The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls – Aegagropila linnaei or called marimo in Japanese ((毬藻, literally “ball seaweed”)). Besides it, this moss plant often called Mossimo, moss ball, lake ball or cladophora ball in English. It’s one of filamentous green algae species (Chlorophyta) that aquatic moss plant commonly found in some lakes in the northern hemisphere.
A marimo moss has the unique growth of the other moss plant species where the algae grow into a giant green ball with a velvety appearance. The colonies of marimo moss ball are known from Japan, Estonia, Australia, Iceland, Scotland.
This aquarium moss plant first discovered by Anton E. Sauter in 1820, they were found in Lake Zell, Austria. Friedrich T. Kützing (1843) established that marimo moss is one of moss plant from genus Aegagropila with Aegagropila linnaei is the type species based on its formation of spherical aggregations.
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But in 1849, all of Aegagropila species were transferred to subgenus Aegagropila of genus Cladophora by Friedrich T. Kützing too. After that, A. Linnaei has been renamed Cladophora aegagropila (L.) by Rabenhorst and Cl. sauteri (Nees ex Kütz.), and It also has been accommodated in the genus Cladophora in the Cladophorales. In 2002, Extensive DNA research returned their name to Aegagropila linnaei. The existence of chitin in the cell walls makes it different from species of the genus Cladophora.
[sociallocker][/sociallocker]By Japanese botanist Takiya Kawakami this plant was named “Marimo” (1898), “Mari” is a bouncy play ball and “Mo” is commonly a term for a plant that lives in water. In Ainu, it has a native name torasampe (lake goblin) or tokarip (lake roller). By Local fisherman at myvat, Iceland they called kúluskítur (“Kula=ball,” “Skitur=muck”) where the “muck” is any plants that get trapped in their fishing nets. Sometimes, they are sold in aquaria under the name “Japanese Moss Balls,” even though this plant unrelated to moss species.
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
Japanese Moss Ball can live attached to rock (epilithic) and frequently found on the shaded side of stones. Besides, Marimo Moss can grow free-floating such as a little tuft of unsticking filaments that generally shapes like a carpet on the muddy lake bottom. And the third growth shape is the lake ball where the algae grow into sizable balls.
Marimo moss is one of an extremely slow growing algae. Generally, the growth rate of this moss plant is about 5 mm (0.2 in) per year. But in nature, it can grow up to 2o-30 cm (8-12 in) per year. In an aquarium, the lake ball is positioned in the foreground or midground. Preferably for positioned it under flowing water in time to wiped excess detritus.
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
Mossimo moss can live in low to high lighting. They easy to keeping in the tank and are preferred gazing grounds for shrimps and suitable for keeping it with betta fish.
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
The Benefits Keeping Marimo Moss In Aquarium
- Reducing Nitrates
During fish life, they produced nitrate, but the nitrate level is ordinarily harmless to them. However, to maintain nitrate levels are stable on your tank you must change water regularly that will make your beloved fish stay healthy.
Having marimo moss ball in the aquarium will reduce the number of nitrates at all times. It will feed the nitrates for growing and survive.
- Aesthetics
The Cladophora Ball look great when keeping in tank. They will show the beauty of nature where planted with other plants and provide a very clean yet natural feel to their environment.
This moss ball plant suitable for any themed tank and our fish and shrimp always approved the introduction of this plant to their home
- Easy to Keeping
This plant is one of the easiest aquarium plants for the beginner or pro aquascaping hobbyist. When you add this water plant to your tank, they require no more attention.
- Phosphates and Particulates
Besides, it acts to defense against nitrate levels it also active removing phosphates and particulates from the aquarium, which these algae use it to feed and grow like another tank plants. A. Linnaei has a spongy texture which they act like a natural filter in the tank.
- Oxygen
Same as another aquatic plant, the Japanese Moss Ball produce oxygen from their photosynthesis where the oxygen is very needed by fish and shrimp for survival.
- Marimo Moss is Cheap Plant
It’s beautiful moss plant, on Amazon you can buy it with low price for a set giant Marimo Moss is under $10 with free shipping. You can check the offer HERE.
How to Carrying Marimo Moss Ball in Tank
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
Keeping this aquatic moss plant is very simple, but if you wish it stay healthy and exciting here are few tips for you :
- Lighting
That plant needs low to medium lighting. If the light too much can cause them to brown and dead. If you want to plant them, you must be positioning them into an area with lower light levels in the tank.
- Floating
Sometimes their look grows floating but is a regular sight for Japanese moss ball. Commonly, it indicates a trapped air bubble inside. It can be fixed by smoothly squeezing the ball.
- Water Changes
During the water changes to retain its round shape, placed it on another side with the amount of light and safely from water waves.
- Regular Fertilizer
The moss ball needs regularly fertilizing, where it makes the moss stay healthy and strong. The good liquid fertilizer has complete nutrients such as Seachem Flourish Excel whose can help promote your plant’s healthy growth.
“How to know if the moss ball is dead?” A dead marimo moss can identified as almost or completely brown, which indicates it is either completely unhealed. In this level, it can simply be removed as regular organic waste. There is no way to rejuvenate on this level.
How To Add Japanese Moss Ball To Your Tank
First, remove the moss from their packaging and inspected them from discoloring. And then, cleaning them before you add them to your tank. You don’t want any of this sign in into your tank.
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
Use a mixing bowl with some water from your tank. Then, add marimo moss ball to this water and rinse and squeeze them to clean any dirty in moss balls.
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
You can see, why we recommended to clean them first. Next, you can add it to your aquarium smoothly.
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
Some of them may float for a while, that’s no problem you can gently squeezing it until the air bubble gone.
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
Move them to a right place, and they look attractive with other plants in your tank.
The Easiest Aquarium Plants For Beginner Aegagropila Linnaei Known as Marimo Moss Balls
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See below how to setup marimo moss balls in nano freshwater tank:
Plant Profile:
- Domain: Eukaryota
- Kingdom: Viridiplantae
- Phylum: Chlorophyta
- Class: Ulvophyceae
- Order: Cladophorales
- Family: Cladophoraceae
- Genus: Aegagropila
- Species: Aegagropila linnaei
- Common Name: Marimo Moss, Mosimo Moss, Lake Balls, Japanese Moss Balls, cladophora ball, Moss Balls
- Synonyms: Conferva aegagropila Linnaeus, Cladophora aegagropila (Linnaeus) Trevisan, Cladophora aegagropila var. linnaei (Kützing) Rabenhorst, Cladophora sauteri (Nees von Esenbeck ex Kützing) Kützing
- Origin: Europe, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Japan, Australia, New Zealand1
- Grow Rate: very slow
- Difficulty: easy
- Lighting: low to high
- Temperature: 4 – 28 °C
- Optimum temperature: 15 – 24 °C
- Carbonate hardness: 2 – 18°dKH
- pH value: 6 – 8.5
- Carbon Dioxide: 5 – 40 mg/l
- Phosphate: 0.1 – 3 mg/l
- Potassium: 5 – 30 mg/l
- Iron: 0.01 – 0.5 mg/l
- Cultivation: cut off daughter plants
- Can grow emersed: No
- Suited for outdoor cultivation: Yes
- Suitable for Beginners: Yes
