Marimo Ball /moss Balls?

[Mollygirls]

Does anyone have any input on these for tanks?

Also will there be any trouble having them shipped from the UK to Canada? I found some on ebay for approx 10 uk(dont have the pound sign on my puter.lol).. $17 canadian with free shipping.. that is 10 balls at 3-5cm for this price?

Any thoughts?

 

[yvez9]

that's a good price fpr 10 moss balls.
I used to keep them as they provide a food source for fry and help keep nitrates down.

they're not very nice to look at at but they serve a purpose.

 

[Whitester]

Do moss balls really keep nitrates down? I read someplace else that moss balls don't keep nitrates down.

I have a few... was just wondering if your info was correct.

 

[mattlee]

just put 3 in my tank and i think they look kinda cool and very different..... my shrimp love them and if they do reduce nitrates then bonus!!!!!! they may float to begin with but give them a squeeze and they seem to sink. i would recomend doing this in tank water in a bucket etc as mine gave of lots of stuff when squeezed... not sure if it was spores or dust etc but didnt look great for a while!!!!!

 

[Phage]

I had three big ones shipped from malaysia to the states and it took a month in the dark to get here so you should be fine. I flatted mine out so they aren't round, I think they look better this way, but it does take a while for them to sink lol.

 

[Mollygirls]

Hmm.. Well maybe I will look into buying some then.. Someone said to stick them in my husbands Oscar tank and they probably wont be eaten.. we shall see..

Thanks for the insight.

 

[three-fingers]

"Moss balls" are actually a slow growing type of algae, I think they are great, but not as amazing as some pople make them out to be.

They are good if you want a plant of some sort thats incredibly easy to look after and looks unusual, they are also pretty good for shrimp, as are most plants for something to browse and pick biofilm off.

But they wont be good for reducing nitrates, and you will barely notice a difference if at all (as they are so slow growing).

 

[mattbond]

ive heard that they float when they dont get enough light, is this true?

 

[three-fingers]

Dunno, I doubt it. They often float on delivery because of the air in them. But they are specifically adapted to live in very low light environments anyway, and I cant think what kind of mechanism an algae could posses that would allow it to float when it doesnt meet it's compensation point.

It would be easy to test I guess (put a healthy moss ball in a bucket of water of the same temperature and cover it), but I'm too lazy to wrestle mine out the tank.

 

[iSnail]

ive heard that they float when they dont get enough light, is this true?

I think it's the opposite. When it gets a lot of light it floats because of the oxygen bubbles that it produces. I used to keep a small one in a breeder trap and it floated as it's much nearer to the light and also I ended up with green algae on it too

Marimo balls found in their natural environment rise up during day time and sink back down at night.

 

[aaronnorth]

mine never floated under 2.7wpg of T5 lighting CO2 & heavy fertilisation

 

[iSnail]

mine never floated under 2.7wpg of T5 lighting CO2 & heavy fertilisation

I didn't have any of that when I had it floating . Also, before putting in my tank, I had one in a glass jar on a bright window sill and it pearled a lot and floated (they were bubbles newly formed and not from inside the moss ball)

 

[shahrezsyed]

i think it could float because of low light as many other algae genera such as spirogyra start floating to recieve more sun at daytime.
shahrez

 

[Floyds mum]

I have 2 moss balls and personally i love them, my fry, shrimp and corys love them.
I dont see why they should float but if they do i was told to squeeze them under water and they should sink back to bottom of tank.
And they do lower ammonia levels, cos my ammonia levels have been lower since i added them into my tank and ammonia is fish waste and plants seem to use it up.

 

[aaronnorth]

I have 2 moss balls and personally i love them, my fry, shrimp and corys love them.
I dont see why they should float but if they do i was told to squeeze them under water and they should sink back to bottom of tank.
And they do lower ammonia levels, cos my ammonia levels have been lower since i added them into my tank and ammonia is fish waste and plants seem to use it up.

not sure if you have any fish in there but make sure you are doing 50% daily water changes to help dilute the ammonia.
it should be undetectable at all times on a mature tank.