How to Treat My Sick Marimo Moss Balls?

Marimo Moss Balls are used in Aquariums as they require Minimum Maintenance when compared to other types of Aquatic plants.

And also they help to suck up the Nitrates in the tank, provide the tank with oxygen and also remove other unwanted Algae from the tank.

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How to Treat My Sick Marimo Moss Balls
How to Treat My Sick Marimo Moss Balls : Image Source

Marimo Moss Balls even though said to have minimum maintenance requirement, it has certain unique requirements. When these requirements of the Marimo Moss Balls are not met they begin to face certain health problems.

Sick Signs of Marimo Moss Balls

Marimo Moss Balls will show their unhealthy conditions as mentioned below,

Slimy Marimo Moss Balls

Slimy Marimo Moss Balls or Slippery Marimo Moss Balls is a sign that there are other types of Algae growing on the Moss Balls. There are certain types of Algae formed in tanks which will feed on the Marimo Moss Balls causing the Moss Balls to look slimy.

This condition on the Marimos should be treated with care as soon as possible.

Marimo Moss Ball Shedding

Shedding of Marimo Moss Balls happen with hard water Build up.

Over time water forms calcium and other minerals in it, when the water in the Marimo Moss Balls Container forms these they will make the Marimo Moss Balls Shedding.

Marimo Moss Ball Colour Changes

Marimo Moss Balls change their velvety green colour into certain other colours when they are not in good health conditions.

Turning Brown Marimo Moss Ball

Marimo Moss Balls in your tank or container turning brown is a sign that the water in the tank is not clean enough for the Marimo Moss and the water should be cleaned immediately.

Turning Uniformly Brown Moss Ball

A Uniform change of Brown Colour on the Marimo Moss Balls is also a health problem shown on the Marimos. These health problems are not that hard to be cured.

A uniform change of Brown in the Moss Balls means that the Moss Balls are dirty and needs cleaning.

One Side Brown Moss Balls

At certain times the Marimo Moss Balls will not change the Moss colour totally in brown, but certain parts of the Moss will have a brown colour. Especially the bottom parts of the Moss.

This is a sign that this part of the Moss Ball in not receiving the enough amount of light to it and these parts of the Moss should receive light for its growth and greenly colour.

White Spots on Marimo Moss Ball

Marimo Moss Balls show another unhealthy condition with White Spots within their Moss.

This condition on the Moss says that these Balls are under a parasite attack and necessary action should be taken to clean these balls and well as the tank or container with the Moss Balls.

Slimy Green Marimo Moss Ball

A Slimy green look on the Marimo Moss Balls is another condition that shows your Marimo Moss Balls in the tank are sick.

A slimy look on the Marimos or a layer of something grown on the surface of these Moss Balls tells you that the Marimos are under an Algae Attack.

The Algae is feeding on these Moss Balls and they should be removed.

Black Marimo Moss Ball

You can see Black Marimo Moss Balls in your tank when one of the causes for the above mentioned colour change conditions for the Marimos has not been taken care for a long time or when these conditions have not properly being met. Black Marimo Moss Balls is a sign that the Marimo Moss Balls are dying or decaying.

Grey Marimo Moss Ball

A Grey colour condition on the Marimo Moss Balls is also a sign of the Marimo Moss Balls not being clean enough to be held in the tank and needs to be cleaned.

Turning Yellow Marimo Moss Ball

Marimo Moss Balls when in their natural habitat, the lakes or rivers live in cool tempered water.

But in Aquariums they are able to adjust themselves even to the hot water. But too much of the water being hot is not good for the Marimo Moss Balls.

A change in the water conditions for the Marimo Moss Balls will result in changing their colour to yellow.

Unshaped Marimo Moss Ball

When taking care of a Marimo Moss Ball in your tank, it should be cleaned properly and when cleaning these Marimos require a rolling. Rolling of the Marimos will help them to have their circular shape.

But if these Moss Balls are not shaped properly they will not have their beautiful look and the inside and the bottom of these Moss Balls even might start to rot. Which is a sign that your Marimo Moss Balls are getting sick.

Bad Smell Moss Balls

A Bad Smell in the Marimo Moss Balls from your Moss Ball tank will be caused when the Moss Balls have been left in the same water for a long period of time without cleaning.

Cleaning the tank and the Marimo before placing them back will help to reduce their bad smell.

Dirty Marimo Moss Ball

A Dirty Marimo Moss Ball is another sign that the Marimo Moss Ball is sick.

Dirty Marimo Moss Balls occur with unclean tank water, Algae and other left over fish food getting within the Moss of these Marimos.

Float Marimo Moss Ball

Marimo Moss Balls float when put in the fish tank, this happens as these Moss Balls have an Air Bubble inside them which causes them to float and when these Moss Balls are squeezed the Air Bubble will be removed.

Thereafter the Marimo will sink to the bottom of the tank and holds its place at the bottom of the tank.

How do I Revive Sick Marimo Moss Balls?

If you are having Marimos in your fish tank a tank clean of once a week or once in two weeks is required and if you fail in doing so and has left the Marimo in the tank for more time then you have a problem of sick Marimos in the Tank. Saving the sick Marimo Moss Balls is not that difficult.

The first step of cleaning the Moss Balls in any time of colour change to Brown or Uniform Brown is to wash the Moss Balls Thoroughly.

And if this washing does not help in gaining the colour back to green then dip the Moss Balls in water so that all the particles hidden within the Moss will come out.

As the third step you can add a little bit of salt to a container and have the Moss Balls in this water for a certain time which will help them to turn back in green.

Salt water is a good element in curing sick Marimos. This process can be followed even when the Marimos are under an Algae Attack or a Parasite Attack.

If the Marimos are receiving less amount of light on them. Then you can move the tank to a place where it gets enough amount of sunlight or an Aquarium light with the necessary amount of light but not too much.

Also move the Marimos in the tank so that each side of the Marimo receives the enough amount of light from avoiding rot.

Another way of curing the Moss Balls is when the water temperature has been too hot for the Marimos. Take them out of the tank and place them in another jar or container and have it in a refrigerator overnight.

Take the container out of the refrigerator in the Morning and place it near a window or a cooler area or at room temperature where it is able to receive sunlight which will bring a good health condition to the Moss Balls.

If the Marimos are black in colour and decaying, then remove the green parts of the plant from the decaying parts and form small Moss Balls from the leftover green parts and have them in the tank because the black parts of the plant may already be dead and having them for a long time in the tank will make an effect on the other aquatic life in the tank.

How to Unshaped Marimo Moss Ball Reroll?

With time Marimo Moss Balls will tend to change their shape in them.

They should be rerolled back to their shape. What you can do is take them out of the tank clean them, give them a squeeze and roll them so that they stay round in shape.

Or else you can give them a small cut in the Moss for them to stay in shape.

This rolling will not only help the Unshaped Marimos to get in shape but will also avoid it from being rot.

Why does my Moss Ball Bad Smell?

Marimos when in the tank might at times give a Bad Smell in it.

This is a result of having your Marimos in the water for too long with the wrong amount of the temperature required on these Moss Balls. Changing of water for these Moss Balls will avoid to get rid on the bad smell on them.

How to clean My Dirty Moss Ball?

Cleaning Dirty Marimo Moss Balls is not that difficult, you can take the Moss Balls from the tank and give them a gentle wash with a slight squeezing,not too hard or it might damage the Moss Balls.

You can dip the Moss Balls in the water to remove the unwanted particles in it or if there is still unwanted Algae and Fish Food remaining in the Moss take a tweezer and remove these particles from the Marimos.

Why is my Marimo Moss Ball Falling Apart?

If your Marimo Moss Ball is falling apart, it is a sign that the Marimo is decaying from inside.

The reason for this might be the Marimo is under an Algae attack or the Marimo is too big for the clean water to reach on all the inside parts of the Marimo.

What you can do is to remove to the falling apart parts from the Marimo and collect the green parts together and reroll it so as to create a new Marimo Ball.

How long do Marimo Moss Balls Live?

Marimo Moss Balls have a very slow growth, they grow only around 05 mm in diameter in its natural waters. They are said to grow for more than 100 to 200 years in their Natural Habitat.

And in Japan which is a place where these Marimos are mostly grown even hold traditional festivals for these Marimos and pass these Marimos from generation to generation which is a good example to show that these Marimos have a very high level of life span.

When in an Aquarium or a Fish tank if they are given the required care and the required Nutrition’s to grow they can even thrive in these tanks for a longer time period even not though for 100 years .

Taking Good care of the Marimos with the above mentioned simple and easy ways can help to keep the Marimos healthy and also have a nice and healthy looking Aquarium.

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.