Pet store chains pull aquarium plant infested with invasive zebra mussels

ODFW offers how-to video on cleaning aquarium, removing moss balls

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Pet store chains, including Petco and PetSmart, have removed “Betta Buddy Marimo Ball,” a moss plant for aquariums, from their shelves after invasive zebra mussels were discovered inside, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday.

ODFW district staff are contacting other local businesses carrying pet products to determine if they sold or are selling these products. 

“We want to thank all pet and aquarium supply stores who have stepped up and quickly taken this product off their shelves,” said Rick Boatner, ODFW Invasive Species Program Supervisor and current chairman of the Oregon Invasive Species Council, a statewide effort among many natural resource agencies to keep invasive species out of Oregon.

ODFW also today released a how-to video on safely cleaning your aquarium and disposing of the moss balls, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeLXmPDW23s.   

ODFW and other natural resource agencies first announced that zebra mussels were found at pet stores in Washington and Oregon last week. Contaminated products have also been found in Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota.

The California-based distributor of the moss balls has been identified However, this distributor is just one of many that receive the same product from the same source, so the Oregon Invasive Species Council advises that all moss balls imported from Ukraine from any distributor should be considered potentially contaminated.

On the national level, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have also reached out to the distributor of these products to gather more information about where they have been delivered and launched a website with more information https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html