The U.S. Government Wants People To Destroy These Moss Balls

At first glance, these moss balls look harmless – even pretty. But don’t be fooled. If you get your hands on one of them, know that the United States government needs you to destroy it straight away. And not obeying this order could bring dire consequences. We’re not exaggerating!

Not so harmless

If you’re wondering where these deceptive green menaces are lurking, look no further than your neighborhood pet store. Unsuspecting customers buy them to help spruce up their fish tanks. But while it seems like a harmless way to give your aquatic friends a natural environment, it's anything but.

Inside tanks

Instead of opting for a mini-castle or posing diver, some fish owners prefer to use vegetation. And we can understand why. It’s more natural-looking than a piece of plastic, for sure. As for the moss balls, folks have often put them in their tanks for a good reason.

Benefits

You see, moss balls and other aquatic mosses have the ability to upgrade the condition of water in a tank. They soak up nutrients and nitrates while increasing oxygenation – helping the fish breathe more easily. Pretty cool, right? They’re not just decorative features, then.

Keeps eggs safe

And the benefits don’t end there. Moss balls are perfect for breeding tanks as well. Think about it. When your fish lays its eggs in the tank, the unhatched offspring will eventually land in the vegetation. The ball acts as a sort of fishy neonatal unit, if you like.

Hiding spot

To add to that, certain types of baby fish have a tendency to bury themselves into the moss. It’s the ideal hiding spot, wouldn’t you agree? Mind you, that’s not the only reason why they gravitate towards those areas in breeding tanks. Moss balls keep the young’uns well fed too!

Attracts life

How so? Well, aquatic moss attracts tiny life forms upon which baby fish can feed. It’s like an underwater buffet down there. Anyway, those are just a few of the reasons why people look to buy moss balls from their local pet shops. So what’s the motive behind the U.S. government’s drive to destroy them?

Unseen risk

The authorities’ reaction seems a little extreme, right? What threat could they pose? While you try to wrap your head around that, here are some other things to consider. You see, moss balls aren’t just found in fish tanks and home aquariums. They’re scattered across lakes and different beds of water as well.

In nature

In fact, moss balls are usually spotted in countries such as Japan, Iceland and Scotland. The Scandinavian nation’s Lake Mývatn is a real hotspot in that respect, as is Japan’s Lake Akan. Out in the wild, a single ball can reach between fourand 11 inches in diameter, so they’re not exactly small.

Growing larger

Yet in 2014 the moss balls started to crop up in other places too. For instance, beachgoers in Sydney, Australia, stumbled across a sizable group of them that year while strolling along Dee Why Beach. That would’ve been quite the sight! We can only imagine their surprise at the time.

Government's stance

That still leaves us with a burning question, though – why does the American government want to wipe out these moss balls? Well, as we suggested a little earlier, the drive has some justification to it. Sure, the campaign might appear pretty strange on the surface, but when you go a little deeper, it all starts to make sense.

Aegagropila linnaei

First things first, we need to clarify something that might surprise you. As it turns out, moss balls aren’t actually made from the aforementioned vegetation. Instead, they’re a type of algae known as Aegagropila linnaei. Didn’t see that coming, did you? And we can’t blame you – the name moss ball is very misleading!

Algae blooms

Now here’s the thing about algae. Visually it doesn’t seem all that dangerous, but blooms can cause untold damage to watering holes and beaches. Take Florida as an example. For just over a year, the state had to deal with the ominously named “red tide,” which eventually dispersed at the start of 2020.

Toxins

Thanks to the toxins in the algae, various aquatic animals lost their lives during that period. According to British newspaper The Guardian, close to 600 sea turtles and over 100 manatees died in Floridian waters. Plus, nearly 130 dolphins joined the list of casualties as well. It was a terrible situation all round.

Tainting water

But our aquatic friends aren’t the only ones at risk from toxic algae. Humans can be affected too. During the summer of 2014 Toledo, Ohio, was hit by a bloom that ruined the population’s water. Taps were essentially off-limits, with the City of Toledo’s Facebook page releasing a statement on the matter.

Boiling won't help

The post read, “Water should not be consumed until an all-clear is issued. It’s important to state that this drinking water alert does NOT recommend boiling, and in fact, boiling water can worsen the situation. Consuming water containing algal toxins may result in abnormal liver function, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, numbness or dizziness.”

More dangers

Yikes! To say it’ll make you sick would be an understatement. Keeping that in mind, you can understand why the United States government might be wary of moss balls. Then again, that’s not the driving factor behind the campaign to get rid of them. In truth, there’s something else lurking beneath their bright-green exterior.

How to act

So if you happen to have any moss balls at home, don’t panic. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has you covered. You see, the government agency has outlined what people should do with the vegetation via its website. According to the page, there are three methods that’ll get the job done.

Use a container

The first is pretty simple – all you need is a Ziploc bag. Yes, as per the agency’s website, you’ve just got to stick your moss ball in one of them before leaving it in your freezer for a day. There’s no coming back from a deep freeze! The second method’s a lot quicker, though.

Boil it

To pull that off, fill up a saucepan with water and stick it over an ignited stove. Once it starts to boil, drop in the moss ball and keep watch for the next 60 seconds. After the time’s elapsed, lift it back out. And that’s it! You’ll be done before you know it. Now let’s look at the third approach.

Soak in mixture

For this one, you can use either vinegar or bleach to soak your moss ball. Mind you, the latter must be mixed with water. Anyway, that version of the method should only take ten minutes to kill the vegetation. The vinegar variation is a tad slower, clocking in at 20 minutes.

Disposal

Regardless of the method that you used, though, you need to dump the moss ball in the same manner. All you’ve got to do is put it into a “sealed plastic bag” and drop it in your bin. As for the bleach, water or vinegar, toss it down one of the plugholes around the house.

Not down the drain

Yet whatever you do, don’t throw any of the corrosive liquids into a storm drain. That’s a big no-no according to the U.S. government agency. You’ll also need to scrub your fish tanks if the moss ball has been sitting in there for any period of time. Salt water, bleach or boiling water will clear it right up.

But, why?

That’s a lot to take in, right? But trust us – the thorough and cautious methods are more than justified. So follow them to the letter! On that note, it’s about time that we spilled the beans on precisely why the American government has outlined these approaches. The answer could leave you gobsmacked.

Concealed creatures

Surprisingly, moss balls can house an aquatic species known as zebra mussels. Their official name is Dreissena polymorpha, with the other moniker stemming from their unique striped markings. So why is this a bad thing? Well, the small animals are notorious for causing big problems underwater. And we mean big.

Rapidly multiplying

You see, when zebra mussels are introduced to a new aquatic space, they can rapidly multiply and take over. The males release their sperm into the water, while their female counterparts can produce over one million eggs during a single season. That’s not a typo! Talk about starting a large family.

Wreaking havoc

Anyway, the zebra mussels will eventually attach themselves to whatever surface they come across. So yes, that means filtration systems, the underside of ships and various other bits of piping under the water. Plus, to make matters even worse, they bunch together in huge numbers too. And that’s not an overstatement.

Overwhelming ecosystems

As stated on the Atlas Obscura website, hundreds of thousands of zebra mussels can squeeze into just one square meter of space underwater. That’s unbelievable, wouldn’t you agree? As for their feeding patterns, through their own filtering the mollusks consume food that other fish need to survive. These critters are a proper menace!

Invasive species

To go into more detail, a member of the Great Lakes Commission spoke to Atlas Obscura in March 2021. Her name is Ceci Weibert, and she plies her trade as an “aquatic invasive species senior program specialist.” In her mind, zebra mussels pose a massive problem for one simple reason.

No predators

Weibert informed the website, “[Zebra mussels are] pretty much bad news all around. They filled this niche and they don’t have any predators. They’re taking something out of the food web, and not putting anything back in.” It’s essentially a one-way street with them, which isn’t good for any of us.

Toxic waste

And then there’s the matter of the zebra mussels’ waste. Not only does it build up, but it burns away the oxygen in the water. In turn, that brings about “acidic” conditions. On top of that, it also adds toxicity into the surrounding areas as well. Weibert wasn’t lying with her earlier assessment!

Spreading globally

Now here’s where it gets really concerning. Zebra mussels have been causing havoc in America and Canada for well over 30 years, after boats from Asia and Europe unwittingly carried them across the ocean. At the start of the 1990s, the United States Geological Survey reported that the animals were living in each of the Great Lakes.

Overwhelming numbers

And by the time that 2020 rolled around, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that the zebra mussels occupied over 600 beds of water across America. Crazy numbers, right? So the last thing that you’d want to do is introduce these little critters to another environment via a discarded moss ball. It’s easily avoidable.

Expert findings

Mind you, someone from the United States Geological Survey revealed a shocking finding in early 2021. His name is Wesley Daniel, and he’s in charge of the government agency’s “Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database.” The data store itself was created off the back of the zebra mussels’ invasion all those years ago.

Flagged sighting

On that note, the database flagged up a sighting of a zebra mussel at a pet shop in Seattle, Washington. Specifically, the mollusk was found inside a moss ball shipped from overseas. And it’s fair to say that the discovery left Daniel flabbergasted, as he recalled to Atlas Obscura in March 2021.

Unexpected pathway

Daniel admitted, “I was shocked. We never expected zebra mussels to travel through aquarium plants. It’s not a pathway we had ever considered.” Anyway, after being hit with that bombshell, he did some digging a bit closer to his home, visiting a pet shop in Gainesville, Florida. Once he got there, the agency worker spotted a zebra mussel in another moss ball.

Not a fluke

“[Seattle wasn’t] a weird fluke,” Daniel continued. “If they’re in Washington and Florida, I’m assuming they’re going to be distributed everywhere in between.” His assumption proved to be correct in the end. Incredibly, reports from more than 30 states flagged up similar stories, including the likes of New York, California and Texas.

Preventing the spread

If you didn’t understand the government’s concern before, you should now! That’s a jaw-dropping figure. So off the back of those reports, the disposal methods were released online. Makes sense, wouldn’t you say? It’s a good way to prevent a full-on spike in the zebra mussels’ numbers across North America.

Mussel-busters

Then again, that’s not to say that the zebra mussels can’t be dealt with if they end up in major waterbeds. For instance, a team of mussel-busters were previously sent down to a New York lake to rid it of the creatures by hand. Meanwhile, bursts of carbon dioxide can take them out too, as can underwater covers that cut them off from nutrients and air.

Prevention is the key

Plus, certain places ensure that fishing boats are checked at “decontamination stations” to stop the spread. As the University of Toledo’s Christine Mayer told Atlas Obscura, “Everyone who works with invasive species says prevention is better than cure. Keeping things out is cheaper, easier and better than trying to kill them once they’re there.” So don’t hesitate in destroying those moss balls!