# Moss Ball Questions



## MorganC2010 (Jul 7, 2011)

Hello all! I have a moss ball related question. How long does a moss ball live? I get asked that a lot so I would like to know. Next I know that Moss balls can be very beneficial to betta bowls and tanks but can someone tell me exactly how they are so good? I know they help clean the water but what else do they do? Thank you in advance for the help!


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## lissienen (Mar 27, 2012)

Moss balls can live forever like all plants. I've had mine for as long as I've had my tanks. Every time that I change my water I take my moss balls out, rinse them, give them a squeeze and drop them back in when I change the water.

They help keep the water clean by feeding on the same nutrients that algae do, and therefore they keep the algae out of the tank because algae can't thrive if the nutrients aren't there. That and they're a plant and you know, provide all the same benefits that any other plants do, without needing to put down a root system. That and I just love the way that they look


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## MorganC2010 (Jul 7, 2011)

Me too! We have them in all of our tanks at work so I finally got one for one of my bettas. Thank you so much for the information!


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## MorganC2010 (Jul 7, 2011)

btw, Jasper is a great name for a betta lol! Great minds think alike


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## percyfyshshelley (Feb 26, 2013)

I love moss balls! A quick story. The other day, I was going to dump a bag of old gravel into my garden. The bag had been sitting on my porch for about two months. Well, in the gravel I found two moss balls! They were still green! The gravel was a little damp, so they stayed moist, but no light at all! Yay moss balls! They are in quarentine now, just in case, and will go back in a tank soon.


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## peachii (Jan 6, 2013)

Marimo moss balls are actually a type of algae - Cladophora. Taking them out every few weeks and rolling them while squeezing the water out will help make it keep it's shape and not spread around your tank.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

MorganC2010 said:


> btw, Jasper is a great name for a betta lol! Great minds think alike


I have a betta named Jasper too!!!


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

Next time I get moss balls I will buy online, they are $10 each at the store and not too healthy looking! :-?

The moss balls I have now all look great but they haven't grown any bigger..


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

Yes the moss balls at the store are VERY expensive...$9.99 each at Petco  Mine was nice and green and plump when I got it though. They last pretty much forever, they help keep the water clean by using up ammonia, help prevent unwanted algae growth and also they just look nice. You can keep them in a ball shape but some people like to make carpets out of them.


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## MorganC2010 (Jul 7, 2011)

Thanks a bunch for all of the info guys! I have a question though, what if your betta or any fish really, gets sick and maybe even dies, say of velvet or something, would it be ok to use the moss ball in another tank with other fish or is it possibly contaminated and carrying what ever made the original fish sick in the first place?


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