Moss Wall

[Westcoaster]

I'm toying with the idea of creating a moss wall to cover the back of new tank I'm setting up.
I've not done one before and looking at the kits and videos it seems simple enough, my question/s is what do you do with the heater and pipes for the external filter.
Looking for ideas please.

 

[hensonc4098]

If you're using a mesh, cut slots into the mesh where the pipes need to go - the moss will cover up any cuts once it has grown out. The main thing with moss walls is to put the moss on thinly and be patient - the main mistake is to put loads of moss on to try and make it grow in faster, but then it just dies because the moss that is buried can't get any nutrients.

 

[Westcoaster]

Thanks for the reply, I have seen some pictures where the heater is placed on the end wall rather than the back, I have a power head that I'm going to use purely for moving water around so I think I shall position this near the heater and see how I get on while the tank is cycling up, I have two concerns regarding the moss wall,
1: the weight of it when well grown pulling it off the suckers as the tank is 29" deep,
2: the input (into the filter) being clogged up by moss, or is it a case of regular gardening to keep it clear.

 

[hensonc4098]

Regarding the suckers, you can always add more suckers to it, and if you have the bottom of the mesh sitting on your substrate, the suckers will only be stopping it from tipping forward than holding up the weight. Remember that everything is a lot lighter under water too! I had a moss carpet on plastic mesh and even when it was totally grown in (moss about 2-3" thick) I still had to weigh down the mesh with slate underneath.
Not sure about the filter intake - I never had that problem but my intake wasn't really close to the wall. Probably just keep an eye on it and unclog as and when necessary.
Take a look at THIS journal by one of the mods on here - LLJ. She did a moss wall in this scape and it looked great. It was a few years ago she did it (she's moved to the salty side now...) but would still be useful as a wee read