Riccia fluitans Question

[Roan Art]

Hrmp. Received my first order from AquariumPlants.com, very nice -- only one looked "scraggly" the rest pretty cool. Never had bulb plants before. I dipped them in a weak bleach/water solution, then water/dechlorinator, then water/mucho dechlorinator. The onions had quite a few pond snails on them that quickly succumbed and I saw a *huge* water beetle -- you know, those diving types? -- doing a death spiral. Then I opened the package with Riccia fluitans.

Okay, I'm confused. I've never really seen riccia except in pictures and what I got was a mass of plastic feeling green stuff with a few small leaves in it. I was under the impression that it was all joined together, like a carpet thing, you know? But it's not and it's all free floating. When I tried to pick it up it was like all little pieces of individual green thingys. Is this how it's supposed to be? I've seen pics of it growing on rocks, how can you get it to grow on rocks if it's not joined together? What do I do with this stuffs?

Confuzzled,
Roan

[sayembara]

the setup will be: rock-riccia-'screen'

with the screen wrapped around the riccia, the plant will grow through the opening and looks as if it grows, attached to the rock. With time, riccia will float to surface and you need to retie the plant again.

[Roan Art]

Thank you!

I think I'm still confused though. From what I've read if you float it, it will eventually sink. If this is true, if you tie it and form it to a rock or wood, why would it start to float again?

If I opt to just float it, will it form together as a mass?

Roan

[djlen]

If your light is adequate it will develop into a nice 'pad' that you will be able to pull apart very easily if you're not careful handling it. It is much easier to grow on a rock if it's 'firmed up' in a pad and laid over a rock.
Riccia is a floating plant made up of tiny pieces. Actually each piece is a separate plant, in and of itself. It will, BTW not sink but will continue to float forever, so don't hold your breath waiting to the sinking to start :).
Here is how you can 'attach' it to a rock:

Try this:
Go to the pharmacy and pick up a package of small, fine hair nets. Clear is a good color to buy. They will have an elastic opening on one side.
Take an object(a flat rock or similar), the size of the Riccia 'patch' you want to cultivate on the substrate, and lay a 1/2" - 3/4" bunch of Riccia over the object.
Now take the hair net and put it over the object and Riccia with the elastic on the bottom. To make it stronger, tie off the bottom(elastic) with fishing line as tightly as possible.
Now, take some more fishing line and wrap the whole thing as tightly as you can make it to hold the plants and netting down securely.
Riccia wants to float and unless really tied tightly, will hover over the object if not tied down tight. You will not hurt the plants by making it tight.
The plants will grow through the netting and (especially well with good light) and hide it in a short period of time, and you won't even know it's there. CO2 helps the growth as well.
From there, all it will need is a periodic 'haircut' with scissors(careful not to cut the netting) to keep it short, and to look nice and uniform.
Don't let it get much longer than 1/2" above the netting or the bottom plants will start to die off.

Len

[Roan Art]

Oooooooooooo, this sounds like a fun project!

Okay, hair nets I have in abudance -- somewhere. I used to show quarter horses and had to put my hair in a bun for that (I hate buns). I don't remember what size they are, however.

Any specific type of rock? Would a porous lava rock be better than a smoother rock? I could cover all sorts of things with this and make cool topiaries. Muahahah.

Thanks Len!

Roan

[z71silverado98]

so you make an aquatic chia pet? :laugh:

[djlen]

You can use anything that will not affect water parameters to put riccia on.
I used glass that I cut to fit any area or shape I needed. This was bonus from my stained glass cutting. I also liked glass because it was thin and took up very little room (off the substrate).
You want the finest mesh hair nets you can find. They are dirt cheap in the pharmacy and come in pkgs. of 3 or more as I remember it. You want the plant to grow up through the mesh.
Lava rock works also.

Now about the buns..........nah, let's not go there. :)

Len

[phanmc]

Another option is to sandwich the riccia between two plastic knitting grids (should be available in most arts&craft shop) and either tie it together with fishing line or stapling it together. The plastic is still light and you will need to weigh it down but its very easy to work with.

[Hannys_Papa]

Another option is to sandwich the riccia between two plastic knitting grids (should be available in most arts&craft shop) and either tie it together with fishing line or stapling it together. The plastic is still light and you will need to weigh it down but its very easy to work with.


Is that how they make these "riccia mats" you see on ebay/ aquabid now and then ?

[phanmc]

Most likely, though I have seen mats out of synthetic mesh (which are not as rigid) and stainless steel.

[Roan Art]

so you make an aquatic chia pet? :laugh:
Heh, that would look pretty neat ;)

Roan

[Roan Art]

You can use anything that will not affect water parameters to put riccia on.
I used glass that I cut to fit any area or shape I needed. This was bonus from my stained glass cutting. I also liked glass because it was thin and took up very little room (off the substrate).
You want the finest mesh hair nets you can find. They are dirt cheap in the pharmacy and come in pkgs. of 3 or more as I remember it. You want the plant to grow up through the mesh.
Lava rock works also.Great! Thanks.


Now about the buns..........nah, let's not go there. :)LEN! :thud:

Heh.
Roan

[Roan Art]

Lots of cool ideas on things to do with riccia. Thanks a bunch, guys!

Roan