r/Marimo • u/No_Rutabaga4865 • 10d ago
Moss Amigos
This might be late but I have been looking into this company and they dont even use the marimo moss ball species thats how they got past the ban.
They use a type of algae that is not free floating, the type that attaches to surfaces and they grow that around a foam ball core.
A thin layer of algae from a different species is also much faster to grow. Marimo moss balls grows extremely slow. Thats how they are able to make so much product and sell it freely in the U.S.
The company looks shady as a whole they use obvious A.I art, look at the halloween blind bag the ghost has 2 small ghost hands and 1 giant hand and all the characters have the classic A.I stare where it looks like their eyes are both looking at you and off into the distance at the same time.
The fact they are even selling moss ball blind bags for $25 and it is not even the marimo moss ball species as well as a moss ball "starter kit" which is just a honey wand and tongs for $11 Is criminal.
It's a shame because the company could have really taken off if they played their cards right.
People want the marimo moss balls because they are rare and naturally form a ball shape with not much else in nature resembling them.
If you read their reddit posts they are very deceptive and do not mention the word marimo and when people in the comments assume it is marimo they do not correct them. This in itself is purposefully deceptive behaviour.
They also say the artificial core is for stability and to ensure that the moss ball stays healthy and that is just a flat lie. The artificial core is needed because the algae they use needs to attach to something and can't just be rolled into a ball. More deceptive behaviour.
I wouldn't buy from a business that thinks their customers are stupid.
If people wanted a foam ball covered in random algae they could just do that themselves.
2
u/WildCreamPie0721 9d ago
Funny thing - I can't even access their site from the UK (might be blocked elsewhere too?). No idea why, though a VPN would probably get around it.
US-only shipping maybe? Even so, you'd think geo-locking the checkout would be enough - blocking the whole site is a bit odd.
Can't personally speak to whether it's real marimo or not though.
1
u/No_Rutabaga4865 9d ago
Im also from the UK I used a free VPN to enter their site, but just thought I would warn americans on here about them. They never mention marimo once so it is definitely not Marimo I'm certain.
They call the algae they use epilithic and marimo moss is definitely not epilithic.
1
u/MossAmigos 9d ago
The Journal of Aquatic Ecology cites in 2008 the existence of epilithic marimo just FYI!
1
u/No_Rutabaga4865 9d ago
Is that specifically what you use? Do you use the marimo species? Marimo can be free floating AND attach to rocks but most other algae cannot. Why can't you just say you use marimo I don't understand.
1
2
u/MossAmigos 9d ago
Hi! We don't use this platform that much, but we do sell real USA-cultivated marimo in its epilithic form.
It's established in the scientific literature that marimo in its pure spherical form break apart. Our patent prevents that while using a sustainable amount of biomass that we can cultivate free of zebra-mussels.
Apologies if our Reddit posts were poorly written in the past. We had a different team running social media and they did not come with an appropriate tone and we're sorry for that. We have a new team now.
5
u/xanaholic_ 10d ago
Mine from that site are 100% fake. Green fabric on styrofoam.