Sabercat
Aquarium Advice Regular
How easy are these to care for? How much light do they require? How many do you recommend getting for a lightly planted 12 gallon tank?
They are pretty easy to care for. They can get by in ambient room light, and you can put several in there as long as they are all getting light and aren't shading one another.
Very nice. I have 3 in my tank and I really like them. How often do you rinse your off and roll them?
That was actually going to be one of my next questions. It has a little brown on one side and it has not risen to the top yet. Is this unusual for a Marimo? And how do I care for it?
I don't believe they're supposed to go to the top of the tank, but sit on the bottom. If they float, I think that that are "fake" and Styrofoam covered in moss, but not the real deal. The brown spot is probably where it sat for an extended period of time on the bottom and wasn't rolled around. I don't think you need to much of anything other than take them out and rinse them off once and awhile, and roll them around to avoid the brown spots from developing.
There are things you can do to try and get them to spread, I've seen pieces of driftwood covered in marimo sell for a fine price, but it won't spread on it's own, atleast I've never seen it happen.I have seen a very few comments that they will 'spread' in the tank, i.e. and can be problematic.
Is this really true?
Sabercat~ I would guess it depends on how large the specimens are and how much open space you have on the substrate as to how many to use.
Typically they only float initially, sometimes I will sort of hold them down with a piece of wood or whatever until they a ready to stay at the bottom on their own. I've only seen them float when initially added to the tank.I don't believe they're supposed to go to the top of the tank, but sit on the bottom. If they float, I think that that are "fake" and Styrofoam covered in moss, but not the real deal. The brown spot is probably where it sat for an extended period of time on the bottom and wasn't rolled around. I don't think you need to much of anything other than take them out and rinse them off once and awhile, and roll them around to avoid the brown spots from developing.
There are things you can do to try and get them to spread, I've seen pieces of driftwood covered in marimo sell for a fine price, but it won't spread on it's own, atleast I've never seen it happen.
Typically they only float initially, sometimes I will sort of hold them down with a piece of wood or whatever until they a ready to stay at the bottom on their own. I've only seen them float when initially added to the tank.