1. Does it attach to rocks or other materials? If so, then what is the time that is needed in a DSM setup?
This is almost all mini pellia (aka, riccardia) except for a little bit of fissidens. Yes, it will attach to almost anything, including glass. For a DSM, you can get some good attachment in as little as 4 or 5 days. Keep the humidity super high, the water heated, and you should be set. Consider shredding or chopping the mini pellia so that you get complete surface adhesion. If you just stick a big clump on then it's more buoyant, and it will be more apt to float and detach once you flood.
One small question: Keeping humidity high I understood, but keeping water heated during DSM is something I did not get can you please explain that a bit. Thanks in advance. One more thing - Did you use silicon glue to attach the pelia? if yes what was the time frame that it took to recover from the glue and sticking? Sorry Devda for the off-track questions.
If you are dry-starting in your scape, you won't have water. But if you are dry starting rocks covered with moss in a separate tank or glass bowl before placing in your main tank, you can fill the bottom with water, submerse a micro heater, cover with syran wrap, and sit by a window. The shredded or chopped moss will attach and get adhesion in 3 to 5 days. You can also use super glue, but I don't know why you would want/have to as this is a better option IMHO. Of course, if you have no access to another heater or extra bowl/tank then it makes more sense.
okay..tnx for the info! additional tank is a bit of an issue for me unfortunately but if say super glue is used, we still keep the normal DSM conditions right? and any time frame when we might see it recover? as ideally shouldn't the moss die due to super glue?
You are not going to get quite the coverage with superglue as you would with DSM. With superglue, you can't shred the moss up to allow for blanket coverage. You have to glue clumps to your surface which kills the exact point of contact but then leaves the clump intact. DSM kills nothing, and you get complete adhesion. If you are going DSM, you can still go sans super glue so long as you keep the rock or wood especially moist, or if you are using something like LED lights so that the heat doesn't dry up the wood. In general, the rock will provide better moisture than the wood which drys out quicker on the surface for the moss. The other alternative, and one that I employed in the scape above, is to use a repti-fogger and pump in moisture 24/7. As I was using a 150w metal halide, it was way too hot for me not to go this route and hope the mini pellia wouldn't just dry up on me.
Well what i am looking f0r is not a blanket cover actually but to be stuck in stones like small clumps only. I never tried a waterfall scape so wanted to try one, hence needed the idea..tnx a lot again this helped quite a bit..
The heater comes in depending on your location. Here at the Tropics we need a condenser more than a heater.
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