Moss balls

[FishieMomma]

I'm a newbie and interested in the moss balls PetsMart sells. I would never buy a fish from their tanks, but would it hurt the community tank I'm establishing to get moss balls from there? Do I put them in a QT for a month like fish?

 

[absolutangel04]

I got a floating java moss ball from PetCo and it was fine. Look for one in a tank without dead or sick fish. I know their water systems connect all the tanks, but I still have had better luck if the exact tank I chose something from had no unhealthy/dead fish. I do not think you have to quarantine it, but I would recommend taking some of your tank water and rinsing the ball out really well before adding it. Quarantine couldn't hurt I suppose, but I do not know that it is necessary.

 

[FishieMomma]

I got a floating java moss ball from PetCo and it was fine. Look for one in a tank without dead or sick fish. I know their water systems connect all the tanks, but I still have had better luck if the exact tank I chose something from had no unhealthy/dead fish. I do not think you have to quarantine it, but I would recommend taking some of your tank water and rinsing the ball out really well before adding it. Quarantine couldn't hurt I suppose, but I do not know that it is necessary.

Thanks for the info! I don't really want to mess with real plant yer but the moss balls are so cool looking and someone told me they would do well during the fishless cycle i've just started.

Anyone else chiming in?

 

[lilly_mae21]

Petsmart also sells them in cups(kinda like the bettas but green. Same price) so you don't have to worry about their water getting into your tank.

 

[jetajockey]

Why wouldn't you buy a fish from petsmart? Do they keep their tanks in bad condition there? Mine keep theirs fairly nice, but I did get some tetras with ich once, was easy enough to fix, but still.

I don't typically quarantine plants, just rinse well and toss em in.

 

[FishieMomma]

Why wouldn't you buy a fish from petsmart?
in.

The tanks look overcrowded and I usually see dead fish if I look. I think I read if the tanks are all connected then a dead fish in one could indicate problems all over the system. But I don't know much, I'll admit. I've just been reading a lot.

 

[jetajockey]

The tanks being overcrowded is pretty normal at pet stores. They don't follow a normal stocking plan like we do in our home tanks, they are only keeping the fish there temporarily, so they are often packed in tightly. One other benefit to that is when the fish are crammed together they seem to have less aggression issues.

The dead fish thing, yeah, it frustrates me when I see tanks with dead fish in them, and I usually point it out to someone. As long as the fish aren't all diseased or look in really bad shape though, a dead fish here and there isn't a huge surprise (lack of quarantine procedures and just sheer volume of fish make it inevitable), the workers should really clean them out though.

It's definitely a sign of lacking overall care, though, since a good LFS would make sure that any sickly/dead fish are removed.

 

[absolutangel04]

The tanks look overcrowded and I usually see dead fish if I look. I think I read if the tanks are all connected then a dead fish in one could indicate problems all over the system. But I don't know much, I'll admit. I've just been reading a lot.

Yeah, some of those chains are not so good. It depends on the individula store, but if you see lots of dead/unhealthy fish, it is a good idea to avoid them. I do not know about PetSmart, but I do know that PetCos tanks are all connected so disease can spred through the whole systems sometimes.