Mushrooms

[BrianO]

Hi All

Well, after running it by the Mod.s,( Thanks Guy's :-) )

Am gonna try and get, what I hope to be, an infromative, educational and enjoyable, weekly post going.

The success will depend on the replies posted, so get a postin !!!!!

First off, I have seen a similar post on Reefcentral, and found it to be a fascinating way of garnering first hand experiences of how to keep and maintain certain corals. *

So lets see LOTS of replies, with or without pics.

**** Coral of the Week ****

Wk.No.1. " Discosoma spp. "

Common Name: " Mushroom Anemonoe ".

Feautured in "The Reef Aq.Vol.2"
Sprung/Delbeek.
Page 333.
"Corals,A quick Ref.Guide"
Sprung. Not at all http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Please post any information you have in relation to your experience in keeping this coral.

Such as Conditions favoured, ie: Temp, Water chemistry, Flow rates, Lighting, Positioning, etc.

and other topics such as

Agressiveness, Hardiness, Colour morphs, Reproductive methods, Feeding of, Fragging details, Spawning details Shipping/Transportation details, Scientific references, Related corals, Pictures for identification, and ANY other relevant info.


If you want a particular coral featured mail me with your suggestions.

Lets see those replies :eek:

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/028/2O/e5/qp/AT59022.jpg


Cheers

Brian.:lol:

(Edited by IrishReefer at 2:24 pm on May 15, 2001)

[imported_Will]

IME, I've found this particular coral to be quite hardy.

I usually place this coral in low-medium flow, in a low light environment.

IME: Too much light = Massive growth, and once these blighters get going, there ain't no stopping them :shocked:

HTH

Will

[huskydog]

IME very hardy also,good beginners coral.Good for propagating both manually and naturally.IME they move to the most favourable position on the piece of rock they are attached and if they are not happy will detach themselves(especially if they are being bothered by other corals).
Low to medium flow IME.Adapt to most lighting,although tend to seek more light if not enough available.

Martin

[shrimpy]

i have 2 different varitys of these 1 is the brown knobble varity and the other is the striped disk variety the knobble 1s were the 1st 1s i got and have reproduced but as of yet have not moved off the rock they came on the disk varity i got 1 given me by my lfs cos it fell off its rock it as now reproduced about 8-9times
reproducion: i have only seen the budding reproducion going on in the tank
the condition i have found 2 work r:
ph 8.3
temp 26c
amm 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 10ppm or less
s.g 1.022-1.025 (my s.g is at 1.025)
phos 0ppm
water circulation mod flowover the colonies
lighting: i keep mine in low 2 mod light
feeding: i feed mine once a month with blended prawns ,krill & brine shrimps this i do by useing a pipet and squrt the mix over the colonies (this also feeds the other filter feeders and any larger bits the fish get)this is only imo (it is what as worked 4 me)

:biggrin:

[Nathan]

Manually propagating is easy. Cut the head off with a pair of scissors when it's fully expanded. Place the cut head in a area of coral gravel (could be a bowl with gravel in it). The mushroom attatches within 14 days, and you can then glue the gravel whever you want it - Plus the old base grows a new head.

Here's my gallery of mushrooms:

http://photoweb.brinkster.net/browse.asp?Category=3&SubID=4

[marc]

Apart from propagating you may occasionally see this going on........

http://www.hobbyschool.com/reef/Readers%20Tanks/Marc/mushbuds.jpg

This is a pic on the main colony i used to have (Brown knobbly) budding off. It seemed to do this in fits and starts mainly but just before i got rid of it i saw it do it all the time.Maybe somthing changed in the water that spured it on ?
During the time i had these they easily trebled in size under moderate flow and light.
I also have Red mush ...these grow and reproduce too but very slowly.
I've heard that the true blue mush can grow fast and become a pest.......ive seen posts on the US BB's with reefers trying to inject them with kalk cos they get out of hand.
I dont think anyone mentioned yet that they sting like a ba$%$d too :biggrin:
Mine fell on an Bubble coral once and dissolved the middle section of it very fast. I also had the brown knobbly do battle with my green hynophora over the course of a few nites which is what prompted me to get shot of it.
I rarely fed mine....maybe some brine once in a while.

Doh.....anyway of archiving these in a separate "read only" forum ?

[simon garratt]

Sorry to jump on anybody here folkes but arn't we getting a bit side-tracked. Discosoma spp. actually refers to the smooth / very slightly bumpy surfaced mushrooms. whereas the knobbly variety belong to the family Ricordeidae, which has a lot lower tolerance to uv radiation or powerfull MH lighting than thier Discosoma relatives. This is why Ricordea spp will often burn or bleach in response to too much light, wheras Discosoma spp will generally adapt without much fuss.

I understand that this may seem trivial but saying that mushrooms (collectively) are easy to keep is like saying all Tangs are easy to keep, which to a novice implies that a yellow tang is as hardy as an achilles tang...(NOT).
Sorry to appear padantic but if we are going to use this section as a referance guide shouldn't we make sure that the information we give, is as accurate as possible for the novice as well as the experienced.

Ill get down of my high horse now........sorry!!!!!!

[Cam]

Hi,

You asked for reply's to your post 'Coral of the week' so here is mine:-

KEEP IT UP! I REALLY ENJOY READING INFORMATION AND OPINIONS OF DIFFERENT CORALS ETC.

I am keep to try my hand at some hard corals (red brain etc.) and would be interested to read everyone's thoughts of these.

Cheers,

Cam.
:biggrin:

[Cam]

P.S. How about 'FISH OF THE WEEK'?

[marc]

Simon,

I stand corrected :biggrin: I thought about deleting my post but seeing as they are closly related i'll leave it up.

"I understand that this may seem trivial but saying that mushrooms (collectively) are easy to keep is like saying all Tangs are easy to keep"

Which IYO are the more difficult to keep then......... Discosoma or Ricordeidae ?

[BrianO]

:wink:

Fair point Simon.

I used to also categorise them ALL as Mushroom Anem.s., but yes we definitely should distinguish between.

Marc, regarding the difficulty of care rating with regard to Rhodactis/Discosoma spp.

I have only kept Rhodactis twice previously, whilst at all stages had various Discosoma spp. in my tank.

I would definitely rate Rhodactis as being more difficult to care for than the relatively easy to keep Discosoma.

A couple of points with regard to Discosoma spp. I have noticed.

They seem to expand in size after the addition of Iodine ( used to add, dont anymore ).

Some colour Morphs appear to reproduce faster than others, ie: the Blue/gree/purple one ( on left ) in picture above, reproduces quite rapidly ( relatively speaking ), whilst the bright red one VERY slowly.

I never direct feed and re: agression, ones near a Plerogyra Bubble coral are susecptible to its stinging tentacles, as opposed to being able to contend with, advance on its territory.

Heh, just realised IM answering my own post, Is this the Internet equivalent of talking to yourself * :eek3: Maybe im really mad :lol:

Lets see more replies !! :smile:

Cheers

Brian.

(Edited by IrishReefer at 9http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif1 pm on May 17, 2001)

(Edited by IrishReefer at 9http://www.ultimatereef.net/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif3 pm on May 17, 2001)

(Edited by IrishReefer at 3:59 am on May 18, 2001)

[huskydog]

Hello

Are we talking Rhodactis or Ricordia.Simon states Ricordia/Discosoma.One of my first ever corals was Ricordia Florida which i still have(4yrs) and they have been through some bad times in my early reefkeeping days.

Regarding Discosoma i also noticed the expansion on addition of iodine which i do not add now.
I have a group of red discosoma next to my ever expanding bubble coral and they just seem to move away from it.

Martin

[Paul01]

When these babies get to a large size are they fish safe?
Or could they possibly wrap around a fish?
Paul

[simon garratt]

Hi Folks.. Sorry I took so long to get back.and sorry about this disgustingly long post.....

I would probably rate Ricordea spp as slightly more finnicky than most Discosoma but not difficult. My main reason for this statement is that most colour morphs of the Discosoma spp when placed under strong lighting or under conditions that would make most inverts srivel up and die ie heavy organic loads/NO3, will usually shrink away for a few days only to reapear just as healthy as before. I know that lighting conditions have a marked effect on colouration and size ie blues will expand enormously 3-4in under low light levels as do my florecent green ones but also become less deeply coloured, whereas those placed higher up will not opon as much but have much deeper colouration, I think this is probably in response to the levels of UV light. As far as Ricordea spp go I would honestly hazard a bold statement and suggest that species such as Ricordea Florida Usually green-purple with very bulbus tentacles (mini Bubble Anemone springs to mind) and Ricordea Yuma very similar but mor commonly in shades of green-brown seem to be more adaptable and suffer less from reactive oxygen than say the 'fury' types,(Rodactis Indonsinensis....I Believe..) these are frequently seen to be the first ones to die off in the dealers tanks going white and mushy, which I stongly believe is down to the average contitions within dealers tanks (No Offense) compared to the relatively high and stable standards obtainable at home. so as a guide i would probably place each type in terms of hardiness as 1 Discosoma spp, 2 recordea(bulbus tentacled)spp, 3 'fury' Rodactis spp. I know there are a few species within each group that defy these rules as with most marine animals but I feel that this is a fair introduction for any novices reading, I think the trick is to take an ID book when shopping.

Paul....I think the only danger is possibly to very small fish such as catalina gobies, and then only from the tentacled type which can pack a fair wallop in stinging terms. I believe the only dangerous species as far as fish go is the giant elephant ear or Amplexidiscus fenestrafer, ive got one that hogs one end of my 40 gallon, he's about 14in across when open..right monster...

[simon garratt]

Back again (cant sleep, big interveiw tommorow)

Sorry I forgot to mention addatives and feeding.
I definately agree with Irishreefer on the iodine point, yes it does make a heck of a difference, although Ive generaly switched to small 'but very often' water changes on my tank now as an alternative to suppliments, the only one i use now is calcium becouse my clams seem to suck it up...
In terms of feeding I believe that most, if not all of the smooth mushrooms feed by translocation from their zooxanthellae and direct intake of nutrients through their cell membranes, wherass the knobbly, of fury types use translocation, and heterotrophic feeding by capturing plankton or small pieces of uneaten food, I personally never directly feed mine ie seringe. but i know some people do with good results but genrally, in terms of reproduction I would say that Discosoma spp have the edge when it comes to running rampant in my tank with my Ricordea's comming a distant second. but I dare say someone will have it the other way round. (funny old hobby)......The monster in the corner is a law unto himself...

PS Irishreefer... It was very rude of me not to offer my praise where it was due. so well done on a superb idea for a referance guide...........my apologies...

[Lisa Page]

Hi all,

Be warned this is long :smile:

Okay, one of my first purchases for my reef tank were Discosoma, the green spotted variety. I have found them to be very easy to keep adapting to a wide range of aquarium conditions. IME they seem to prefer lower light levels with slight current.

These mushrooms grow exceedingly well and have formed quite a large colony on the bottom of the tank. Sadly one day, years ago now, I lost quite a few of the mushrooms to the dreaded brown jelly infection (see 'The Reef Aquarium' Vol 1, p328). This had to happen a couple of days prior to my going away on holiday so I simply siphoned out as much of the infection as I could and left them to it. On my return all the mushroom polyps down stream of the original infected ones were completely gone, no trace of them remained at all. No other coral in the tank was affected fortunately.

These mushrooms are aggressive but are OK if nothing gets in the way of their spread. A colony that had established itself in the upper part of my aquarium increased over time so that one of the polyps began irritating a moon coral. When the moon coral began to recede I was forced into drastic action. The mushroom in question was mangled to nothing :shocked: Well I thought so at the time, it has since returned in the form of 2 individual polyps, indestructable eh! Good for propagation though :biggrin:

I also have in my tank Ricordea yuma, this was inroduced as a single polyp on the underside of a rock. It has grown into quite a colony now. These mushrooms seem to be quite mobile and extremely aggressive. It 'moved' quite a way (leaving a line of baby polyps behind it) toward my trumpet coral, Caulastrea furcata. Quite a number of heads on this coral were destroyed before I made the decision of moving it (the trumpet). These polyps have met their match now though in the form of green star polyps. The star polyps simply grow underneath the mushrooms until they find a space to open up (see pic below).

I upgraded my lighting in January from 175W bulbs to 250W MH bulbs, all the mushroom polyps are not appreciative of the increased lighting levels at all!! I have relocated as many of the Discosoma as possible to the nice shady spot I have under my large frogspawn coral. The ones that remain in the upper half of the tank that have grown on to the LR are just having to adapt, 5 months after the light transfer most of those are still shrivelled up :sad: Sill it's good for the moon coral, it's halted their spread for a while. The pic (not great, sorry) of the Ricordea taken on 1st March 2001 shows how they now sit very close to the rock not stretching towards the light as they did before.

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/025/1K/Ed/jA/DA37086.jpg

One last thing I don't specifically feed my mushrooms.

TTFN

Lisa

[BrianO]

Great Stuff guy's & Gals. !!!!

Very educational & Informative.

Took a couple of snaps this AM that demonstrate the interaction of this coral with other corals competing for territory.

http://wsphotofews.excite.com/023/6z/Hg/zy/GH83429.jpg


http://wsphotofews.excite.com/025/pq/2B/u7/Hc68279.jpg

Difficult to makeout as pic.is not great but semicircular shape to leading growth edge of Enc.Acro ( tentatively identified ) is circling a purple Discosoma spp.

Acro. appears to be repelled by the Discosoma, grows around it, whilst the Plerogyra aggresively attacks and repells the Discosoma spp.

I beleive most LPS corals can attack and repell Disc. whilst most SPS cannot. Any one else care to comment on this theory/experience otherwise. ?


Cheers

Brian. :eek3: