moss ball question

[peeko]

I was fooled into buying one of those moss balls from Petco. I thought it was the real deal until I found out from someone who works at a Petco that it is just moss (didn't say what kind) wraped around a styrofoam ball and not true aquatic.:mad2: I asked what it was for and he said, "it looks cool". I guess it does but still annoying I wasted 5 bucks on it. Live and Learn:wall:

 

[A. Nonymous]

Can someone explain to me the appeal of these things? I saw one in Petco the other day and didn't get the appeal at all. It looked odd, but beyond that wasn't attractive.

 

[katschamne]

I work for Petco and it is java moss not marimo ball. You can tell the difference because the marimo ball doesn't float the java moss ball has the styro in the middle so it does float. It is suppose to soften the water and it is a plant so it does help with water quality. Some fish will eat it as well. I agree I think that it is ugly but I have sold some to people that like it. The thing that I didn't like is that they just send us this stuff and they don't explain what it is. It was up to me to do the research so that I could educate my customers, but ultimately it is up to the us, the consumers to research what we are buying. Make sure that you are confident with the people you are buying your pet supplies from.

 

[Dwarf Puffers]

Wow, never realised there were fakes. I bought my three (genuine) for 4.99 each.

 

[wakemenow]

Yep, what katschamne said. I too used to work for Petco and we got some of these so-called moss balls in without any info to accompany them. All of us in the aquatics department were puzzled as to what they were, and come to find out they're just java moss wrapped around styrofoam balls tied to a string. They will fall apart over time and are a complete nuisance, in my opinion, as the strings get tangled on everything. I had previously ordered a marimo ball online that looks nothing like what we had at Petco, and it sinks as it's supposed to. Plus, the real marimo ball has stayed in tact and looks great.

Personally, I recommended to customers to buy bunches of java moss and make their own "moss balls" since it was more cost-effective than purchasing our ready-made ones. Java moss is, what, $3.99 a bunch? The pre-made balls sold for $5 and up I believe.

I have always wondered how they attached the moss to the styrofoam though. It didn't appear to be tied on with string, but then again, I never cared to look that closely.

 

[sed03f]

fishing line is what they use to tie it on the ball. I thought it was a cool idea to have several at different heights in the tank, in a pretty design. But after a week it just started falling apart. I was glad to see it go in the end.