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Re: Attn: Bob Fenner. Ricordea prod., comm.
3/8/14 Ricordea Florida Propagation 1/27/12 mushroom growth 9/6/11 Natural mushroom propagation... beh.
4/26/11
Corallimorph Culture 2/26/10
Mushroom coral, pruning - 10/5/08 Hi guys and girls. Thanks for the great service you provide. I have just a quick question about our mushroom coral. I have checked WWM and Googled search terms and can't find a definitive answer to my question. We have 1 really big mushroom coral which is clearly loving its tank as it has continued to grow at quite a rate. I would say it is probably between 20 - 30cm in diameter which is fairly large for our 35 gallon tank. We have 2 percula clowns living there. The problem is that it is getting a bit too big for the tank and as there are Xenia's growing beneath the mushroom these are starting to wither a bit due to lack of light. We would like to prune it (don't think that we would want to propagate just yet) but don't know whether this can be done in situ. I am concerned that cutting with scalpel/ sharp scissor etc in situ would cause it to leach out toxins into the reef tank and so end up killing the other creatures living in the tank. My plan would be just to cut around the edges making its diameter smaller. We have 2 sexy shrimp, 1 cleaner and 1 fire shrimp, 1 yellow watchman goby, a wreck fish and a purple Dottyback and 2 percula clowns. Also some snails and hermits crabs. Any advice would be much appreciated. Tallie. <I would not recommend cutting the mushroom coral that indeed can release toxins/waste that can and will kill your livestock. Propagation should be done in a separate aquarium without livestock. I would recommend moving the mushroom to a larger tank or selling it and purchase a smaller specimen. If you would like to go the propagation route here is a helpful link http://www.garf.org/trever/MUSH.html. Hope this helps, IanB> Corallimorph reproduction 10/1/08 Hi
underwater Oracles <Hello> I am wondering if I am seeing
things...I had a small chip of live rock on which was a blue mushroom,
the package arrived in another shipment. This mushroom duly split,
produced 2 or 3 offspring, and retired to a corner of the live rock,
where it has remained ever since, in a shriveled up, but just visibly
alive state. <Ok> I have over the last 2 weeks though, started to
see some little tan colored fragments on that little piece of live
rock, as well as THE ENTIRE head around it. These now appear to be
growing slowly into literally dozens of Corallimorph structures, and I
assume these will be colored like the original senior citizen, now
retired (blue). <Good assumption> I have never heard of this.
<Read up re budding and reproduction http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corallim.htm
> Am I seeing things or is this how the family reproduce naturally?
<See article above> Please shed some light on this, thanks. Also,
at the other end of the same tank, there is a green mushroom that also
hitched a ride in and found its own place on a ledge. This animal has
grown from about 1" diameter to close to 5", in about 3
months, and is an iridescent green. <Most likely isn't growing,
just stretching out and finally adjusting to your tank. They can
shrivel up quite small when first introduced.> It also shares the
same ledge with an anemone! <Keep reading and researching, you are
doing fine> <<Mmm... likely trouble. RMF>> Regards Mani
<Jessy> Ricordea... feeding, repro./prop. 05/02/2008 Dear WetWebMedia; <<Hello Ted, Andrew today>> Hey, first i just wanted to comment on your website, it is one of the first places i go whenever i have a question. Okay, so i have a 30 gallon tank and recently added t5 ho lighting. Everything seems to be doing great. I have a hammer coral and it is starting to grow 5 new heads, so I'm sure I have enough lighting for my Ricordeas (both florida and yuma). I want to get the maximum potential growth out of my Ricordeas, so i was wondering how often should i feed them? <<As they are photosynthetic, only supplemental feeding every other day with marine snow, phyto or brine/mysis shrimp should be fine>> Right now, I turn off all the currents and filtration and I target feed them a piece of mysis every couple of days. The mysis sits on the Ricordea and after a couple minutes, the Ricordea closes up on it and eats it. I was wondering if the Ricordeas would benefit from daily feedings (instead of every couple days) or would this be too much? <<I would go once every other day, that should be ample amount to feed them>> I also notice that sometimes the Ricordea spits out some brown stuff, does this mean that it has digested the food and "pooped" it out or that it has simply regurgitated the food? <<The brown could be either, more than likely poop>> I do weekly water changes (10%) as well to keep the water quality high. Currently the Ricordeas are about the size of a quarter, i want to get them to be a couple inches in diameter, and to start splitting and budding. Is there anything else that i could be doing? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. <<Reproduction rates on these really do vary. Consistent water param.s and good food / feeding schedule should be more than enough to entice them to grow / reproduce>> <<Please do read more here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/shroomhlthfaq2.htm, it may be of use, including linked articles and FAQ's>> -Ted <<Hope this helps, A Nixon>> Reproducing Mushrooms video 04/17/2008 Try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC41A2erd1I <<Ahhhh yes, a very nice video clip indeed. Good clarity video of one of the marvels of coral. Many thanks for sharing this as i am sure many more viewers will enjoy watching it, just as much as i did. Regards and good day. A Nixon>> Mushroom Fragging 03/06/2008 Hello all. <<Hello Matt, Andrew here>> How are you this "morning"? <<Evening...9:45pm to be exact..he he he>> I have recently bought a rock with what appear to be watermelon mushrooms on it. There are about 6 total with 3 that have really taken off growing. They are all on a small rock and I would like to put them somewhere else in the tank and spread them out. I would like to frag them. They are about 2-3 inches in diameter with a stem about 1 inch long. I have read a lot about this and am a bit confused by the mixed information. I have read that it is very hard to frag these from some and others think it is very easy. Should I just cut the shroom and leave about ?" on the rock and then cut the head into 4 pieces? Will the stem form another shroom over time? Thanks for any help you can give me on this. Also, if there is a good tutorial on doing this that you know of, that would be great too. Thanks for all of your help. I have learned sooo much from your site. <<Mushroom prop is actually one of the easiest to learn with really as its quite a hardy coral. This is how i have successfully propped these in the past... 1) Cut off the head (disk) from the stem, and leaving the stem behind on the rock 2) Cut the disk into quarters, like you would a pie 3) Put the new cuttings into a plastic tub with some live rock rubble chunks and cover the container with some mesh/ netting. 4) Place this on the bottom of the aquarium, and in around 4 or 5 days, these will of attached to the rubble and then your free to place them where ever you like. Its a very easy and simple method, but very effective in my opinion. There are plenty other methods like tying the cutting to a rock with nylon fishing line, elastic bands, super glue.. These also work, however, the best method for you will be found with practice>> Keep up the wonderful work. Matt <<Hope the above helps. A Nixon>> Pruning a Rhodactis Mushroom - 01/10/08 I searched through the site and did not find an answer so I hope I did not miss it. I have a very large Rhodactis mushroom which I need to shrink down to size. <<I see>> Is there a way to prune it without fragging it? My understanding is I need to cut it like a pizza to frag but I would prefer to cut it all around if I can and leave it as one piece but smaller. <<If you are not interested in "saving" the cut-off portion then yes, what you propose is possible. The reason for slicing this animal like a "pizza" when fragging is to get a piece of the "mouth/anus" with each frag for better survivability of the fragmented pieces. If your wish is merely to reduce the size of this organism but retain its shape, then cutting a belt of tissue (to be discarded) from the perimeter of the animal is possible. Do be sure to use a new/sharp blade, and be careful to make a clean cut without any ragged edges to promote fast healing. If you can't position the animal such that making a long continuous cut with a blade is possible, then consider using sharp surgical scissors. Many of the etailers now offer such equipment…or you can find/order from a medical supply vendor>> A side question, I have on Rhodactis mushroom is what if any danger there is when it stings you. <<Mmm, depends on individual sensitivity to such…just like with bee stings>> I think I've been stung a few times by handling it without gloves and it makes the fingers quite numb and slightly swollen for a few days. <<A definite concern here… Maybe as much a reaction to contact with chemicals "exuded" by this large and noxious Corallimorph as anything else. And still reason enough to take proper precautions when handling…do get some gloves, and do wash-up thoroughly after handling>> Thanks for all your help. <<Happy to assist. EricR>> Attaching a Yuma to a rock - again! 8/18/07 Hey WWW crew, <Hi Gord, Mich here. I apologize for the delayed response.> Great web site! Thank you for making all this great information available on the Internet! I am a relative newcomer to the hobby and I have found answers to many questions here. <Glad to hear this!> I recently received a Ricordea Yuma attached to a small rock from a mail-order house. A few days after it was in my tank, the Yuma became unattached from its rock and I found it lying in the sand near the back of my tank. I tried gluing it directly onto a piece of live rock using Loctite Gel, as recommended by the supplier, but it seems now to have pulled itself off again and is once again lying in the sand. <I've never had much luck with cyanoacrylate and corallimorpharians.> The Yuma is about 1-1 ? inches in diameter and otherwise seems in good health. Any thoughts on how I can get this Yuma to reattach itself to a piece of rock? <Yes, a couple.> Should I use glue and an elastic to hold it in place? <I've never had much success with glue. There are a couple of options. You could try putting the Yuma in hollowed out mountain of rubble rock, (think volcano) with some smaller flat rubble pieces underneath the Yuma. Place it in your tank, sump, or somewhere with lower flow. So long as it doesn't get blown away or disturbed too much it will eventually attach to the rubble rock. Or you may also want to try a more invasive, but more secure method of taking a needle and some monofilament (fishing line) piercing the mushroom outside of the oral area and tying it loosely onto a rock. Once the yuma attaches, the line is simply cut and removed. This does little damage to the mushroom and is generally a good solution to wandering shrooms! This general technique can also be done by substituting a toothpick in place of the monofilament. Some people have success getting mushrooms to attach by placing tulle (netting/bridal veil material) loosely over top of their shrooms and securing the tulle onto a piece of rubble. Personally, I've not had much success with this method. Good luck with whatever you try!> Thanks in advance, <Welcome! Mich> Gord. Mushrooms et al. in a tiny, changeable world... repro. 8/10/07 Hi Crew, I have a 10 gallon that is about 3 years old with mushrooms (15), 3 different candycanes, 1 clown goby and spotted cardinal with a 65w PC with bulb replaced in May. Less than an inch of sand, one large rock about 10 pounds and a filter. I change one gallon every week. I have been trying to figure out what makes mushrooms split and what makes them decide to call it quits. <Some stress with acceptable conditions, and too much and not respectively> I have one that has polyps like a Ricordea and for a while it would stretch and create babies about once a month. Has none in the past year. And over a 3 week period all the babies bleached and are gone. The mother is still here. I have a red one that had a number of babies and no longer has any and none of the babies have split. In fact they are staying small like the size of a dime. I have a green striped that split once and no more. I have two new (6 months) hairy ones that split one into two and the other into 3. These did not do it from the foot like my others. It actually just split itself. I have another that has a grey background and orange polyps (maybe it is really tan but it does give an orange look). And it just got bleached and will probably fade away. Is this all due to chemical warfare? I also noticed that when I bother a mushroom (take it out to clean the rock) its color becomes more intense over the next few days. Thanks <Good observations... Bob Fenner> Propagation Stress, Mushrooms - 03/09/07 Dear Mr. Calfo
and Mr. Fenner, Could you please confirm that it is good to limit the
time spent in the propagation tank, when fragmenting coral? I am
entering a science fair this weekend showing the benefit of Vitamin C
to the healing of fragmented mushrooms, but I must have this
confirmation from a scientific source. I know you are busy but could
you please respond. Thank You, Caleb Kruse <To limit the time? I
don't know if I follow you here... Is your concern that the
exposure to Vitamin C somehow is deleterious to Corallimorphs in
long-term exposure? This is not my understanding. Bob
Fenner> Mushroom Propagation, Science Fair and Scientific Method. 2/20/07 Dear Bob Fenner and Anthony Calfo, <Hi Caleb, Mich with you.> First off, I would like to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading both of your books, (The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, and The Book of Coral Propagation). <A very good foundation for you!> I am working on a science fair project on the effect of Vitamin C on fragmented mushrooms. <Good for you, and interesting experiment.> I have a 90-gallon saltwater aquarium but am running my experiments in quarantine tanks. The tank sizes are two 12-gallon eclipse tanks, and one, 20-gallon quarantine tank. <Is the 20-gallon the control?> I am daily adding 0.3mL to one 12-gallon tank, and 0.6mL of Kent Marine Vitamin C to the 12 gallon tank, what do you think of the Vitamin C concentrations? <Kent's recommendation is 1 ml/ 50 gallons, so the dose is high, but I think it is reasonable for what you are trying to do here.> I am keeping the pH of the water up using marine buffer so pH is not a problem. <Good.> Do you have any advice on how to measure the mushrooms growth? Currently I have been measuring with a map-measuring tool, but with the mushrooms expansion and lack of it day to day, my measurements do not show the true growth of the mushrooms. <This is quite a challenge here my young friend. Measurability is one of the hallmarks of a good experiment. Measuring these mushrooms will be quite difficult and not always reproducible, reproducibility being a keystone of a good experiment. Perhaps photographing them daily would produce more quantifiable result. As the old adage goes: a picture can be worth a thousand words.> Thanks in advance for all the help, <You're welcome. Good Luck with your project and let us know how your experiment turns out! -Mich> Caleb Mushroom Propagation 9/18/06 Hello. <Greetings> As promised another e-mail a week later. <No problem…what's up?> I have been chatting on the forum and have decided to ship someone some mushrooms. The propagation part I understand; cut the top off the stalk and let them grow, correct? <You got it> One time I decided to frag a Toadstool leather and nearly killed everything in my tank. Apparently they are very toxic. <definitely can be at times> Is the same situation going to happen if I cut 3 mushrooms off their stem? Or should I take a different fragging approach? Thanks a lot, Ryan <Ryan, I wouldn't worry about the mushrooms being toxic like leathers can be. If you want to take it a step further, you could also cut the disc of the mushroom into "pizza" slices. This will give you even more mushrooms! Just make sure there are no Peppermint Shrimp in the propagation tank as they will consume the fresh cuttings. Also, dosing Iodine can help speed up the healing process. Cheers - Dr. J> Transplanting mushroom coral - 06/06/2006 Hi guys & gals- I started with just two little mushroom corals on two separate pieces of live rock -- both have now had little ones, and completely covered their respective rocks. I would like to not only transplant some of the sprouts to different rocks in my tank, but also give a couple sprouts to a fellow aquarist. Any suggestions on how to do the transplant successfully? Thanks! Becky <<Becky: If you can take the rocks out of the water, the easiest method is to dig under the mushroom you want to remove with a knife. Most live rock is pretty soft on the outside. The most important thing is to remove the thin layer of live rock that the mushroom is attached to. That way, you don't damage the mushroom and you can easily glue the thin layer of live rock to another rock. Without the thin layer of live rock, mushrooms are very slippery and you won't be able to glue them. Best of luck, Roy>> To glue or not to glue.... epoxy use on mushrooms 4/1/06 Hello I was reading the mushroom propagation FAG and I found it very fascinating that you can get 2 mushrooms from 1, by cutting the head off. <Very true.> I have a few Ricordea mushrooms that have split and I want to try this "cutting the head off" method. Can I use an epoxy to hold the head of the mushroom on a rock? <Some people use this and other superglue. However mushrooms sometimes don't like either. So, you may be taking a risk here. The best thing to do is allow them to grow onto another rock. But considering you're cutting, try and see what works.> I have some epoxy and it says its safe for corals. It would be nice to propagate these mushrooms since they tend to be expensive. Thanks for such a great site!! <No problem - do a search on mushroom propagation on WWM - you'll find tons. Jen S.> Mushroom Reproduction/Anemones In Reefs - 02/07/06 Hi, <<Hello>> I've been reading the questions on your site about different mushrooms but was wondering, if I have an 80g and I have some fish, a Sebae anemone and 1 green striped mushroom will the mushroom reproduce by itself? Or does it need another? <<That's a fair question... The striped mushroom, like many "corals" kept by aquarists, are capable of asexual reproduction...meaning "new individuals" can be formed from the cells of a single parent.>> I would like to have something that's compatible with the anemone and with the green mushroom, as well as the tang and coral beauty. <<I don't advocate keeping anemones with sessile invertebrates. Your long term success will be more likely if you keep the anemone in a specie specific tank. For your sake, and that of the anemone, please have a look here and among the indices in blue at the top of the page: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemones.htm>> It doesn't necessarily need to be mushrooms, maybe some polyps or something that will grow on the rocks where I don't need to worry about them excreting toxins towards each other. <<EVERYTHING competes for space on the reef.>> I have 2 65w 12k daylight bulbs and 2 65w actinics, and at some later point thinking of getting a T5 108w high output dual strip one daylight 12k and one 12k blue actinic to add to that. <<Your anemone will appreciate this, but go with 10K bulbs.>> Your help in picking a few, maybe 2 or 3 other things would be greatly appreciated since I don't want to make any mistakes. <<Many choices available...perhaps Caulastrea or Lobophyllia...please do research/learn about whatever you decide to add.>> Thank you. p.s.-You're site is really invaluable to all of us who want to do right by our little fishy friends! Kathy <<Happy you think so, please keep reading...learning. Regards, EricR>> Mushroom Reproduction/Anemones In Reefs - 02/08/06 Thanks for writing back so soon Eric! <<Sometimes ya get lucky <grin>.>> I think I will just leave things as they are as all seems well. <<Sometimes can be best.>> Thanks for the information. <<Welcome>> Do you think all will be fine as is even if the mushroom should multiply? <<Is possible...do be sure to maintain optimum water quality/employ carbon and/or Poly-Filter in your filter path. Corallimorphs are quite noxious, don't under-estimate their aggression. Please do some reading here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corallim.htm>> I won't be adding anything else. The mushroom is mid tank in front and anemone is on bottom near back. By the way, read the article, and really liked it and learned even more. Thanks for that! Thanks Kathy <<My pleasure Kathy, please continue to research/read/learn...a lifetime of discovery ahead. Regards, EricR>> Ricordea 01-10-06 Greetings Wet web crew, <Heather> I come to you with yet another question (and before you refer me to search I have) I acquired 2 orange Ricordea , that I am unsure if they were pulled from their rocks. I have never had success sewing any kind of corals so decided to attempt the toothpick method, all I had was regular toothpicks I took the foot and stabbed them into the LR. The placement is now a bottom corner of my tank with lower flow. <Good placement.> They are putting out some type of stringy matter is this normal or are they just irritated that they were stabbed? <Wouldn't you be irritated if you were stabbed?> One other thing that I also question is that they do not have much color left I am feeding with Cyclop-eeze every 2 or so days, and targeting them during the feedings ( I turn off the power heads and the filter for about 1/2 hour during feeding) shall I increase their feedings or with the water quality kept high should they return their color? <They should return to color if they are happy and healthy. I would forget about feeding them until they attach.> Their mouths have closed (they were open the first night and there are some visible orange dimples on the edges, are these lost, how long might it be till I see some improvement on these guys (your best guess here ). <My best guess would be, you will not see them happy again until you remove their 1 inch slivers (the toothpicks).> The tank parameters are as follows : 7 gallon mb 72 watts pc lighting temp 76.7-77.7 (rarely higher) 2 mini jet 606 power heads 1 Penguin filter 150 (without bio wheel) run with carbon changed monthly rinsed weekly with tank water and chem-pure Ammonia 0-ppm Nitrate elevated a bit at 5.0 ppm Nitrite 0 ppm High pH 8.4 <This is not high, it is ideal.> Salinity 1.025 (read on digital lab tester) These test results are from 3 days ago and a second panel due to be tested tonight as the water has clouded up yesterday and today. I am also prepping to do some H20 changes of about 10% tonight. Any other thoughts or recommendations to help these poor guys will be appreciated. <I suggest removing the toothpicks. To get them to attach, place the shrooms in a bowl with some live rock rubble. Keep the bowl in low flow and they will attach in about a week. Travis> Regard Heather Greetings from Ottawa Canada, shroom fragging, hilarity 11/24/05 WWM crew: <Howzit?> I don't have a question at the moment but have enjoyed reading the many posts and answers that you have provided. <Ah, good> Hope you will enjoy the turkey season and the related seasonal twist of the following which I posted at our local club site here in Canada ( http://ovas.ca/). <Ooooh! Yes, saw/heard this.> __ With recent focus on Einstein I couldn't resist a bit of fun :) . I responded to a PM question about mushroom fragging this AM and decided that with a bit of editing and being in a jovial mood after listening to a turkey sing, it would be suitable for a public posting. Here goes. How to earn your Experienced Expert Mushroom Coral Carver/Copier (E2MC2) credentials. ___ Mushroom coral carving/fragging: 11/24/05 It's like cooking really. Cut off the tops with a sharp knife, leave the stem on the rock. Place the top in a plastic container in the bottom of the tank with some bits of coral or shells or bits of substrate and preferably with a bit of netting over the container. The netting will keep the crabs out, the coral rubble will give the mushroom something to attach to and presto about three days later your mushroom will hopefully have attached to some of the shell fragments or the rubble and you can take it out and glue the rubble bits to a piece of rock with cyanoacrylate glue - a.k.a. crazy Glue). The stem will grow back another mushroom eventually and presto you have doubled your mushroom population. Method number two: Use fishing line or elastic band to attach the head to a piece of rock (same method as for the leather coral except that the mushrooms are very soft and slimy so I prefer the first method). Method number three: Cut off head. Cut the head into a bunch of little pieces (like chopping onions or mushrooms for dinner). Place the bits in a container as in method # 1 or just throw the bits back into your tank. Either way, you will end up with the original mushroom stem growing back its head and you should end up with more mushrooms in total. With the scatter-in-the-tank method you just have less control over where they end up and you may have a slightly lower overall success rate. The chop-them-up method will get you lots of little mushrooms which will eventually grow to full sized mushrooms but not the fastest way but eventually you should get lots of quantity. Believe me. Your first attempt is an experiment. If it works for you, you instantly reach EXPERIENCED EXPERT MUSHROOM CORAL COPIER/CARVER status and can send out e-mails like this one. Enjoy your turkey. Ron (a.k.a. Rockgarden) <Thanks much Ron. Happy holidays to you and yours. Bob Fenner> Mushroom coloration 8/31/05 Hi Crew, <Hi Friend> About 6 months ago I bought a small rock (3") with two mushrooms , one red and one green. The green was very bright. The red one started stretching its foot and after a while I had two baby reds. The originals grew to the size of a half dollar. Then I went from a standard fluorescent 18 watt to a 50/50 96 watt about 4 months ago. The green lost most of its color but did keep growing the same as the red. I put it in a shaded area but the color did not return. Then about 2 weeks ago the green started stretching its foot. So I decided to cut off the head. The head shrunk to the size of a nickel but it is now a beautiful dark blue green. What gives? It is only two days and it does not look happy but I really like the color. Any way to keep it that way? I also have another loose mushroom that I picked up at an LFS. It is a brownish grey outside and in the middle it turns to light green and then white as if there is a light on. I have it 3 months and it will not stay put. Most of the time it curls up and ends up rolling around. I am surprised it is still alive. Any suggestions? Thanks <Nothing much you can do other than use certain propagation techniques and hold the mushroom down or simply put it in an area of low water circulation. Regarding keeping the proper coloration of your mushrooms there is not much you can do other than simply making sure your water parameters are up to par, your lighting not overly intense and your regular water changing routine on point. Good luck and continue reading/learning! Ali.> Attaching Ricordea yuma 6/18/05 Hi Gang, <Cheers.> First, thank you for your invaluable service. I've got a question involving Ricordea yuma. I received a most beautiful specimen 2 days ago, but unfortunately during shipping it detached from it's rock. I've tried for two days to set it on rocks in areas of low or no current, hoping it would attach on its own. The person that sold it to me said I could try adhesives, but that makes me nervous. <Actually... glues work poorly on mucous animals like corallimorpharians.> If the super glue says it can cause irritation on human skin, I'd have to believe it would do the same on the soft skin of R. yuma. Any expert among the bunch in R. yumas have any advice? <Well... I'm not an expert on the genus, per se... but I have written a book on the topic at large: "Book of Coral Propagation" Anthony Calfo (2001). My advice here for the short story is to simply impale the polyp with a cocktail toothpick (flared end as for olives... will prevent the polyp from floating off the pick in this case). Spear it and lodge the pick into a secure, tight hole int he rocks or substrate/sand until natural settlement occurs. Then... roll/spin the pick in your fingers to free it from connective tissue and pull it out some weeks later. Short and sweet> Thanks, Brandon <kindly, Anthony> Mushroom Propagation under NO Flos? I have a 10 gallon tank with sand (1"), fish, snails, Penguin mini filter, standard fluorescent hood. It is about 18 months old with ammonia=0, nitrites=0 and nitrates 10-20. I gallon is changed weekly. I added a reddish mushroom, a green one and an orange Ricordea about 2 months ago. <Sounds good so far. The Ricordea may need a bit more light as time goes by. But, all in all, you picked corals that could most likely survive under your lighting situation.> They were about the size of a quarter. The Ricordea is about the same as it was and the two mushrooms now spread out close to 3 inches and the green is not as intense as it use to be. <Mushrooms tend to require quite a bit less than Ricordea, which is probably why the mushrooms grew while the Ricordea remained the same size.> I cut the green head off. The head is now contracted to about the size of a dime and is a very bright green. The base is still attached to the rock but I do not see anything happening. How long should it take for each piece to turn into a full mushroom? <With your lighting situation, even with the decided weeds of the coral world (mushrooms), patience is the key. You can get by with your NO (Normal Output) Fluorescent lighting, and your mushrooms will even grow, but not very quickly at all. Unless you plan on upgrading your lighting, you may have to wait weeks - even months - for your mushroom coral to regenerate. Mike G> Ricordea propagation 1/19/04 I have a nice Ricordea mushroom that has started to move, and I can see a little extension of flesh coming of the base. My question is; 1) If I can just cut this off of the parent. <yes... easy and safe to do> 2) If this will produce a new Ricordea, or just kill the flesh. <the former> 3) If it will form another without my intervention. <yes... as it has for time untold in the sea> Thanks. <chop away my friend :) Anthony> Does it Hurt? I'd really like to propagate some of my mushrooms, Ricordea and xenia, but don't like to cause anything pain. During propagation, do these creatures experience pain when they are cut? Thanks for your time...Marcye >>>Hello, Pain is a mechanism designed to inform the organism that damage is, about to, or has occurred. That information wouldn't do a sessile invertebrate much good would it? It can't run away, move or bite you. Snip my friend, snip like the wind! Jim<<< Out of control mini mushrooms hi, first of all great book bob. << I agree it is. >> I have some "mini mushrooms" that are becoming a problem. << Really, send them to me, I'll take them. >> the largest are about 1/8 an inch across. they don't seem to exceed this size. They look exactly like Discosoma except they are a bit more boxy than round and are brown w/ a yellow speck in the center. so here's my problem, they spread really fast and not like other mushrooms. they pop up and form colonies around the tank randomly. << Pull those rocks out and sell them. >> when I added a piece of pvc to the tank to feed algae strips to my tang it had at least 20 of these things on it by about 2 days. when my leathers shed their skin or don't open their polyps for more than a day or so they start to grow these "mini shrooms" on them, and the leathers don't open until I take the mushrooms off. << Hmmm, now I'm worried. Not sure what they are, but a picture may help. Odd that they would be so prolific. >> Do you think these are able to sting my corals? << Sure, just about all corals sting each other. Usually it isn't enough to worry about. >> I have xenia, and many leathers, along with some Acropora. all my other corals have stingers so I am only worried about these. are these common pests? do they have predators that won't eat similar corals (I also have some yumas and various button polyps) also here's some other info that might be useful. << I'm not sure what they are, nor how to control them. I'd stick with manual removal until you hear and see some better/solid advise. >> I have a 125 gallon w/ 3 250 watt MHs. they seem to grow away from directly under the lights, although do not grow in any shadows (like under ledges) they grow on sand, and mainly areas with less water movement. the water conditions are perfect- 0 ammonia 0- nitrite, nitrates. all my corals are thriving. my KH, ph and calcium are all good. I use iodine at least once a month, and do regular water changes ( 50 gallons twice a mo.) w/ instant ocean. I have a plenum in my live sand. I also have two refugiums, an old 40 gal. converted to sump w/ micro and macro algae on 24 hours a day, and a hang on the back CPR refugium on normal hours, with macro algae. My protein skimmer (don't remember the brand) is extremely efficient, and is (industrial sized) about 4 feet tall. The temp varies daily from 81 to 98.5. << WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? Is that a typo??? It must be. You can't have a daily variance of 17.5 degrees, all the way up to 98.5. If so, I'm amazed anything is living. >> I know that feeding brine shrimp promotes Aiptasia, I do this frequently, and my Aiptasia went out of control until I got some sea slugs (Berghia verrucornis). are there sea slugs that will eat these? << Doubtful, because I haven't heard of any. >> do you think they are broadcast spawning, or just de-attaching themselves from the rocks, floating around and forming new colonies? << Not broadcast spawning. Although, I still don't know what it is that we are talking about. >> any help is greatly appreciated, as I have been researching this with no real clues for quiet a while. also if these are pests, do you think it would be safe for me to trade frags with others? << I don't see real reason to be worried, but they do seem quite prolific. I'd hesitate, but still grow them. >> << Blundell >> Strange things going on hi folks After my last bout of ich i am again fallowing tank this time for 2-3 mo.s maybe more. I'm in the third week and my cope population is exploding, <Is one of the good byproducts of running a tank fallow.> all water parameters good, corals and other inverts doing well. My question regards the huge number of shrimp like creatures that appear when circulation is turned off. These are about 3-4 mm long very visible as shrimp and have a pinkish red head and i am seeing even larger molts in the tank. <Neat.> I have 1 skunk cleaner about 2 mo.s now and i had coral banded which i lost when i raised the temp to combat ich (i think i raised it too fast) could one of these have spawned? <A possibility... could also be something else. The lack of predators in the tank will make all sorts of things show up.> I also have found a turquoise colored ball looking thing on a rock that has several openings and about five anchor/tentacle looking things that appear to be holding it in place. It sort of has a lobular appearance and shrinks up when i squirt water at it. It's about 1/2 inch diameter. <Perhaps a tunicate.> And finally my orange Ricordea is splitting and has attached a foot to a piece of loose rock. Now this piece is dangling with rock in mid air. Do i wait till it falls off or cut it and super glue it down somewhere? <I'd wait, then mount it.> This Ricordea also has four mouths is that normal? <Hard to say what normal is sometimes. Captivity itself is abnormal.> thanks mark <Cheers, J -- > Excess mushroom growth how do i control or get rid of green striped mushrooms that took over 80% of my rock in my reef. <manual extraction for those present (chisel placed at the base pops them right off the rocks) and be sure to limit the excess nutrients that are going into the tank to prevent future blooms of them (improve your skimmer performance, do more water changes, and feed more carefully.... like not throwing frozen food in without thawing and decanting/draining away the pack juice which feeds nuisance grows in tanks like this). Anthony> Lemonade from Mushrooms (04/06/03) Hi fellows: Hope you can help or shed some light on a problem I'm having in my 120 gal reef aquarium. <Hi! Ananda here tonight with an idea...> At first glance, everything is doing well i.e. healthy fish, vibrant corals, and coralline algae all over the live rock. However, my concern is that the mushroom coral (some blue-green, but mostly red) is spreading like crazy! <Yep, they do that sometimes.> Initially, I thought that the spread was good, and a positive indicator that water conditions were in order (as verified by testing). But now that the mushroom corals are overgrowing polyps, such as yellow polyps, brown polyps, and ocean star polyps, and apparently stunting the growth of some hard corals i.e. Acropora and elegance, I no longer view them in such a positive light. <I've heard that one before...> I have tried removing them with my fingers with very limited success. <And somewhat bruised/abraded fingers, no doubt!> Attempting to siphon them off the rock also doesn't work. <They're usually pretty firmly attached.> And they do not seem to have a natural predator to keep them in check. <I can't think of any particular ones off the top of my head, and if there were any, they might not be something you want to add to your tank!> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! <Time to frag them. No, not with a heavy machine gun, though that might sound attractive at the moment. With a good pair of scissors. You can use the scissors to chop them off of the rocks. More info on mushroom corals and fragging them here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corallim.htm and the linked FAQs ... Once you get them fragged, you may well be able to sell them back to one of your local stores.> Thanx. Grant <You're welcome. --Ananda> Unknown organism locomotion > Do take a read through your search engines also re sexual reproduction in > "corals", re planulae larvae. OK, will do...also just noticed that this morning after a dark night the volume of webs didn't seem too great...but they rapidly reproduced with the lights on...and as the webs fill they break apart the and individuals free float around...took another look thru the loupe and the free floaters are more that...floating...than the herky jerky I thought. So I may have the light thing backwards.....they may not be able to reproduce (as rapidly) without light. Might try 24 hours of dark....will now check out the coral reproduction entries on the web, but don't know why they would so voraciously eat the mushrooms. Oh, meant to mention earlier, during the initial horrible bloom they also demolished a small bubble tip anemone that split from my large one. Oddly enough I brought the large one (about 18-24" across- got too big for the aquarium) to the store several weeks ago and only kept the offspring. I've had a lot of splits over the years. So the baby just went from looking great to a silver dollar size piece of slush which I flushed. This isn't surprising but shows how quickly they attack and demolish the anemones. As always, appreciate your help. Will pick up the 6 line wrasse and see how it does. Fish still not bothered at all by this but imagine if the volumes of free floaters reach soupy proportions it will affect respiration. Steve <Mmm, am going to cc Anthony here re his input... Antoine, pls find the ongoing corr. re here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/shroomfaq2.htm Bob Fenner> Re planulae larvae Hi Bob, I looked at a dozen or more sites on two different search engines and those with photos depict things that are the closest to what we have been discussing, however with major differences: Several of the articles refer to the free floaters as being ciliated, none of mine are. Another referred to mass floating slicks....that sounded promising - except mine never are on the surface, just the substrate. Finally I can't locate the source of planulae in my tank since I have mainly soft tissue corals except for one now sickly pagoda. <I was thinking about the Corallimorphs... like the Ricordea> I also have a lot of low level sponges: the common bright yellow "smears" and small while "golf ball" looking sponges that form on the underside of the rocks. Have healthy colonies of both but neither appear to be a source of the webs and subsequent carnivorous "bugs". As they say on the X-Files.....the answer is out there..... Steve <Now I can't get the "Twilight Zone" theme song out of my mind! Bob Fenner> Planulae locomotion? Hi Bob, Yes, they are very active...they are in constant motion within the webs and once free floating are high speed herky-jerky throughout the water (rather than a smooth fluid motion) Well, was hoping it was a common problem that I hadn't seen / read about before but I guess not. Going back to the six line wrasse....is it worth a try or does this type of thing appear outside its area of culinary interest? <Worth trying, yes> Will also await input from those who view your posting. Thanks again so much for your time and consideration. Steve <Do take a read through your search engines also re sexual reproduction in "corals", re planulae larvae. Bob Fenner> Ricordea propagation Hello Crew, I have searched high and low and cannot find what I'm looking for. In Anthony's book, he describes in detail Corallimorph propagation. Though he does explain the difference between Discosoma, Rhodactis, and Ricordea, the book does not distinguish between these when speaking of propagation. <There is no difference, my friend... I show pictures in my presentations and lectures of doing this to a $200 rose anemone (E. quadricolor)... you can do it with your Corallimorphs> I have had great success with cutting and "pie shaping" my Discosoma, though everyone I have spoken to has told me I cannot do this with my Ricordea or Rhodactis. <Heehee... "everyone" is mistaken here then <G>. Limited experience/// healthy fear (especially for how expensive some of those Ricordea are <G>). No worries... the only limitation is that Ricordea as higher light lower organismal-feeding animals must be in healthier condition from Go as they cannot be fed easily after words and supported if they take the imposed technique hard> Could you elaborate on how I would go about propagating these? Thanks a ton. Rob <Exactly as you have done for your Discosoma... they are fundamentally the same. Kind regards, Anthony Mushroom coral Hi Bob, I have had a brown giant cup mushroom (Amplexidiscus) for 14 months. At full expansion, it is about 7 inches in diameter. A couple of weeks ago, the mouth started to expand. At first I thought that it might die, but now it appears to be almost completely split down the center. I can see some slight white intestinal looking stuff along one edge. The other side appears to be trying to make a new circular shape? I'm not sure if it is reproducing or what. The outer part looks fine other than not being fully expanded. Any comments?? Thanks, Diane. >> Yep, sure does sound like a form of asexual reproduction... splitting, "schizogyny" (neat term, eh?). No worries, just do what you've obviously been: keep up water quality... what was one will be two. Bob Fenner Detaching Shrooms I have a rock full of metallic green mushrooms. I have had it for a while now, but the problem is that I have noticed that a couple have detached from the rock. what's wrong? is there anyway to reattach them back to a piece of live rock? what should I do? >> Sometimes mushrooms do just do this... may be a type of population-saving mechanism for preventing crowding, aiding in dispersion... You can reattach them... if it's where they want to be, by "tying" the polyp down on to a rock with thread, fine fish line... Do take care not to place these animals too near other stinging-celled life... they look easygoing, but are often "the winners" in physical and chemical contact contests... Bob Fenner Propagating mushroom and salt Dear Bob, I am currently using Tropic Marin Salt for my reef(40 gal). I am thinking of switching to Aquarium System Reef Crystals Salt, which is better? By doing a 10% water change weekly do I need to use additives to the aquarium? One more thing have you propagated mushrooms before? I have 2 Red Ricordea, and 2 is just not enough( you know what I mean). Any way I can do this, if so should I be scared of cutting the little ball polyp on the mushroom? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Skull >> Hmm, I prefer the Tropic Marin, but it's easy and not dangerous to do your own "preference study" by switching brands for a few months. Unless you're otherwise "boosting" growth rates (via CO2 injection, very intense lighting...) to promote vigorous photosynthetic growth... I wouldn't add supplements. Have indeed cultured by accident and on purpose, my fair share of mushrooms, including some new Ricordeas from the S. Pacific... sometimes go the lazy/safest route and let them divide of their own accord (for Ricordea floridae from the Atlantic this can be a long process... a division or two a year... depending on conditions)... Otherwise know of cutting techniques (mainly transverse, through the long division of the mouth... cutting through their siphonoglyphs...)... Even "water pik" type tools... And, no to being afraid to cut through their bases for me. If the animals are healthy, in an optimized environment, these techniques to increase asexual doubling. Bob Fenner Mushrooms I have 5 different colonies of mushroom anemones. They are all doing good except one of them. I is a huge ten inch colony. When I purchased them on one corner of the rock there was a 2 inch colony of zoanthids. When it was new all of the mushrooms were 2 inches wide. They looked good for 2 weeks and now they have shrank to only one inch. The zoanthids have now grown in between the mushrooms. Do you thank the zoanthids are the problem. If so how could I kill the zoanthids. Could the mushrooms problem have to much light. I have two 175 watt metal halide pendants. The mushrooms that are doing bad are about half way up the tank. The ones that are doing good are about 5.5 inches below them. >> Hmm, well, generally mushrooms (Corallimorpharians) are the "winners" in such altercations with colonial anemones (zoanthids)... but as you state, maybe the conditions in your tank (bright lighting...) favor the zoanthids... Getting rid of them I wouldn't do directly... I'd leave them on their coral rock(s) island(s) and move the mushrooms... in the following manner to a different area/rock. 1) with a very sharp single edge razor blade (watch your fingers), cut some, all the mushrooms off, near the rock. 2) "tie" them onto the new rock with a bit of string, thread, fine fishing line... this can be removed later (in a few weeks) when the animals re-attach. If the mushrooms are in good enough shape, some, all of them will make this transition... if they're left where they are... Bob Fenner Blue mushroom I recently bought a small blue mushroom (that was a hitchhike on a liverock). How long does it usually take for one to split in optimal water conditions? <I will give you an idea from my experience. I have gotten several different mushroom frags (just one mushroom anemone from someone). It would usually take months for that one to develop to two, but then things would pickup. The more there are, the more they produce.> I also have a small lionfish (possibly a dwarf lionfish) how dangerous is their sting? <I have been stung be a Volitans lionfish. It is something I recommend be avoided at all costs. For the first hour it was not too bad. By the second hour, it felt like someone was repeatedly hitting my wrist with a hammer. Definitely seek out medical attention as there is some concern for allergic reactions.> Thanks, TRON <You are welcome. -Steven Pro> Mushrooms that Multiply like... Mushrooms Hi, <<Hi, JasonC here filling in for Bob while he's away diving.>> Thanks for all help in advance and all previous help. I bought a rock with about 13 different mushrooms about a month ago. When I bought the rock they all seemed to fit but now it seems really crowded, one of the smaller mushrooms is totally covered. <<if the conditions favor it, they will grow...>> And to top it off I found a new baby green one and on the only bare patch on the rock I noticed that there are polyps of some kind making their own way, and taking up space. <<and reproduce too>> So is there a way that I can move some of the larger mushrooms to a new rock? The LFS said to "pop" them off by prying a small amount of the foot off with a butter knife to annoy it and then it would come off on it's own, is this the only way? <<I've seen much rougher ways - these things are pretty durable. Probably a safe enough way to get them loose.>> I value the lives of my animals and do not wish to harm them in any way. These guys are my first reef fish type inhabitants. And if "popping" is the only way do I do it under water or above? <<under>> My next question is how big will these things get? And how fast do they grow? <<varying sizes, probably not larger than a CD at most.>> I kinda likened them to coral, which I understand grows kinda slow. <<they are related to corals. All of these will grow at varying rates depending on the situation's).>> On another rock I have a tiny mushroom (he's the only one on this rock) and I have had him only a little longer then the other, he (it) started out the size of my pinky nail and is now the size of a quarter! I only feed them once a week and that consists of the water that I use to melt my frozen for the fish, brine shrimp, formula 1&2, and pureed seafood mix that I did myself. <<should work pretty well>> The light is only 175w using regular fluorescents. <<regular how? You do have some bulbs suited for aquariums, yes?>> I really like these things but are they going to take my tank over? <<If there's nothing there to compete with them, perhaps, but all sorts of fates await the detached mushroom polyp. Could as easily end up in your filter.>> Finally the last question. I also with my mushroom rock bought a rock scattered with xenia (of what kind I do not know) and little button polyps. The rock had been in the dealers tank for quite a few months (I think that's where the buttons latched on) and was doing great, I put it into my tank and it did well for the first few days then it started to "melt". In two days I had a rock with button polyps and nothing else. I thought it might be the little Dottyback that I had just put in (he got blamed for every thing the nasty little devil. He has now gone onto a better, bigger, and less destructible tank) Then one night I looked in with a flash light to see what weird things were popping up in the tank and I saw my emerald crab rip a big chunk off and stuff it into his mouth (AAARRRGGG!!!). Now was he the problem or only the cleanup crew? <<There aren't many crabs I trust much farther than I can throw them...>> I had to move my tank last weekend and today I either pulled out his dead body or a molted exoskeleton.... <<probably the latter>> funny thing is I also noticed that the xenia is coming back. <<Xenia can defy some amazing odds.>> There are all kinds of baby polyps and they are coming back with a vengeance!!! So was it the crab or do you think it was my water. <<crab methinks - your other polyps/mushrooms wouldn't be so happy if you were having water issues.>> I had the water tested and it was great (I've had very little problem since I began using purified sea water, <<lucky you!!>> just one ammonia spike and that was over feeding.....sigh) Thanks again for all your help Kim <<You are welcome. Cheers, J -- >> Mushrooms Hello WWM crew, ? on Shrooms I Bought a rock full of purple lavender Ricordea mushrooms and some orange Rics to all are the floridia sp. I heard that they were slow growers and reproducers. <they are indeed uncharacteristic for Corallimorphs... they like brighter light and less solid food than most (more so dissolved organics> I was wondering if there is anything I can do to get them to reproduce a little more rapidly. <in a dedicated grow out system we could make an argument here for lighter skimming and feeding fine zooplankton> Neither rock has been in my reef for longer then three months. Although they are larger and brighter then they were in the dealers tank they seem to be thriving. <still... don't give up on larger meaty fare. Feeding alone grows mushrooms scary fast. Try thawed frozen mysids, Gammarus and Pacifica plankton too (or very finely shredded krill)> I read a reply by Anthony on this subject but now I can't find it. If you guy's have any tips or pointers please let me know. Great job on the site and thanks for the past replies on questions I had, keep up the good work fellas. Thanks, Jim W. <thanks kindly, best regards, Anthony> The Hairy Mushroom Escape Dear Crew, <Morning! Ryan with you today> Thanks again for all the assistance you provide. <Surely> I have what I hope is a "small" problem. As I was doing a water change last night, I knocked over a piece of live rock that is (was) home to a hairy mushroom colony of eight (now seven). <Ouch!> One detached and, before I could react, the current took it through an opening in my rock structure. I can see a part of it on the aquarium floor through a hole in the rock but will have to make some major moves to get to it. Are there any options other than removing a lot of rock to get to it? Maybe I know the answer but just had to ask :-) Respectfully, Barry |
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