Raven Wilde’s Ebiwagumi Edge (2)

In Build on November 26, 2011 at 11:22

For part 1 of this journal, kindly click on this link: http://theaquaticgazette.com/2011/11/23/raven-wildes-ebiwagumi-edge-1/

Raven Wilde | About a day after I started this journal, I took a good long look at my tank and decided that I still really wanted a moss carpet. Since the stainless steel mesh I’d initially tried this with had proven toxic and I don’t like the way plastic mesh looks, I decided to pay a visit to the local craft store and see what I could find to get this job done.

After a lot of wandering around, picking up various products and confusing the wits out of a few store employees, I made it home with the following:

1 yard of nylon tulle/mesh
1 spool of all purpose brown cotton thread
2 packs of super cheap black glass beads

My idea was basically the same as any other moss carpet, only this time, the mesh would be barely visible and cut to size in organic shapes that fit in and around the hardscape. In order to secure the moss I very carefully stitched it to the mesh bit by bit with the cotton thread. Yes, this took quite a bit of time and patience.

After I had the moss secured I then used nylon fishing line to tie a few glass beads to the tulle mesh to serve as sinkers.

When placed in the tank I pushed the beads down into the substrate rendering them invisible. The mesh itself is also barely visible and I have no doubt that once the moss grows in the brown cotton thread will also disappear.

All told (using the playback history of my Netflix account as a sort of a log) I spent 18.93333 hours working on this carpet, deploying it in the tank and generally fussing over the layout. It includes not only Xmas moss but also Fissidens, the difference it makes in the tank, I think, justifies the time spent: