Riccia fluitans

[jesper]

I have been looking for this plant/moss for months! There has been a shortage all over since Tropica had problems getting it...
To my big surprise I found it today in a little pet shop!

Anyone care to share their experiences of riccia?

 

[juraj]

Hi Jesper,

that plant looks very beautiful. Keep us update !

 

[jesper]

I will get my camera on monday or tuesday so I sure will!

Yeah Riccia is very beautiful. but it needs a lot of light(and CO2 to be at its best) and doesn't attach itself to stones, driftwood etc.
It is often used as a carpet on the bottom but it's quite difficult to hold it down, all I can say is hairnet....LOL.

 

[alan]

I really wouldn't recommend using the Amano "Riccia carpet in a hairnet" trick in any tank containing amphibians - too big a chance they could get tangled up and drown.

 

[jesper]

I know Alan, I would never do that. I just know people that do, I find it quite funny with the hairnet and everything. It sure is beautiful but on the other hand they have high-tech tanks

.
I am quite satisfied having it as a floating carpet

.

 

[^imp^]

IME, riccia grows too fast if given high light, ferts, and CO2. Of course, it looks cruddy without these things.

Anyway, its a messy plant...the trimmings float, so they must be cleaned up constantly. Other than that, the plant is beautiful. You'll probably want to use coiled pieces of inert metal to hold the riccia down against the substrate.

It *will* eventually adhere to a rock/substrate AFAIK, but it is (in nature) a floating plant.

^iMp^

 

[jesper]

Hi,
Well since I don't have the problem with a carpet on the bottom - having one of those is a high maintenance thingy and one has to have CO2 etc for it to look good - however having riccia as a carpet is easier. One doesn't have to trim it, one doesn't have to have CO2 for it to look good. The drawback is that it is quite messy as IMP says, small riccia part get stuck everywhere, not in the filter though since riccia floats but in other floating plants on the tank walls and on islands. I can live with that though it is soo beautiful.

 

[marcus]

Oh, glorious day!
I finally found some riccia for myself. A pet shop specialized in fish had some Limnobium plants
and in the water beneath them some feeble strands of Riccia floated!
Now my newts have to share their tank with limnobium and something that looks that shredded lettuce, but hopefully it will pull through...

 

[marcus]

LIKE shredded lettuce

 

[john]

I'd love to get hold of some of this actually. I used to have Salvinia, one of the larger species, but I'd much rather have Riccia. Right now all I have in any of my tanks is good old Java moss, Vesicularia dubyana.

 

[jesper]

Hehe Marcus, I wouldn't worry about the growth of Riccia - Give it some decent light and you will have loads of it. I didn't get much but the Riccia-patch has already doubled in size. I know that local aquarists have auctions of plants and fish, sometimes they sell whole bags of riccia. I really don't understand why it is so hard for Tropica to come up with it, ever since they stopped delivering it it has been a major shortage of it.

Another ridiculous thing is that it's also very difficult to find ceratophyllum demersum around here, it is supposed to be one of the most common plants but nobody seems to keep it....
Not one pet shop in Uppsala have got it, not even the local aquarist association had it. Guess I will have to go to Stockholm for it, sigh...

 

[marcus]

Well, I guess I just have to hope for the best.
I´m going away on a ethology field week, and I shall just have to see if I can find the Riccia when I return

´
Actually I don´t know any stores in Stockholm that sells Ceratophyllum demersum, although I think there are a few strands in a tank at Iguana Zoo(Tegnergatan). It´s not for sale, but they might know where to find it.
When spring arrives you could always look for the plant in the "wild".
Are you familiar with Laduviken, the small lake west of Frescati at the university? That should be place nearest to the city where it can be found, although I belive the lake to be pretty heavily polluted so you might want to clean the plants with care if you try it..

You don´t happen to know where one can get hold of any Utricularia by the way?

 

[jesper]

Wow, I wasn't planning on a field trip to get ceratophyllum demersum.....
I think some aquarists here in Uppsala is growing it, hopefully I can get in touch with them soon otherwise I will order it.

Never heard of Utricularia...
Looked it up...
What are you going to use a carnivorous plant for LOL?

 

[marcus]

To grow ugly, toxic/dangerous and difficult plants you need neither reason or excuse

I just want one, an aquatic one that is.
I already got a terrestial species but I have never seen the tropical aquatic ones for sale ( come to think of it, I have never seen them anywhere!).
Considering that Utricularia normally dines on Dafnia and such, a fat Cynops wouldn´t have to worry about loosing newts..

Oh well, I shall have to continue my quest...

 

[jesper]

Gaah, I have riccia all over the place! The most annoying thing is when mixing it with vesicularia dubayana..... They form complexes that sink to the bottom and suck in all the waste.

I would say do not mix the two.... I have EITHER riccia OR vesicularia in my tanks nowadays.

Riccia without vesicularia is working really well!
I am currently boosting the lighting to the tank so I will get a really thick carpet that can hold a adult ensicauda, lol. The ensicauda love being on top of the carpet but they currently have to work very hard to get there....