Marimo balls?

[Kermie16]

Thoughts about marimo balls in FW pools?? Not safe or ok?


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[Visual]

Gah I love Marimo balls!! Sorry that I have no clue if they'd be ok with crabs but I have an obcession with them. Have you seen the giant ones? Like the size of a small baseball. Lol they're great. I've read that they are good with other aquarium fish though.

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[Visual]

My hubs bought me a tiny one in a tiny necklace and then a few small ones to keep but when I saw the large ones I had to have them too. here's my smaller ones. Let me know if you find out about the hermits. I may have to buy more then!

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[Kermie16]

Visual, how are yours so green? Mine are like a dark green. Do u use dechlorinated water and/or feed them anything?


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[Visual]

That's the tinys and the med sized one. My large ones are a darker green. I do use just regular tap water because I haven't seen to use different but I have been using an aquatic plant food from Aquatic Arts on Amazon. It's a liquid that you just use one to two drops per moss ball and change out every week.

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[Kermie16]

Ok! We got something similar too - some sort of drops per ball. Love them! They look so peaceful


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[Visual]

I just noticed another discussion on this topic in Crab Care. No definite awnsers but others have said that they are known to be used around other animals with no problems. I've also read other aquarium forums using them safely with gold fish etc in tanks. My only thought would be that it would have to be a small moss ball to be fully submerged in a shallow hermie pool.

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[Kermie16]

Interesting! Thanks Visual:) I thought the same, that it would need to be a small moss ball and figured with the bubblers going that it would help to keep them round. Wonder if the crabs would munch on it?


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[aussieJJDude]

Well, they are technically an algae, which will naturally grow in their pools anyway - just not the same species...
Many live plants have not been "formally tested", particularly in the FW section. However I don't see the danger of using the ball, you might want to break it apart and grow it on a rock or something to ease in maintenance - and so if the crabs decide to snack, they can pick apart the rock and not take the ball for a walkies. Just ensure that you have some type of bulb so the ball can photosynthesis, otherwise it's going to die/brown on you - which is opposite in what you want.
(Its nature's filter, so use it to your advantage! But that means you still require to change the water like you do now, so one ball won't help clean the bowl entirely IMO and won't replace important minerals.

[tymeacrab]

From my list on live aquarium plants, this one comes up as safe for fish, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, insects, and snails. It also is non-toxic to domestic rodents, cats, and dogs (but recommends that they are not purposely given them because some may carry parasites )

So my best guess would be they are safe for cabbies providing that they don't contain any parasites or worms, or as long as they are fertilized with a non-toxic fertilizer