# Marimo Ball Turning Brown Help



## gill2 (Sep 17, 2012)

Hi I have had these marimo balls for quite a while. They were always a nice rich green. Just notice when changing water this weekend that they are starting to turn a light brown all over outside. They are still green on inside.

I had to take them out three weeks ago to add salt to tank because betta was sick. I kept them in cup and they were green than. Cleaned tank and put back in after a week.

Another thing that changed was I use to have a LED light at top of tank in hood but doesnt work anymore {water got into it} so I got another one but this led light goes at bottom of tank and light shine through a tube in center. Could that be the problem?

I also added a couple of different plants last week. They are fine. Healthy green. Could there be too many plants that are adding or subtracting something from the marimos?

Ok are they turning brown because they are getting too much light ?
Or are they turning brown because they are not getting enough light?
If anyone has any idea why they are turning brown I love your opinion.
Is they anyway to reverse the process and make them green again?
Sorry so long of a post
Thank you all


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Hmm.. In my experience my marimo has always retained its rich green color regardless of light or care. Mine seemed fine with a desklamp, natural but not direct light from a window, 6500k light and now no light at all in the bathroom..Maybe lack of nutrients? Marimo doesn't usually require fertilizers but if you just stocked with more plants you might want to consider getting seachem flourish (comprehensive or excel). What other plants did you get?

I find a lot of members' marimo moss balls get brown and mucky when they're not turned over enough in the water. 

I don;t know.. Marimo grows so slow that I doubt this happened overnight, the dead part probably happened over a few days or weeks. Anything changed in your tank in that time?


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## gill2 (Sep 17, 2012)

The others plants I have are Anubias and Krypto grass. I think your right it didn't happen over night.It probably happened over days, sorry to say I didn't notice.

The weird thing is some people say that sometimes they turn brown on bottom side if not moved around. These are turning brown all over. I change water twice a week, 50% than 100%. When I do the 100% I run the marimos under water and squeeze gently and roll lightly into ball to clean them. Never had a problem.

Maybe its the direct sunlight now that its turning to spring. The tank is close to window. I know Im not suppose to have tank close to window. Its about 3 feet away from window. Might sound strange but Gill my betta likes it because he gets light during the day. At night during winter I cover with towel so he stays warm. Temp is always around 78 degrees.The tank has been in this spot for 6 months with no problems with marimos or betta.

I have not changed anything else beside what I mention above.

Maybe Ill try a fertilizer, can you suggest a good one. Thanks


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## tekkguy (Jan 28, 2013)

Are you running your marimos under chlorinated water? That's not usually a problem with plants, but with marimos if the chlorinated water gets trapped inside, you might have a buildup of unhealthiness inside it, where your decholorinator isn't likely to go. 

You might try keeping them in a separate bowl for a while with medium lighting and a double dose of dechlorinator. Run an air stone (or a powerhead if you have one) in the tank with them to keep the water moving, and squeeze them out every once in a while while submerged. You could add a bit of liquid fertilizer to the water, just not too much or you'll get algae - the marimos don't need much. I use Seachem Flourish Comprehensive, but really any brand is fine for a marimo.

Marimos are formed in an area where there is extremely high current that keeps them rolling around, so don't worry about water movement tearing them up (unless they are really, really dead). The water movement is actually good for them.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

+1 to tekkguy 

I also use Flourish Comp. If you're going to move the Marimo to a separate container it can literally be anything. I quarentined my nano balls for a few weeks in a wine glass with some water and daily turning. 
Yea, I never thought of the dirty water getting trapped inside!! Mine comepletely fell apart so nothing can get stuck in now!


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## gill2 (Sep 17, 2012)

Thank you everyone for your help. I have now taken them out of tank and have put in a vase with clean water and decholorinator. I will run out today and buy some Flourish Comp. I will let you know how they are doing in a week or so.

What ever happened to them happened in the last week because I change water once a week. Now I just have to remember whats I changed! LOL


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## gill2 (Sep 17, 2012)

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to let everyone know what I did. So before I went and bought flourish comp. I decided to keep them in small vase and change water everyday. They did smell awful each time i rinsed. I was using decholorinator. After two days I decided to trim marimos. I cut off all the light brown spots, I kept the insides because they were a rich green. And then I decided to go back to just using regular water.

Believe it or not they are doing great, no more awful smell and they are still a rich green. I am still changing water everyday and will keep it up for a month before I put back in tank. They are smaller and because I cut them I have more than before, but they didnt die. So Happy!!!


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## tekkguy (Jan 28, 2013)

Awesome!


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Yay!! Don't you just love photosynthesis?!?


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

Thanks for the update I have the same problem with two of mine. I really think it's due to low light conditions because the ones having the issues are ones that don't get much light. I bought some led lights that didn''t work out so they just get the room light. I am going to remove them when I change the water today. Where you can you get flourish comp? I don't have any live plants in the tank except these so I don't know much about that.


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## Corsica (Apr 1, 2013)

There is a video on you tube for how to wash the marimos to help maintain them, ect. You can trim the brown spots off and using a dowel or a likewise tool, move them around the tank so they aren't in one spot for too long. Sounds like you've got it under control though!


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

@jadaBlu, Fourish comprehensive is available at all aquatic supply stores. I got mine at PetSmart.


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## gill2 (Sep 17, 2012)

I believe you can also get it on Amazon.


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## gill2 (Sep 17, 2012)

UPDATE: Months later all the marimo balls are green and growing bigger. So don't ever be afraid to trim the brown spots off.


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