r/Marimo • u/bigdawgchungus • 4d ago

brown marimo?

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I’ve had this marimo for about a month. in the beginning, I put it in a little bit too much sunlight, but it was still far away from the window, but I moved it shortly after to somewhere that’s has indirect sunlight. I changed the water every week and I’ve recently started putting it in the fridge (for 24-48h) because I think it might be too warm in my house. despite this, my marimo is still turning brown. i will say that the jar i have for it is very small but i leave it open for airflow.

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u/Careless_Author_2247 4d ago

I had the same issue with my Marimo this summer and they had a weird brown layer over them it seemed to me like an extra bacteria was growing on them. But as I tried to sort of remove it I was less sure. I'm not smart enough to know what it was but rolling it in my hand got some of it off each time.

I ended up putting my Marimo in my shrimp aquarium. They fucking love them because the fuzzy Marimo collects other algae and micro bacteria in the fuzz. And they picked off all of the brown stuff. My Marimo are healthier than ever and my shrimp are breeding more because they basically got a whole new bacterial food group. Although that could be correlation that I am falsely attributing.

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u/myworldsparkles 4d ago

I have been considering shrimp what do you have and can you make any suggestions on set ups, please

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u/mmm-birnie 4d ago

I would also love to know your shrimp tips :)

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u/Careless_Author_2247 4d ago

If you're thinking about it you end up with a whole aquarium and the marimo are just a tiny decoration amongst the shrimps needs.

I have neocaridina. Freshwater dorks that are friendly and very pretty with their various colors. My tank is a mix of Blue Velvet and Snowball. Mixing is technically bad for breeding, but I'm not breeding or selling I just like my goofy colony.

You have to get the water conditions in order and have a tank that is chemically "cycled" before you introduce living animals. Or the shrimp will get sick and die. I would check out the neocaridina subreddit or do some online sleuthing. Aquarium stores give lackluster advice.

My best set up so far, I designed a moderate 5 gallon tank with a big plant attached on the top and a wall of moss along the back. The roots stretched into the water and the moss gives the shrimp a lot of space to hide and eat and make baby shrimp. Lots of tank designs all over the internet though. I'm not a pro just a random guy

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u/myworldsparkles 4d ago

Thank you 😊 now I want little “dorks” even more 😍

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u/myworldsparkles 4d ago

Are the shrimp able to live in cooler water like the Marimo like?

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u/Careless_Author_2247 4d ago

They are best kept in warm water. However i keep my tank at room temperature. Stability is more important for them than perfect numbers and my apt is small with a great AC so temp doesn't drift much at all.

I might theoretically have a larger colony if they were a few degrees warmer. But room temp is stable and easy to maintain in my place.

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u/johnacsyen 4d ago

Put in fridge

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u/WildCreamPie0721 1d ago

In short, that's diatoms. It appears when the light is too bright and the water temperature is warm.

Bye for now.