Moss trimming, no mess - now with video

[George Farmer]

Hi all,

I love moss. Only recently have I used it properly in aquascaping and I've realised the biggest PITA for me with it is dealing with the trimmings.

They usually sink to the bottom of the tank and require siphoning. Any leftovers usually get entangled with carpeting plants and end up causing a mess.

So here's my answer. It works a treat. I've used some self-sprung scissors from UKAPS sponsor, APFUK, simply attached to 9/12mm filter hose using a couple of cable ties.



The empty hose end goes into a 25 litre empty RO drum, I start the siphon, snip away at the moss, and it automatically gets sucked away before it hits the substrate. The 9mm hose is ideal as it's big enough to allow the moss to escape, but small enough to maintain control.

I'm not sure if anyone else uses this technique, but I'd thought I'd share anyway.

Cheers,
George

 

[Ian Holdich]

Great idea George!


This needs to go on Dragons den!

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks mate. I tried it earlier. Works brilliantly. Quite chuffed with myself to be honest. I'm easily pleased!

 

[LancsRick]

I expect some shrimp get a free rollercoaster ride too!

 

[Alastair]

Nice idea george. Might give this a try myself when my moss is due a trim.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Yo-han]

I always have the hose in one hand and the scissors in the other, this looks even better!

 

[Pedro Rosa]

I'm with Yo-han.... but you George, just got a better idea 😉 ... it's maybe hard in some parts with lots of wood, but nevertheless a priceless photo.
Thanks.

 

[BigTom]

George you massive geek 😀

 

[faizal]

Wow George !!! 🙂 Amazing idea,....such a simple contraption but so effective. Nice one.

 

[GillesF]

Best. Invention. Ever! 😀

Gonna try this soon

 

[Alastair]

I wonder how many people are actually in the process of rigging something like this up after reading this.
I know I am ha ha

 

[Pinkmummy79]

I used a similar idea when removing bba from a large piece of bogbood, in place of snips, I had a toothbrush though, works a treat as everything dislodged gets sucked away immidiately.

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Glad it better worked than my fail George, will try and make this work with wave scissors. Thanks for posting.

 

[clonitza]

Attach the hose to an external filter if you have one only for maintenance. 🙂

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Joel S]

I'm sure APFUK will be seriously impressed with the spike in scissor sales. I reckon I'm not going to be the only one.

 

[George Farmer]

Here's a quick video showing how effective this method can be.

 

[Ady34]

Nice, can I cross your palm with silver for your next fissidens trimmings please 😉

 

[George Farmer]

Nice, can I cross your palm with silver for your next fissidens trimmings please 😉

Yes mate. The trimmings aren't substantial to tie on to wood the usual way, but I'm guessing you're going to blend them, in which case the small off-cuts will be perfect.

I'll be in touch. 🙂

 

[Ady34]

Yes mate. The trimmings aren't substantial to tie on to wood the usual way, but I'm guessing you're going to blend them, in which case the small off-cuts will be perfect.

I'll be in touch. 🙂

Blending indeed, or chopping at least 🙂
Thanks George.

 

[AndyFJ]

Cracking idea! Beats disturbing the carpet.