Has anyonw gotten a marimo ball to reproduce?

So the petsmart closest to me got marimo balls in. I think I'm going to buy one for $8. I'd like to have a bunch in my aquariums, but I don't want to spend so much money for a bunch of balls... I read online that marimo balls out compete other species or algae for nutrients which I think is awesome. I also read about how they reproduce and I would love to try it but I don't want to take apart an $8 ball of algae and it not work according to plan so I was wondering if there was anyone who has had success doing this and what your technique was.

i'd like to know too!

This is the website I got my info from.

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Yes... If its real. Me and My Dad were gonna buy one from petsmart and asked the same question the ones they carry just are moss stuck into foam so they won't grow themselves but the moss will.

a true marimo moss ball..... I've had one for a while now, and it had torn apart at one point, so I decided to just split the ball into two clumps, and then rounded them both back into a ball... and then I had two smaller marimo balls...

That's the only way I know you can propagate them, if you can even call it that. The only "problem" is that they grow SOOO SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW... literally. That it's probably better just saving up money to buy multiple marimo balls, than trying to split them into smaller ones.

Hope this helps!

I have seen true marimo moss balls at petco and petsmart, but I've noticed that petco tends to also sell "moss balls" like earthfish mentioned, which are just javamoss covering a styrofoam ball, AVOID THESE LIKE THE PLAGUE. You should be able to tell the difference between a true marimo ball vs a moss ball.

Oddly enough, Marimo "Moss" Balls are actually NOT moss, they're a form of algae... but I guess Moss sounds more appealing than Algae..as far as selling them is concerned. haha

I haven't seen the "moss balls" that are java moss covered styrofoam.

Marimo grow so slowly that even with proper care it would take forever to propagate more by splitting. From what I understand, all marimo are from the wild and not propagated.

hmmm,, somehow this sounds like an equation of something that should probably be left in the wild then

I read something about them once, seems they aren't found in too many places in the world....like Japan and Scotland or some strange combination like that

I got one a couple years ago, at the normal size you see at petsmart. After a while, since I didn't really "squeeze" it out like you're supposed to, to get fresh water in there, it kind of split on its own due to the inside beginning to rot. When it opened up, the parts that were inside were pretty yellowish, but just the very inside. I was able to trim them into roughly ball shaped things, and they are currently getting more and more ball shaped as they slowly grow.

Like others said, this is probably not worth it in the long run... you can probably get a deal on them from someone if you really want that many of them.

I have been told that marimo balls do like fast moving currents, and can grow faster if it's under some kind of fast moving water current.

Especially if you tear the ball up and place it onto some driftwood, and place that driftwood where there's lots of current. I've noticed that the marimo ball I tore up and placed in my 2.5 gallon tank is starting to grow faster than it was when it was still in a ball shape...I don't know why it seems like it's growing faster, but it is...

I tore one up and tied it to driftwood and placed it in a tank close to an outlet from a canister filter.
good lighting and water flow made it grow over the wood making it look like a green fuzzy stick. Took 2 years to do it then I sold it to a friend to put in his planted 150. I'll have to ask hiim for some pictures to share with everyone.

I would love to see a picture of a marimo covered stick. It sounds amazing.

I think marimo are all from lakes with really clean water. So, I don't know if they necessarily need water flow as much as good water condition.

I always squeeze and rinse my marimo - at least once a week. I've had them for about 3 years and although they've grown, they've never split or otherwise reproduced.

Hmmm no, I htink marimo balls also come from lakes in japan, and new zealand that are sooty as well, because there are some that get trapped in sediment, like so:
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So basically, these things probably took thousands of years to grow these colonies, and now humans are just coming in and taking them all so that we can look at them in our aquariums? I wonder how much of an impact the aquarium trade has had on things like these. I have wondered that about certain wild-caught species too, I assume it would vary, but if these species are so hard to breed that they have to be wild caught, maybe they have a hard time breeding in the wild and we are hurting their population?

Anyway, side rant, marimo are cool but not worth the trouble to try and grow imo

that's pretty much what I said earlier....some things really should just be left in the wild

To the op, there are a few guys that sell them on aquabid for a reasonable price and I'm sure if you decide to get more then a couple it would be more cost effective. And you wouldent be supporting the super stores that put the good shops out of buisness.

Going back the the original post though that Ratlova30 made...

When it comes down to it, marimo don't reproduce. They are cladaphora algae that gets tangled up and then rolls by the river current to form balls like snowballs. That is the inspiration but I don't if any are collect wild anymore.

Poke had good insight above when he described how his marimo tore and he hand rolled it into two. That is how marimo reproduces. They never reproduce in the wild except by giving off bits that then also snowball over time so if you want your big one to become two simply tear it up and ball it up in your hands round and round and then put it back in your tank. Yes, some compacted marimo won't re-roll very well so your mileage may very. I suspect some marimo isn't even cladaphora anymore.

I have seen these styro filled marimo too and they are an abomination. =)

I have been told but never seen video that the marimo from Asia are actually started with bits of cladaphora under bright lights and nutrients and then "tumbled" like rocks but by water until they grow enough for export. That makes perfect sense considering the final product.

That sounds cool, hopefully that is how they do it and aren't still taking them from lakes and such

Like VernalPond mentioned, the styrofoam versions are super cheap knock offs from Marimo Balls... I say cheap, because they are usually just java moss tied onto the styrofoam balls, and although "technically" they ARE "moss balls" since, Java moss is a type of moss, it's not the kind that many hobbyists want. =P

Assuming that they grow so slow in the wild, it's interesting to hear about if they are farmed now, and even if they are, they must still take a while to make, due to the slow growth. Alas, I still love my marimo balls. Yes I do. :3

Petsmart has alot of these cheap and at least 2in diameter for $7.

I had 2 rolls(i don't wanna call it balls) of it and used it as a mopani wood cover and i had some that went apart into little pieces. I rolled it into small circular rolls (still not calling it a ball) and let it roll around my 15 gallon column. I believe its growing. I would say VERY slow. But i am not on rush. I use to buy small portions online. And i find them as a scam. Because i got those big 2 rolls for free. And its exactly the same thing i bought online. Btw i guess the guy that gave it to me got it from a LFS.

I broke up a Marimo ball and now have the moss growing on my Mopani wood, the foam prefilter for my AC50, and loose underneath my plants. It enjoys medium light and CO2 in the ~30ppm range, and lots of ferts in the water column.

What I can never get over is how CLEAN the marimo I buy are. Whenever I get them they are perfect and nearly sterile looking but one night in my tank and they are covered in debris and hoohaw. They must have magic vacuums in Asia where marimo are born.