[missann]

I have a book that tells me that live sphag is a miracle worker for sick/ailing or special orchids so I bought enough live spag. to cover the bottom of a 10 gallon fish tank that I am devoting to being a terrarium for my moss so that I always have some to use in potting my orchids.

so...
I have read of people chopping up the moss in order to "seed" flats of peat moss, but I have enough moss to cover my entire fish tank. Will it survive like this, or should I spread it out so it has more room to grow?
Does each part of the plant continue to grow, or just the tops? For instance, if I take one strand of moss, roots and all, and cut it into 3 pieces, will the top, middle, and bottom all continue to grow or just the tops?

Also how long does it take for the moss to re-grow itself..like if I seed one foot of substrate with 1 inch of moss, how long will it take to grow in and cover the surface?

Finally, what is the minimum depth of substrate that I should have for growing my moss? I have a 10 gal. fish tank and about 2mm of peat moss/pearlite mix underneath it. I really don't want to put more than about an inch or two of dirt in the bottom of this thing unless it is totally nececssary because I have lined the bottom to avoid getting dirt in the cracks so I can use it as a fish tank again, should I choose to do so.

Thanks for all the help..