Making moss ball

[ineke]

I just wrote a half page and pressed the wrong button and now it's gone!!!! Has any one made a moss ball I have a lot of java moss I think, and wanted to do something different- had enough of tying tiles and doing driftwood , any ideas. I guess it would need an inert middle so it wouldn't rot. Any help or other ideas would be great. So far have made tiles, the driftwood and a tunnel/basket moss lined thing that the shrimp love.

Cheers

Ineke:encouragement:

[CNgo2006]

You can make a floating one by attaching the moss to those foam balls they use to make christmas decorations. You can get them from craft stores and bargain shops. You might want to pr!ck the foam ball so the moss can attach to the holes.

[ineke]

Excellent that sounds a go thank you.

Cheers

Ineke:encouragement:

[BlueBolts]

I cant believe I deleted my pics of my floating moss balls.....cant seem to locate it ! Aaaarggg.

I bought some SS mesh.....wrapped it around a golf ball, created 2 halves, placed some moss in it, tied it up, and used a fishing line and hung it off the light unit....and within 2-3 weeks, you have floating moss balls...really cool and looks great....will keep looking to see where Ive kept it.

[smicko]

Bio balls work well and you can get sinking or floating types

Cheers mick

[ineke]

I cant believe I deleted my pics of my floating moss balls.....cant seem to locate it ! Aaaarggg.

I bought some SS mesh.....wrapped it around a golf ball' date=' created 2 halves, placed some moss in it, tied it up, and used a fishing line and hung it off the light unit....and within 2-3 weeks, you have floating moss balls...really cool and looks great....will keep looking to see where Ive kept it.[/quote']

That sounds cool but I can't find SS mesh have checked several hardware stores. Would love to see those photos

cheers

ineke:encouragement:

[BlueBolts]

Ss mesh are everywhere....some of our sponsors sell them...... still looking for those damn pics !

[ineke]

Bio balls work well and you can get sinking or floating types

Cheers mick

I've got the sinking ones haven't seen the floating one but that would work too

cheers

ineke

[SUSS8]

This is something I tried but I can't remember where I got the instructions from. Worked fairly good for me and I didn't use the paint & sand. Just a styro ball and netting from an old fish net.

get Styrofoam balls or other shapes, paint with non-toxic acrylic paint*, let dry for several days, then soak in water for a day or so, then attach java moss to make an underwater topiary

*toss sand onto the wet paint for a surface the moss will adhere to more easily

[ineke]

This is something I tried but I can't remember where I got the instructions from. Worked fairly good for me and I didn't use the paint & sand. Just a styro ball and netting from an old fish net.

get Styrofoam balls or other shapes' date=' paint with non-toxic acrylic paint*, let dry for several days, then soak in water for a day or so, then attach java moss to make an underwater topiary

*toss sand onto the wet paint for a surface the moss will adhere to more easily[/quote']

I like the topiary idea that might look good in my more tidy tanks. Thanks SUSS8

cheers

ineke:encouragement:

[SUSS8]

No worries !

My LFS sells them for like $20 for each topiary lolz & it's so so simple to do!

[jrc693]

I bought some polystyrene balls from my local arts store and just wrapped and tied moss around that. Hopefully it doesnt leech out chemicals, but so far so good nothing has been affected. i heard people also use ping pong balls

[ineke]

Hi jrc693 I had thought about the ping pong ball but not sure if the moss will stay on but worth trying. Will have to go to a cheap shop and buy a few ball shapes and give them a go

Cheers

Ineke:encouragement:

[sez0607]

Whay good ideas. Floating moss balls would look great. Especially with shrimp on the underside of them :)

[ineke]

I ended up making a floating moss basket because the moss balls wouldn't sink. I weighed the basket with a tile and tied the whole thing on the support bar of the tank . It's growing out quite nicely and the shrimp love it. It's great for wasted space in a tall tank. There is a photo thread somewhere:encouragement:

Just search my "floating moss basket"

[BlueBolts]

Just found my old pics of the making of a floating moss ball. Had 3-4 of these in a nano tank, but can't locate the full tank pics. :sorrow:

Square floating moss ball

[ineke]

Ahh that's what you were going to show us before. I like that a lot. :encouragement:

[JohnH]

My wife picked me up some golf ball size foam balls from Spotlight a few weeks back. I had forgotten about them, now I might have to have a go a creating a floating moss ball this weekend

[ineke]

John that's what I got but I couldn't get them to sink, they need some weight in them otherwise they stay at the top and the moss that's out of the water dies. I think you may need to tie them to a weight with fishing line.:encouragement:

[Squiggle]

Awesome stuff BB, very clever & simple to make, thanks for the info :victorious:

[mickeyG]

Bio balls make the best floating balls. I currently have willow n weeping moss on bio balls and they float grouse. Tie them off to bio rings (3or4) at diff heights and it looks cool

[ineke]

I couldn't get mine to float , Mick what are bio rings?

[ninja]

Bio balls make the best floating balls. I currently have willow n weeping moss on bio balls and they float grouse. Tie them off to bio rings (3or4) at diff heights and it looks cool

Mickey, did your tank look like Pandora? Pic's please?

[ninja]

I couldn't get mine to float ' date=' Mick what are bio rings?[/quote']

Ineke, I think he means the ceramic rings that came in your canister.

[ineke]

OK thanks Ninja . When my moss grows out a bit I will give it a try:encouragement: