So I have really been pondering and researching and I think I have a great way to make the next best thing to a branded wabi-kusa ball, and will make a guide with pictures if it works once some supplies get here.
In the meantime, I have been looking at Japanese websites with pictures of REAL Wabi-Kusa balls.
In this website: http://translate.google.com/transla...//pxyg.blog50.fc2.com/?tag=%D0%C9%A4%D3%C1%F0
The owner of the ball says (I think) that one of his wabi-kusa got old and/or died and so they were curious and dissected it. ROCKS! You can see there are several relatively large rocks in the middle! This must explain why they sink easily as is seen in the ADA catalog. There is no planting... you just place them where you want them. Before I found this website I saw another website where the same rotting straw was wrapped around a single larger pebble, but the translator didn't make it clear enough for me to understand so I assumed someone was making it themselves, but in retrospect I think they were tearing one open.
Also it seems that they are not peat or clay based, but instead are mostly straw and moss. My attempts to make them have always failed because when I try to use soil and /or sand and clay, they always are loose at best and make the water muddy. The fact that they seem to be straw or grass based could explain why the pictures of the real ones seem to always be in clean water (especially in the "waterfall" type aquariums"
There may be some peat and/or clay in there, but it appears to be mostly straw. If anyone with a genuine ADA brand wabi kusa, like Frank (he's the only person I know of who has real ones) would like to help us all out and confirm or deny the presence of rocks, all that would need to be done is stick a safety pin or needle into one and see if it pokes a hard rock or if it glides through without resistance. That would be a good test since it wouldn't harm the plants or structure of the wabi-kusa and you wouldn't need to dissect it and ruin it.
In the meantime, I have been looking at Japanese websites with pictures of REAL Wabi-Kusa balls.
In this website: http://translate.google.com/transla...//pxyg.blog50.fc2.com/?tag=%D0%C9%A4%D3%C1%F0
The owner of the ball says (I think) that one of his wabi-kusa got old and/or died and so they were curious and dissected it. ROCKS! You can see there are several relatively large rocks in the middle! This must explain why they sink easily as is seen in the ADA catalog. There is no planting... you just place them where you want them. Before I found this website I saw another website where the same rotting straw was wrapped around a single larger pebble, but the translator didn't make it clear enough for me to understand so I assumed someone was making it themselves, but in retrospect I think they were tearing one open.
Also it seems that they are not peat or clay based, but instead are mostly straw and moss. My attempts to make them have always failed because when I try to use soil and /or sand and clay, they always are loose at best and make the water muddy. The fact that they seem to be straw or grass based could explain why the pictures of the real ones seem to always be in clean water (especially in the "waterfall" type aquariums"
There may be some peat and/or clay in there, but it appears to be mostly straw. If anyone with a genuine ADA brand wabi kusa, like Frank (he's the only person I know of who has real ones) would like to help us all out and confirm or deny the presence of rocks, all that would need to be done is stick a safety pin or needle into one and see if it pokes a hard rock or if it glides through without resistance. That would be a good test since it wouldn't harm the plants or structure of the wabi-kusa and you wouldn't need to dissect it and ruin it.