# disinfecting marimo with salt (good idea or no?)



## Twoheadedlamb (Feb 1, 2012)

Hello. First of all, I'm new to this forum, and I hope this is in the right section. If not, then please excuse me!

I want to disinfect both of my marimo. I've heard that a lot of people use PP, but I'm on a budget. I _think_ I heard of disinfecting it with salt. I don't have any aquarium salt, but I do have Hawaiian salt, which I believe is the equivalent to sea salt plus red coloring. Would that be safe? I've heard of people using salt to boost marimo growth, so I'm guessing it would be safe. I'm really not sure though, and I'm not sure if it would work. Would it kill microscopic eggs (nematodes and/or possibly other things)?

If there are any other ways of disinfecting my marimo, please do tell me!

Also.. _if salt would be a good idea_, how much salt per gallon?

Thank you! And I'm sorry if I seem stupid.


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

salt is not good to use with any type of live plant .. or in this case algae you don't want to kill .. since marimo ball is algae ..

the way i qt live plants and my marimo balls is with regular tap water .. the chlorine that's usually found in tap water will kill baddies .. a two week qt with daily water changes of 1 week tap water and 1 week tank water will pretty much disinfect baddies and is a good gauge of time to see if there are any snails that have hitched a ride =)

also when your doing the daily water changes don't forget to squeeze roll and rinse them .. they should smell like freshly mowed grass (at least all of mine do) .. tho i've heard of some stories from forum members where they fart and stink real bad when squeezed  .. i haven't encountered this so i can't speak on their behalf =D

good luck !!


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## Twoheadedlamb (Feb 1, 2012)

Thank you so much! Yeah, I've noticed a lot of the methods people use to clean plants are used to eliminate algae, and "ohhh nooo poor marimo ball"

I'm not really worried about snails though. I'm more worried about nematodes because I've got some hitchhikers that came with some red cherry shrimp that i bought :-?

Does anyone know if alum works well?


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