armadillo

I've seen the moss balls in my fishstores and I think they look kind of cool. Only I don't see what value they add to my fish' lives. Do any of you have experience with these?

Radcliffe

I have two of them and they are pretty neat. As they are algae, they help keep the tank clean by using nutrients. They also are a favorite of people who visit, as they are such an unusual plant.

Also- my african dwarf frogs always try to get under them, with is simply hilarious. They can't easily get under the ball because it rolls. So, I have frogs rolling algae balls around the bottom of the aquarium now and then. The algae balls are always in a different place!

Here is a cute Japanese site talking about them-

http://www.marimarimarimo.com/

Cartoon Marimo Balls! Wheee!

--R

sirdarksol

La, la-la-la-la-la-la-lalalalalala.

I just pictured this little algae ball rolling everything in the tank up in it, escaping, rolling around the house until it's big enough to roll the people up, then being shot into the sky as a star.

Excuse me, I've got to go play Katamari Damacy.

Butterfly

When you do water changes you just sswish them around in used tank water to get the debris off of them. I have see them get huge but mine never did. Pretty cool.
Carol

Radcliffe

Wheee! Love Katamari!

armadillo

ha ha ha. Just checked the link. I loooove Japanese English!

Cool guys. I like the idea of waste eating.

Beeboy

I have one and it has never gotten any bigger or smaller. It doesn't seem to spread and is very neat and cool. The only problem is that if I place it anywhere near my filter, it get blown off to a new place. Also my one was infested with snail eggs. All in all it is a plant worth getting.

Beeboy

armadillo

Alright, then. Something new on my shopping list. Great stuff!

piranha joe

Ok, fun website, but it doesn't say how to order them... guess I need to go to ebay...they are just too cool not to have in my tanks!

Butterfly

Try www.aquabid.com they may be cheaper
Carol

joy613

There is a chain pet store that has "moss balls" which they really are but they are not the marimo balls. What this store is selling is java moss wrapped around a rubber ball. I have 4 marimo balls I started with 2 and felt a lump and when I clean it I would slowly separate the balls. One nice thing about the true marimo balls I have noticed is the tanks that have them has so much less algae in them. I have one betta that loves to lay on his marimo, when he sleeps I have to look real close to see he is still alive. I make sure I don't use excel in the tanks I have them I have heard conflicting stories about how safe it is with them.

piranha joe

I love my marimo balls...they just look cool in the tanks; people always comment about them...but you are right, petstores are selling "moss balls" which is just that... a ball of moss, not the naturally created marimo balls. I just ordered more so I can have at least one in every tank we have!

sirdarksol

Heh. "Ball of moss ball." Mari is Japanese for "ball," so "marimo ball" becomes redundant.

Sorry, just the linguistics nerd in me coming to the surface.

Blub

I heard they are good for shrimp, who love to feed of them.

Barbrella

My lfs had some moss balls today. I was tempted but wasn't sure of the conditions they need.

Since they're algae, I assume they'll survive in any light?

That's outright fraud!

Halibut

I just dropped 1 in my 55 yesterday along with my newest addition(BN pleco). They shouldnt really need much light I was told, I placed it against a small piece of drift wood hoping maybe it'll spread onto the wood. Also hoping it helps to clear up my cloudy water that I dont really understand the cause.

sirdarksol

I think plantgeek lists marimo as "low light" but I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

angelfish220

No they are "Undemanding plant that will do better in higher light, though will survive with lower light." So they are listed in Medium but can grow in low.