Getting quite popular in freshwater aquaria as long as you don't have fish that will eat marimo moss. I've heard goldfish will destroy them, but bettas and some shrimp rather like them, may play with or on them. Never saw one in nature, but I've never specifically sought one, either. Bet I could find some in Florida canals. That's where most of my aquarium plants originate, invasives, too. On my list of top 1000 plants to acquire at some time.
This algae is supposedly rare but it's apparently sold in stores as aquarium plants, which means it is not rare unless what is being sold are fakes. Perhaps someone in the know can explain this discrepancy.
Although Marimo balls are rare in nature, they are easy to propagate (just break the ball into multiple pieces), which is why they are readily available for sale.
I've seen some aquariums stock full storage containers of these little green algae balls but it seems like the name here is a little different from what the Japanese use for them. I think they call the little furry balls marimos or something like that but I could be wrong!
