A tale of 3 mushrooms

About a month ago I bought a piece of LR because it had 3 very nice looking mushrooms on it. I put the rock in a prominent place near the top of my tank to show my prizes off. A few days later, their color faded somewhat, but otherwise they seemed happy enough. Yesterday ago I noticed one of the smaller ones laying on the sand at the bottom of the tank, and closed up. I thought I was losing it, but did nothing. This morning I noticed it was now still on the sand, but had moved (against the current) to a spot at the base of my rock. This evening I found it still there, but bigger than ever and back to the nice bright green as the day I bought it!;D

There's the tale and now the questions.

Do mushrooms like less light than I thought? (In the store, these were about 10" below some MH lghts.)

Do mushrooms move of their own volition? (this one apparently moved against the prevailing current in my tank.)

What are the chances of me moving the other 2 to similar locations? (And how?)

This little mushroom moved! And regained his color from the store!


These two mushrooms stayed home.


Mike

 

IME mushrooms do not require metal halide burn your eyes out lighting.
They normally get along fine with low lighting with low to moderate water flow. I have seen them move, but not like yours. It must have been real unhappy lol
I am glad that it has found its place in the tank.

Jim

 

i've seen them move all over.......they pick a place where they like

 

Just a bump

How would I go about moving a mushroom? The rock the two I want to move is not going to fracture easily! Can I try to pry the (foot?) free from the rock or is that going to damage it? The one that moved itself still has great color and seems to be enjoying its life in the shade.

 

I would not try to pry them off. If they are not happy, they will move. Unless you see signs of stress, I wouldn't worry about them.

Alternately, you could try to just chip off a sliver where they are if you feel the need to move them anyway. Usually, with a screwdriver and hammer on an angle about 90 degrees to the item you wish to remove, and of course about an inch away, you can usually get a sliver to chip off, hopefully with the animal attached;D

 

Thanks BL, I thought the might be stressed, since they lose color after I turn the light on. But like you said, since the one moved, I guess the others will too if they want to.

 

Mushrooms do tend to like lower light conditions. You can try moving it like you would an anemone (if you want to risk it...don't kill it and said I told you too!), use a turkey baster to blast the foot with water and see if it will come loose a little bit. If you can get an edge up, you may use a finger to gently massage it loose from the rock. Mushrooms are pretty tough, and can be fragged by slicing the thing like a pizza to grow several new animals.

 

If they are fading, they could be bleaching from too much light. Go ahead and move the rock...sometimes when they detach on their own, they end up in overflow boxes or powerheads...:-[

 

As Grarvit said, they like it at the lower leavel of the tank, here is a photo of mine that I have had for about 6 moths(started with 3 of them).

 

Heres what you could do:

Take a big razor blade and try to slice that sucker from the rock taking as much of it as you can. Then get one of those clear small dixie cups and fill it with pea size or bigger rubble rock. Only fill it enough to cover the bottom of the cup. Then put the shroom into the cup. After you have the cup with the shroom inside it looking happy in its new temporary home resting on the small rocks take some bridal veil from the fabric store and cut a piece big enough to cover the top of the cup and place it there securing it with a rubber band. Get the veil material with the biggest holes in it you can find. Place the cup on the bottom of your tank in a low current area and leave it there for 2 - 3 weeks till the mushroom has taken hold of the small rock. I have seen them take hold in 1 week but we are not raceing anyone here. There you have it, you can now move the mushroom anywhere you want and it will stay attached to the small rock. Another tip for you....cut the mushroom under water and never take it from the tank as they will slime into mush very easily and stick/melt to your fingers. Another tip....leave a small amount of flesh behind on the rock where you cut it from and a new mushroom will grow there.

Happy shrooming

Jay