# Moss Balls?



## PineyMike (Mar 22, 2006)

I used to have them in my tank. They are kinda cool in the right tank. As far as controlling algae I'm not so sure. They are slow growing so I can't imagine they do much to suck up excess nutrients.


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## SammyP (Apr 26, 2006)

the guys at the LFS tried to sell me some of those saying the same thing, that they help get rid of algae. 

i think you'd be better off getting fast growing stem plants to controll excess nutrients.


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## Ransom (Mar 3, 2006)

"Moss" balls are a kind of algae so I suppose having a big clump of established algae might compete somewhat with new algae. I just like having another texture and shade of green in my palette. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimo


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## richy (Dec 1, 2005)

The moss balls are a form of algae themselves. No living creature that has ever come across it in my tank has ever touched it. They don't help control algae, since they grow so slow.


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## oceanaqua (Nov 24, 2005)

They don't do anything to help with algae, they just there for decoration. Growing at a rate of 5 cm a year, they don't absorb alot of nutrients. Its great to have them for shrimp since they are great detritus collector.


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## nephilim (Mar 25, 2006)

I bought some once , they never grew and were rather ugly , never bothered again .
Surprise they sell.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Mine just grew BBA on them, I threw them in the trash.


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## dschmeh (Feb 5, 2006)

agree with above they are slow growing , if you want help with algae put in some fast growing stem plants . even so you may get algae algae isnt always caused by ecess nutrients but a imbalance or lack of a nutrient also causes algae.


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## hOAGART (May 13, 2004)

I recall reading that they need to have some decent water movenent around them ..


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## stcyrwm (Sep 1, 2005)

I believe they are the same algae as Cladophora. Fighting this algae off once it gets loose is not easy. Most folks don't have problems with them but I wouldn't put them in my aquarium if you paid me. 

Bill


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## John P. (Apr 10, 2004)

They are the equivalent of venerial disease for the aquarium. They will eventually throw tufts of cladophora in your tank that you'll never get rid of.

Avoid these like the plague.


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

nephilim said:


> I bought some once , they never grew and were rather ugly , never bothered again .
> Surprise they sell.


I agree. I had 4 and they were not attractive at all. I slowly removed them. Scientifically, they grow so slow they do nothing to stave off algae, they are algae themselves. I am a large seller of Miramo balls...figuratively


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2005)

Wow ... the last couple of guys who post restore my faith in this forum.
They are a nice decorative algae. But in my opinion, not suitable for a planted tank. The sole reason being that new growths tends to break apart and drift and grow all over the tank. No amount of CO2 or fert regiment can remove then once this happens. They resist all forms of algae removal methods. 
If some body in this forum found a method to get rid of them without killing off the other plants. Please share your secret.


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

Urkevitz said:


> Mine just grew BBA on them, I threw them in the trash.


haha, no offense, but that's pretty funny given claims of many LFS's.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

I actually kinda like the Cladophora-covered driftwood look. It grows low and dense like a springy little carpet and is rather pleasant. Rosey barbs keep it trimmed down nicely. I've had driftwood pieces which looked like treetrunks and the cladophora patches here and there made it look like a tree trunk with lichen or moss growing on it. Very nice affect actually.

They can be used artistically, but they can also look bad. I just wanted to point out that the Cladophora CAN look good too!


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