Hi guys, I have a marimo moss ball I bleached in 1 part bleach to 20 parts water. I wasn't really thinking clearly when I did this. I was at my wits end battling blue-green algae in my aquarium and after my 1 fish died I wanted to clean everything really well. All the medications, gravel vacuuming, water and filter changing did not help the problem and it was a last ditch effort. So, I bleached my moss ball, anubias and Java fern and replanted the aquarium.

The anubias and java fern are looking Ok. Lots of damage on the fern, but it's pushing out new growth. The moss ball is pretty brown, but if I spread it apart a little, the more inwards stuff appears green. Do we think this will recover?

I have a Marimo moss ball as well, and I've found it's extremely sensitive. This being said, it looks to me like your plant won't be coming back. Maybe it's just the lighting, but the brown color looks to have completely covered the entirety of the outside of the plant, which isn't a good sign. I currently have a very healthy moss ball just by keeping it in the light and changing its water every couple weeks.

Not to seem like the wet blanket, I hope it didn't come across as that. If there is a way to bring your plant back, I don't know it, but that's not saying much considering my knowledge of aquatic plants. I only speak from experience gained from possessing three Marimo moss balls.

Either way, whether it lives or not, wishing you the best of luck!

Thanks for your input @Johannian. It's what I'm thinking, too. I'll just let it sit there for now and see what happens unless it starts to get gross. It seems I can't get another one now anyways due to the zebra mussel situation, so I'll just have to wait.

I'd cut off the brown parts, like giving a haircut. Expose the green parts, or they might start dying off from not enough light.

@sedumzz haha! I thought briefly about doing this before I imagined how crazy I would look to my husband if he walked in on me doing it. Thank you for the validation I needed to give this a try! Lol