# Moss Balls



## Ohio Cichlid Lover (Feb 27, 2012)

Are Moss Balls good for a freshwater aquarium? Do they reduce nitrates?


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## djoneser (Mar 20, 2008)

I think the answer depends on what fish you keep to some extent. I tried out moss balls, but after the rainbows laid eggs on/in them, my clown loaches destroyed them looking for the eggs.

Plants will help with nitrates some, but you really need a lot of plants and few fish to make a noticable difference.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What you need for nitrates are fast growing plants. I went from 20ppm to 0 ppm in a week in a heavily loaded tank when I planted Vallisneria. Those plants grew 1/3 their height in that time.

Of course that caused other problems that were worse than the nitrates.

I've never done moss balls, but I don't think they are very fast growing.


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

DJRansome said:


> ... Of course that caused other problems that were worse than the nitrates.


Such as?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Cyanobacteria. I get it in my planted tanks when the plants consume the nitrates so fast, there is none left for them to live on and they start to languish. When I had the fast-growing plants in my tanks, I had to add nitrates to keep the plants healthy and avoid cyanobacteria.


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