Journal 75L Hygrophila polysperma white display

[Dennis Wong]

I came into some Hygrophila polysperma "white" by Tropica recently. Grew it out and it seems to be able to be shaped into good midground bushes so I decided to create a layout to showcase it. Contemplated whether to use it as the only white plant in the tank, but decided to use some Anubias white petite as well so that the white polysperma doesn't stand out awkwardly.

 

[Dennis Wong]

Mostly finalized the layout for this tank.

White plants are difficult to use in layouts. They tend to stick out awkwardly and often do not feel natural to neighboring plants. They also difficult to photograph. The twin peaks of the wood are too similar in height, I will try lowering the right one by sinking it further into the substrate during the next water change. At the same time, I'm testing to see if I can alter the structure of the left wood by growing plants on it.

 

[CincyScaper]

What kind of moss do you use and what is your typical routine for taking care of those?

 

[Dennis Wong]

What kind of moss do you use and what is your typical routine for taking care of those?

I'm using riccardia and possibly fissidens. Mosses are amongst the easiest plants to manage, after they are glued on, I trim them repeatedly until the bottoms are very aged or brittle, then I'll remove them from the wood (usually they will be loosely attached by then), then reglue them. The interval is much longer than stem plants replanting - months...

 

[CincyScaper]

I'm using riccardia and possibly fissidens. Mosses are amongst the easiest plants to manage, after they are glued on, I trim them repeatedly until the bottoms are very aged or brittle, then I'll remove them from the wood (usually they will be loosely attached by then), then reglue them. The interval is much longer than stem plants replanting - months...

Thanks. I keep reading about how mosses get everywhere when trimming since they float and with densely planted tanks I thought this would be a major issue. How do you ensure that the moss trimmings don't get everywhere ? Might be a nice post for your website too since it is so commonly grown.

 

[Dennis Wong]

Thanks. I keep reading about how mosses get everywhere when trimming since they float and with densely planted tanks I thought this would be a major issue. How do you ensure that the moss trimmings don't get everywhere ? Might be a nice post for your website too since it is so commonly grown.

Same with uprooting - vacuuming with water siphon while trimming
Alternatively, clear up later on with large WC and kicking up spare trimmings with turkey baster
Haa, not much of a hack, but practiced hands make short work

Mosses offer great synergy with wood/rock, would be a waste not to make use of them when hardscape is available

 

[CincyScaper]

Same with uprooting - vacuuming with water siphon while trimming
Alternatively, clear up later on with large WC and kicking up spare trimmings with turkey baster
Haa, not much of a hack, but practiced hands make short work

Mosses offer great synergy with wood/rock, would be a waste not to make use of them when hardscape is available

Wow, looks pristine on high light !

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

My last scape was moss heavy, pilo moss. It LOVED climbing my driftwood. However in terms of infecting the rest of the tank, not so much. It was easy to siphon up and I never had issue with it tangling up into plants. As Dennis mentioned, glue it and let it grow. It takes a long time before it gets too thick and separates from the glue point. Of course not all mosses behave the same, some are stringier and more infectious than others.

 

[CincyScaper]

Thanks @Dennis Wong and @Mr.Shenanagins .

Among the Riccardia, fissidens and pilo moss, which one would be the least messy and the lowest maintenance?

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Riccardia stays compact but grows much slower than moss IME. You need a lot more of it to get the look you want where moss, once established, will spread at a quicker rate. I wouldn’t worry about the “mess” as much as which one you find more aesthetically pleasing for your scape. All three of those have different textures and appearances.

 

[JayP]

Thanks @Dennis Wong and @Mr.Shenanagins .

Among the Riccardia, fissidens and pilo moss, which one would be the least messy and the lowest maintenance?

I haven't figured out the trick or simply don't have the dexterity to trim and vacuum at the same time, at least in my heavy driftwood scape, as having both hands/arms in the tank simultaneously is a challenge. My experience with Java moss and Fissidens, is that they do get "messy" to put it mildly. If I didn't have a carpet of hair grass. I would say it was perfectly manageable, but once a few bits get into that carpet, it's just a ticking time bomb. Without a carpeting plant, It's likely easy to manage as has been described. I love the look of my Fissidens on both wood and rock. I don't really trim it as much as I simply remove chunks of it by hand when it gets too thick/heavy. On mine, when it becomes that thick, the bottom layers of it start to go brown. I can pull most of it out and the small bits left behind will grow back to cover the area again in short order. For Fissidens, the transition to submersed growth takes awhile so you think it's a slow grower, but once transitioned and established, with high light and CO2, it grows faster, just not so fast that I have to trim/remove very often. It depends how thick of mound of it you want. I think it looks good, quite thick.

 

[Dennis Wong]

Close-up of Hygrophila serpyllum. Barr was right, its a very aggressive grower, he dubbed it "giant glosso", and it spreads as aggressively. The plus side is that the roots don't seem too go too deep?

Not really suitable for small patch usage, I'm cutting off runners every other day to contain it. Might be usable in larger tanks, or in nature style scapes as foreground accent.

 

[JayP]

The plus side is that the roots don't seem too go too deep?

This is definitely a positive. I have it in my farm tank and the shallow rooting allows me to easily pull out chunks of it once a week to keep it under control. I like the look and color so I was thinking of using it in the new more organized garden style farm tank but don't know if I want to spend that much time maintaining it's growth and shape.