How To Trim Moss Balls & Take Care of it [2 Methods]
Marimo Moss Balls are generally known as Moss Balls. These balls give a great look to your aquarium. Also, they can be put in the bowl. But to enhance their look you need to keep them in sphere shape and take care of them. Thus it is necessary to know how to trim moss balls.
Trimming them is very easy. The moss balls need to be taken out of the water tank or bowl. Then squeeze out the water in the moss balls. Then with the help of scissors cut the ball in halves. These halves will each be a separate ball. Also without cutting them in halves, you can just trim the outside. This is to give a perfect sphere shape.
With proper light, temperature and water flow the moss balls grow healthy and green. It is important to take care of the moss balls to keep them away from turning gray or brown. Thus it can be a gorgeous decoration for your place.
How to Trim Moss Balls- Step By Step
While trimming the moss ball you need to decide what is the purpose of trimming. Depending on the reason for trimming the moss ball is trimmed in two ways. Both ways are described in brief here.
1. Cutting The Moss Ball To Increase In Number
When moss balls are put in the aquarium or water bowl they grow in size. This growing moss ball can be used to increase the number of moss balls as a form of asexual reproduction.
Here are the steps that you can take to cut the moss ball and increase it in number.
Step 1: Take Out The Moss Ball
First, take out the moss ball from the aquarium. Be gentle with it. You can take it out with your bare hand or use clumps. While taking it out make sure there is no aquatic animal in it.
Step 2: Take Out Of The Water
After taking out the moss ball you will need to get rid of the water in it. Gently squeeze the ball to take out the water. Don’t squeeze it hard to avoid smashing the moss ball.
Pressing it softly will get rid of the water. Put it between your hands and squeeze it gently.
Step 3: Cut It In Half
With the help of a scissor cut the moss ball in half. You don’t need measuring tape. But if each piece is more than an inch in diameter cut them again in half.
As moss balls grow in aquariums of small sizes you won’t have to worry about cutting them soon. Especially if you have a small aquarium with much other aquatic life.
Step 4: Tying The Ball
The next step is to tie the ball with a thread. With the help of cotton thread tie the moss ball like you tie a gift box. Do not tighten the bonding. Just a delicate wrap. This helps to give your moss ball a nice round shape. Once the ball gets the nice round shape you can remove the thread.
Step 5: Placing The Moss Ball
Once you are done with the cutting and shaping procedure it is time to place the moss ball in the aquarium. If you want to place it in a new place make sure that it is placed in freshwater. Also, it needs low to moderate light. In high light, they won’t grow properly.
2. Trimming Moss Ball To Give Shape
Moss balls are usually grown round like a ball. But to get a good view you need to make it a better shape. Sometimes they do go out of their usual shape. That is when it needs to be trimmed to give it a nice round look.
In that case, the process is very easy.
Step 1: Take out the moss ball with care. You can do it with your hand or with a clam. But be careful not to mush it.
Step 2: Now keep it in a round bowl. You can work on a plain surface but the bowl will help you to determine the shape more conveniently.
Step 3: Take your curved scissors. If you don’t have curved scissors take the plane one. But try to get the curved one. With this, you will be able to give a round shape to your plants. It’s a nice decoration tool.
Step 4: Trim just the upper layer of the moss ball. Make sure not to overdo it. Otherwise, it will lose its shape.
Step 5: Place the ball in the aquarium.
If the moss ball is losing its shape because it has outgrown in size then, first cut it and then trim it. But remember not to overdo it in any situation.
How To Take Care of Moss Ball
Light
Marimo Moss balls need low light. It can also tolerate medium indirect sunlight. In the presence of direct sunlight, they can turn brown and gray. Thus it is a must to balance the sunlight.
Direct sunlight can also increase the temperature of the water in the aquarium. This is also another reason why it is asked to avoid direct sunlight. But all this doesn’t mean Marimo moss balls don’t need sunlight at all.
For the photosynthesis process and stay, green moss balls need low or moderate sunlight. If there is no sunlight access in your place then you can put the moss balls under fluorescent light.
Water Change
Moss Balls need a frequent change of water. They need a replacement every two weeks. Especially in summer, change the water more frequently. The water will evaporate soon.
It is ok to change the water to tap water, but it should be clean. Let the water sit for a day before putting it in the tank. Also, clean the tank water every time you replace the water. It will prevent algae buildup in the tank walls.
Water Temperature
The temperature of the water is another factor that affects the survival of the moss balls. Marimo Moss Balls are Japanese plants and are found in cold areas. Therefore if you have it in your place then make sure the temperature is less than 70°F.
In the summer, the Marimo balls are in a cooler place. Sometimes it might need to be placed in the refrigerator. An air-conditioned place will be fine too.
Taking Care of Sick Moss Balls
If the moss balls are turning brown or gray, place them in a cooler place immediately. Also, make sure it doesn’t hit direct sunlight but needs low sunlight for photosynthesis to stay green. Thus if needed use artificial lights or a shadow place.
How To Keep The Moss Ball In Round Shape
The moss balls also known as Marimo Moss Balls are generally round in shape. But if they sit down for a long time then they tend to lose their shape. Especially if they are stuck in one place, the stuck side doesn’t grow.
Therefore here are some tips and tricks that can help you to get the required shape of the Marimo Moss Balls.
Tying With Thread
After cutting the moss balls into halves you can help them to get around. In the primary stage doing this helps a lot.
The tying process is very easy. You need a cotton thread for this. Don’t use any synthetic thread. Synthetic threads are not good for aquatic plants. Also, the wool threads are not thin enough for small moss balls. But with the cotton thread, you get environment-friendly and thin.
After collecting the thread, it is time to wrap it. It doesn’t need to be wrapped thoroughly. Rather just wrap it like tightening a gift with a ribbon. Round it on time, then intercross the thread and wrap it again. That will be good to go.
Once the wrapping is done, put it in the aquarium or bowl. Also, the new balls are small and tend to float up. The thread will increase the weight and keep them in the bottom.
After they get the proper shape, take them out again and cut the thread. Once they grow they will not need the extra help.
Turn The Moss Ball
If the moss ball sits in a place for a long time they stop growing on that side. For this, it needs to turn on different sides occasionally. This ensures that they don’t get stuck in a place and grow equally on every side.
For this, you will need a long stick to reach the moss balls. Using the stick, turn over the ball. Do it often. If the moss balls are in the aquarium then you can turn them over while feeding the fish. If they are in a bowl, then do it once every two or three days.
This way they grow on all sides equally and give a nice round sphere shape.
Placing Them In Waves
If you can’t make it to turn over the moss ball occasionally then it is wise to put them in a place with comparatively high waves in the aquarium. This way the waves will turn them. Thus you won’t have to worry about turning them.
Placing them in the waves also helps them to nourish them with nutrients equally from every side. Therefore the moss balls achieve a sphere shape in no time, looking great from all sides. The movement of the fishes and other aquatic animals also helps them to turn over. It does the job of waves.
FAQs
Can Moss Balls Multiply?
They normally recreate through growing. This is an asexual type of proliferation that can happen when the greenery ball is sufficiently large and has adequate space to develop. You could see a little knock shaping on its adjusted surface and that is the way you can see that it is making another Marimo moss ball!
Why Is My Moss Ball Turning Gray?
At the point when they change tones to a brown or grayish variety, they frequently should be cleaned. If your greenery balls become dim or brown, it’s fine-it’s nothing to stress over. Give your Marimo a pleasant shower and it ought to be fine, utilize the guidelines above to clean your greenery ball.
Do Moss Balls Move On Their Own?
The balls can drift up to the surface all alone from inner gasses, as well as sink all alone. There is one more undertaking for the greenery ball: it ought to be moved around on occasion to keep its adjusted shape, as well as to give the lighting on each surface to keep away from dead fixes.
How Big Can Moss Balls Get?
Right at home, Marimo greenery balls can ultimately arrive at measurements of 8 to 12 inches (20-31 cm.), in spite of the fact that your local Marimo greenery ball most likely will not be very this enormous – or perhaps they will! Greenery balls can live for a long time or more, yet they develop gradually.
Can You Have Too Many Moss Balls?
In the event that you put such a large number of moss balls on top of one another, they’ll conceal each other, and some of them will not get sufficient light. Subsequently, they’ll become ill and become brown. Overloading the tank with greenery balls is likewise awful for your fish since they will not have an adequate number of supplements or space to easily swim.
Final Words
Knowing how to trim moss balls helps to maintain the shape and size of the moss balls. It is a necessary part of grooming the moss ball. Trimming is a part of asexual reproduction and it helps them to stay green.
Moss balls give an aesthetic look to your place’s decorations. But along with that take proper care of the moss balls. Also, remember that moss balls help to keep your aquarium water clean. It maintains the pH level by balancing phosphate and nitrate. You can even put the moss ball in a jar without any other aquatic life and use it as a decoration piece.
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