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Best moss to grow out of tank

Any terrestrial moss you can find growing on wood in damp places in the forest could be a valid candidate for that. So taking a walk into the woods and look around and search mosses. Look where and how they grow.. Or put pieces of wood in shaded spots in the garden and just leave them be for a feew months, mosses will grow on it over time. Which ones? Could be a huge number of different moss sp. I even don't want to go into identification because it is much to difficult and complex.
Here you have a site with loads of mosses pictures and ID characteristics described, still it is a challange to correctly identify the most of them.
https://www.verspreidingsatlas.nl/mossen

Moss in general doesn't grow on fresh wood that isn't weathered enough. I don't know what it is but obviously fresh wood has something in it or on it that prevents moss from growing to it. There is your problem with spider wood, it isn't the best wood for what you want. :) This is fresh harvested and dried Rhododendron root, dug up and cut from a fresh shrub, dried and sold as decorative aquarium or terrarium wood..Especialy emersed it takes quite some time for this woods top layer to break down and become a moss substrate. If it stays dry it might never, above an open top tank it is much to hard and dry to have fast results.. So also for using spiderwood emersed it is best to leave it to soak for a number of months to make it soft enough. Or as i said, put it in the garden in a shaded and damp mossy spot and let nature do the work..

Most suitable mosses for things like that you likely will not find in the LFS.. If you do not want to collect them yourself than best is to look or ask in terrarium shops and or maybe terrarium/paludarium forums. Some terrarium shops sell bags of dried moss collected from nature containing all kinds of moss sp. these you have to pulp and put on substrate, keep moist and in time will revive and grow on.

Here you see my piece of spiderwood emersed and i didn't soak it and it sucks big time.. Already strugling for over 18 months to get mosses to grow to it. :)
Now after 18 months it slowly is turning into the right direction.. If you have so much patience, go for it.. If you don't, take another type of wood or prepare it long enough before you scape with it like that.
DSCF9242.jpg


Other things you could try to experiment with is aquatic save epoxy and peat litter.. First paint pieces of emersed wood with this epoxy and when epoxy is still wet cover it with peat litter. Let it dry and brush excess litter off with a clean brush.. The litter what is glued to the wood contains already fern and moss spores and if you keep it moist you have a lot chances mosses and ferns will grow to it over time by itself. It's a proven technique often practiced with terrarium backgrounds. So i see no issues why it shouldn't work on a piece of emersed driftwood. If it doesn't you still have a viable substrate on the wood to plant some yourself.. :thumbup:
 
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