marimo on rock?

[pmcarbrey]

has anyone ever tried attaching the algae known as marimo moss/balls to rock? if so how did you do it?

[mistahoo]

I don't know how, but it's growing on my heater. It's pretty cool. I would assume you take one that's already broken and tie it down to the rock with cotton thread or with super glue gel.

[pmcarbrey]

Originally Posted by mistahoo

I don't know how, but it's growing on my heater. It's pretty cool. I would assume you take one that's already broken and tie it down to the rock with cotton thread or with super glue gel.

that was my thought. i was wondering if it required any more than that, or if the superglue would kill it

[mistahoo]

Super glue might kill off some of the marino algae that it come in contact with, but the outer part (the one that will be visible when glued to the rock) shouldn't be affected.

[mistahoo]

They're pretty cheap, I'd give it a try with one marimo ball and see how it turns out. If anything, there's moss rock that you can buy. If I'm thinking on the same page, that's what you're trying to achieve with attaching marimo algae to rock?

[pmcarbrey]

Originally Posted by mistahoo

They're pretty cheap, I'd give it a try with one marimo ball and see how it turns out.

i'm more worried about the rock than the marimo!

[mistahoo]

Well if you're worried about the rock, go pick up one from outside and attach the marimo to that with super glue gel and see how that turns out. Saves your rock and you'll know if it works or not.

[Knotyoureality]

I bought one of these from PetSmart on a whim, shredded it and tossed the smaller piece into a number of my shrimp-laden planted vases/nano tanks to see how it responded.

For the most part, it just rolled around the tank or ended up wedged under a plant; the shrimp picked at it, but no more or less than they did any other moss. Eventually I decided to pull the stuff out and toss it.

The large masses came out in one piece, but some of the smallest shreds that came loose had attached themselves to sections of the substrate (fluorite mostly) and one piece of fairly flat granite that was set flush into the substrate had a thin coating of the stuff starting up (it's since grown into a fluffy mess the shrimp constantly bounce around on). A small spot of it rooted into some mopani, but after several months it's barely grown more than a mm along the wood.

Given the results, if I *wanted* to try and get it to grow on something, I'd probably do an emersed set up--tear up the moss into fine shreds, glue or otherwise fasten it down against the surface I want covered, keep it moist and under strong lights and wait.

[pmcarbrey]

Alright, thank you for the advice! I will definitely try it and post the results

[mistahoo]

It could have been just something with your tank causing it to not grow as fast. I had gotten some shreds of it from a local, and it's growing at crazy rates on my heater! Also if you get a marimo ball and let it grow, it'll just explode (extreme exaggeration, it'll just fall apart and not stay in a ball) into a huge mess after some time of not trimming it. I would try buying the marimo ball, shredding it, and attaching it to some rock with super glue gel first. If it lives, then do the same with the rocks you want to attach it to.

[Wayne Dwops]

Marimo algae grows very very slowly but it will attach to rocks/wood eventually.

[steven p]

It's dirty back there, but this was a marble sized marimo ball I lodged into a crack on a stick after 2 or so years. It is now growing into an awkward organ shape. It can and will attach to surfaces, but tends to do so on its own digression.