# Plants, Toys & Fish-games



## giypsy (Sep 23, 2009)

My specimen plants for the 10g arrived today via 2day air from AquariumPlants.com in great condition. 
I'll post pics and desc. in my album later.

One of the plants I ordered are true Japanese moss balls. The description is not formatted well, but is charming as it relates the Japanese legend of Marimo balls. It is reported that bettas love these things. Think green "tribble". I ordered the smaller variety with the intention of dividing them to produce new plants. FredFish could not be bothered with the one that is floating in the 5g. He is way to interested in swimming nose-to-nose with reflection-fish, constantly. At least he is not moping anymore & did actually push the Marimo out of the way of his circuit with reflection-fish.

Forget the ping-pong balls, floating foil and whatnot. Get a marimo ball or two, keep one as is and divide the other in thirds or quarters. Drop those little guys into the tank and see what the fish make of them. Here is the best part; sometimes they float to the top, other times they are hanging on the substrate. Has to do with the time of day and the oxygen content of the balls themselves. 

Note of _Full Disclosure_: this plant is oh-so-s l o w growing *algae *colonies. It is not a species that plecostos or other algae eaters bother with. It is a nice place for smaller fish to hide under when they are on the substrate. They can survive in low-light tanks and that condition will retard their already slow growth. In high-light tanks and CO2 supplemented tanks, they will grow faster but "faster" in this instance is relative.
The link to Aquariumplants.com will take you to their page.
Scientific Name: Cladophora agagrophila this link takes you to a discussion by Thomas Barr and Karen Randall on these interesting plants.
{Editor's note; Thomas Barr has a subtle, wicked sense of humor for those of you who enjoy double-entendre}


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## giypsy (Sep 23, 2009)

Sorry this came up as a poll, was not meant to be a poll. That is what I get for playing with the toys, unsupervised.


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

I've always wanted those Marimo balls, but I'm not allowed to buy things online


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## giypsy (Sep 23, 2009)

If you have patience and are willing to wait it out, I may be able to send you a sub-divide. Will take a couple of months because I am cycling the 10g and these specimen plants are brand-new. Remind me around Christmas >G<


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## giypsy (Sep 23, 2009)

The foundation planting in the 10g is in. I will probably do another planting the second week in October. FredFish was moved back into his hotel to continue his medication. He spent a while patrolling, looking for his friend reflection-fish. This morning he decided the larger Marimo ball would be a alright place to sit after breakfast. I think he resents the "disapearance" of his favorite chair, Java fern.

The larger Marimo ball took several hours to sink last night. When I fed FredFish after class, I confess I was a naughty fish roommate, I put his food right over the floating Marimo. He had to push his snout in the small water space between the curve of the Marimo and surface to get his food. Guess he figured out the Marimo was not an alien.
Foundation Planting in the 10g photo-log.


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

That would be great! Thanks. :-D


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

I have 2 of these moss balls. I like them one is in my 44 Gallon at home and one is here at my office in my girls tank. I plen on getting more to put in my other tanks as soon as I can. They are a very pretty dark green color.


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## giypsy (Sep 23, 2009)

*Plan for those Marimos*

Calmwaters; 
Do you have any issues with them when they start growing? i.e. growing out of shape, et cetera? Do you take them out to clean them & then roll them around in your had to help their shaping as has been suggested by other Marimo keepers growers?

I ask for two reasons; I have done research on them and results suggest the two above should be done if the grower cares about division or shape.
The second reason is sort of whimsical.
I have been photo-journaling both my cycling and ArtPrize in my cool little city. I did not enter this year but the thought occurred to me that I could shape this stuff like terrestrial topiaries. I thought it might be fun to enter a topiary water-scape for the competition next year.


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## giypsy (Sep 23, 2009)

*FredFish - New Neighbor*

Yeah, I buckled as well. I went to the LPS for some substrate. Next thing I know, there is a female betta in my basket. Followed by the rest of the hardware for the 5g and a shame-full haul of other necessities. 

FredFish cannot figure out what is on the other side of the water. He can see something and it's making him nutty. Flaring, patrolling and generally vigilant. I'm going to have to separate them after dinner; don't want FredFish becoming neurotic.

She can see there is something on the other side of the water as well. However, she is totally unconcerned. She swims around, watches all the commotion, wanders away. What is really a hoot is when she is watching him and he starts for her side, when he gets there, she has casually found something else to do.
So, now we have Miss No-Name in the One Fish, Two Fish gallery.
Other photos tomorrow or Monday.


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## giypsy (Sep 23, 2009)

*Trichomanes javanicum aka, Aqua Fern*



giypsy said:


> Yeah, I buckled as well. I went to the LPS for some substrate. Next thing I know, there is a female betta in my basket. Followed by the rest of the hardware for the 5g and a shame-full haul of other necessities. Other photos tomorrow or Monday.


On Saturday, after the unsupervised spending, in another aquarium group, I read comments on a plant purchased from a reputable aquarium supply company we all use. Based upon their concerns, I did my research and had the same concerns; that Trichomanes javanicum (Aqua Fern) was _not_ a true water plant. And _not_ appropriate for an aquarium.
My experience is in the 10g photo-journal. I am writing the company, updates to follow.


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## giypsy (Sep 23, 2009)

*Fish Toys*

I found some toys marketed just for bettas a few days ago.
ZooMed: Betta Toys
I was looking for KH/GH test kits, really. I think the fish hammock is hilarious, until I see FredFish moping over the loss of both his Java moss chair and his hip, Marimo bean bag-esq chair. 
~FF~ : How come the party-of-five get _all_ the marimo bean-bag chairs, Huh?


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