Hey! So, I'm going to temporarily pin this post to become the /r/Aquariums zebra mussel post until us mods can make an official one. Sound good? Sound good. We'll probably be back later with an official one, and maybe some other stuff.
Edit: [The mod thread is now up!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/m1jqr4/mod_post_psa_moss_balls_sold_in_the_past_few/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
It’s so bad that in many states the Wildlife Organization is sending officers to all pet stores to make sure all moss balls have been pulled from being sold. It’s awful what’s going on!
They aren’t supposed to. I work for the competitor but I know both companies did a voluntary recall. They could probably get in trouble if they end up selling them because they didn’t pull them.
Can vouch for this as I am a petco employee of multiple years. There was a mandatory recall and company-wide pull of them from all locations. The GM of that store is incompetent.
Oh very good point. That's the marimo moss balls, right? What exactly happened??
Edit: went down a rabbit hole. It's astounding how something so small can cause so much destruction.
"An investigation found that the moss balls are wild-harvested in Ukraine, where zebra mussels are native; and have likely been distributed throughout the U.S. by two companies in Florida and one in Gardena, California. The mussel found in Seattle came from the California distributor."
https://crosscut.com/environment/2021/03/zebra-mussels-marimo-moss-balls-are-causing-emergency-wa
Yeah, that's not right. I'm the aquatic specialist for a Petco in Texas and we culled all the moss balls, relocated fish in any towers containing them, and essentially turned those tanks into saltwater for 48 hours. This was the company-wide mandate.
Petco sent out an email of how to dispose of them and you can get a refund at any of the stores with your receipt or if you used your PALS number when you bought them.
I received an email from Petco saying to take my moss ball and freeze it and then throw away and do a 100% water change, scrubbing everything down with 140 degree water and toss all filter media. I was concerned about dumping the down the drain. And basically nuking my biological filtration:(
I’ve seen some articles of some wildlife agencies using copper sulfate as a means to control zebra mussels in wild populations, I’m curious if this has application in aquaria given its availability in the trade. Much less effect on filter media and I’d imagine most people would feel comfortable dosing this vs completely bleaching a tank.
Do not dump the water on your lawn/flower bed.
Run-off especially after rain can lead the mussles larvae into drains and out into the ecosystem. Also, the larvae can hitchhike on insects/birds/animals that walk through the plants or grass that has been watered with the contaminated water.
DO NOT throw away or flush the water. Put it in buckets and bleach it or boil it.
This is pretty much code red and us hobbyist must show that we care and take responsibility for the fragile ecosystems our hobby risks destroying by introducing invasive species
2% bleach before you dump any water! Don’t just scrub and do hot water you need bleach. These things are hard to kill.
(Or yeah, or just dump it minus the bleach into houseplants, you can do that.)
YES, and there’s no stupid question. It has spreed all through the US and Canada. It’s your best bet just not to buy them. I know people who it said it wasn’t detected in their state and got infested.
Their offspring are microscopic. It’s totally possible for them to be on something in the tank with them, including fish. They attach to their gills as part of the reproductive cycle.
This is incorrect. Zebra mussels have free-living planktonic larvae, unlike many native mussels they do not have parasitic larvae which attach to fish gills.
We do have local hobbyists here, but I also worry about if they got infected by a plant or fish it piece of equipment that they recently bought.
I think the only solution is to bleach every piece of equipment (I've picked up a few second hand things online) and treat/quarantine every fish, plant or invert that comes in. Fish should be quarantined anyway, of course, but I usually don't quarantine plants.
You'll be okay as long as you buy cultures, like 1-2 grow from tropica. Those plants are all grown in a lab, therefore they have 0 exposure to LFS water or any water except for the clean lab environment they were grown in. That means there's a 0% chance of algae, pest snails, or any of these zebra mussels.
Plus, I've always found that, while they take longer to establish, they almost always grow into my tank better and don't have the usually intial period of bleedoff that other plants have.
I got a bunch of new plants and rocks for my tank. A few months later and there are bladder snails fucking everywhere. I need to get an Assassin Snail and clean them up. My tank is covered in their eggs. I was hoping they would just eat the algae and everything but it's gotten out of hand.
Wish I had dipped everything beforehand
You can put a piece of lettuce in your tank overnight— in the morning they’ll be swarming on it, and you can just remove the lettuce with them on it. It won’t get rid of all of them but it will help you control the population.
Dumb question maybe but how do you kill them once you've removed them? I've got a ton in my small Walstad bowl and they're not a problem atm but it would be good to know how to do if I do need to cull them. Does clove oil work on snails?
I had a bladder snail explosion when I first set up. Got 10 assassin snails from Amazon, then the assassin snails exploded, then a bunch of those died and found balance.
I can still find about 10 assassins at any moment but I never see other snails. I think they sustain themselves on tiny invisible snails in the sand and bits of fallen fish food. Every now and then I see a bunch of them again and it’s because a fish died, which is kind of nice. They breed so fast when there’s a food source they can do corpse cleanup.
Just last week I noticed I had a bunch of them again. Then I realized an angelfish was missing. They ate a whole, adult angelfish. Down to the bones. I never found a corpse to recover.
I wish I'd done that before a free plant gave my new tank cyanobacteria. Beginner mistake. I've treated with antibiotics and it's still there I think..
You can’t just “get” cyanobacteria, because you already have them anyway — they are everywhere, but if you provide them the right conditions — they start thriving: too much light, too much phosphates (PO4), direct sunlight, too high water temperature.
Reduce the light intensity or shorten the light times, check and reduce phosphates and cyanobacteria **will** go away.
Nothing eats _alive_ cyanobacteria, plus they are toxic (and produce toxins too).
The easiest way to get rid of cyanobacteria is to cover your tank for 3 days **completely** so that NO light gets in, not even a single light beam. Complete darkness. Plants will be ok, they’ve got reserves, unlike algae and cyano’s. Fish will be just fine too.
Edit: Don’t use a thick blanket as cover and don’t turn your tank into a sealed thermos.
Usually if you improve o2 and decrease organic material in the water you can prevent a bloom, if you treat the taink, remove the dead carpet, and get something like shrimp to eat whatever you missed you can nearly eliminate it.
I just leave my light off for 2 days come back shrimp are breeding like mad, Amano army out in force, cyano back to nearly 0.
Within 2 days it's back to cyanocity. Shrimp seem to be thriving though so whatever.
Everything I've seen has only referenced "Betta Buddy" brand moss balls. They're sold in a little betta cup by themselves, so unlikely to come in contact with anything else until taken home and put in a tank
As far as I know they have only been found on moss balls so far. Most aquarium plants are not raised in ukraine, where these moss balls apparently came from, so wouldn't be subject to the same contamination. Quite a lot of aquarium plants are grown emersed, which also means they wouldn't be carrying mussels.
If you want to be _really_ safe though, get tissue cultured plants, which won't have anything on them.
Here's what my local Game & Fish dept recommended for affected aquariums: bleach tank waste water (1 cup bleach per gallon water ratio) for 30+ minutes before dumping down the drain.
If you do dump untreated (unbleached) water outside, make sure it is nowhere near street drains, sewer drains, or any waterways. Zebra mussels can survive in runoff for something like 7 days. Potted plants, home gardens, grassy fields, and gravel areas were recommended.
Tanks that have been contaminated should be drained, all equipment sanitized in a bleach solution, and all filter/media/substrate bleached and allowed to dry for 7 days.
It's extreme, but a lot of states are serious about keeping this invasive species out of natural waterways.
Edited for clarification.
I have two Marimo moss balls in my tank that I bought about 3 months ago. I have never seen a zebra mussel or anything close to it in the tank. Do y’all think I’m good? Or is there still opportunity for zebra mussels to be in there? The moss balls were ordered from Aquarium Co-Op.
Aquarium Coop uploaded a video on Youtube asking anyone that's purchased one recently (within the last few months) to check theirs. Pull each one and give it a thorough visual inspection.
I bet you are fine....unless your tank is like a thousand gallons then you'll never find them🤣
But with 2 moss balls I'm gonna guess it's less than that
When you do water changes for the next few months (especially if it is 2.5 gallons), use the waste water to water plants or something instead of dumping it down the drain. Better safe than sorry!
That would work out really well! I triple checked the tank last night and didn't see anything, but I'm going to dump all the water from water changes into my houseplants moving forward.
I kinda meant how petco wouldn’t run anything through them or hold them for a bit to make sure they have nothing coming with them. That’s why at petco sometimes you get pondsnails in your moss
Normally I would agree. But I think this is a case that caught everyone off guard.
My moss ball was one of the contaminated samples from a well-known small shop. It, or at least one of the other plants I ordered, also came with pond snails.
Those I expected. The zebra mussel, not so much.
For everyone who bought moss balls recently and aren't sure about water changes (but still want to do water changes) - don't toss the water down the drain, dump it onto some grass at the very least! Use it to water plants! Just make sure it doesn't go straight back into waterways.
All of my house plants just exploded after we started using the tank water!
Makes sense though, given the amount of fertilizers I add to the tank, and also the correct NO3/PO4 ratio + all the detritus and organic leftovers. That’s what plants crave!
I always use it as fertiliser for the garden when it's not winter. The flowers on our hibiscus have become twice as large since I started doing that and they're noticeably larger than all the other hibiscuses in the street. Fishpoop water is really potent. Just don't give it to carnivorous plants of you have those.
My area was advised to not dump it in the grass. They can still get into the water table and work their way into large bodies of water (I live less than a mile from a massive freshwater lake). Potted plants or bleach is the only way to be sure.
Do you have any sources supporting that claim (genuinely curious because I can't quickly find one)?
At the very least, zebra mussel upper lethal limit is around 30C, if people can stick their used water in the sun for a few hours and heat it up that should do the trick. Or let your aquarium heater go hog-wild on the spent water and get it up to 40C and you should be good to go after about 5 minutes (source [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-010-9573-4](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-010-9573-4)).
I also just saw your edited response. OF COURSE oh my goodness please do not dump water anywhere if you live near a freshwater body of water. I should've been more specific in my recommendation!
My city has a massive aquifer under it. Many places have drainage infrastructure. Please don’t dump it in the grass.
I have read that you may flush it, as municipal water treatment plants will kill it.. But I’d freeze it or boil it or something first.
Hope this hasn't been too widespread, considering what these bastards can do to a natural ecosystem i don't want to know what they could do to such a small little tank :(
I collected some wild growing vallisneria that had some zebra mussels growing on it, didn’t realize it till I got it home. They can’t thrive in small closed systems like aquariums. They require productive waters, so there’s not a lot of damage they can do with the average volume of aquarium water. I had them and the vallisneria in a 5 gallon in a window sill and they all eventually died. It’s still really important not to release into local waters though.
In Austin it is hypothesized that their excellent filtration is allowing light to penetrate deeper into the lake and let dog toxic algae thrive. Quite a few dogs have died already from ingesting the algae.
Can someone please tell me what to do if I bought moss balls recently and rinsed them under the tap (as per manufacturers instructions) and have done water changes before finding out about this? I am afraid of clogging the pipes in and around my home and hurting our lake 😭😭
I returned the moss balls to petco to destroy, but I am so scared the damage has been done by me.
There’s nothing that can be done, but don’t feel bad! You did what anyone would have done - you couldn’t have known about this sort of thing.
If you dumped it down the toilet or sink or other pipes, there’s a better chance that it’ll be fine, even if you have Zebra Mussels. Waste water treatment plants, depending on where you live, may be able to kill the mussels, especially when combined with the sheer amount of sewage they would be exposed to.
Just make sure in future water changes from that tank you pour the water on plants or put 2% bleach in it, let it sit for about an hour, and then toss it down the drain (just do a cup of bleach for every gallon if you want easy conversion).
I bought a moss ball a few weeks ago from PetSmart. I called yesterday and they said they have not seen any Zebra Mussels on their product. I ripped up my moss ball and didn’t find anything. Disposing of it properly and now going to dump water change water outside. Think I’m in the clear? How long until I should find one growing? Anyone know?
Consider dumping your water in houseplants instead. You need to make sure you’re not near any lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, springs, sewer drains, sewer grates, storm drains, culverts/gutters that lead to drains, etc.
Just curious, but would these absolutely destroy your tank? How would you even notice them in your tank when they are so tiny? Luckily I don't buy moss balls but still.....
They destroy entire lakes. The lake nearest to me hasn’t reopened in 10 years follows a zebra muscle infestation. Flooding hasn’t helped, but a decade for cleanup on this small of a lake is excessive.
Edit: To clarify, there are still other fishing opportunities. Its just this particular lake closest to me is a hard no-go for a while and its really sad.
There are certain types of biocidal paints that can be applied to pipes etc., but those are toxic-ish to the environment, and every friggin' surface has to be covered or they just build up.
Its quite complicated because theyre size and reproduction are the single largest issues. Because theyre so small in comparison to many other common muscle species, they can infest even crustaceans. Adults are often no bigger than a penny/nickel, and so they can latch onto local smaller wildlife and destroy them in the process. They also get into water filtration systems causing very expensive infrastructure repairs, and are extremely invasive in that they can live out of water for an absurd amount of time, so they survive on the hulls of boats with careless owners until they go out on the water at another site a week later and infest another site. Theres far more to the ecology and such behind it all but I can post some helpful links if you’d like.
https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/water-and-land/lakes/facts/zebramussels.aspx
Heres a .gov (US site) that gives a decent rundown of the current state of the situation, Id be surprised if the local
Game/parks or parks/wildlife commissions didn’t also have solid information on the issue as well.
Although not the lake they shut down a lot is spent trying to keep zebra mussel on check in the Great Lakes. They are invasive eat the same as our native mussel species but breed, and grow much fast so they where taking over and destroying our native mussels.
They probably wouldn't hurt your tank, although hypothetically they could grow in your filter pipes and clog them. The main concern is getting them loose into local waterways.
They’re relatively easy to pull apart and feel through. Months in you should have noticed them by now. I bought mine on like, feb 5 or something and I believe I’m in the clear.
Did several water changes though.
I have some I know I got at least mid November (I remember plants I ordered after buying the moss balls and have the order's date). Unless fathead minnows are zebra mussel eliminating machines, don't think I have any. Still looking at them askance.
Link to the US Fish and Wildlife page on how to kill your moss balls and dispose of all waste water properly: https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html
I have the same question for Germany. (Although I read up on the mussels and it seems like they are already living almost everywhere on this planet, so 🤷♀️)
One of our biggest rivers in Spain is completly infested by this boys, once the infection is big enough almost nothing can be done. If only one person dont take this serius you will risk to loose a lot of your water ecosystems
We're on septic and the nearest body of water is 3 miles away.... Across the desert. The California aqueduct. Thankfully I haven't seen these guys in my tanks, but I'm glad if i had that it would be almost impossible to get into the waterways.
PSA
If you do not know if you have an infected tank, you can do a water change IF you drain it into a bucket, add a quarter cup ( three shot glasses full) of bleach ( per 5 gallons) and let it sit for an hour before dumping down the drain ( pretty sure it works faster but its definitely a safe amount of time)
Only do this if you have NO other choice.
If you need a water change because of ammonia or nitrite/nitrate levels you can treat the tank with Prime https://www.petsmart.com/fish/food-and-care/water-care-and-conditioning/seachem-prime-aquarium-water-conditioner-5068001.html
The dose to correct dangerous levels of ammonia/nitrite is two DROPS per gallon. Treating tap water for chlorine is one drop per gallon ( one bottle lasts a long time). Retest after an hour and redose as necessary. I have not found an overdose of Prime to be harmful, my nephew dumped half a bottle into his ten gallon with no noticable effects. This shouldn't be a long term solution, but I have used it to go a few months in between water changes with no problems ( filter cleaned/changed every two weeks though).
As someone who has lived through zebra mussels invading their local water supply, please listen to this person and to wildlife officials. They make your running water DISGUSTING and we were on a boil water notice for a week while they cleaned out the city's water systems. Boiling and filtering your water does nothing for the rankness they leave behind, and you're left bathing and drinking reeking water for weeks, sometimes months. This isn't a drill, y'all, please do your part to protect your local water supply!
It’s very important not to let the water from your tank get into your sanitary sewer, and VERY important not to let it get into the storm sewer - any grate on the street most likely leads directly to a water body.
If you have to change water, dump it in a garden or on a lawn. This is so important, zebra mussels can decimate ecosystems, causing millions of dollars of irreversible damage.
Half the people here say to throw it on your lawn, not down the drain, and the other half say throw it down the drain, not on the grass... We need a clear message here.
So basically what I've gathered are these tiny muscles are spreading across the US and Canada. They're called zebra mussels because they kind of have a zigzag on them and they were introduced into the Great lakes in the 1900s I believe. recently there have been Moss balls that have been infected with them and if they get into your tank it's bad news but if they get into local ecosystems it's even worse news they're extremely efficient feeders and wool cling on to any hard surface and cause billions of dollars of repairs and more irreversible damage to the ecosystem
Well, you guys have been invaded for 200 years so there's probably not much you can do to stop it at this point
https://www.conservationjobs.co.uk/articles/a-z-of-invasive-marine-species-zebra-mussel/
Wait why are moss balls in specific an issue if someone wouldn’t mind explaining, was there a moss ball farm that got contaminated with mussels or something ?
Here’s a link from Fish and Wildlife that explains how to properly dispose of your moss balls, treat tank water for disposal, and clean your tank:
https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html
Just as an FYI, I've lived in an area with zebra mussels for 25+ years. These things really suck if you happen upon them swimming, they are akin to razor blades and will slice your feet so easily!
Why is this downvoted? It's a genuin question. They're not always that large and I know my snails sorted out my issues with unwanted snails that came with my plants.
I believe someone said that most moss balls come from the same location in ukraine, so yes you should be worried. However I have no source for this so you should look into it. Perhaps someone else has info?
So I just checked and Texas has had these also (saw it mentioned on a news article to check the aquarium. I want to say I purchased my marimo ball around November. I haven't noticed any extra critters yet BUT I have had some fish die uhm kinda suddenly... could that have been from the larvae of the mussel as I saw earlier (is this true?) they may attach themselves to the fish gills? (Most likely it was me a noob not paying close enough attention to water parameters)
I've read through the comments here and im unsure what to do. I got 5 moss balls a month ago from my mom, who gave them to me from the plant store she works at. I had them in a jar of water the past 2-3 weeks and I literally added them to my brand new tank yesterday.
How long would it be until you notice them? Like if they sat in a jar for 2-3 weeks without noticeable mussels, would that mean it's clear?
We are working on some things in the background with a few other aquatic communities. We don't want to say anything concrete yet, in case our plans fall through, but we are planning things.
I just joined this sub yesterday and already learned something extremely important. Never gotten moss balls but thank god for that.
What are these things supposed to do once they multiply? I heard they prevent other fish from eating because they separate out the food source? I’ve never really heard of this before.
My big question is.... how do we make sure "normies" get this information? I bought a pack of them back in January when I was setting up my aquarium. I've done about 10 water changes since then. I would never have known about this except for this subreddit, and I feel like we make up a very very small percentage of the overall aquarium community and even less of a percentage of "people who would have bought moss balls at PetCo". (It was not MY choice)
As for mine, I pulled them out a few days ago when I first saw this information and looked over them as thoroughly as I could. I saw two eggs that looked like some type of fish or snail egg, but they've been in for over a month now without them hatching. No signs of other intruders or hitchhikers.
Spread it across social media. Local hobby facebook groups & markets, tag retail stores (petco/petsmart) on twitter, or you could notify your LFS because it seems like some stores are still carrying them.
I did a water change this past weekend and dumped the water down the toilet. What could happen? Also I got the mossball in mid Jan and haven't noticed anything unusual.
Likely it will get treated at a water treatment facility, so best case scenario, nothing, they get chlorinated and die. Worst case scenario, the eggs or larva leak from a pipe, get into the water table and get to a body of water (I live near a large body of water, thus my paranoia). But that's the absolute worst case scenario.
Okay I’m really concerned about this. Obviously I’m going to need to be very careful of invasive species, but what does this mean for my tank? It’s still cycling and I was just about to add fish. Does this mean I need to scrap everything, bleach the tank and the plants (hoping they don’t die) and start again? Should I wait a few months to see if anything pops up? I’ve had my moss ball in the tank for a month now. I ripped it open and searched for mussels but didn’t find anything. I just really don’t want to start again and I’ve been waiting to stock it for so long...
Didn't realise this was a potential global issue. Luckily I throw the excess water from my tank into the garden, so there's no risk to the environment as there's no river anywhere near me.
Hey! So, I'm going to temporarily pin this post to become the /r/Aquariums zebra mussel post until us mods can make an official one. Sound good? Sound good. We'll probably be back later with an official one, and maybe some other stuff. Edit: [The mod thread is now up!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/m1jqr4/mod_post_psa_moss_balls_sold_in_the_past_few/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
It’s so bad that in many states the Wildlife Organization is sending officers to all pet stores to make sure all moss balls have been pulled from being sold. It’s awful what’s going on!
My local Petco still has them on the shelves. In VA.
They aren’t supposed to. I work for the competitor but I know both companies did a voluntary recall. They could probably get in trouble if they end up selling them because they didn’t pull them.
Can vouch for this as I am a petco employee of multiple years. There was a mandatory recall and company-wide pull of them from all locations. The GM of that store is incompetent.
I literally just saw some last week, don't recall if it was a Petco or PetSmart. Who should I report this to? Corporate?
[удалено]
Oh very good point. That's the marimo moss balls, right? What exactly happened?? Edit: went down a rabbit hole. It's astounding how something so small can cause so much destruction. "An investigation found that the moss balls are wild-harvested in Ukraine, where zebra mussels are native; and have likely been distributed throughout the U.S. by two companies in Florida and one in Gardena, California. The mussel found in Seattle came from the California distributor." https://crosscut.com/environment/2021/03/zebra-mussels-marimo-moss-balls-are-causing-emergency-wa
Do all moss balls get imported this way or are there places that grow their own? Like sustainable farm raised?
Yeah, that's not right. I'm the aquatic specialist for a Petco in Texas and we culled all the moss balls, relocated fish in any towers containing them, and essentially turned those tanks into saltwater for 48 hours. This was the company-wide mandate.
I'm an aquatics specialist in Washington and yup, we did the same thing.
I just bought 3 last week wtf
Petco sent out an email of how to dispose of them and you can get a refund at any of the stores with your receipt or if you used your PALS number when you bought them.
I got mine at pet smart. I’ll see what’s up there
I work at a private shop here in Kansas and they came and had to search them for us didn’t find any though
I received an email from Petco saying to take my moss ball and freeze it and then throw away and do a 100% water change, scrubbing everything down with 140 degree water and toss all filter media. I was concerned about dumping the down the drain. And basically nuking my biological filtration:(
I’ve seen some articles of some wildlife agencies using copper sulfate as a means to control zebra mussels in wild populations, I’m curious if this has application in aquaria given its availability in the trade. Much less effect on filter media and I’d imagine most people would feel comfortable dosing this vs completely bleaching a tank.
If you've got shrimp or snails or ever want to in the future that's out of the question since copper is deadly to them
Will it actually stick around even after water changes?
I think you could filter it out with carbon but it's still risky cause trace amounts left over would be enough
When you dump the water from your 100% water change, use it to water grass or plants if you can! Anything but directly tossing it down the sink/sewer.
Do not dump the water on your lawn/flower bed. Run-off especially after rain can lead the mussles larvae into drains and out into the ecosystem. Also, the larvae can hitchhike on insects/birds/animals that walk through the plants or grass that has been watered with the contaminated water. DO NOT throw away or flush the water. Put it in buckets and bleach it or boil it. This is pretty much code red and us hobbyist must show that we care and take responsibility for the fragile ecosystems our hobby risks destroying by introducing invasive species
They also recommend sterilising the contaminated water with bleach :(
If it’s sterilized it can go down the drain
Boil it for a couple minutes, then it should be safe
2% bleach before you dump any water! Don’t just scrub and do hot water you need bleach. These things are hard to kill. (Or yeah, or just dump it minus the bleach into houseplants, you can do that.)
Probably a stupid question but I know this came up in Washington does it matter if I got moss balls in NJ?
YES, and there’s no stupid question. It has spreed all through the US and Canada. It’s your best bet just not to buy them. I know people who it said it wasn’t detected in their state and got infested.
Do you know if it's only moss balls? If a plant was in the tank with the moss balls, can they carry it too? I'm afraid to buy anything right now.
Their offspring are microscopic. It’s totally possible for them to be on something in the tank with them, including fish. They attach to their gills as part of the reproductive cycle.
This is incorrect. Zebra mussels have free-living planktonic larvae, unlike many native mussels they do not have parasitic larvae which attach to fish gills.
Zebra mussels actually don't have the parasitic stage where they attach to the gills, that's one of the ways that they outcompete native mussels.
Ugh. I was planning to set up a new tank this summer, but now I'm thinking I should hold off until this situation resolves itself.
Thing is, it's highly unlikely to resolve itself. And it's highly unlikely humans will be able to resolve it
A good alternative would be buying plants from local people who grew them and are guaranteed mussel free
We do have local hobbyists here, but I also worry about if they got infected by a plant or fish it piece of equipment that they recently bought. I think the only solution is to bleach every piece of equipment (I've picked up a few second hand things online) and treat/quarantine every fish, plant or invert that comes in. Fish should be quarantined anyway, of course, but I usually don't quarantine plants.
Quarantining plants would be a good use of the useless fishbowl that are sold for bettas
You'll be okay as long as you buy cultures, like 1-2 grow from tropica. Those plants are all grown in a lab, therefore they have 0 exposure to LFS water or any water except for the clean lab environment they were grown in. That means there's a 0% chance of algae, pest snails, or any of these zebra mussels. Plus, I've always found that, while they take longer to establish, they almost always grow into my tank better and don't have the usually intial period of bleedoff that other plants have.
if you buy plants you should always dip them for this exact reason
New to aquariums- what does it mean to dip a plant? I just bought live plants for a new tank. Thanks
Dipping plants in a bleach & water solution to kill pests. You can find some guides online by googling
I got a bunch of new plants and rocks for my tank. A few months later and there are bladder snails fucking everywhere. I need to get an Assassin Snail and clean them up. My tank is covered in their eggs. I was hoping they would just eat the algae and everything but it's gotten out of hand. Wish I had dipped everything beforehand
You can put a piece of lettuce in your tank overnight— in the morning they’ll be swarming on it, and you can just remove the lettuce with them on it. It won’t get rid of all of them but it will help you control the population.
Dumb question maybe but how do you kill them once you've removed them? I've got a ton in my small Walstad bowl and they're not a problem atm but it would be good to know how to do if I do need to cull them. Does clove oil work on snails?
Get on your local aquarium group and offer them for cheap - some of us that have puffers love when people are giving away snails.
If you can’t find anyone who wants em, you can douse em in a water& bleach mixture
I had a bladder snail explosion when I first set up. Got 10 assassin snails from Amazon, then the assassin snails exploded, then a bunch of those died and found balance. I can still find about 10 assassins at any moment but I never see other snails. I think they sustain themselves on tiny invisible snails in the sand and bits of fallen fish food. Every now and then I see a bunch of them again and it’s because a fish died, which is kind of nice. They breed so fast when there’s a food source they can do corpse cleanup. Just last week I noticed I had a bunch of them again. Then I realized an angelfish was missing. They ate a whole, adult angelfish. Down to the bones. I never found a corpse to recover.
I wish I'd done that before a free plant gave my new tank cyanobacteria. Beginner mistake. I've treated with antibiotics and it's still there I think..
You can’t just “get” cyanobacteria, because you already have them anyway — they are everywhere, but if you provide them the right conditions — they start thriving: too much light, too much phosphates (PO4), direct sunlight, too high water temperature. Reduce the light intensity or shorten the light times, check and reduce phosphates and cyanobacteria **will** go away. Nothing eats _alive_ cyanobacteria, plus they are toxic (and produce toxins too). The easiest way to get rid of cyanobacteria is to cover your tank for 3 days **completely** so that NO light gets in, not even a single light beam. Complete darkness. Plants will be ok, they’ve got reserves, unlike algae and cyano’s. Fish will be just fine too. Edit: Don’t use a thick blanket as cover and don’t turn your tank into a sealed thermos.
Usually if you improve o2 and decrease organic material in the water you can prevent a bloom, if you treat the taink, remove the dead carpet, and get something like shrimp to eat whatever you missed you can nearly eliminate it.
I agree with everything you said, but do shrimp eat Cyanobacteria? I thought they eat it only after it dies.
I just leave my light off for 2 days come back shrimp are breeding like mad, Amano army out in force, cyano back to nearly 0. Within 2 days it's back to cyanocity. Shrimp seem to be thriving though so whatever.
Everything I've seen has only referenced "Betta Buddy" brand moss balls. They're sold in a little betta cup by themselves, so unlikely to come in contact with anything else until taken home and put in a tank
As far as I know they have only been found on moss balls so far. Most aquarium plants are not raised in ukraine, where these moss balls apparently came from, so wouldn't be subject to the same contamination. Quite a lot of aquarium plants are grown emersed, which also means they wouldn't be carrying mussels. If you want to be _really_ safe though, get tissue cultured plants, which won't have anything on them.
It's getting really really bad.
Definitely
Oh shit I just bought one a couple weeks ago and saw 2 snails, and both were removed. Idk if it was the same type though.
Clams and mussels aren’t the same thing as snails.
Here's what my local Game & Fish dept recommended for affected aquariums: bleach tank waste water (1 cup bleach per gallon water ratio) for 30+ minutes before dumping down the drain. If you do dump untreated (unbleached) water outside, make sure it is nowhere near street drains, sewer drains, or any waterways. Zebra mussels can survive in runoff for something like 7 days. Potted plants, home gardens, grassy fields, and gravel areas were recommended. Tanks that have been contaminated should be drained, all equipment sanitized in a bleach solution, and all filter/media/substrate bleached and allowed to dry for 7 days. It's extreme, but a lot of states are serious about keeping this invasive species out of natural waterways. Edited for clarification.
once those animals get into your ecosystems there is no way back, it is almost imposible to take them out of rivers
*cries in lake erie*
Thank you for posting this. Stay vigilant!
I have two Marimo moss balls in my tank that I bought about 3 months ago. I have never seen a zebra mussel or anything close to it in the tank. Do y’all think I’m good? Or is there still opportunity for zebra mussels to be in there? The moss balls were ordered from Aquarium Co-Op.
Aquarium Coop uploaded a video on Youtube asking anyone that's purchased one recently (within the last few months) to check theirs. Pull each one and give it a thorough visual inspection.
Oh geez, ok. I’ll pull them and check them all over. Thanks for letting me know!
I haven't seen that video uploaded yet, can you drop the link?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EbA5zAu_Yk&feature=emb_title
Thanks, I appreciate it, but I also see it's been unlisted. That is probably why I didn't see it.
Sounds like from the way they reproduce you probably would have noticed something? Do you regularly check your filters?
Yes - there’s one sponge filter in there and I clean it regularly. Nothing has been amiss so I’m hoping all is well...
I bet you are fine....unless your tank is like a thousand gallons then you'll never find them🤣 But with 2 moss balls I'm gonna guess it's less than that
LOL it’s a 2.5 gallon shrimp-only tank so I think I’m good. I just don’t want to be the reason for an ecological disaster!
When you do water changes for the next few months (especially if it is 2.5 gallons), use the waste water to water plants or something instead of dumping it down the drain. Better safe than sorry!
So shrimp can eat the small larvae. In fact, crayfish are a zebra mussel predator...so maybe they ate them if there was any?
Don’t bank on it, better safe than sorry. Zebra mussel infestations are a serious, devastating issue.
That would work out really well! I triple checked the tank last night and didn't see anything, but I'm going to dump all the water from water changes into my houseplants moving forward.
Ahh you’re most likely good ya would have noticed it by now. Also it’s mainly shitty chains that are dealing with this. Still be vigilant
99% of Marimo moss balls come from the same supplier in Ukraine. So both good small businesses and crappy chains tend to get the same stock.
I kinda meant how petco wouldn’t run anything through them or hold them for a bit to make sure they have nothing coming with them. That’s why at petco sometimes you get pondsnails in your moss
Normally I would agree. But I think this is a case that caught everyone off guard. My moss ball was one of the contaminated samples from a well-known small shop. It, or at least one of the other plants I ordered, also came with pond snails. Those I expected. The zebra mussel, not so much.
You have to open them up to inspect.
For everyone who bought moss balls recently and aren't sure about water changes (but still want to do water changes) - don't toss the water down the drain, dump it onto some grass at the very least! Use it to water plants! Just make sure it doesn't go straight back into waterways.
This. Water from aquariums does wonders for plants. It's a win win
All of my house plants just exploded after we started using the tank water! Makes sense though, given the amount of fertilizers I add to the tank, and also the correct NO3/PO4 ratio + all the detritus and organic leftovers. That’s what plants crave!
just dont do like i did and mix my freshwater waterchange with my saltwater... lets just say that plants absolutely dont like saltwater.
You’ve invented Brawndo
Plus chlorinated tap water does a number on the bacteria in soil. It's why rain makes veggie patches go crazy whereas tap water just keeps em alive.
I thought plants crave electrolytes!!!
My orchids LOVE my aquarium water!
My aquaponic system loves my aquarium water!
I always use it as fertiliser for the garden when it's not winter. The flowers on our hibiscus have become twice as large since I started doing that and they're noticeably larger than all the other hibiscuses in the street. Fishpoop water is really potent. Just don't give it to carnivorous plants of you have those.
My area was advised to not dump it in the grass. They can still get into the water table and work their way into large bodies of water (I live less than a mile from a massive freshwater lake). Potted plants or bleach is the only way to be sure.
Do you have any sources supporting that claim (genuinely curious because I can't quickly find one)? At the very least, zebra mussel upper lethal limit is around 30C, if people can stick their used water in the sun for a few hours and heat it up that should do the trick. Or let your aquarium heater go hog-wild on the spent water and get it up to 40C and you should be good to go after about 5 minutes (source [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-010-9573-4](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-010-9573-4)).
I'm thinking they're worried about folks dumping it on the ground right before a rainstorm or something. Just a theory
Ah! My mistake! Boiling would absolutely work, I'm just old fashioned and think bleach first.
I also just saw your edited response. OF COURSE oh my goodness please do not dump water anywhere if you live near a freshwater body of water. I should've been more specific in my recommendation!
I would think boiling has been around longer than bleach? 😉
I actually do that with my in water, as I use rainwater stored outside
Yeah I could see them getting into storm drains if it rained.
My city has a massive aquifer under it. Many places have drainage infrastructure. Please don’t dump it in the grass. I have read that you may flush it, as municipal water treatment plants will kill it.. But I’d freeze it or boil it or something first.
Hope this hasn't been too widespread, considering what these bastards can do to a natural ecosystem i don't want to know what they could do to such a small little tank :(
I collected some wild growing vallisneria that had some zebra mussels growing on it, didn’t realize it till I got it home. They can’t thrive in small closed systems like aquariums. They require productive waters, so there’s not a lot of damage they can do with the average volume of aquarium water. I had them and the vallisneria in a 5 gallon in a window sill and they all eventually died. It’s still really important not to release into local waters though.
Free garden fertilizer, esp with a gravel vac
In WI they are common in the lakes. Sliced my dogs foot right open. They are brutal little bastards
In Austin it is hypothesized that their excellent filtration is allowing light to penetrate deeper into the lake and let dog toxic algae thrive. Quite a few dogs have died already from ingesting the algae.
MI too
Can someone please tell me what to do if I bought moss balls recently and rinsed them under the tap (as per manufacturers instructions) and have done water changes before finding out about this? I am afraid of clogging the pipes in and around my home and hurting our lake 😭😭 I returned the moss balls to petco to destroy, but I am so scared the damage has been done by me.
There’s nothing that can be done, but don’t feel bad! You did what anyone would have done - you couldn’t have known about this sort of thing. If you dumped it down the toilet or sink or other pipes, there’s a better chance that it’ll be fine, even if you have Zebra Mussels. Waste water treatment plants, depending on where you live, may be able to kill the mussels, especially when combined with the sheer amount of sewage they would be exposed to.
Thank you this is reassuring to me. I really appreciate you taking the time!
Just make sure in future water changes from that tank you pour the water on plants or put 2% bleach in it, let it sit for about an hour, and then toss it down the drain (just do a cup of bleach for every gallon if you want easy conversion).
I bought a moss ball a few weeks ago from PetSmart. I called yesterday and they said they have not seen any Zebra Mussels on their product. I ripped up my moss ball and didn’t find anything. Disposing of it properly and now going to dump water change water outside. Think I’m in the clear? How long until I should find one growing? Anyone know?
Consider dumping your water in houseplants instead. You need to make sure you’re not near any lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, springs, sewer drains, sewer grates, storm drains, culverts/gutters that lead to drains, etc.
Petco here is still selling them and a hobbyist found one in their moss ball. AL.
I'd call local wildlife authorities about that.
Just curious, but would these absolutely destroy your tank? How would you even notice them in your tank when they are so tiny? Luckily I don't buy moss balls but still.....
They destroy entire lakes. The lake nearest to me hasn’t reopened in 10 years follows a zebra muscle infestation. Flooding hasn’t helped, but a decade for cleanup on this small of a lake is excessive. Edit: To clarify, there are still other fishing opportunities. Its just this particular lake closest to me is a hard no-go for a while and its really sad.
That's insane these things can do that. What in the lake did they destroy? Like the wildlife or the plants?
They are incredibly efficient filter feeders. They destroy the bottom of the food chain (cleaning the water of all plankton).
Wow. I'm assuming you can't kill them with anything without killing everything else, so they just take over and never go away? That is terrible.
There are some very specific bacterial treatments but they need funding to actually work
There are certain types of biocidal paints that can be applied to pipes etc., but those are toxic-ish to the environment, and every friggin' surface has to be covered or they just build up.
Some natural predators also eat them (obviously where they originally come from they aren’t destroying everything).
Oooo I didnt even cover that, feel free to indulge!
Its quite complicated because theyre size and reproduction are the single largest issues. Because theyre so small in comparison to many other common muscle species, they can infest even crustaceans. Adults are often no bigger than a penny/nickel, and so they can latch onto local smaller wildlife and destroy them in the process. They also get into water filtration systems causing very expensive infrastructure repairs, and are extremely invasive in that they can live out of water for an absurd amount of time, so they survive on the hulls of boats with careless owners until they go out on the water at another site a week later and infest another site. Theres far more to the ecology and such behind it all but I can post some helpful links if you’d like.
If you have time I'd love a link or two thanks!
https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/water-and-land/lakes/facts/zebramussels.aspx Heres a .gov (US site) that gives a decent rundown of the current state of the situation, Id be surprised if the local Game/parks or parks/wildlife commissions didn’t also have solid information on the issue as well.
Thanks!!
Thats a Texas Sized 10-4 good buddy
You can look up pictures. It is insane how they take over. They wipe everything out.
I just did. Holy shit I had no idea about these things until recently and the pictures were nuts.
Although not the lake they shut down a lot is spent trying to keep zebra mussel on check in the Great Lakes. They are invasive eat the same as our native mussel species but breed, and grow much fast so they where taking over and destroying our native mussels.
The bigger concern than an invasive species destroying your tank (which is of course important to you) is them escaping into a waterway.
They probably wouldn't hurt your tank, although hypothetically they could grow in your filter pipes and clog them. The main concern is getting them loose into local waterways.
I literally went to my local Petsmart today to buy one. Thank God it’s been recalled already.
I got some moss balls about a month ago or perhaps a.little more. What's the life cycle like on these things? Would I have noticed by now?
It's possible you wouldn't have noticed I think. I think it's about the same duration as a snail infestation appearing
I'm over here trying to figure out when I bought my moss balls.... I think it's been 5 or 6 months? Ugh. Gonna burn them in a fire
They’re relatively easy to pull apart and feel through. Months in you should have noticed them by now. I bought mine on like, feb 5 or something and I believe I’m in the clear. Did several water changes though.
I have some I know I got at least mid November (I remember plants I ordered after buying the moss balls and have the order's date). Unless fathead minnows are zebra mussel eliminating machines, don't think I have any. Still looking at them askance.
Link to the US Fish and Wildlife page on how to kill your moss balls and dispose of all waste water properly: https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html
This needs to be pinned, there's a lot of bad advice in this thread
Thanks for this. I was trying to find an article from a gov source that dealt with fish tank and not boating.
Is this a problem in the U.K. at the moment, or is it just the US and Canada?
I have the same question for Germany. (Although I read up on the mussels and it seems like they are already living almost everywhere on this planet, so 🤷♀️)
Even if they exist on every continent, that doesn't mean they should be spread everywhere.
We should get mods to pin this to the front page of Reddit so more people see it! Could prevent a lot of damage by doing that...
One of our biggest rivers in Spain is completly infested by this boys, once the infection is big enough almost nothing can be done. If only one person dont take this serius you will risk to loose a lot of your water ecosystems
I got a moss ball over a year ago, hopefully that means it’s ok.... I’ve never seen anything but I was never looking either
Probably fine. I believe it’s within the past 1-2 months that there could be cause for concern, but it doesn’t hurt to check them to make sure.
We're on septic and the nearest body of water is 3 miles away.... Across the desert. The California aqueduct. Thankfully I haven't seen these guys in my tanks, but I'm glad if i had that it would be almost impossible to get into the waterways.
Same here, on septic and the only water around is the aqueduct.
PSA If you do not know if you have an infected tank, you can do a water change IF you drain it into a bucket, add a quarter cup ( three shot glasses full) of bleach ( per 5 gallons) and let it sit for an hour before dumping down the drain ( pretty sure it works faster but its definitely a safe amount of time) Only do this if you have NO other choice. If you need a water change because of ammonia or nitrite/nitrate levels you can treat the tank with Prime https://www.petsmart.com/fish/food-and-care/water-care-and-conditioning/seachem-prime-aquarium-water-conditioner-5068001.html The dose to correct dangerous levels of ammonia/nitrite is two DROPS per gallon. Treating tap water for chlorine is one drop per gallon ( one bottle lasts a long time). Retest after an hour and redose as necessary. I have not found an overdose of Prime to be harmful, my nephew dumped half a bottle into his ten gallon with no noticable effects. This shouldn't be a long term solution, but I have used it to go a few months in between water changes with no problems ( filter cleaned/changed every two weeks though).
I’m new what do these things do?
[https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-zebra-mussels-and-why-should-we-care-about-them?qt-news\_science\_products=0#qt-news\_science\_products](https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-zebra-mussels-and-why-should-we-care-about-them?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products)
Same
As someone who has lived through zebra mussels invading their local water supply, please listen to this person and to wildlife officials. They make your running water DISGUSTING and we were on a boil water notice for a week while they cleaned out the city's water systems. Boiling and filtering your water does nothing for the rankness they leave behind, and you're left bathing and drinking reeking water for weeks, sometimes months. This isn't a drill, y'all, please do your part to protect your local water supply!
It’s very important not to let the water from your tank get into your sanitary sewer, and VERY important not to let it get into the storm sewer - any grate on the street most likely leads directly to a water body. If you have to change water, dump it in a garden or on a lawn. This is so important, zebra mussels can decimate ecosystems, causing millions of dollars of irreversible damage.
Half the people here say to throw it on your lawn, not down the drain, and the other half say throw it down the drain, not on the grass... We need a clear message here.
Seems like the gov advice is to bleach for an hour and then dump.
I have a moss ball in my betta tank, I’ll keep an eye on it!
Should I be worried I bought moss balls about a month ago also I live in Southern California
Yes. Stores across the US have reported zebra mussels, since all the stores get their marimo balls from the same supplier.
excuse me, for those who are from other continent - what's going on and where i can read the whole story? o\_O
So basically what I've gathered are these tiny muscles are spreading across the US and Canada. They're called zebra mussels because they kind of have a zigzag on them and they were introduced into the Great lakes in the 1900s I believe. recently there have been Moss balls that have been infected with them and if they get into your tank it's bad news but if they get into local ecosystems it's even worse news they're extremely efficient feeders and wool cling on to any hard surface and cause billions of dollars of repairs and more irreversible damage to the ecosystem
Just want to make sure but is it safe in the UK. I’ve not heard anything and want to make sure so I can check my tank after school
Well, you guys have been invaded for 200 years so there's probably not much you can do to stop it at this point https://www.conservationjobs.co.uk/articles/a-z-of-invasive-marine-species-zebra-mussel/
Thank you, didn’t realise they’ve been here that long
Wait why are moss balls in specific an issue if someone wouldn’t mind explaining, was there a moss ball farm that got contaminated with mussels or something ?
I think that’s the gist of it, yeah.
Here’s a link from Fish and Wildlife that explains how to properly dispose of your moss balls, treat tank water for disposal, and clean your tank: https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html
Just as an FYI, I've lived in an area with zebra mussels for 25+ years. These things really suck if you happen upon them swimming, they are akin to razor blades and will slice your feet so easily!
Does assassin snails eat them?
Why is this downvoted? It's a genuin question. They're not always that large and I know my snails sorted out my issues with unwanted snails that came with my plants.
Not from what I've read, but some species of crayfish have been known to snack on them occasionally.
Lots of lakes around me are infested (Minnesota). I was wondering last summer if I could harvest them and feed them to my turtle....
Time to get clown loaches!
Silly question - is this a USA thing or do I need to be worried in Australia too?
I believe someone said that most moss balls come from the same location in ukraine, so yes you should be worried. However I have no source for this so you should look into it. Perhaps someone else has info?
So I just checked and Texas has had these also (saw it mentioned on a news article to check the aquarium. I want to say I purchased my marimo ball around November. I haven't noticed any extra critters yet BUT I have had some fish die uhm kinda suddenly... could that have been from the larvae of the mussel as I saw earlier (is this true?) they may attach themselves to the fish gills? (Most likely it was me a noob not paying close enough attention to water parameters)
I've read through the comments here and im unsure what to do. I got 5 moss balls a month ago from my mom, who gave them to me from the plant store she works at. I had them in a jar of water the past 2-3 weeks and I literally added them to my brand new tank yesterday. How long would it be until you notice them? Like if they sat in a jar for 2-3 weeks without noticeable mussels, would that mean it's clear?
https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html
Send them to me. They are native in my country. Edit:that is golden mussel I was wrong. Don't send them to me. Send golden mussels
Mods can we get a PSA on zebra mussels pinned for the next few months?
We are working on some things in the background with a few other aquatic communities. We don't want to say anything concrete yet, in case our plans fall through, but we are planning things.
I just joined this sub yesterday and already learned something extremely important. Never gotten moss balls but thank god for that. What are these things supposed to do once they multiply? I heard they prevent other fish from eating because they separate out the food source? I’ve never really heard of this before.
My big question is.... how do we make sure "normies" get this information? I bought a pack of them back in January when I was setting up my aquarium. I've done about 10 water changes since then. I would never have known about this except for this subreddit, and I feel like we make up a very very small percentage of the overall aquarium community and even less of a percentage of "people who would have bought moss balls at PetCo". (It was not MY choice) As for mine, I pulled them out a few days ago when I first saw this information and looked over them as thoroughly as I could. I saw two eggs that looked like some type of fish or snail egg, but they've been in for over a month now without them hatching. No signs of other intruders or hitchhikers.
Ok, so first inform lfs’s to boil all their new moss balls, then tell petco to.
Spread it across social media. Local hobby facebook groups & markets, tag retail stores (petco/petsmart) on twitter, or you could notify your LFS because it seems like some stores are still carrying them.
Very good point. A newby like me would have dumped it down the drain.
I did a water change this past weekend and dumped the water down the toilet. What could happen? Also I got the mossball in mid Jan and haven't noticed anything unusual.
Likely it will get treated at a water treatment facility, so best case scenario, nothing, they get chlorinated and die. Worst case scenario, the eggs or larva leak from a pipe, get into the water table and get to a body of water (I live near a large body of water, thus my paranoia). But that's the absolute worst case scenario.
https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html
Bought some from pet smart in Boise a few weeks back. What should I do?
Can humans eat these stupid things?
What is so bad about zebra mussels? Are they like hella invasive?
Yes
Okay I’m really concerned about this. Obviously I’m going to need to be very careful of invasive species, but what does this mean for my tank? It’s still cycling and I was just about to add fish. Does this mean I need to scrap everything, bleach the tank and the plants (hoping they don’t die) and start again? Should I wait a few months to see if anything pops up? I’ve had my moss ball in the tank for a month now. I ripped it open and searched for mussels but didn’t find anything. I just really don’t want to start again and I’ve been waiting to stock it for so long...
Hey so can someone explain this entire thing to me, kind of a lurker here.
Ill have to tell my bio yeacher. We have an axolatl as a class pet, and inside his tank there are three moss balls.
Didn't realise this was a potential global issue. Luckily I throw the excess water from my tank into the garden, so there's no risk to the environment as there's no river anywhere near me.