Riccia - is there no way to avoid the mess?

[MiamiCuse]

I am experimenting with wrapping a few rocks with riccia in hope to give them a thick riccia coat. I spread the riccia around the rock and then use the sponge mesh to tie them down.

Every day I get home I see bits and pieces of them floating on top, water evaporates from the tank and the riccia bits are left on the glass all dried up.

There is no way to avoid this or this plant is messy like this?

[Dave66]

Riccia does that for a few days after you attach it, as it's VERY easily broken, so what you're seeing are the effects of your attachment.
Have to ask, why don't you keep your aquarium topped off? Evaporated water is just water, no minerals, no nothing, so if you top off from your tap you're just adding more and more minerals to your tank over time which WILL cause troubles with hardness and pH swings down the road.
You should use distilled or reverse osmosis water to top off, as remember, only pure water evaporates; everything else is left behind.

Dave