Reef nutrition

Best Way to Remove Mushrooms?

99sf

99sf

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I have purple mushrooms that are growing, multiplying, and spreading out on rocks throughout the tank. They have started to damage corals such as favia & candy canes. I would like to remove the mushrooms, but not destroy all my my live rock in the process. I searched Reef Central, and a couple of people suggested removing the rock from the water and using a hobby torch selectively to cook the mushrooms. What is the best way to remove mushrooms that have gone wild?
 
Use the same techniques as with aiptasia. Use kalk paste or Aiptasia-X.

Maybe try shading them from light, like with a cloth or something?

Vince

PS. I have the same problem with green ricordias. Which is why I bring them to the frag swap to infest other people
 
Tagging along - Any way to do this without removing the rock? I left one in my tank and it's multiplied to over 20 in a real short time... Would be inclined to do this with kalk but seems like it could get to other corals too
 
Vince, funny you should mention green rics. I am experimenting with placing a green yuma frag directly on top of a mushroom, to see if it will destroy the mushroom. The problem with the mushrooms in my tank is that they are very healthy... developing a giant stem, which makes me wonder if kalk paste or Aiptasia-X would be effective.
 
To nuke the mushrooms which used to live in my tank, I used boiling RO water with a saturated level of kalk. I dosed it on top of the mushroom using airline tubing connected to a 20ml syringe. It's not as messy as kalk paste and hopefully less likely to hose the stuff next to it. No need to take the rock out of the tank.

-Russell
 
I had the same problem years ago in my 180, I used kalk, hot water, ect. but nothing works. The only way is to take the rocks out and trade it with your friends ... lol ... j/k Actually I took the rocks out one by one starting one side of the tank and work my way across the entire tank. I turn the rocks upside down outside of the tank and leave it like that for about 5 minutes, the shrooms will hang down from the rock. I used an bone cutter or stainless frag cutter and cut the shrooms at the base taking away a piece of the rock if neccessary. This process took a whole day but that was what it takes.
 
You can get them off with a flat head screw driver I side the tank a lot of the time. I've also used the corner of a razor blade to get under them.
 
Try this too...

start a siphon from your main tank to the sump (assuming you have a sump) With a filter sock on the bottom. Use it to suck up the mushrooms to that the stem is exposed and stretched, then clip with razor blade or scissors. Then bring the bag of mushrooms to the swap :p

V
 
But then you just actually leave the same amount of mushroom as the base will regrow :) Then again a small one is easier to clean up using other methods :)

Water Picks can be used to get them off the rock as well. Jake would be proud of me for mentioning that :D
 
Wear eye protection if you do, flaming rock can yield chips rocketing towards you with some evilness behind them. The last thing you want is for that stuff to penetrate your skin.

I've used it on a very limited basis just to see how effective it was on manajos. It was OK, but I found simply putting the rock in cold water made the manajos migrate off the rock and onto the surface of the container.
 
That is an interesting idea... I wonder if any of the mushrooms would release from the rock if I submerged it in cold water. Worth trying before experimenting with fire.
 
I don't like having dying things in the tank. I use physical removal. I use bone cutters, chisels, saws or any tool oriented approach. If you can keep a small piece of the rock still attached, you can pass them around and they'll plague someone else. Like zoas, clove polyps or star polyps, they're beastly prolific and will regenerate from the smallest piece left behind. For Aiptasia, I use Joe's juice. Seems to work better than the boiling water/syringe approach for me.
 
Ahhh the beauty of underwater gardening :) What are flowers to some are weeds to others. Thanks for the tips guys. I'm having to deal with mushroom outbreak too. I'll post if I have any luck today. Hopefully it doesn't take up my whole day.
 
I listened to the advice of BAR members, and injected my mushrooms with a kalk paste. It works quite well, although, in the process of dying, the mushrooms expel the paste through their mouth, which bothers the corals near the mushrooms for a few days. At least the mushrooms within my reach are dramatically reduced!
 
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