So I bought these little thingies for RM35 (a few cents more than USD 10) at a Zen garden sort of display. I had thought they were selling fishes in pretty jars and was surprised that a plant was the 'pet' here!
(Erm, I suppose it can be considered as a plant, maybe?)
The sales guy said that they're Japanese moss balls that will grow around 5 millimeters a year. Well, they are very low maintenance, so I thought 'Why not?'. And I had this silly thought that one marimo on it's own would get lonely so I got two instead. xd
My best photo so far. EDIT: Oh blast! Why won't it rotate upright?!
The round edges going a bit weird here, mostly thanks to my siblings shaking the jar... But I reshaped them later, they feel like some sort of coarse artificial grass strands.
And this is one that shows the water going cloudy. This was around 5 days or so after the first water change.
So far online research tells me that they are a protected species in Japan, where they populate the bottom of the Lake Akan in cold cold cold waters. Whole colonies can live there in layers, and the currents that move them shape them this way naturally. They can grow quite large, but that will take a few generations of course.
Suppose I'll update after a year then... xp
Or until I give in and buy some more? I have this strange notion that I'll be wanting to get an aquarium with a water pump for these little green balls. I just hope they don't die in the hot temperature here. And that I didn't just buy something illegal...
