Mushrooms have taken over my tank
 

How do you get rid of Mushroom corals?

Long story - was unemployed for a couple of years (COVID didn't help) and had a friend watch the tank.

Destroyed $600 of pumps.

Had it running on one pump for a while and now mushroom corals have taken over nearly every square inch of the live rock.

Now that I'm employed, what's the best way to get rid of them or at least reduce their number by 90%? I have no problem with going slow.

== John ==

BEST way is via your local fish store or reef club. Trade them the mushroom rock in favor of new conditioned rock. They may be scrub 'shrooms but somebody who wants an easy reef might be delighted to have them. I'd then consider a cleanout and recycle of the tank, including new sandbed. I'd say just recycle, but honestly, I've had three corals and uncounted shrooms and sponges survive rock delivered wrapped in newspaper in a snowstorm and then assembled into a new tank and brand new salt water, so a simple recycle of extant rock has no hope. The things reproduce amazingly.

Thank you! Good advice.

I tried putting a white opaque ceramic bowl over one of the rocks, and it didn't seem to stress them out at all after a week. I pulled the bowel out because it was starting to get stuff growing on it :)

== John ==

Let’s see a picture


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As Sk8r said, trading them in at your LFS is the best way (mine were worth way more than I expected.) If that's not an option, Aiptasia-X works. Cover the whole shroom. I have to do that to a few every month since they have a bad habit of killing my other corals on contact. I've read you don't want to overdo it with Aiptasia-X since it can mess with your alkalinity if used in large quantities.