-width span I stuck in place with dots of silicone, snug up under the viv rim. I melted little holes here and there in that stretch of tubing, for the water to come out. 
Most of my backgrounds are cracked-cork mosaic with packed LFS in the gaps. The LFS acts as a slow-release sponge that bridges the dry spells between timer runs, and keeps the cryptos moist enough. 
I have a "wicking gap" between the background and the substrate so my dirt doesn't get ANY water from the background. For the gap mostly now I just use a strip of Matala. I used to use LECA or TurfAce but Matala is just so much easier and cleaner and lighter. You can silicone the Matala strip to the back of the viv just like the cork pieces. Then run your screen over the Matala or other false-bottom material from front to back, up and over the rear strip (which just looks like a little step up) too. Cork and LFS can go all the way down to the screen. Substrate fills the "lower pit" in front of the rear "step up", and leaf litter covers the substrate. Ideally the Matala strip is a little bit wider, or sticks out from the back a little more - say, a half inch to an inch - than the cork mosaic. Leaf litter can cover the extra bit of stick-out. Boom, no wicking, so no stinking soggy nasty substrate.

Elsewhere in my vivs I have mist heads, to help the broms & orchids make it between hand-waterings. In the few cases I have terrestrially-planted angiosperms, they require regular hand watering. They get very little soil water from the misting, and zero from my moss walls.

There is no reason such a setup wouldn't make for happy frogs and froggers, if the frogger wants some moss.

Have fun, stay healthy. This pandemic thing is a great time to go big with the crafting.


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## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

Tijl said:


> I share the opinion that if you want a moss terrarium, the terrarium is not suited for dart frogs because it needs to be kept to moist.


With respect, you are totally mistaken. You can grow moss under almost any condition of temperature or humidity. It's just a question of finding the right species, and often the ones that thrive in drier situations grow much more slowly. 
I've got moss flourishing in a dry spot 3" underneath a uvb basking bulb at temperatures sometimes exceeding 30c during the day. The spot gets misted twice a day but dries out within half an hour of misting and I didn't plant the moss there - it grew from spores deposited in isopod and springtail faeces. 
Took more than a year though.


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