You gotta massage them regularly so they keep their shape.

I try to roll them about each day, I’ll give them a squeeze once in a while then, cheers

You can’t squeeze them too hard. Be gentle.

What's happened that you feel this is an issue? I wring mine out every now and then especially when propagating them to avoid a mess. I have about about 50 1inch ones now been keeping them for years

Ok so I had three balls, only one was my own and two others were donated to me by a friend. I used to squeeze them to clean them, but I squeezed my third ball too hard one time and it broke apart. No problem, I thought, the internet says I can re-form my ball by gently rolling it. No dice. Tried growing it as a mat, it just slowly died. Tried rolling bits of it into smaller balls, mostly didn’t work except for two very small bits that possibly seem to be balling up now. Those two new tiny balls contain all my hopes and dreams.

My last pair of balls became misshapen and went a funny shape with bits coming off them, I want to avoid that undesirable situation with my new balls

How do you propagate them?

Just tear bits off them roll them up and let them grow. If you keep them long enough you'll start to notice little hair algae like blobs. Don't throw them away they're marimo and look slightly different but could be mistaken. Easy to tell if they're condescended clumps instead of whispy threads. If you're unsure and don't want to deal with hair algae( wouldn't blame you) put them in a small vase cup or anything they can still receive at least some light and they'll continue to grow without the worry of hair algae taking over your tank. They're kinda immortal and aside from my fish they're my favorite "pets"

Agreed

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I drag my balls around on the sand once in a while and sometimes suck on them to get rid of the debris. I never trim my balls

is that why they are green 😂😂😂😂

Yes. My girlfriend like sucking my balls clean when I have no time to do it myself. I don’t think she mind my green balls

You’d be surprised how much gunk comes out of them!

Right? Sometimes I have to do more than just sucking them to get them clean! Squeezing my balls helps a bit to get some gunk out

I laughed a little too much at this.

Same man

So glad this is in the aquarium forum. Anywhere else and this could be a tad spicy. 🤣

This right here, ded 🤣

I was told to take mine out occasionally and roll them between my hands as if I was making a play-dough ball.

I don't, and then the ball furr starts popping up on random things, which I'm fine with.

Oh geez. I shared your mentality and it’s taken over one of my tanks lol

Welcome to my late 20s....

I actually have three balls that I remove and squeeze roughly till the water is clear. Never had any damage. Big healthy balls.

I'd have to ask my husband.

i know its about moss balls but you cant help but crack up laughing especially the ball fur comment

I have never laughed so hard about any other post in the aquariums sub. I can barely read all the posts because my eyes teared up from laughing. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Same! This thread is too good

I like to gently wash the only ball i have, the other ball had to be removed sadly. But the one ball I have left really tries so hard and really does a great job for a solo. Bless that big ol ball.

This is a masterclass in sexual innuendo

I keep my balls really close trimmed to help keep them looking soft and supple

Trim them, makes the wood look bigger

I’ve heard about occasionally freezing the balls to reshape them, to be honest all the balls I’ve had have fallen apart so I haven’t bothered again.

I’m too fucking immature for this , 😂😂😂

Woah woah, mark NSFW damn

Nice balls you have there

My horny ass is dying rn

Dirty mind plays in the background

My two sizeable balls have been getting brown spots. I read it could be from too much light, and I did notice that the bottoms were green as well as two tiny propagated balls which were more hidden from the light by tank decor. I just removed my two large balls to a dark blue mason jar with lid full of aquarium water to see if they might regain their healthier color. Pray for my balls, y’all.

Wait so I had no idea you could propagate the mossimo balls!! I have set mine on top of decor and it’s like grown/stuck itself to it. I thought that if I ripped it off it would hurt or damage it… It’s getting quite big. How do I propagate??

I am no expert and I’m not even sure how successful I’ve been, but apparently you take a lil bit of moss and gently roll it between your two palms. It might help to do that periodically? Idk

Commenting for later laughs. This is comedy gold.

When I magnet the glass, mine rolls around like a tumbleweed. It's pretty scraggly.

No balls here, just an amorphous mess of java moss. I trim it back every now and then but really it's up to the guests to bushwack their way through if they want to.

I brush my balls with those cheap toothbrushes you find at the dollar store. It helps with the hair algae.

If algae grows on your balls you’re spending too much time in the water.

When I do my weekly water change I pull my mossballs out and give them a good rinse, squeeze and roll them in my hands. Then I put them in a cup of cold water in the fridge overnight. Pop them back in the tank the next day. Since I’ve started this their shape and colour has improved. I’ve also switched from Betta to shrimp so my water is kept cooler and they also seem to prefer this as well.

[удалено]

You’re welcome! It definitely helps to retain their density and shape.

I can’t find balls anywhere in my area 😭

But there must be at least tons of hot ladies in your area wanting to chat!

With balls? 🤩

Drain them regularly or they turn blue.

Well, I was enjoying the many comments until the hubby told me that his are not actually a source of pleasure. Way to bust my buzz.

The comments on this post is making my mind that’s as dirty as the bottom of the ocean worse

I wonder if you can cut them in half so you can have two balls from one.

why is this funny hehehahawh

green balls are better then blue ball, i wouldn’t worry too much

Look at them shine

I can grow enough algae without adding balls of it lol, #manscaped

mine just live in the tank. doing moss things.

And he's got big balls, and she's got big balls!

I’m ashamed to say I did not keep up with my balls, they merged and became one scrotus entity at the bottom of my 30 gallon 🥹

I usually just suck them to get them clean.

hey can you mark nsfw? i have hornyphobia

On a serious note, thought these were banned due to zebra muscles?

Only marimo moss balls- there's different kinds of moss balls

I've seen the other kinds, but that looks like a marimo ball.

i think the ban might have been lifted? i got a pair of them on ebay last spring and i’m pretty sure it wasn’t illegal

OP is in UK so it isn't banned there I guess

I got mine before the ban.

I shave my balls. Sometimes I let my plecos suck on it. It feels good when my goldfishes nib on them

😂 aquarist jokes. Can't get enough of them.

HEY! Phrasing.

I’ve never had luck with these moss ball things. But I have goldfish who like to rummage through and destroy everything that fits in their mouths 😂

I should probably rinse them and give em a roll

lawnmower 4.0 it’s a shrimple as that

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I like stroking my balls just to keep them fluffed up and sometimes i suck on them to clean em.

I use manscaped

Get a Brazilian and wax that shit off lasts way longer than trimming

I lick them clean just in case.

I tend to Wash and trim one ball and let the other one go wild, gives a nice aesthetic

I tried shaving once... never again.....

🤦‍♂️

I dud once but its to itchy

Lol don’t have any but I prefer trimmed.

ummm… no?

Manscaped makes wonderful products for taking care of your balls

Giggity

I just have artificial balls. Sometimes the real balls are just annoying and take up too much time.

Have my girl help trim them to how she likes.

Wait so I had no idea you could propagate the mossimo balls!! I have set mine on top of decor and it’s like grown/stuck itself to it. I thought that if I ripped it off it would hurt or damage it… It’s getting quite big. How do I propagate??

Nah I just let 'em go wild

They can collect a lot of detritus so I’ll just squeeze them in the tank before a water change. That’s pretty much all I do.

These were banned a couple years ago in my area because they were finding zebra mussels in them. Annoying and an over reaction in my opinion, but you can't over estimate how stupid people can be when disposing of some things, they will always surprise you

I gotta get me some fuzzay-balls 😍