I am looking for some information on Japanese moss balls. I know that they are not actually planted but would like to have some in my aquarium. Does anyone have any knowledge to share?
Thanx
Thanx
moss balls
- Thread starter jackiomy
- Start date
i have some in one of my tanks. i don't feed them fertilizer or anything. they just look cool and they need to be washed out by squeezing them in the tank water. i usually do this before i do my weekly water change. they don't like light too much so putting them in a tank with too much wpg is not a good idea. also, if you hear you can rip them apart to make them into more than one don't do it. i did this as an experement with one and now it is just a few little odd shaped chunks. the ones i left alone grow little teeny babies on them that fall off after a bit but so far they seem to get lost in the tank somewhere cause i can never find em after they fall off.. aside from that i don't know what else i can tell ya. my kuhli loaches love playing with them.
I got a malformed one; I just flattened it out and now it's a small rug in my tank. I put a few of those aquarium-safe marbles on top to keep it from floating. Occasionally it pearls, but because of the marbles it doesn't float to the top. The kuhlis use it as a blanket.
The thing takes ages to form, apparently. They can supposedly also last for a couple hundred years and get to about 3m in diameter.
They can be pretty expensive, but make friends with an LFS owner and you might be able to get a "dud" one like mine on the cheap. It doesn't make a difference if it is a perfect ball or a malformed ellipse. I personally think it looks better as a rug.
The thing takes ages to form, apparently. They can supposedly also last for a couple hundred years and get to about 3m in diameter.
They can be pretty expensive, but make friends with an LFS owner and you might be able to get a "dud" one like mine on the cheap. It doesn't make a difference if it is a perfect ball or a malformed ellipse. I personally think it looks better as a rug.
DAVIDFBT
Extinct? Since when?
I saw a 2.5 inch one for sale for 5 bucks, thought about it, but instead I got a piece of malaysian driftwood.
dont use excel with them lol...... you do cut them in half to make new ones they just grow slow. you have to form it to make it keep its shape.
Thanx all. I bought one from a chain store but it is on a piece of fishing line with a sinker on it. It just floats in the water at the end of it's line. I don't think it is the real thing. I am disappointed, but I am hoping to find a real one.
Jacki
Jacki
Chain stores make fake marimo usually out of styrofoam wrapped in java moss.
Real marimo are incredibly slow growing, and only grow about 5 mm a year. They feel heavy for their size in the water. If you break your marimo apart, you have to form it into a ball yourself. In their natural habitat, they're rolled around by waves/currents, and the little baby marimo form into balls that way. Once you get a real marimo, make sure you rotate it each time you squeeze it out, so that each side of the ball gets to see the light.
And if any body doesn't want their deformed balls, I will certainly take them! They only exist in a handfull of places in the wild!!
Real marimo are incredibly slow growing, and only grow about 5 mm a year. They feel heavy for their size in the water. If you break your marimo apart, you have to form it into a ball yourself. In their natural habitat, they're rolled around by waves/currents, and the little baby marimo form into balls that way. Once you get a real marimo, make sure you rotate it each time you squeeze it out, so that each side of the ball gets to see the light.
And if any body doesn't want their deformed balls, I will certainly take them! They only exist in a handfull of places in the wild!!