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Store employees in Washington State at a Petco identified zebra mussels while breaking down moss balls for sale. Since that initial discovery, several other states have found the invasive species in packaging and its contents for the common aquarium product. That includes in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Joanne Foreman from the Department of Natural Resources says the zebra mussels have already taken root in our busiest waterways, but it remains important to try and halt their spread to other bodies of water. They are incredibly resilient, making the task tougher.
Foreman says the contamination could go back months, officials are not quite sure on the timeline. If you find zebra mussels, they must be reported. Proper disposal is paramount.
To clean your aquarium, add a tenth of a cup of bleach for every gallon of water. Leave plastic scenery in so that even the young mussels, which are nearly microscopic, are killed. The process needs to last for at least ten minutes.
