Riccia is really a great plant to use in Aquascaping, however, as most of us know, riccia also difficult to use because it is a floating plant. With the help of ADA Riccia Stones to put together we can make this riccia is fastened correctly and you can see how powerful a statement it creates within your planted aquarium layout. The image to the right is just one example of the many uses of riccia in a planted aquarium.

Although Riccia is by nature a surface or floating plant, it can be beautifully grown underwater. However, to do so, Riccia must be properly and securely attached to stones or driftwood.

ADA Riccia stones are excellent layout materials you can use to attach Riccia, Riccardia chamedryfolia, and other various mosses. They are specially made thin and the flat shapes of Riccia Stone allow the creation of a beautiful foreground carpet of Riccia, and make the attachment process much easier as well.

How to Secure Dwarf Riccia

OK! we already know if riccia is fastened correctly, so we can see how powerful this aquatic plants creates within our aquascape aquarium layout. But, how exactly to secure dwarf riccia is? In this tutorial, I would like to show a method I have been using to secure dwarf riccia so that it grows full and doesn't float to the surface. I have included pictures that can be clicked for a larger version. Also, I have written a brief description of each step.

Mesh Body Sponge - I picked one up at Target or any local department store. They come in a bunch of different colors. I picked one that I thought would be the most invisible in my tank.... in this case greenish blue.



Unraveled - This is what the sponge looks like after it is unraveled. There is a piece of string in the center of the intact sponge that you must cut. After that string is cut, you can unravel it to look like this. In this case, the mesh is actually a sleeve, so the mesh was further cut to open the sleeve.



Riccia Stone - In this case, I am using an ADA riccia stone. Of course you can use any rock that you like. I think the flatter the better.



4" Zip Ties - You can pick these up at the local hardware store. These will be used to secure the mesh around the rock.



Spreading the Riccia - I spread the riccia on the ADA stone in a very thin layer. This is a sample, so in a real situation, I might use just a bit more riccia, but really not too much more.



Stretching the Mesh - Stretch the mesh around the top(covering the riccia) of the rock to secure the thin layer of riccia. Try to make sure the mesh stretches uniformly around the rock and riccia.



Twist the Mesh - Twist the mesh around the back of the Riccia stone. This pulls the mesh in the front tight around the riccia on the front of the rock. Be careful not to twist too much and rip the mesh.



Zip the Twist - Use a zip to secure the twisted knot. Position the ziptie as close to the riccia rock as possible to prevent the mesh from untwisting.



Trim the mesh and Zip Tie - Any pair of sharp scissors will do the trick.




Back of Finished Rock - If you have done the process correctly your knot will look similar to this and be farely secure.



Finish Front - All that is left is to place the riccia stones in your aquarium in the place of your choice.



Before and After - Here is a shot of our new riccia rock to the right. The riccia rocks to the left are about 2 months growth. Depending on your lighting, around this time you will have to retie your riccia rocks or do trims from time to time.


Conclusion - Riccia fluitans need a supply of carbon dioxide in order to grow well. On the water conditions are suitable, Riccia fluitans will grow like a green carpet. And during photosynthesis, Riccia fluitans will produce thousands fine bubbles of oxygen continously. Because of its beauty during photosynthesis, Riccia fluitans dubbed "Night of Thousand Stars from the East".


Although these plants tend to drift to the surface of the water, but they can be drowned in a way attached to wood or Riccia stones ADA with the help of the net. However, Riccia fluitans is a fragile aquarium plant species. They break easily when they are attached to a piece of rock and they cannot create a thick and beautiful turf before they loosen and drift to the surface. I hope this riccia illustration can help and guide you when using ADA Riccia Stones fastened with hairnet to creates within your planted aquarium layout.

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Aquarium decorations are not only gorgeous to look and feel at they also have an significant purpose. They present fishes with households - hiding places and all natural borders resembling their all natural habitat. There are countless diverse kinds of decorations, for instance Cave dwelling fishes take pleasure in aquarium decorations that construction like caves, holes and crevices. While Fishes that reside in dense vegetation like plants and other sorts of small hiding sites. Decorations are necessary for a delighted and healthy and balanced aquarium they also continue to keep fishes from gaining bored.

Tanks: There are many variants of tanks massive, small-scale, quadrilateral or polygonal. The dimension of an aquarium should really be in accordance to the dimension and the range of fishs you strategy to continue to keep. Also tanks arrive in a wide range of tinted eyeglasses.

Crops: With good maintenance and regular pruning they are the the most wonderful and inexpensive supply of decoration for your aquariums. Fishes really like the aquatic vegetation as they are component of their natural habitats. They arrive in all types, costing anyplace from a very few bucks to hundreds. Aquatic plants are especially practical as clearly they bind carbon dioxide and oxygenate the water. They also use natural and organic waste products and solutions as nutrition and eradicate likely unhealthy compounds from the water. Plants can also be chosen to preserve a test on the water quality of an aquarium the plant will initiate dieing in advance of the fish if the water abruptly gets to be poisonous


Wooden, Rock and Coral: An aquarium can be like a miniature true habitat for the fishes with these decorations. Drift wooden and mangroves can make a attractive influence in the aquarium, as well as some fishes in particular thrive on Drift wood. But be mindful as Drift wood may reduced pH ranges and the hardness of the water. So it is greatest employed in aquariums with gentle slightly acid water. Stones and rocks make fantastic decorations. But all over again caution is needed you really should by no means use rocks that influence your water's pH amounts or stones that may perhaps consist of toxic compounds. There are also fake rocks that resemble true rocks, but these are fairly high-priced. Rocks can be implemented to produce caves which lots of fishes are passionate about. Coral are a attractive addition to marine aquariums in reality they could possibly prove crucial for a healthy and balanced marine habitat. But can be dangerous to contemporary freshwater aquarium and need to not be put into use as they be unhealthy.

Gravel or sand: The two are good each arrive in a selection of colour. Gravel comes in white, brown and black, or blue, red, green, yellow the full rainbow spectrum. Sand all over again also has a plethora of shades white, black, blue, yellow, red, green. Both of these can be layered in multiple hues.

Glass marbles, Ceramics, Plastic: Ok all are unnatural components and may well search marginally tacky, but fishes will not give a fig for this, they enjoy them enormously. Glass marbles even though are not a great bottom substrate out of a biologically as flora does not thrive on them, can include fabulous shades to the aquarium. It's most effective to use them sparingly or create an alternative a lot more practical substrate down below. Ceramics are wonderful aquarium decorations. All dimensions and shapes can be used as prolonged as they do not have sharp edges. On the other hand ceramics tend to grow algae that could be tough to. Plastic they are low-priced, colourful and yes tacky, but can be uncovered in a variety of fun designs. Treasure chests, skulls, divers, pirates, crops and ships you title it and suppliers have them.

It is essential that you only use aquarium decorations that are harmless to use in aquariums. If you have salt water aquariums they really should be saltwater-reliable also. If you do not take this precaution your tropical fish will die due to the organisms and toxic compounds launched by the decorations.

Aquarium decorations have both useful and aesthetical use if carried out tastefully and cautiously you can make a miniature aquatic ecosystem that both you and your fish can appreciate.

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The following is a series of photographs by aquamoss.net that clearly illustrate how to create an aquatic moss wall as aquarium backdrop. A very simple technique could be employed to create a backdrop using aquatic moss for the nature aquarium. The stuffs needed to create the moss wall are commonly available, and the following simple steps will show you how to get it done with a little effort.

Picture on the left are what you would need to create the moss wall:

- Plastic Mesh
- Scissors
- Suction Cups
- Tying Wire
- Aquatic Moss


The plastic mesh is commonly available in most hardware stores, plant nuseries, and large supermarkets. It's main use is to be mounted on windows to prevent mosquitoes and other insects from entering the house. Well, we have different use for it. The meshes come in different colours and sizes, but for our moss wall, we would need one that is about 7mm to 8mm in size, and black colour is more appropriate for the backdrop.

The mesh is cut to 2 times the size of the tank that you want the moss wall to be in. You would need to fold the mesh in half and stuff the moss in-between. Cut some holes on the perimeter of the mesh so as to stick in the suction cups.

For my demonstration, it's for a small 1 ft tank, hence one suction cup is sufficient. If you are doing a large wall, you will need to put in more suction cups especially on the 4 corners, and also some suction cups around the centre of the mesh to prevent warping when the mesh is in the tank.


Next, you would need sufficient quantity of moss. Open up the mesh, and spread out the moss evenly onto half of the mesh. Try not to leave any space uncovered, else you might have gaps in your moss wall later when the wall has been erected in your tank and the moss starts to grow out.

Fold back the other half of the mesh, and tie up the 2 halves together. I'm using some tying wire here, since it's simple and I have it available on hand. You could also use fishing line or nylon thread to tie it up. Do not use any cotton thread since it will disintegrate after a short while in the tank. Remember to insert in the suction cups.

The above diagrams illustrate the final product.


Next, insert the mess against the back panel of your tank. Try to leave as little gap between the mesh and the glass as possible to prevent small fish from entering and stuck inside. One tip to prevent fish from entering the gap is to cut the height of the mesh to be slightly taller so that you can tuck the bottom of the mesh slightly into the substrate, and the top slightly above the highest water line. As for the length, try to measure it accurately so that both sides of the mesh fit closely to both sides of the tank.

The final step, wait for the moss to grow out of the mesh, and thou shall be rewarded.

Growing aquatic moss in the aquarium is not very difficult. Aquatic mosses can be considered to be the easiest aquatic plants to grow in the tank. In general, if you can keep Java Fern alive, you should have no problem keeping Java Moss and most of the aquatic moss. Most of the moss are not very demanding in their requirements. They can tolerate lower light levels than the higher plants, and they can grow well even without the supplement of Carbon Dioxide to the aquarium. They can also grow with minimum nutrients. However, with proper lightings (about 2 watt/gallon), CO2 supplement, and some macro-nurtients and micro-nutrients, one would really be able to see the true beauty of these aquatic moss wall in the aquarium.

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The water plants must be pruned periodically so that the aquarium will always looks nice. The important things that should be known for the beginner related to the aquarium plants pruning is the pruning effects it self. As the number of plants decreased after pruned, then the water parameters should be adjusted as well. If this was ignored, moss and algae can grow after plants pruning.

Some of the adjustments that need to be carried out include:

- Reducing the dose of liquid fertilizer

- Reducing the dose of carbon dioxide

- Increase the frequency of water replacement

Types of Stem Plants such as Hygrophila that are too high should be pruned with sharp scissors. After pruning the plant will grow 2 or 3 new branches in these pieces. If it is done continuously then the plants will be lush.

The Woodbine types such as Echinodorus tenellus, Glossostigma elatinoides, Vallisneria and Sagittaria, if left grow without pruning would overcrowd the aquarium. Therefore, it should be reduced the number of leaves. In the Vallisneria and Sagittaria species, the growth of new leaves will be accompanied also by an old rotten leaves, so that rejuvenation can be done by removing the old leaves. While the types Glossostigma elatinoides and Echinodorus tenellus, when the higher leaves are growing, then the leaves underneath it were going to die because of lack of light. The pruning of these water plants can be done by cutting the leaves at the top.

The Riccia types, if the growth of Riccia is excessive then the leaves at the bottom will have a light deprivation and decay. As a result the Riccia will regardless of the bond and floating at the water surface. Therefore, the pruning of this aquarium plants should be done regularly for all the parts get enough light.

Types of Anubias have a slowly growth and practically will not change the original plants layout. Because of the slow growth then the Anubias type was easily attacked by moss and algae problems. If the Blue Algae or the type of Red Algae such as Beard Algae seemed to grow, the leaves of Anubias sometimes forced to be cut and the new leaves will grow back.

The type of exotic water plant aquarium such as Anubias plants native from Cameroon, West Africa. This plant is easily found in forest areas or along rivers. In its habitat, Anubias are amphibious plants that grow well in high humidity.

Types of Nymphaea lotus have a wide leaves and can grow to the surface of the water. If this resulted in other plants (which is below) the lack of light, cut the stem before reaching the water surface, and new leaves will grow back. The Nymphaea plant species require a strong light intensity and enough fertilizer in the sand media.

The Fern types such as Microsorium and Bolbitis, if it is compatible with the environmental conditions they will grow rapidly and change the original plant layout and composition. The leaves of this plant can be rejuvenated when it is too big or old.

Like land plants, aquarium plants need to be pruned and thinned on a regular basis. The aquarium plants that grow healthy and fertile in the aquarium if allowed to continue over time will make the aquarium cramped, so it looks less tidy.

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The lights from aquarium lighting produced energy for aquarium plants to living and needed for metabolism. Stronger aquarium lighting will make the faster plants growth and increasing pH-value of aquarium water, and require more CO2 including other nutrition which needed for plants to living. Conversely, if the aquarium lights are not strong enough, while a large amount of CO2 given and making the levels of CO2 in the aquarium would be excessive, consequently photosynthesis of aquarium plants can not be properly.

Since photosynthesis takes place in the presence of light, light is a necessity for healthy plants. Natural sunlight is made up of a number of light waves that have different wavelengths. The plant pigment chlorophyll will absorb only certain light waves.

Sunlight will promote the growth of algae. Long exposure to sunlight will also heat up the water. Artificial light is therefore more advisable for plants growing in a aquarium. Full spectrum or broad spectrum fluorescent light is best suited for plant growth. Aquariums usually need about 1.5 watts of light per gallon of water and about 12 hours of light per day. Of course, if your aquarium is deep, you may need additional wattage, and need to keep the light on for longer hours. Using light colored gravel is a good way to create a light bottom for a deep aquarium.

The wattage of light required for healthy growth in plants is also species dependent. Some plants, like the Anubias, Java Fern and Java Moss, require only low to moderate lighting. So, a single fluorescent tube will give enough light for these plants. The Water Wisteria, the Indian Fern, the Water Lily, and the Waterweed are some plants that need bright light. These plants will require at least one additional fluorescent tube to survive and flourish. Some species like the Bacopa and the Cabomba require extra strong light. These plants are of course not very suitable for beginners.

However, the nature of aquarium plants related to the light intensity basically divided into two groups:

• Aquatic plants require low light intensity, such as Anubias, Microsorium, Bolbitis, and Cryptocoryne. These plants are kind of easy to maintain because they don’t need lots of light and Carbon dioxide.

• Aquatic plants require high light intensity, such as Rotala, Red Ludwigia, Cabomba, and some kinds of Echinodorus species. These kinds are hard to maintain and need lots of light and Carbon dioxide. These aquatic plants can not also grow well under the light with low intensity.

Knowing the nature of aquatic plants related to the light intensity is important for Aquarium decorations. If we want to decorate the aquariums, then the water plants which require high light intensity placed under the aquarium lighting, and the low light plants placed in the shade areas. If we placed the aquarium plants without considering the light necessary, certainly the aquatic plants growth will be disturbed. For aquarium decorations which combined two kinds of the aquatic plants above, and with the strong light of the aquarium lighting, so the plants growth will be looks like this.

Firstly, the aquatic plants which require high light intensity such as Rotala and Cabomba will grow well. Whereas the low light plants such as Cryptocoryne and Microsorium will be stable. After the light intensity of "aquarium lighting" is reduced, for example after 6 -12 months, then the type of "aquarium plants" such as Cryptocoryne and Microsorium will grow well, and the growth of Rotala or Cabomba will increasingly stunted.

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Before you can make up your mind regarding the kinds of plants that will go into your aquarium, there are some style statements that you should know about. There are two main aquarium planting styles that have evolved among aquarists over a period of time. A quick overview of these styles and their usability will help you decide which way you want to go, or if you want to think up something entirely different.

The natural style - As the term suggests, the natural style is just that - natural. Here, we strive to mime nature as closely as possible. Introducing a variety of plants without any particular order is the most important thing in this style. Think natural - in nature, you would not find groups of similar plants sitting pretty in some order. The aim is to cultivate a 'wild' look. It may seem that no planning goes into this kind of style, but this is far from the truth. Plants may seem to be placed at random without any serious coordination, but to achieve that striking display of 'wilderness' in your aquarium, you need to sift through the various plant varieties, and pick and choose the right ones.

The Dutch Style - This aquarium planting style is for the more serious planters. The aquarium is more for the plants, and the fish seem to be added in as an afterthought. You will hardly find these kinds of aquariums with superbly colored fish. There will just be a few colorless fish hanging about. The Dutch planted aquariums tries to replicate a verdant garden, in all its green glory. An important element in this style is terracing or layering. You will find that the aquarium is divided into terraces, with different kinds of plants growing on different layers. The back of the aquarium will be higher than the front. The plants are the main focus of this display.

There are two ways in which you can adapt the natural planting style to your aquarium. Firstly, there is the open style aquarium. In this kind of aquarium, the top of the aquarium is left open most of the time. The plants are allowed to grow right out of the aquarium. The tops of the plants are never trimmed. You need to be extra careful when you keep an open aquarium. If you have any jumpers in this aquarium, you will find that you are poorer by a number of fish after some time. An open aquarium is therefore not suitable when you keep such fish species.

A habitat aquarium can also adopt the natural style. The habitat aquarium is one in which you place ideally suited species of fish and plants that have the same requirements. A habitat display will take plants and fish from some particular geographical location, and mimic their ecosystem.

You can categorize the natural plants that should go into your aquarium depending upon their behavior. Very broadly, there are three kinds of underwater plants:

• Plants that float at the top of your aquarium

• Plants that will stay firmly rooted to the bottom

• Plants that come in a bunch and keep moving or floating around

Keep in mind that you cannot put in just any plant. Common household plants should naturally be avoided. Any plant that is not a water plant is bad news in the long run. They may adapt to the water initially, but may not be able to cope with their surroundings after a period of time. Changing your set up after some time is not very easy because aquarium plants also take time to adapt and grow.

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