Moss balls?

[wolffish]

Some things i have constantly seen and heard on the internet is moss balls. I heard they help add oxygen to the tank ans fish can feed on them. How are they and do they work well?

 

[joy13]

There is marimo balls and java moss ball I have seen. They are both low light but the java moss balls are actually java moss wrapped around a ball and it will need to be trimmed. The marimo balls are actually a certain algae and is very pretty.

 

[DragonFish71]

We have 2 marimo balls in our brackish tank, that's how tough they are. I split 1 of them into 4 pieces and all 4 pieces are still alive, just not very round. As for adding oxygen, that I'm unsure of, though I would guess they do. Our mollies and ghost shrimp do feed off them, they go after any "whispy" pieces and keep them trimmed.

 

[wolffish]

Thanks i want to get some for my fish tank.

 

[WhiteDevil]

I got a 4" marimo and a trimming of about 1.5" off the 4" one now.


Java Moss isnt a moss ball its java moss tied around a syrofoam ball, it floats, most marimo's only float at certain times and they also move around the tank with the current.

Marimo's are very neat things, they like all plants give off O2.

 

[joy13]

I found I didn't have to trim my marimo balls but they actually produced a little one that actually started to separate from the bigger ball.

 

[timwag2001]

java moss isnt a moss ball but it is sold as one sometimes. i've seen them sold before. you can squeez them a little to kinda wring them out and get the crap out of them. and if you move them around a bit and not let them sit in one place they should stay pretty round.

 

[drprowant]

yeah i just got one the other day and i love it and it is the real thing and it will move towards light and so on and so forth i want to get more of them but i learned that they multiply buy them self's so i might wait a lil while

 

[mudraker]

Marimo grows very, very slowly. You can tease them apart to make more of them. If you gently roll the pieces into a ball with your hands, they will stay rounder until they begin to grow that way naturally.

 

[mgamer20o0]

mudraker is right on.

 

[jespenguin]

So I came across this thread, and last night my LFS had algae balls and they were sunken, so I'm assuming this is what it is? Just wondering what exactly you do with them, could I plop it on some driftwood?

 

[belfourisbetter]

I bought two moss balls yesterday. You just drop them in the tank and they do their thing. They're very cool looking, and I can't wait to get/make more.