Moss Balls, Yay or Nay?

[cwhisner]

Do these moss balls require the tank light to be on for most of the day to keep them alive and doing well? I had a marimo in it's own tank once but it didn't last long. From what I read online, it seemed like this was due to inadequate light. Just curious what everyone's thoughts are regarding lighting needs.

 

[BadFishy]

My leucistic axie coveted the moss ball. He would drag it under his log section and if I took it out, he would pull it back in. He would not let the other axie play with HIS moss ball...

Being in cold water did no harm to the moss ball but lack of all light eventually took its toll and I had to remove it.

 

[CaptainK1088]

I've always put moss balls in my fish tanks / axy tanks. I Love um'. They look cool, gather scraps for the ghost shrimp to eat, add color, absorb toxins, and they're easy to clean and maintain.

 

[IWishIWasAFish]

I got one of the floating ones for the axolotls to sort of perch on, and they seemed to like it. I had no idea they'd play with balls or roll them around into their hiding areas! Now I'll have to get some that don't float because that would be a fun behavior to observe.

 

[MnGuy]

Aren't true marimo moss balls somewhat vulnerable in their natural environments because of collection for pet and souvenir sales, and because they take so long to form?

Here's an excerpt from this scientific article, https://academic.oup.com/bioscience...Global-Decline-of-and-Threats-to-Aegagropila:

"The most famous location of lake balls, Lake Akan, in Japan, is struggling not only with eutrophication and general pollution but also the collection of Aegagropila balls as souvenirs. This practice had become so popular that in 1977 the species was classified as critically endangered, and the government asked people to return collected balls to the lake (Soejima et al. 2008, TMLA 2009). Since the populations from the Shatsk lakes in Ukraine seem to be the sole source of the popular A. linnaei balls for the entire aquarium trade, these populations must be under considerable, if not extreme, harvesting pressure, especially considering the slow growth rates and longevity of the species (see van den Hoek 1963). "

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

Mine move all of theirs into their caves too..and then get grumpy when theyre in the way. otherwise they love their moss balls

 

[KumquatSquats]

mine love to pile all the moss balls up (i have about 10 of them in a 40gal) then DIVE full speed into what i assume is an axolotl version of a ball-pit.
its super cute, i dont even mind the extra time it takes to rinse them out during maintenance cleaning.

 

[Kitan]

I'm VERY pro. I've only had my two like a month and a half, but so far it seems to be doing well. My Axolotl LOVES it and I have to keep retrieving them from his cave so they don't die from lack of light. Who knows how they will do in the long run, but they do get some indirect light from the window in my room.

So what they do, other than amuse axolotols, is provide some oxygen while filtering toxins and helping to prevent algae. All around win to me.

Also, if you have a plastic structure in the middle, it isn't a marimo Moss ball, which is what you want.