Moss Ball

[jasonG75]

Hey guys I bought a moss ball when I started my planted tank and it just hasnt done anything. Am I using the moss ball correctly?

In the pic you will see my mopi wood and in a small hole I took some of the moss and placed it in the hollow hole. I wanted it to cover the wood some and then maybe make its way to the substrate. Did I buy the right moss for this purpose?

 

[x916krew]

To be honest I can't see the moss that you are referring to.. have any other pics to help identify what kind of moss you bought.. though really all should work to cover the wood except for this one:

 

[BettaFishMommy]

moss balls aren't supposed to 'do anything'. they sit there and look nice and zen, that's about all.

i'm a firm believer that having multiple moss balls in a planted tank can help to keep algae at bay and since i set up my 55 planted over a year ago and originally had 2 balls, now up to 4, i've not had any issue with algae at all. funny enough, marimo moss balls are algae!

 

[jasonG75]

LOL well that kinda looks like what I bought.

So they just SIT there HUH, WELL then maybe I ought to pull it out of the holes in the wood and trash it.

So this Xmas moss, or java moss is what I should have bought?

 

[H2Ogal]

Don't trash it! Offer it here on AC ... or just mail it directly to me for free.

Some people do grow cladophora algae on rocks/wood but they tear/cut open the ball to flatten it and attach it to the growing surface. And it takes forever to grow. For fast growth, you want a real moss. Java, Christmen, flame, star ... there are lots of them.

I think that marimo balls can help keep algae in check simply because they compete for the same nutrients. They're just prettier than other algaes, so people like them. Not sure why/if they compete better than plants.

 

[jasonG75]

Some people do grow cladophora algae on rocks/wood but they tear/cut open the ball to flatten it and attach it to the growing surface.

That is exactly what I did in the beginning..then I changed my mine and placed it in the wood

 

[H2Ogal]

I like that look! Is the rock still in your tank? If not, you could do the same thing on the wood, of course. Nobody says you have to have only one kind of moss in there, lol.

 

[jasonG75]

I like that look! Is the rock still in your tank? If not, you could do the same thing on the wood, of course. Nobody says you have to have only one kind of moss in there, lol.

Why yes it is, however I wasnt getting any action out of it so I moved it to the wood.

 

[thebrandon]

My moss ball is pretty boring. It looks cool and people always ask me what it is, but it hasn't grown much or anything since I bought it. I've seen things on aquabid where people covered pieces of wood with a cut open and flattened moss ball and it looks pretty interesting.

 

[bunnyhunter42]

moss balls are best left to just look pretty and watch shrimp chill on top of. mine rolls around a lil in the current from my filter and my khulis play around it doing laps haha