Moss balls?

[Mysticalkitten]

My dad wanted this moss ball things for his birthday so I went to petco and three came in a cup. They call them beta buddy's. I set up his fish bowl with one it looks nice on the gravel and he want to get two little ghost shrimp for the bowl that has a lid on it. The other two I put in my ten gallon tropical planted tank. I set up on them and they said there not a plant , what are they will my drarf frogs and fish be ok with the two in the tank? And are they had to care for? My dad seems to like them I see them a lot in fish tanks at the store.

[nooboftanks]

Originally Posted by Mysticalkitten

My dad wanted this moss ball things for his birthday so I went to petco and three came in a cup. They call them beta buddy's. I set up his fish bowl with one it looks nice on the gravel and he want to get two little ghost shrimp for the bowl that has a lid on it. The other two I put in my ten gallon tropical planted tank. I set up on them and they said there not a plant , what are they will my drarf frogs and fish be ok with the two in the tank? And are they had to care for? My dad seems to like them I see them a lot in fish tanks at the store.

Moss balls are only beneficial so no need to worry about compatibility with other fish as far as keeping them healthy goes when u do a water change I would say pick up the moss ball and lightly squeeze it out to get out all the water it collected then put it back at the bottom

[Mysticalkitten]

The one I set up for my dad in a fish bowl is doing ok than. Instead of a beta would ghost shrimp live there with out an air pump he has a glass lid on it kinda like a bio dome he wants to make? They don't grow much do they reading on them ever five years or so?

[nooboftanks]

Originally Posted by Mysticalkitten

The one I set up for my dad in a fish bowl is doing ok than. Instead of a beta would ghost shrimp live there with out an air pump he has a glass lid on it kinda like a bio dome he wants to make? They don't grow much do they reading on them ever five years or so?

I'm confused on what your asking but I would recommend having oxygen into your tank but yes shrimp love moss balls as I often see them all over the moss balls in the local fish stores but what are u talking about with a dome over the top?

[Autumnsky]

On the squeezing the moss balls, I would recommend not squeezing but only gently swishing in a cup of water to id the of the particulates which might form. Also use a chop stick to rotate them a little every few days (or a week) to keep all side nice and green and good shape.

They require low light and are safe for all aquariums provided they aren't torn apart by rowdy fish.

They are indeed a plant just a moss.

They apparently were called Cladophora but it has a distinction in genus and called Aegagropila linnaei.

Wiki has a nice bit of information about it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimo

If the moss balls have a decent light source like a full spectrum daylight lamp, they will produce some O2 with photosynthesis and provide oxygen for the 2 shrimp.

I have had a lost shrimp in a cup of moss in water, in really no light, survive for weeks because it got stuck in the moss that was removed from the tank and only later realized there was a shrimp in the cup!

Petco has Cherry Shrimp which sometimes are a nice dark red. You could get a male and female and see if they breed. You would need to do pwc 1-2x per week and feed a spec of food for each every 3 days.

[Mysticalkitten]

About the cherry shrimp, if by chance my dad wants to add a Betta instead can the shrimp get along with the two dwarf frogs in my ten gal tank? I have the two frogs one female Betta and two Platy.

[Autumnsky]

Not really thinking the Shrimp would be safe enough unless there was a lot of cover.

It might be the fish don't care about the shrimp, but my Platy always are searching around for morsels of food even in a loose ball of moss in the tank so I doubt they would last very long.

If you might make a change between shrimp to a Betta, I would do the little cheapie Ghost shrimp, not specifically that I value their life less but if they are eaten or killed it will not be a $8. loss, just a $ .30 loss. They are a food source for fish afterall.

[Mysticalkitten]

Got the ghost shrimp there doing good but the moss balls are floating and won't sink ever heard of that?

[Autumnsky]

Is there pretty strong light? They will float if the light is strong because of photosynthesis causing O2. A good thing, but usually they go back down after a night or day or so.

2015 only saw it happen for me a couple times, I pretty much have low to medium light, lol