PDA

View Full Version : Got my first Mushroom. Any tips on how to care for it?


Nathan
09/07/2006, 09:17 AM
I've been keeping reefs for 7 years but believe it or not I never had a mushroom until yesterday. I got a beautiful crimson mushroom; just one, and it's small (the size of a 1c coin)

So, how do I care for it and encourage it to grow and split?

I have dual 400W 10K XM bulbs and my tank is very very bright. I have it shaded under a rocky outcrop since it is coming from a tank much dimmer than mine. My water quality is excellent and I have dual SeaSwirls.

-Nathan

Travis L. Stevens
09/07/2006, 09:27 AM
What's up, Nathan? It's really simple actually. Just care for it like most soft corals, and it will soon split like crazy all on it's own. Luckily, they are very resilient when fragged manually and it's easy, too. The actual environment to cause it to grow and split is hard to say, but a good environment is always best. With the lighting system that you have, I would add it in a shady spot. I wouldn't worry too much about flow. As time progresses, you can start edging the mushroom out from the shade until it gets used the bright lights. In fact, it might not ever get used to it and hide in the lower and shady regions, but no worries. THey are really easy to take care of, though.

Nathan
09/07/2006, 09:34 AM
Hi Travis!

I remember a long long time ago you were supportive of me when I lost everything. Remember that? :)

Thanks for the tips on the mushroom.

My tank is coming along really well. It's been up for 1.5 years now, but it's still sparsely populated (it's a 180g). Some of the corals that I bought have grown huge. I've had tremendous success with montiporas (capricornis & digitata) as well as some other corals.

Yesterday I bought a few corals from a local reefer; they were tiny frags, but it's the DNA that I care about because they will grow.

How's everything going for you?

-Nathan

joeychitwood
09/07/2006, 09:39 AM
I agree that you should place the mushroom in the shade. I have two mushroom rocks which immediately faded under the halide lights. Once placed in the shade, they regained their color and are now thriving. A few mushrooms which remain in the light are growing nicely, but their color is quite depleted.

Travis L. Stevens
09/07/2006, 09:44 AM
Oh, yes. I remember. I don't forget things like that ;)

It sounds like that you are recovering nicely. Especially since I'm a sucker for Montiporas. You'll have to post some pictures

FWIW, things are chugging along slowly until I can get all these tanks fixed up.

drummereef
09/07/2006, 10:30 AM
Low/medium light and low/indirect flow. Mine are very happy.

Nathan
09/07/2006, 10:38 AM
When would I expect this one lonely small mushroom to multiply? Weeks, months?

I read that by cutting them you can make them propagate faster... but I think I won't do that for a while, at least until this little guy settles in and starts growing. I wouldn't want to risk losing it because it's really beautiful.

Travis, I'll post some pics sometime when I get a chance. Too bad you don't live nearby because you could drop by and have some pretty big frags! :) For now check out these pics from several months ago:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=843401

-Nathan

Travis L. Stevens
09/07/2006, 10:45 AM
It really just depends. I had a mushroom that started splitting a couple weeks after it went in my tank, but I have a few mushrooms that haven't split once in a year.