Moss wall mesh

[Mad Whip]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has made a moss wall? If so where did you get the plastic mesh from I have been to bunnings,miter10, para, payless plastics and a plastics factory. I have some zinc whitebait mesh but I don't think it will work well to smaller holes. I wont mesh about 8-10mm and plastic. If anyone knows where I can find some please tell me.

cheers

[redracer77]

Try craft shop for plastic mesh, I think it's called plastic canvas. I have used it as a tank divider before.

[Caryl]

One of our, now deceased, members made hers using the plastic coated mesh from The Warehouse of garden centres.

[Zev]

What about the gutter guard stuff, you should be able to get it from a hardware store.

[Joe]

Moss grows on wood. So probably the most easiest thing to do would be to try and get some cork bark, and silicon it to the glass. The moss can then happily grow away on the cork bark. You can get cork bark at Bunnings I think (I was told it was Bunnings or the warehouse or something, but I forgot! So I'm not 100% sure). The best thing about this is that you won't need to make a big bulky mesh screen or anything, and it is much easier, and less hassle too.

[Aquila]

Keep in mind when you are designing it, that a lot of people give up on the moss wall in the end because their fish somehow get behind the mesh and get stuck. Also gunk builds up behind it.

I don't know whether Joefish's idea will work (whether the corkboard will not rot) but it might be worth a try.

[Joe]

It will work, because I saw a member of the Nelson club who had cork bark on the back of his African tank. It was really cool. Also fish won't get stuck behind it if it's siliconed straight onto the glass.

[ghostknife]

http://www.aquamoss.net/How%20to%20crea ... 20wall.htm

his site is also good for infomation also fly mesh is good to use and bunnings and mitre 10 sale it

[Mad Whip]

Cheers all. I have done heaps of research on how to do them and wrote to a dude in the states about his he found the fly screen took forever to grow in and was patchy(why I bailed on the whitebait mesh). The gutter guard is good but it only gets sold in strips. I'll try a craft and garden shops this weekend. I must have burned $30 in gas last weekend on my search.

[Sophia]

how big does it have to be? I might have what you need

I have a piece of mesh for tapestry that is 35cm long x 27cm wide and the gaps are about 1 square mm. Otherwise you can probably buy bigger at a haberdashery store or somewhere like Spotlight.

[Mad Whip]

how big does it have to be? I might have what you need

I have a piece of mesh for tapestry that is 35cm long x 27cm wide and the gaps are about 1 square mm. Otherwise you can probably buy bigger at a haberdashery store or somewhere like Spotlight.

To small that is tiny. Did you mean 1 square cm?

Thanks for the thought but.

[dreadbunny]

I used gutter guard, I sewed the strips together with fishing line.

[jn]

So does/has anyone here had a moss wall for a longer term? Or does everyone eventually give in and tear it down.

I bought some gutter guard and suction cups but I'm having second thoughts cause I'm concerned about keeping it clean. Would love to hear from someone who's been happy with theirs!

(crikey.. sorry 'bout the typos!)

[Caryl]

They require regular trimming a lot as they get out of hand quickly, once established.

[Zev]

I pulled mine out, but I must admit did not pay it the attention it deserved.

As with other plant intensive aquascapes, they look good for a short period of time and require regular maintenance to keep them in prime condition, sometimes looking like a complete mess for weeks after trimming until they fill out again, or growing so fast that you get sick of looking after it. And then you forget to change the lamps or water regularly or under/overdose ferts and then the algae sets in... :evil:

[jn]

Aaaargh! You said the dreaded "A" word. Ok I dont want to encourage algae.

I'll at least wait until the tank is settled. As for trimming, I have some in a smaller tank (just floating in a big mass!) and I'd swear that my BN's chew on it? Is it possible that some fish might be natural 'mowers' for the stuff? I mentioned in another thread, I'm planning on some fancy goldfish (blackmoores)... I wonder if they'd nibble?

Mind you I always did want an excuse to buy some of those long handled scissors someone is selling on TM for aquascaping!

[Sophia]

To small that is tiny. Did you mean 1 square cm?

Thanks for the thought but.

1 square millimetre are the gaps between the mesh

probably not too small for a java moss

anyway ...

[Zev]

Mind you I always did want an excuse to buy some of those long handled scissors someone is selling on TM for aquascaping!

Yeah - long scissors and tweezers are very handy!

You would probably need something like a 4 or 3 count mesh if you are going for the craft shop stuff, I have 7 count and the bits between the gaps are quite dense and would inhibit light - I am using it for a spawning mesh for some egg scatterers.

I did not use the suction cups and siliconed the mesh to the back wall of my tank after putting the moss behind it. When the silicon cured it killed off the moss for about a 10mm radius around the blobs, I had put some glad wrap over the whole lot to stop the moss drying out while the silicon cured. It grew back, but something to be aware of.