The Puffer Forum

so i went to the pet store yesterday and i saw that they had alot of java moss growing on all thier filters and in some gravel, sooooooo... i grabbed me a net and a baggie and i went to about... 15 tanks and got all the moss i could, about 2/3 of a cup full. and it was ll free! (also got some free "pest" pond snails ) sorry, long post here is what i did:

got some sticks from outside, washed them, boiled them, baked them in the oven, washed them again, boied them again, scrubbed them, boiled them agan, then baked them again, and then washed them off with clean hot water... tada! clean wood.

then siliconed the bases of my "trees" to a rock, then siliconed some tiny sticks to the "limbs" sticking out to simulate more "limbs".

then i got the java moss, put it on the ends of the sticks to simulate leaves, and used some string and made slipknots and tied the moss to the ends.

there was not really enough moss to make the whole tree, but it will grow, and with some coaxing, will look like a fully grow out tree.

TADA!! Java Moss Tree!! i know... tank looks dull, i had to take out all of the microsword i had in there because they were melting... but low light plants are on the way!

now, go out and make your own Java Moss Tree! or Flame Moss Tree, or even Weeping Moss Tree.

peacock moss is the most attractive IMO. I have java moss, flame moss, and peacock moss; and for some reason I like it the most.

or a peacock moss tree i guess... but java is the hardiest

LOL reminds me of a christmas tree you see kids make for the Bethlehem play at christmas

I'm sure it'll look great when it's booshed out a bit

haha are you makin fun of my tree?!
just kidding, i know, it looks pathetic as of now, but i just posted it as a diy to getting started, but someone could do it their own way. if you had more moss, i would recommend at least a cup and a half, it would look alot better.

yea, i think that when it grows out, i'll coax the moss to staying around the tree so it will bush out and then it should look much better.

Of course, the moss tree will look much, much better in a few weeks! I'd love to see it when it's done! =)

is there an update on this/???

Looks nice. Would also like to see an updated picture.

I've got something similar in my Fahaka tank, but I notice that the moss is getting yellow and thinning out. Seems like that's what happens to me with moss. It looks nice, gets to looking really fantastic, and then goes into decline after that. The piece of wood I have is in a natural "Y" configuration and has moss wrapped around it, a bit thicker than the photo posted here. I think I am going to take it apart and re-do it and then take some photos of it, because when I first got it, it looked really nice, like a tree in the tank, but it's not looking so great now. Maybe I will do a "before" and "after" photo. I also really like Christmas moss, it's one of my favourites.

Updated pictures?

Unfortunately there were and will not be any updates... Soon after I posted this I moved into a new house and was almost immediately tasked with a deployment. I just got back in January and I am currently in the process of setting up a newer, much larger tank. I'll be putting together a new build thread on this one soon.

Welcome back & thanks for serving our country!

I've got a piece of driftwood in my planted tank that is starting to look like a bush. I'll take a pic tonight and post it. I like the tree idea!