Hi all, As some of you know, when I redo my shrimp tank, I plan on having a Marimo garden (small and large marimo balls). One of the places I looked to buy them was aquaticmagic. But I've noticed some members wondering whether or not the marimo balls from aquatic magic are actually true marimo, or just some moss balled up. I'm looking to hear from anyone who has experienced purchasing marimo balls from aquaticmagic.
I cancelled my order with them, the communication I received thru email made me unconfortable. My direct questions were ignored and they kept trying to upsale larger quantity of plants. Tried 3 different emails to find out shipping cost and total on combined action (wanted 3plants) and they still haven't answered my questions If u go for it, let us know how it goes. Their plants look great, I got scared off by bad communication
Cancel your order please.... or don't order the marimos from them... they aren't real marimos but a different kind of moss rolled into a ball... your better to just buy one from you lfs... I bought 5 from them and i am mad about being lied too...
Also bought five of them and this is what they look like. They don't at all look like marimo's but more like "felt" I haven't taken them out yet to pull them apart to see though but I will next time I clean the betta tank. On the other hand, I bought 2 from petsmart and they are growing like weeds! One of them I already pulled apart and propogated in to 4 balls!
Do you have some photos of this? I'm not a fan of buying from them either but some evidence would be pertinent when claiming they are scamming people. Those look like marimo moss balls. I'm guessing they came in a somewhat flat package? It looks like they were smashed flat. You could try fluffing them back up a bit. I'm sure that a few weeks in the dark probably left them out of sorts as well.
Mine are all perfectly round but they are in a super high light tank and now they are growing really stringy... let me get a picture of mine... Not sure how good the pics are but you should be able to see the small hairs growing out of the balls...the shrimp love them regardless but I think they still lied about them...
I've had these since July - when I first got them they looked round and slowly flattened out to what they are now
I just got mine 2 weeks ago and they were round in the package... but now are groing stringy... I may make a moss wall from it...
Monkeypie, yours are definitely not true marimo. That looks more like moss rolled up into a ball, not the algae that makes up marimo. I can't tell about yours jwebbe, but I've made up my mind not to purchase from them. Thanks all.
The ones I got from Petsmart are more like Marimo's - they look NOTHING like the "felt" pads I bought from Aquaticmagic. Not to say they don't sell the real stuff, I don't really know what to say.......
Thanks for the confermation I think i will just leave themtill they grow a bt more then make a moss wall of them... any idea what the type of moss is?
It's possible they never bounced back from shipping, but I don't know for sure, just trying to get some different angles before we go on a witch hunt, lol. @monkeypie, that looks like cladophora algae for sure. It could be a different species, perhaps c.glomerata instead of c.aegagropila. Here's a link with a lot of photos of moss balls and it looks like some of them have taken to the stringy growth, I don't know of the cause, but I do know that my moss balls from petsmart did this after a few years and crept along the substrate and eventually covered much of the tank before I ripped it all out. Here's a snippet from a link that I read on marimo balls that may give some resolve, although I don't know what could be done about it if they are hocking an alternate species. This unfortunately happens a lot in the pet trade, for example Julii/false julii cories, or all of those not so truly aquatic plants that get sold in the big box stores.
No witch hunt here just stating the facts with pictures to back it up. I won't be buying any more from there, that's for sure! I'll stick to Petsmart
I was put off by the aquaticmagic website as well, as well as their lack of proper communication or price concerning shipping. If they were an ebay seller I would just move on to someone more reliable, I don't see why it should be different just because they have a website. I ended up getting some from a member here on fishlore. I haven't received them yet but they are trustworthy, and if they ever did turn out to be fake then I would at least know that real effort was put into getting real ones. Then, of course, there is your LFS. Can't go wrong with them! You see it, you buy it.
I was also suspicious when the package came and it cleared through customs as, "Home decor" and nothing on the package labeled it being live or that there was a bit of water/liquid involved.... I dunno - just strange to me. Just my opinion!
I think the moral of the story is, pay the 7.99 for the moss ball at petco/smart and call it a day lol.
I'm the anonymous member Orion is getting marimos from. Well... technically through me since my source is actually sending them directly . Anyway, from what I have seen and heard about aquatic magic they sell fake marimo. I'm afraid Juune's marimo also looks fake to me. Shouldn't be so stringy on the edges. Here is a picture of one of my smaller marimo which I got from my source. He grows them on fake ponds/streams which he made to replicate Japan's natural streams and pools which marimo are endemic to.
