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Help aquascaping on a budget/ with what I have?

3K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  Sara3502 
#1 ·
I have a 46 gallon aquarium and its a mess right now. I haven't done anything but grow out java moss and I want it to actually be pretty. I have tons of java moss one large piece of driftwood one smaller piece with Anubis on it and one medium rock. I also have a massive rock but I don't know if it can go in the tank (it's massively heavy) please help me get it pretty!

(Please excuse the messiness of the tank right now I moved the java moss around and it sent tons of stuff everywhere)

Piece of driftwood

Java moss!!!


Thank you!!!
 
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#4 ·
Lol tons of moss huh? Idk I've thought about trees but its not my favorite idea. Does this idea I drew look good? Brown stuff is driftwood green bottom stuff is java moss leafy things are Anubias and thing on far side is rock and I don't know what the things I made up in the back could be. Val's maybe?
 
#5 ·
I would trim the Java moss close to the wood and put the clippings on bare spots and on any other hard scape you can find. When it grows back out it will look more natural. Be sure to rinse the moss as clean as you can with dechlorinated water before clipping it.

Place the largest or tallest piece of wood at about 1/3 the way along the length of the tank and the other one close by making sure it is lower and probably closer to the front of the tank. If it can go in a more horizontal axis than the vertical larger piece that would be great. Then place the smallest piece at the other end of the tank. Now look at the arrangement and move the pieces until you like the picture they make.

I have no idea where your Anubias is! It might look good wedged between the two larger pieces of hardscape if you want to move it from where ever it is now.

If you can find flat pebbles, maybe those black or red Mexican beach pebbles, bits of flagstone or possibly even a broken ceramic tile you can tie the leftover moss to them with many windings of fishing line or nylon thread. Then place them in the tank as you please. Maybe a winding green path between the larger mossy pieces? Maybe along the front of the tank? Pick them up, rinse off and trim when they get too messy for your liking.

Or you could make a moss wall. These take a lot of patience and I don't know that I have ever seen a grown in one plus java moss doesn't have the nice growth patterns of some other mosses. Do google it to see if you are interested in making one. You can sew the moss to window screen and suction cup it to the back of the tank [loads of work] or take 2 pieces of plastic needlepoint mesh and make a sandwich and use suction cups to attach to the back of the tank.

Or, something I saw here a while back, make mossy ropes by either tying the moss to the rope or untwisting it and putting it between the sections of the rope to hold it on, then trim it short. A non organic rope would last longer of course. How to use the rope, not sure, but it is an interesting idea. Google comes up with some photos anyway.
 
#7 ·
I would take out all of the moss, fill a sink with water & start shaking & rinsing it so most of the debri would come off. If you want to remove some moss because it seems like a lot & don't want to throw it away you could always throw some in a jar or something. They never seem to die. you can also get some pieces of slate or rock & tie moss to it so you can move it around with ease
 
#8 ·
Well you have plenty of material to practice tying it down now! If you try spread the moss quite thin and tie every 1/4" or so, going back over is fine. Where the moss is damaged by the tying it will grow a new shoot and attach to the wood or stone.

I like your sketch too, that would look nice. Vals would work - or maybe mossy ropes?????

My daughter's college 10 gallon tank had a large crypt with moss anchored with pebbles she had collected holding it down in it. Looked great. How she kept the moss so clean is a mystery to me but it was pristine. She pulled it up when it took over and put some back down. I think anchoring it helped the appearance as it didn't roll around. If you have a collection of pebbles you could try that too.
 
#9 ·
Wow! Held down with pebbles? That's cool! I got some mesh and I'm going to clean it in the sink. Then I'll play around with the mesh!!! I'm sure I have enough moss to do the back of the tank. But how would I keep java moss from getting sucked into my filters? Their intakes are in the back.
 
#17 ·
2 angels, 2 rosy barbs, 3 albino tiger barbs, 6 algae eaters (from brothers) 3 glass catfish (from brothers) 1 peacock eel (from brothers) 6 neons (moms fish) 1 female kribensis, one tiny red eared slider (very docile, completely ignores the fish) and one african dwarf frog. I know it seems very overstocked, but there is nothing I can do until/ if I get a new tank for the extras and the pond for the turtle as well. I have TONS of filtration though so the ammonia levels will not be bad (I get 400g/hr cycled and it is a 46 gallon tank)
 
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