# Moss ball infestation?



## KarenSoCal (Jun 3, 2016)

Marimo moss balls are not really moss...they are a type of algae. But even so, I've never heard of them doing what you are describing. Maybe there was some kind of algae growing ON them? New Marimo balls are made by breaking one apart...is that what happened? I don't know what to advise you, but I'd love to see a pic!


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

Yeah, I have had marimo balls for a long time and never seen anything like this. I think we need a picture to confirm that what you got and what you are seeing is actually the same thing.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## Progen (Oct 31, 2016)

I have those so-called Marimo balls too and I wish they'd spread like crazy. :-D


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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

Sounds like green hair algae to me. 

Dan


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

True Marimo Moss/Cladophora balls (Aegagropila linnae algae) grow very slowly. They only exist in nature in a few lakes and get their round shape from waves gently rolling them around on the bottom. Their growth rate is only about 5mm per year. I'd say you have a case of a similarly appearing nuisance algae that is covering them. A wolf in sheep's clothing. I would manually remove the nuisance algae from them and the tank, and try to find out what is causing it to spread. Test the water and adjust what's off. Old goldfish turning white isn't too uncommon, but can be a result of low light levels. It's odd to have enough light for an algae outbreak and too little light for the fish's pigment cells to not chemically react to it. However at 8yrs old, the goldfish may just not be producing pigment any more. Is your tank getting a consistent photoperiod?


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## Drensik (Jan 15, 2017)

Sorry for taking so long, I took some pictures yesterday and couldn't get them to upload. This is probably the best close up of whatever the mess is. You can see in the bottom left corner, the tiny dark green dots are where it's attached itself to the glass.









Some other pictures of the tank (Linked so as to not make this a huge photo wall)
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/drensik/20170115_091536.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/drensik/20170115_091618.jpg

And some of the Moss balls in the tank I moved them to while I figure out what to do
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/drensik/20170115_112749.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f80/drensik/20170115_112705.jpg

You can see in the third picture that it's kind of clumping together in places. Also, the moss balls in the left side of the isolation tank seem to not be affected by it, while the right half of the tank is a mess. I googled green hair algae and it does look like what I've got. Any suggestions for clearing it up? And the moss balls that have been affected, is there any saving them?


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## Pattern8 (Dec 9, 2015)

I'm battling the same thing and now I'm almost certain it was the damn moss balls that introduced it. I too am interested to know if there is a way to treat newly arrived moss balls without killing them to be rid of this stuff


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## Progen (Oct 31, 2016)

Nah, those didn't come from the moss balls. Looks more like too much fish poo and light. I'm surprised that your goldfish didn't eat the hair algae. Mine can't get enough of hair algae and I actually have to protect and fertilize my duckweed to get them to bloom again!

Also, although the moss balls may take in some nutrients from the water column, they're by no means as voracious as most stem plants in handling nitrates and phosphates.


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## Bluepaws (Jun 15, 2020)

I too have the same problem, and I know for a fact it is the moss balls. they are growing everywhere. the reason why I know is I pulled them out after bleach dipping plants and ornaments. the moss only returns to the tanks that have the balls in them. I now keep the moss balls in a 1-gallon tank with a waterfall filer and the moss balls have propagated to the inside of that filter. the things grow like crazy under low light conditions and seam to slow under bright light. However, if you remove all light they slowly die off but it takes a week, and mostly any live plants will die off too. Hydrogen peroxide also fails to kill the moss ball moss. the only way to remove it is to rub it off or use an unused toothbrush or go all out and bleach dip your plants.


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