# Need advice on my marimo ball



## christian_cowgirlGSR (Jun 20, 2011)

I ordered and received a marimo moss ball about a month ago. When it arrived, it was green-ish but not as dark green as the ones in the pictures all over the internet. Since I got it, it has turned more and more of a brown-ish color. Now, it is light brown, almost white. When I got it, it was approximately 4 or 5 inches in diameter and quite clumpy. In an attempt to revive it, I tore the clumps apart into smaller moss balls. This didn't help. 

I've read that marimo balls can survive in ambient room lighting with no water current and that all they need is to be turned regularly. I turn mine every week when I do a water change. I have two 10W "mini" flourescent bulbs on my 10g tank. I dose twice weekly with Seachem Flourish. The other plants (anubias nana, brazilian pennywort, aponogeton rigidifolius, dwarf water lilies, rotala rotundifolia, narrow leaf java fern) are all doing well. 

What am I doing wrong? Is there something I can do to save them or should I just throw them out? I can post pics later, if you think they'd help identify the problem.


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## bartoli (May 8, 2006)

christian_cowgirlGSR said:


> it has turned more and more of a brown-ish color. Now, it is light brown, almost white.


It is slowly dying.



christian_cowgirlGSR said:


> I turn mine every week when I do a water change.


Adding shrimps will help keep the marimo ball free of debris.



christian_cowgirlGSR said:


> I dose twice weekly with Seachem Flourish.


People have been using Seachem Flourish Excel to kill algae. Marimo ball is actually a kind of algae known as Aegagropila linnaei. I suspect if you stop dosing Seachem Flourish, your marimo ball will slowly recover.


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## christian_cowgirlGSR (Jun 20, 2011)

Seachem Flourish and Seachem Flourish Excel are not the same thing. Seachem Flourish shouldn't hurt algae, should it?


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## christian_cowgirlGSR (Jun 20, 2011)

christian_cowgirlGSR said:


> Seachem Flourish and Seachem Flourish Excel are not the same thing. Seachem Flourish shouldn't hurt algae, should it?


So, I sent an e-mail to Seachem asking them about Flourish and whether or not it would be harmful for marimo balls. Here is their response:

_There is absolutely nothing harmful in Flourish that would cause it to kill your moss ball; in fact, the ball can actually utilize the nutrients contained within Flourish, thus causing the moss ball to out-compete any potential algae for growth. Make sure that the ball is getting plenty of exposure to light on all sides, and typically it will recover. Have a good day!
Product Support
10208_


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## bartoli (May 8, 2006)

christian_cowgirlGSR said:


> So, I sent an e-mail to Seachem asking them about Flourish and whether or not it would be harmful for marimo balls. Here is their response:
> 
> _There is absolutely nothing harmful in Flourish that would cause it to kill your moss ball; in fact, the ball can actually utilize the nutrients contained within Flourish, thus causing the moss ball to out-compete any potential algae for growth._


A moss ball is NOT moss, but actually algae. Does that mean Flourish will cause other plants in the tank to out-compete the moss ball (algae) and therefore starving the moss ball to death?


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