A BIG APPLAUSE AND WELCOME for clicking into this lovely thread.

It's a pretty much a hit out there and there's not a single topic about marimo in Malaysia thus I would like to start a Marimo thread here for all the marimo lovers out there to share and discuss about their love towards marimo. I saw this tiny little cute algae way before my recent purchase and I never regreted my impulse purchase as this algae/moss ball is really cute and just perfect as a desktop companion.


Picture credit : http://aquascaperz.com

Here's a rough brief about Marimo.
" Marimo, also known as Cladophora ball, Lake ball, or Moss Balls in English, is a species of filamentous green algae (Chlorophyta) found in a number of lakes in the northern hemisphere. A marimo is a rare growth form of the species where the algae grow into large green balls with a velvety appearance. Colonies of such balls are only known to form in Iceland, Scotland, Japan and Estonia. "

Place of Origin: Lake Akan in Japan
Natural Habitats: Native to Akan Lake in Japan; it is considered as national treasure declared as a natural monument. In its natural habitat; their ability to move around by using the undercurrents also rise to the surface in the morning and sink at night due to receive plenty of light to carry out photosynthesis is an interesting character of Moss Ball. Although these balls have been observed to grow to some degree growing in freshwater lakes and ponds in European countries and some other lakes in Japan; only in this particular lake they grow to be a noticeable size in perfect spherical shape.

How to care your marimo?
Domestic marimo grow in tap water at room temperature as long as the water is changed every one or two weeks (more frequently in summer and less often in winter). The marimo can be placed in the refrigerator in hot weather (above 25°C), but does not survive freezing. Photosynthesis occurs in normal household lighting, otherwise, indirect sunlight since the marimo is adapted for low light conditions only. If the marimo green color turns brownish it may recover without intervention, otherwise a very minimal amount of salt can be added as a suggested remedy.



So why marimo balls you ask.
" Excellent gift for your friend or loved ones to signify everlasting love....

The Japanese believe that Marimo will bring good luck. Hence, they grow it in a glass bottle with just some water & ceiling light. Water change is only required once every 2 weeks.

Marimo is a very popular plant in Japan. Currently protected by the authorities to prevent extinction. The growth rate of Marimo is about 5 mm per year. Hence a giant marimo is about 7 years old!

This plant does NOT cause algae problem. Live Plants is a natural biological filter to remove ammonia in aquarium.
Propagate by dividing into smaller pieces, which become spherical over time.
Negligible maintenance required.
No carbon dioxide injection required for healthy growth. "


References:
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimo
2) http://aquariumhomecare.com/modules/kshop/...s.php?id=100085
3) http://petcity2008.blogspot.com/2008/08/ma...-moss-ball.html

This post has been edited by Andy0625: May 18 2011, 04:03 PM

General Marimo FAQ




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Lovely Owner List ♥
1♥ Andy0625 - currently 2 giant marimo
2♥ leeyung - (seller) tons of 'em
3♥ DecemberRose - 6 giant - 3 nano marimo
4♥ kongleong_3 - 5 marimo
5♥ Mevoxede - 2 giant - 4 nano marimo
6♥ Yeelin04 - 2 giant - 1 nano marimo
7♥ zeonczk -
8♥ a_sim - 5 giant 4 nano
9♥ rickyfan8888 - 5 giant marimo
10♥ CreepyCrawly - 2 giant 3 nano
11♥ Salt&Pepper
12♥ TokiToki
13♥ yanouchi - 2 giant marimo
14♥ genie - 5 nano marimos
15♥ ba5tard - 5 marimo
16♥ r3apers - 6 giant 4 nano
17♥ rmage - marimo
18♥
19♥

This post has been edited by Andy0625: Dec 20 2011, 11:49 AM

Lemme start sharing the picture of my marimo.

Put me into the list too!



here are my aquariums with marimos and the fishes


Marimo with Crayfish


Marimos with glass shrimps




LeeYunG's Marimo Video






Giant Marimos and Nano Marimos are going to meet their owners soon! Are you one of the owners?





This post has been edited by leeyung: Sep 12 2011, 02:59 PM

Awesome! Btw, if there's anymore special instruction to take care, do post and share it out. I'll contact u soon again as my friend saw the picture and interested in getting it.

Where do we buy these? 0.o

Can Marimo be kept with Horned Nernite Snails?

DO WANT!

it's so fluffy i'm gonna die! *flop*

btw, who sell this in LYN?

hi bro, will post it ASAP, recently quite busy haha

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Added on May 19, 2011, 1:44 amSini ada

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Added on May 19, 2011, 1:45 amI think this is not recommended as your marimo will become the snails food hahahaha

This post has been edited by leeyung: May 20 2011, 12:30 AM

Sini ada

yiii!
after gaji, by end of this month. just wait for my PM. ahahah. *seriously*

this thing reminds me of the grasshead ( except that grasshead needs to grow the hair) but this plant is so fluffy & ridiculously cute!

haha, grasshead, the kid toy! already disappeared in market d....LoL marimo is much better n fluffy than the grasshead! hahahahha

Put me in....I got 6giant and 3small marimo

yo bro! I remembered you, you put betta with the marimos rite?

Please add me to the list too, just bought 5 marimo from Leeyung!! fast and realible seller!! Thumb up!!

yeah marimo is cute!!

welcome to marimo thread kongleong_3 !!! Lets grow this thread with all marimo fans

Welcome! Dont forget to share your picture here yea. I still waiting my marimo to give out oxygen bubbles.

lol woot this thing is a pet? I have one as my keychain. bought it from Hokkaido, Japan during my holidays there.

Finally!! a marimo thread.. a currently have 6Giants and 3 nano.. All thanks to Lee Yung too.. =) Cheers!!!

Of course i remember you.Fast and reliable seller....
Yea they still wif my betta and very healthy

i got only one

marimo is the best friend of crystal shrimp! nice

haha yea indeed! that pic i took long time ago... now i clear up all my red cherry and replace them by crystal red shrimp... One thing i found is marimo will grow quicker in low temp... i usually keep my tank around 24 degrees... plan to get more marimo balls in the future =)

yupe, you are correct, marimo grow quicker in low temp condition, btw ur red cherry shrimps in the photos a bit overwhelmed la bro... terkejut when I zoom in LoL, u can let me know when u wan to get more marimo

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Added on May 19, 2011, 10:26 pmThanks for your support zeon! haha that day waited 30mins, sorry if offended u

This post has been edited by leeyung: May 19 2011, 10:26 PM

used to play this grasshead years ago, kinda cute but too bad it's not a long lasting hobby

my interest to Marimo also affected by my chill, cave-like environment... living in a small room with less sunshine penetrates my room

that will be the best place for marimo! haha, marimo hardly die and the life span is superb long

successfully poison my friend to get involve with the marimo

anyone mind to share more pics of Marimo?

Posting this on behalf of decemberRose

i put my giant marimo with my 3 goldfishes.. and oooh gosh.. they're killing it.. huhu.. it torn apart...

how does the moss ball deals with our temperature?

Here's mine. Keeping it in slight harder water and temperature of 28C. Have more than 30 in different sizes.







This post has been edited by SweetPuff: May 20 2011, 10:48 AM

hahaha... it was my fault.. so sry for making u wait.. looking forward to deal with u agn next time.. so sry agn ya..

here's mine..among other thing inside my aquarium...the shrimp loved them

wah these look so fluffy.... how do u tell if they are not well/dying? what is their average lifespan?

oh hey guys
i've got 2 giant and 4 nano marimo put me in da list yah
thx to leeyung, good seller + recommended

In fact marimo is a kind of aquatic plant, therefore, when they are dying, similar symptoms can be observed (such as brownish/blackish color, turning color to brown/yellow or not green etc), the largest marimo I saw is about 95cm (need 2 adult to hold) and marimo grows 0.5mm per year according to their species growth rate, what I can conclude regarding the average lifespan is, definitely longer than human LoL

then what do u do when u no longer wanna care for marimo anymore or it grows too big to be contained comfortably in aquarium (not that it will happen often though judging by its growth rate)?
is it only people with aquarium fish or other aquatic creatures only get marimo? or can just put it as deco?

the growth rate of marimo in aquatic plant is considered very slow, therefore the case you mentioned is difficult (nearly impossible) to happen (grow too big). Marimo can either for aquatic creatures for your aquarium or either for deco just like your plant in your garden, what I am doing now is I am having several marimos in my house aquarium meanwhile in my office I use a bottle to keep the marimo infront of my monitor

how bout those people that just buy for fun then after few years dont want the marimo already? or is it a super new hobby that these sort of thing not yet happen?

haha, when you dont want the marimo d, how you treat it is up to you haha, give your frend or throw to longkang perhaps? hahahaha this hobby is not new already, I m dealing with this since 2005

hahah throw to longkang poor marimo

wao, 2005.... its my 1st time reading bout them....

You should came here more often lor... I heard bout this marimo few years back but at that time only see people selling and not much people rare this cute 'furball' I like to see those people who put effort in 're-decorate' their tank to make it so lively but I have no patient in dealing with it my self lol

Lol i thought this thread is new?

Thread is new but the marimo is not.

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Added on May 21, 2011, 3:52 pmJust get a nice bottle and some gravel then you're good to go.

This post has been edited by Andy0625: May 21 2011, 03:52 PM

andy answered already ahha


means we can rare it in a bottle with nothing else i.e. set up a tank for it?
If really can I might interested to get one as deco
but I need to know how to take care this cute creature before I decided to get one

Marimo require very little maintenance only.
Change the water every week so they can absorb some minerals from the water and no direct sunlight on them.Artificial sunlight is more than enough for them.The only thing u have to take note is the lower the temp the greener they are .Sometime the tank temp up to 30c i put 1 or 2 piece of ice to cool them down,sound crazy but i really do that

Taking care of marimo is easy. Just change the water once every 2 weeks or month and you're good to go. Basically the main thing is that we shouldn't let direct sunlight hitting on the marimo and that is.

Another picture of my marimo.

hurray! we are getting more Marimo Experts over here! Nice work

how does it feel when touching/holding them? ticklish?

I might get some from you. Just wait for my PM


btw, Can someone post a clear pictures between the Giant and Nano marimo? I'm interested to get nano cause it's small and cute but the promotion offer by leeyung sounds interesting

When we change the water, can we scoop the marimo out with our bare hand? sorry if I ask too much

Like sponge for me.Get 1 then u can feel it
I going to gift one of my giant to my love 1

hahaha.... u also interested.... i was looking through the promotions too.... would have gotten in an impulse purchase if the nano sized ones have promotion....

lol we have same thinking in mind
I like the bottle use for nano.. it really does make it seems so cute inside


Do we need to put some crystal rock as what normal tank have? or just marimo n water is enough?

This post has been edited by muchan86: May 21 2011, 05:10 PM

haha, you may refer to the pic below, special credited to DecemberRose as he provide this photo one after purchased the marimos from me



as you can see the large one is giant and the small one is nano

when we change the water, you can massage massage the marimo just like a sponge, squeeze out the dirt water like you wash a sponge, and rub rub them, this thread is created for the purpose of sharing marimo experience, therefore just ask any question if you dont understand, no need sorry one ba

This post has been edited by leeyung: May 21 2011, 05:25 PM

This pic i took bit blur...Tonight i will take it again wif camera to poison u all

I shall wait for the picture then!!

eh nicole, how bout we each get 1 giant n 1 nano? lol though I think I'm more interested in getting cute nano
maybe its time for me to go out hunt for nice bottle before really getting one haha

I am recommending you try to search the bottle in daiso, quite nice sharp for marimo n budget

or 1 giant surrounded by few nano.... or 1 nano surrounded by few giant....

but since i've never been exposed to marimo's before, i'm finding the price quite steep for a moss.... no meaning of offence to marimo lovers though, i like them too....

hahaha, nvm, no experience needed to take care of marimo, just change water once per two weeks then will do already, Marimo a bit different with other moss such as Java Moss as Marimo is a kind of more "Solid" and somehow they look more CUTE LoL

1 giant surrounded by few nano is a good idea but if 1 nano surrounded by few giant it would be a pity for the nano haha
anyway we see how then, if you also interested we get together la and ship it to ur place then I go take from u lol I very scare if need to ship something to my house

lemme consider and perhaps take a stroll in daiso see got any nice bottles i interested in before calculate how many marimo can keep.... i google some pics and saw some get those bottle that have keychain/hp straps to carry them around....

Dad took my camera jor....So i took the pic by using my phone hope you all can see it.
1st Pic : You can see the size between giant and nano
2nd Pic : Giant and nano from my another tank
3rd Pic : That how i place them

Sorry for my noob skill Hope you all dont mind

This post has been edited by DecemberRose: May 21 2011, 06:43 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

oh cute marimos. looks very healthy

eh bro, ur nano seems like grow bigger d, I remember the day I shipped out to you, no so large size one eh~

received mine....the nano, masuk bottle, regretted cos i sumbat that fella in, now cant come out jor T_T

haha, no worries, this is the common issue from my buyer, there are 3 ways to get the marimo out, 1st fill it full of water then hardly shake downward to make the fella out, 2nd, use cotton wool to absorb as much as possible the water and the marimo will shrink in size when dry up, then you can easily take it out, 3rd way is the easiest and fastest way, break the bottle, since it is free

can cucuk marimo or not??

if dead means change colour right???

i can see my big marimo its breathing...^^





p/s : no bottles yet, cos working till 10pm, no time go n buy yet..when got free time, then go buy..now inside tupperware ^^

This post has been edited by yeelin04: May 22 2011, 12:16 AM

izzit? i see it everyday cant really realize the changes of the size

it will change to brownish/blackish if the marimo dead, btw why u wan to cucuk the marimo? BBQ? nice photos! many oxygen bubbles producing by the marimo! hahahaa

Means marimo can actually perform photosynthesis using our fluorescent light tubes? Is it scientifically possible since plants cant do photosynthesis if kept indoors?

oh yeah, wanted to bbq to makan as a VEGETABLE ...joking only!

use toothpick to cucuk it out from the tiny bottle

in fact not only marimo will perform photosynthesis via fluorescent light All plants will do! Photosynthesis uses the energy from light (scientifically named as Photon) and carbon dioxide to produce the plant's fruit + waste (in the form of oxygen)

my marimo not floating geh

When cleaning, gently squeeze out the dirty water and slowly roll it a little between your palm. Then it'll float when you put it back into the water.

then how come cant keep live plants indoors 1? sry not familiar with plant stuffs....

you can put live plants indoors but it is not recommended this is because the photosynthesis rate for plant is pretty low with fluorescent as light source and therefore the plants will consume the oxygen in ur indoor area (example ur living room) rather than performing photosynthesis effectively, but for marimos, they are different with grounded plant as the demand of light source to perform photosynthesis is very low. Did I clear your doubt or increase? LoL

hmm ive been wondering ah.
would normal pipe water affect the growth?

I dont think this will affect you are using normal pipe water to siram your plant as well right? haha we dont need any anti chlorine for the water as the chlorine only kill fish but not aquatic plant

This post has been edited by leeyung: May 23 2011, 04:33 PM

did ady, but looks like same only geh..instead the nano marimo floats

i see like got dirts on marimo even my container got no stones...izzit their dirts or???

and when i squeeze the dirty water out, my marimo like not very dark green..like got a bit yellow n green

This post has been edited by yeelin04: May 23 2011, 03:58 PM

pls add me in, thx

mine is like that too.. i guess its normal? haha
just wash my marimo and about to migrate them into a proper tank

the dirt is normal one no worries

my both giant marimo very lazy to float, dunno y also....

Yes the dirts come from them is normal.Dont worry about the color,try to provide them the lowest temp u can so then they will turn back into green
What i usually do is during the hot weather i will put 1-2pieces of ice to cool the temp

mine too lol

wah cool man ice cube hahah.. ok noted that

yes, this is good for marimo, another way is you can put your whole bottle into fridge (not the freezer) for 24 hours

wow... happy that i accidentally found this link while searching something in pet wonderland:D...

I used to have one super nano (5mm) marimo few years back when they have booth in midvalley... i got the toys plus pillow too... but unfortunately after keeping the marimo for a sometimes while i change water that time it drop into the basin ....

I thought i can't get it in Msia anymore except from Japan and now i know who should i look for to own Marimo again!!!!!!!!

Really amazing to see all the photos here... i really can't believe Marimo can grow that well in Msia!!!!!!!

Thumb up to all of you and i wish to be one of you all as well:D....

LEEYUNG... here i come!!!!

hey great to hear that
well i hope to see your coming soon marimo?

Sure! Lets contact in the PM Welcome to Marimo Thread!

All added to the list. I never see my giant marimo breathing, izzit because of not enough lights or the temperature is too cold? My aircon is on 24/7 @ 24c.

sure thing... i will make sure my name is on the list... can you reserve the number "8" in the list for me hahahha or "18"... ahhahahha damn china thinking:p...

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Added on May 23, 2011, 5:52 pmopps get the wrong person to reserve number for me ... andy can you reserve it for me heee

This post has been edited by a_sim: May 23 2011, 05:52 PM

Just ensure that you move your marimo around whenever you can, to ensure that they get sufficient light on all sides.

And yes, the discolouration will happen when water temperature is a bit warm. I keep mine in an aquarium with a fan to cool the water to 28C.