Best Moss for Bonsai Tree Look

[Totenkampf]

I am not too knowledgable of the various mosses, what is your favorite for a bonsai tree look? I definately dont want regular java and am looking at phoenix (fissidens fontanus), peacock (taxiphillum sp.), or willow (fontinalis antipyretica) at the moment. I am liking the darker green of the latter since that is closer to what an evergreen should be, comments? This is going in an excel dosed betta tank, so acidic pH and lower hardness..say around 6.5 and 4 kH? lighting will be via 22 watts of T2VHO over a 12 gallon eclipse so about medium.

[ssrprelude]

Flame moss for growing up look or weeping moss for a more evergreen look.

[Lydia]

Flame, star and christmas are my favs for bonsai tree.

[Totenkampf]

is star moss a true aquatic?

[fishman1]

Weeping or willow or peacock

[mythin]

I agree with weeping or peacock, both have a nice feathery texture.

[davemonkey]

Mini-pellia will have a rough appearance to simulate a hardwood tree and it's tiny enough to pull it of well. Regular pelia of subwassertang also look good but they can be too large for smaller tanks (10 gallons or less). Several lumps of Fissidens will also do well since they tend to keep a rounded shape and attach readily to wood.

[Totenkampf]

thanks for all the cool suggestions, i ended up getting two baseball sized lumps of willow moss from Bob's Tropicals since I was placing an order with him already. Its probably not the best thing to limit your choices to where you are already ordering from lol. i almost bought fissidens and might end up regretting it but the willow looks pretty good IMO. Its not a balla scape or anything but its my first time trying rocks other than the old 'wall of maroon lava rock' and so i am not terribly disappointed in it. I think once the DHG grows in and everything adjusts itself to this tank that it may be okay. i need to figure out how to mod the stock eclips filter system so that i can move the intake sponge over to the corner. its funny how things dont match up with the picture in my head, i needed a bigger tank to do what i wanted which would have involved more seiryu stones and all the anubias nana petite that i bought and didnt use!
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[sunkenmetal]

interesting

[fishman1]

a tip for growing dhg faster is spread it out more like take the clumps and make them into several smaller clumps then evenly spread and if you want even better growth, before you plant trim the dhg in half and split and plant. This will send more runners and spread faster and more evenly

[Totenkampf]

do you mean i should top the clump to force root growth? i ran out of time to reduce the clumps any more then they are lol. im not really patient with the old tweezers...but i may go back and do that anyway

[fishman1]

yeah just trim like half off but I'm not sure if it really works I've just seen many people do it so give it a try I guess

[fishman1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KL8PZeX9os

[LooksLater]

Hey, that looks pretty good! I've been debating doing something similar, I really need to stop looking at aquascaping contest pictures...lol.

I've got some willow moss in my ebi, I have been pretty happy with how it spreads and I can see how it would be easy to trim for a bonsai effect. Keep us updated with pictures, I'm really interested to see how it looks when it grows out!

[Totenkampf]

some of the plants came with free n.heteropoda and the betta didnt eat them. one even had red cherry genes. i think i will selectively breed that one so that i can sell them for quarters! all ur quarters now r belong to me!