Browning moss ball

[Marnol D]

Hello,

 

I have a few moss balls(Marimo. Named the largest Dan after Dan Marino) that have started browning in spots. I read that i can vacation them in the fridge to help this. (Tank is at 78F) do I only leave them in there for 24h or can I leave them longer. Also is there any fertilizer that they like. Besides temperature and light (they are mostly shaded within the tank) is there any other reasons for them to be browning. I have stopped using excel and liquid carbon with them in the tank (I think it hurts them but I could be wrong I don’t actually know). 
 

any guidance would be wonderful! 

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

I have the same question. Hope you get an answer.

[Marnol D]

@Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics so I went googling and did some reasearch. To fix browning it can be a lack of light. So I will vacation mine in the fridge for a day then move them into a bowl in the sun and raise the salinity of them and maybe this will fix them 

[Marnol D]

Update. I have mine outside (North Alabama so its not below freezing) I put them in a small glass fish bowl and added dechlorinated water and ferts and sat them so they get morning sun. This has seemed to have helped rejuvenate them. 

[Jennifer V]

I just got my first mossy guy so I'm interested to know more. @Penny is really knowledgeable -- take a look at her plant progress in the journal section -- and told me they definitely need frig vacations because they prefer cooler water. @Marnol D maybe the tank temp is too high for them? 

[Marnol D]

@Jennifer V oh the tank temp is def too high (78F) which i had known but they where fine until i had to start treating for BBA and thats when i damaged them. Since a moss ball is an algae treating for algae isnt really healthy for the ball. 

[Jennifer V]

@Marnol D oh that totally makes sense! How did you treat for BBA? 

[Marnol D]

So i've treated multiple ways. Staghorn (which some call BBA) I use excel or easy carbon (direct dose with syringe). Now for actual BBA hydrogen peroxide is the best way i have found besides just cutting out the BBA and throwing it away. Ive treated with hydrogen peroxide in the tank but ive found that dosage that treats BBA the best will kill beneficial bacteria and crash the cycle and kill invertebrates. Also certain plants dont fair well with hydrogen peroxide (usually your thinner more delicate leaf plants these i tend just to prune the BBA off then lightly mist the peroxide instead of heavy dosing them) 

[Penny]

So.. I'm no moss ball expert, but I do appreciate the vote of confidence! 

I never put my moss balls in direct sunlight at all, and I leave them in the fridge for over a week (or however long it takes to treat the algae, if that was the reason for the vacation) 

I found the brown spots would usually be on the underside if I forgot to move them about.  I try to get them out and give them a good clean every week at least, if not twice a week. The seem to like the attention so I run them under the cold tap to wash off any detritus and sand, give them a squeeze and a roll them about. I've never upped the salinity, but I have read that the appreciate that too.  If there's a biggish brown spot I gently pull the brown bits off and roll the ball up well.

I have no creatures in my tanks to clean them up, except snails at the moment, I also have no filters so mine do collect all kinds of crud.

I would definitely beware of putting them in direct light for very long as that does turn them brown.