Todley,

One of the local pet stores sells a "filter bag" that is just an empty mesh back... it might be a little too tight of a weave, I'm not sure what you're looking for, but I used it on my filter intake when my frogs were small to keep them from getting stuck. I was able to cut it and didn't have an problems with threads. I don't have it anymore, but I'm thinking about trying it for my plants which need something. Do you know what I'm talking about and/or think they would work??