55 gallon Paludarium - my first!

[froggsong]

I personally will not use a bleach wash, especially not with moss (that gets what it needs through the plant, rather than a root system). I have had bad results with bleach though, so that is likely why I don't want to use it. Just be really careful, do a test on a very small piece of your moss first, so you can be sure it isn't going to kill it. That way you don't loose the whole specimen.

Was it my frog/toad tank you saw? I didn't think I had any updated pics of that one up yet... I really need to post some update pics on my tanks. They are pretty constantly evolving. I think I FINALLY have the frog/toad tank stabilized. I haven't gotten any bad smells or anything since I redid it this last time. It is growing in very nicely. Oh, you know what, I bet it was the nano vive, wasn't it?

[Ninja Noahloaf]

Yes Ma'am, it was the nano vive! Which is a very pretty piece of art i must say
An update to my tank: I decided to opt of using the moss I picked up, it was having a hard time surviving in a separate pot I had it in so I think I may order some Java moss and Riccia from brians tropicals. I still need some ground cover. I have been gone from my terrarium for a couple weeks while my cousin looked after it. When I got back there i noticed white mold groing in certain areas.. and quickly remembered that I forgot to bake to mopani wood. I put a small PC fan in the tank to circulate the air and I noticed it has helped. The ivy and small fern I ordered from blackjungle haven't seemed to be doing well and I'm not sure why. Oh, and the mold is pretty neat.. its been decomposing the leaves that I trimmed off of some of the plants. I will add some more photos once I add something a bit more interesting :P

[froggsong]

Well, thank you. I've never had one called a piece of art before, how nice! Unfortunately, it has ended up being to wet for the ground covering moss in it to actually grow, and the grass looking stuff I loved so much died. I couldn't get proper lighting on it for too long, I think. I do have a pretty healthy spring tail culture going though.

[lowcountryfire]

Originally Posted by froggsong

Generally, the compressed stuff will not grow, unless there are a few spores that take off (unlikely). Personally, I use found mosses, rather than buying any. I am always excited to come across a new type. My favorite looking one is what I call sidewalk moss (I think it might be pillow moss), but I haven't been able to keep it looking so green and beautiful in a vive (I'm probably not providing the right conditions for it, probably not high enough light). There is this type that is growing all throughout my yard that is my all-around favorite right now, because it grow well in the vives. I don't know what the names of any of the ones I have are... It would be a real pain to try to look them up, I think. Sterilizing the moss is really easy. You can put it in a bag or a bowl with a cup of hot water, then drop in a piece of dry ice. The CO2 produced by the dry ice "melting" will kill anything that is already hatched in the moss. Then you can let it sit the way you have it for a while (can someone chime in on a good time period to let it sit so that any eggs will have time to hatch but not so long the bugs will have time to lay more eggs?), then do it again. After that it should be perfectly safe to put in the vive with no problems.

I did a little research, and asked some friends of mine about this. From what I have gathered, after the initial dry ice, let it sit for a few days (3 at least) in sunlight, and redo the dry ice... That should give any bugs inside the moss time to hatch and be taken care of.....