# Marimo Moss ball Mystery



## dmattbfan5 (Sep 11, 2011)

Ok, so I've been trying to do research on marimo moss balls (like i do before I buy any plants or animals), and seriously, all the info is so mixed on these. The link below is the plant profile on planted tank.net

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/m...panese_Moss_Balls_Cladophora_aegagropila.html

I don't know if I'm the ONLY person to read through this stuff, but every person seems to have a different point of view. Some say they ARE moss, then others comment right below it saying they AREN'T moss and they are algea. Some say they are hollow, some say they float, some argue that they don't float and they are solid. WHAT THE EFF IS THE DEAL!!!

Does anybody seriously have personal experience with these things? All I want to know is. 

1. Is it a moss or algae?
2. Does it need (or prefer) C02 to thrive?
3. Does it grow in a ball or need to be trimmed that way?
4. Do they float, roll in the current, or are they better tied down?
5. Are they solid moss/algae all the way through?


Please don't guess. I'm looking for solid info from people who have had experience with these things. Thanks so much in advance for your responses!


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

dmattbfan5 said:


> Does anybody seriously have personal experience with these things? All I want to know is.
> 
> 1. Is it a moss or algae?
> 2. Does it need (or prefer) C02 to thrive?
> ...


1. Don't know.
2. Didn't notice any accelerated growth with CO2. Low tech works. Doesn't mind Excel.
3. Turn it occasionally to keep growth balanced. It's a slow grower.
4. Mine float only if squeezed out in air. Squeeze underwater until the trapped air is released and the ball sinks.
5. Haven't cut one open but believe it's solid.


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## jhunt (May 7, 2010)

They are a type of cladophora which is an algae. They are solid because I cut them up to spread them out. Mine all sink, never seen one that floated.


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## james0816 (Jun 26, 2008)

1. Is it a moss or algae?
* - It is an algea*

2. Does it need (or prefer) C02 to thrive?
_*- It does not require CO2 and CO2 will not harm it.*_

3. Does it grow in a ball or need to be trimmed that way?
*- It's natural shape is that of a ball. This is due to the current keeping it moving. If you just let it sit in one spot in your tank, the bottom will turn brown and die. You should keep it rotated.*

4. Do they float, roll in the current, or are they better tied down?
_*- Dealers Choice. Some people will cut them open and spread them across wood, rocks, etc. Most just keep them in the round format by rotating them occassionally. They can float under the right conditions. If you have excess CO2, they will float.*_

5. Are they solid moss/algae all the way through?
_*- They are hollow*_


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

Algage!

If light is high and you have nutrients available for it, they will float while "pearling" up and down.

Pretty nifty to watch, google it.


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## jccaclimber (Aug 29, 2011)

1. Is it a moss or algae?
2. Does it need (or prefer) C02 to thrive?
3. Does it grow in a ball or need to be trimmed that way?
4. Do they float, roll in the current, or are they better tied down?
5. Are they solid moss/algae all the way through?


Please don't guess. I'm looking for solid info from people who have had experience with these things. Thanks so much in advance for your responses![/QUOTE]

1) Properly they are algae, although I've heard of local fish stores selling "moss balls" which are actually java moss on a rock.
2) I gather you can grow (slowly) these things in a cup on a windowsill, so I don't imagine they need CO2.
3) The ball will slowly get bigger. If you let it sit forever the bottom will die off due to the lack of light.
4) Your call.
5) They probably start solid, but since no light gets to the inside it dies off (like riccia) and ends up hollow.


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## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

my other advise is be aware that it can spread to other areas you dont want......all of my driftwood is covered in it.....i rip it off and it comes back.........can post pictures if you like


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## TheJadeShrimp (Oct 13, 2011)

wrangler said:


> my other advise is be aware that it can spread to other areas you dont want......all of my driftwood is covered in it.....i rip it off and it comes back.........can post pictures if you like


I vote that you should! :icon_wink


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## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

This is 3 or 4 large pieces of mopani wood stacked

To give you and idea here is the same wood before it was infested with marimo



















And here is my moss ball with some crazy hair


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## brains613 (Aug 18, 2010)

Nice. How did you attach it to the mopani?


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## blacksheep998 (Jan 16, 2011)

dmattbfan5 said:


> 1. Is it a moss or algae?
> 2. Does it need (or prefer) C02 to thrive?
> 3. Does it grow in a ball or need to be trimmed that way?
> 4. Do they float, roll in the current, or are they better tied down?
> 5. Are they solid moss/algae all the way through?


1. Marimo are definitely an algae and not moss.
2. Doesn't need CO2, as they do great in my low-tech setup. Extremely slow growers though, I've had them for the better part of a year and they really aren't that much bigger than when I started. Maybe 1/4 again the starting size. I don't know if adding CO2 will help them grow faster or not.
3. I flip mine every couple weeks and they stay pretty round. Never had to trim them.
4. They will float if they managed to trap air bubbles inside. Under high light, they can start to float on their own from the oxygen they produce. Under low to mid light that won't happen. I find that mine tend to roll in the current sometimes, so I keep them in the parts of the tank with less water flow.
5. Can't say from personal experience because I've never cut one open, but mine feel hollow. I've also seen pictures from people who have pulled theirs open and made it into a moss carpet and it appears to have been hollow inside.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

wrangler said:


>


The algae loose in your tanks are not the same algae that comes from the marimo.... You've got an algae problem... not from the mballs.


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## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

What loose algae? It's all covering my mopani wood.... Nothing else.


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## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

brains613 said:


> Nice. How did you attach it to the mopani?


I didn't try to....it just happened.... Lol! I don't mind it most days, but my dreams of moss covered wood is over using these pieces. I would need to pull them and put new pieces in. I have even pulled these out, scrubbed them with a toothbrush and drenched them in excel..... It still came back! ;-(


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## TheJadeShrimp (Oct 13, 2011)

That doesn't look like Marimo to me. Looks like hair algae, but I could be wrong.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

wrangler said:


> What loose algae? It's all covering my mopani wood.... Nothing else.


The first two pics, hair algae. The marimo ball is also infested with hair algae. That is not "marimo" that we see in any pics. That is hair algae. 

They are not one in the same.


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## jccaclimber (Aug 29, 2011)

I've seen wood covered in the algae from marimo, it doesn't look like that. I'll join the other votes that you have some sort of other algae issue.


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## christian_cowgirlGSR (Aug 2, 2011)

> 1. Is it a moss or algae?
> 2. Does it need (or prefer) C02 to thrive?
> 3. Does it grow in a ball or need to be trimmed that way?
> 4. Do they float, roll in the current, or are they better tied down?
> 5. Are they solid moss/algae all the way through?


1. Algae
2. It does not need CO2 to thrive.
3. mine grows in a ball without any trimming from me. I do rotate them occasionally.
4. Mine float when I squeeze the water out of them and put them back in the tank. They'll sink again if I squeeze them underwater and get them water logged again. I keep mine in a low tech setup so I have never witnessed them pearling and floating from that.
5. The one I cut open was hollow.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

1. Is it a moss or algae?

Algae, it's Cladophora aegagropila 

2. Does it need (or prefer) C02 to thrive?

Doesn't need it. Seems to grow well in most situations. The ones that did best for me were in a higher current low co2 environment.

3. Does it grow in a ball or need to be trimmed that way?

It can grow in all kinds of methods. To keep in in a ball, roll it around the tank every week if you don't have good flow moving it. If not, the bottom will likely turn brown and die off (lack of light mostly).

4. Do they float, roll in the current, or are they better tied down?

Mine would float after water changes and often at the end of the day if co2 was kept high. The older they got, it only happened after water changes. I wouldn't tie them down unless you are wanting that look.

5. Are they solid moss/algae all the way through?

Hollow in the center. Also, it is good to give them a squeeze occassionally to get out the muck they accumulate. Much like a sponge. They will float for a while after this.


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## okitoki (Jul 8, 2011)

just for a laugh I made this "Marimo" ball out of clado I removed from my fissidens... 

maybe it can grow and be a DIY Marimo ball 










It was pearling the other day when I took it out of the grow box I leave outside to grow my emersed stuff


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

1. Is definitely Cladophora algae. There's an invasive form too. Both act more like a plant than an algae, and like the same things plants do; which makes the invasive form a problem. There's some debate whether the balls create the invasive form as a type of propagation; as some have had the invasive form show up after adding the balls. I've never had this problem, and think they're different species. Instead, the invasive form may have just been hiding inside the ball; which would be extremely hard to detect.

2) Prefers CO2, plenty of light and nutrients. But doesn't need any of this, it'll just grow slower.

3) Grows like any plant, towards the light. You can trim one into a desired shape, but considering they grow so slowly, generally folks don't do this.

4) Allowing it to float/roll, or turning it periodically, helps it maintain even growth; necessary to maintain a ball shape. If not turned, it'll change shape, as per #3. Whether it floats or sinks depends on the amount of air trapped within. If it's pearling heavily, or you took it out of the tank and air gets stuck in it, it may temporarily float. Some folks implant a chunk of cork inside, which makes it float all the time; these are sold as "floating Marimos".

5) They're typically solid all the way through. Cut a ball in half, and you'll find the inside is brown, and looks completely dead. But it's not, and will turn green after a week or two of light exposure. Cutting a ball up is a common method to propagate them.

I love my Marimos.


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## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

I found this link while doing some research on clado...ESP since several have said I have a hair algae problem. 

http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2009/04/cladophora-algae.html

I also have had hair algae and there is definitely a difference in the look and feel of the two. The clado on the mopani is "dry and kinda crunchy feeling" but hair algae is much longer and feels "slippery". I have had about every kind of algae imaginable but did not have "clado" until I introduced a Marimo moss ball to my tanks. I thought they were really neat and it wasn't until I posted pictured on this site was I advised it was really a form of algae! I feel that they were a newbie mistake for me. I know there are many that love them....and I do still think they are neat....but if I knew then what I know now....I would never have purchased them and added them to my tank


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## dmattbfan5 (Sep 11, 2011)

Hahah, well thank you so much for most of the solid responses. I am just amazed at how many misconceptions there still are about these. Now I'm afraid to buy them and have them attach to all my drift wood. Hahaha. Oh well. I think I'll get a few and just put them in my shrimp tank for the heck of it. By the way, has anyone bought the mini marimo balls on ebay from asia? They look awesome. Are they the same type of algae?


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## SBPyro (Dec 15, 2009)

just to throw a little wrinkle into this discussion
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Aegagropila_linnaeii
Now i haven't found the testing data proving it.

But I a have seen what wrangler is stating happen to my moss ball.
And it was looking pretty ragged, then I picked up 3 amano shrimps and all of a sudden all the ragged parts are gone.
Just my experience.


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