Do Snails Eat Marimo Moss Balls? (Prevent Snails Eating Moss Ball)

Ornamental Fish and Fish Tank industry has a very fast growth these days. Each and every person today has been attracted towards these fish tanks by the beauty made the Aquarists on them.

Not only these different types and colours of fish has made this beauty but also the Aquarium plants have made a difference to these Tanks up to a great extent .One such gorgeous looking decorative plant added to these Aquariums are the Marimo Moss Balls.

Table of Contents

Do Snails Eat Marimo Moss Balls
Do Snails Eat Marimo Moss Balls : Image Source

Marimo Moss Balls are a velvety green ball used in the decoration of Aquariums as an Aquatic plant. They require a minimum maintenance when compared to the other Aquatic plants in use and is being mostly used by the Aquarists.

Not only as a decoration, this plant also has certain advantages to the tank in use such as providing the oxygen to the tank, removing unwanted Algae in the tank etc.

But at times the Marimo Moss Balls also face many difficulties in the Aquarium with other Tank Mates in it.

Do Snails Eat Marimo Moss Balls?

When said that the Marimo Moss Ball face difficulties with its tank mates. These difficulties mostly come by the attack of herbivorous tank mates.

These tank mates try to eat the Marimo Moss Balls. Sometimes some of these tank mates might only take a small nibble of the Marimo, but there are some who eat these Balls in chunks.

Among these tank mates, one of the most popular are the Snails. Snails are a beautiful addition to a tank. Some of you might add certain types of snails in to your tank with all its different colours as a decoration to your tank.

But at certain times these Snails might not be added intentionally. They might come into your tank hidden within the other Aquatic plants brought by you.

Snails can be identified in different names according to their characteristics. Therefore according to this identification not all Snails are plant eaters.

Therefore Snails in your tank will not always harm your Marimo Moss Balls in the tank .There are a few of them which will eat your Marimo when added to the same tank.

So before you add snails in to a tank with a Marimo or other Aquatic plant or add a Marimo to your tank with Snails, it is better to identify if the Snail is a plant eater before adding it.

Which Snails eat Marimo Moss Ball?

As said not all the Snails eat Aquatic plants, there are certain types of them which will eat the Marimo. Among these Snails some of the identified are the Pond Snails, Apple Snails and the Ramshorn Snails.

Pond Snails

Pond Snails are a type of herbivorous Snails. These Snails are identified as ones which feed on Aquatic plants and decays in the tank or pond.

So if these Snails are added in to your Marimo Moss Balls tank that will make an effect on your Marimos. If these type of Snails are added in to the tank make sure to keep these Snails out of the reach from your Marimos and the other Aquatic plants in your tank.

Apple Snails

Another type of Snail which might make an effect on the Marimos and the other Aquatic life in your tank are the Apple Snails. Apple Snails are also plant eaters and they use a wide variety of plants as their food. They feed on the plant either be it alive or dead.

Ramshorn Snails

Identified as a fresh water animal, the Ramshorn Snail as well as the pond snail and the Apple Snail is also a plant eater. Other than plants these Snails feed on the fish food as well.

This Animal is most commonly not used by the Aquarists if they have live plants growing with them in their tank.

So if you are preferring of adding these Snails in to your tank with Marimos, it should be seen that these animals are well fed and use other precautionary measured to keep these animals out of the reach of your Marimo.

Do Aquarium Snails Eat Marimo Balls?

Aquarium Snails might not always eat or make harm on your Marimo Moss Balls in the tank.

According to the classification there are certain types of these animals which will eat Aquatic plants. As we spoke above among them are the Pond Snails, Apple Snails and the Ramshorn Snails.

But if you have a great wish of adding a Snail in to your tank so as to add colour and increase the beauty of your tank it will be better to add Snails identified as non-plant eaters such as the Nerite Snails, Mystery Snails or the Bladder Snails.

Which Snails do not eat Marimo Moss Balls?

Among the Snails the Non plant eaters are the Mystery Snails, Bladder Snails, Assassin Snails, Malaysian Trumpet Snails and the Nerite Snails.

Mystery Snails

Mystery Snails are Animals that feed on Algae so they do not feed on live plants. Even when these animals are hungry they will not feed on the Aquatic plants in your tank. So the Mystery Snails will be a good addition to the Marimo Moss Ball Tank.

Bladder Snails

Another great addition to the Marimo Moss Ball tank are the Bladder Snails. Bladder Snails do not have any interest on the live plants in your tank but they will feed on the dead plants in the tank when they are not fed enough.

Assassin Snails

Not all the types of Snails are herbivorous. There are also certain types of Snails among them which are identified as Carnivorous. The Assassin Snails are one such type.

The Assassin Snails feed on Meat or any other Snail within the tank. They will not harm or eat the Marimo Moss Balls or any other type of Aquatic plant in your tank.

Malaysian Trumpet Snails

Malaysian Trumpet Snail is another animal which will not feed on any live Aquatic plant. Therefore these Snails are also a harmless addition to the Marimo Moss Ball tank.

Nerite Snails

The Nerite Snails are another one of the safest additions to the Marimo Moss Ball tank. These Snails feed on Algae within the tank and will not affect the live plants.

Where did they come from Marimo Moss Ball Tank?

At certain times even if you have not added any snails into your tank intentionally you might see some of these animals in your tank.

This might happen when you have other Aquatic plants bought from stores added in to your tank. These Aquatic plants will be grown in large farms in bulks.

When grown in such largely they will be under pest snail attacks without any notice by its people. These pest snails will lay eggs within the plants which might not be seen when looked into it .

Thereafter when these plants are bought by you and used in the tank after a few days of time you might see a snail or too within your tank. And if there are any eggs and if they hatch you will find a larger amount of pest snails in your tank.

How to prevent Snails from Eating My Marimo Moss Balls?

You can use the following methods to remove the Snails out of your Marimo Moss Ball tank.

When adding other Aquatic plants in to your tank see that there are no snails in these plants. You can Quarantine or bleach dip these plants before adding these plants in to the tank.

Make a regular cleaning of the tank so that there is a water change regularly and also see that you remove all the Algae within the walls are inside the tank which will help you to reduce the Snails in the tank.

Add creatures like Loaches or the Pufferfish which eat the Snails.

Also you can manually remove these animals out of the tank which is another helpful method to get rid of the Snails in the Marimo Moss Ball tank.

What to do for Snails Eating Marimo Moss Balls?

You can try keeping the Marimo Moss Balls out of the reach of these Snails by using a coverage on the Marimo Moss Balls in the tank. So that they cannot reach your Marimo Moss Balls.

Also you can use other types of plants in your tank in which the Snails will attach and eat in to so that they do not reach the Marimo Moss Balls.

Can I use Marimo Moss Ball tank as Snail Foods?

You can use a tank with Marimo Moss Balls in it as a source of food for Snails that feed on Aquatic plants.

But when compared to the price of these Marimo Moss Balls and the life span as well as its low requirement of caring having such a decision will be a waste of your time and money that you spent on bringing the Marimo Moss Ball in to your tank.

FAQs

Do Mystery Snail Eat Marimo Moss Ball?

Mystery Snails are Animals which feed on the Algae in your Tank. Even though generally the Marimo Moss Balls are put in to your tank as an Aquatic plant this Moss Ball is a form of Algae.

So if you are thinking if this Mystery Snail will eat your Marimo Moss Balls. They might have a nibble on the left over Algae on your Marimo Moss Balls and the tank.

And even might have a small nibble on your Marimos. But they will not eat your Marimos in large chunks which is not a huge impact on your Marimo in the tank.

Do Rabbit Snails Eat Marimo Moss Ball?

A Rabbit Snails main food is Algae growing within the Tank. So when fetching on the Algae within the Marimo Moss Balls they will also take a nibble on the Marimo Moss Balls in the tank.

How to recover Marimo Moss Ball eaten by Snails?

Snails that feed on Aquatic plants when added to your Marimo Moss Balls tank will eat them. Therefore in such situations you can remove the Marimo from the tank and have it in another jar or tank until it has its recovery.

Thereafter you can add the Marimos back in to your tank taking precautions such as using barriers to keep away the snails from the Marimos and feed them frequently so that they don’t take a bite from the Marimos.

Will Snails eat Dead Marimo Moss Ball?

There are certain types of snails such as the Apple Snail which feed on dead plants. So there is a possibility that these snails will eat your Marimo Moss Balls even when they are dead.

Conclusion

Marimo Moss Balls are a beautiful decoration to you tank or aquarium. This plant requires minimum maintenance but has a very slow growth rate compared to other Aquarium plants.

It will take a certain amount of time, years by for them to grow to a larger moss ball. Due to this reason these plants are very high in price.

Therefore you can try adding one of these plants in to your tank as a beautiful decoration.

So when adding this Moss Ball in to your tank you will have to concentrate on the fact that this plant is looked out carefully and given the proper care as well as there isn’t any harm done by other tank mates to your Marimo.

This does not mean that you have to avoid adding your favorite tank mates to your one and only tank.

But see that you have taken the necessary precautionary methods to have both of these animals as well as the plants to your tank, which adds beauty and color to your tank.

Having a fish tank with a Marimo Moss ball is not only a decoration to your place of residence but it will also help you in having a good mental health by releasing your stress from hard work.

By Uswatta Liyanage

Hello. I'm Uswatta Liyanage from Galle, Sri Lanka. I am the founder of this website. Since my childhood I'm an aqua plant lover and I have professionally learned more about aqua plants. So I created this site for share my knowledge and experience with all of you. Now you can refer my site and feel free to contact me if any inquiry.