Sent to mushroom jail

I got him from the LFS that had sold me everything [I'm Loyal]. They said he was safe with my fish!!! First 2 months ago he ate a hermit crab, I saw it all. Two days later he spit out the shell. I started to feed him, but yesterday, when I had to save Baby [ my scooter blenny], yes, he was inside the mushroom, that was it. The mushroom now lives in my 10 gallon. Baby is safe--you wouldn't know anything happened--nothing bothers that fish. Here is the "mug shot" of the mushroom. PS---this is a life sentence!!!!

 

Being a sessile invertebrate, attached to the substrate; a mushroom's choice of food is limited to say the least. The mouth, is tiny when compared to a fish, shrimp or crab. They don't have the ability to hold on to prey.

If you experience anything being "eaten" by a mushroom coral, the object was probably already dead, or had a foot in the grave; or in this case, Davy Jones' Locker.

 

Mushrooms these days............

 

I wish that were true with these mushrooms--their body expanses to over 4'' now their mouth is over 1/2 '' when completely open----and my husband and I watched as the hermit struggled to get out--it took it 1 1/2 hour to swallow a 3/4 '' snail shell and all. I began to think I had imaged it and counted everything else in the tank, until he spit the crab out which I watched. It was baby's fault he got caught as I had just feed brine shrimp and he was trying to get it off the mushroom, I think he was too big to swallow, but he would have been dead.

 

See that face, it's guilt

 

What are ya gonna do?

 

Maybe I should think twice about getting mushrooms on pizza next time huh LOL! Good luck with that Shroom of yours. Anything in the 10g that it can eat?

 

I've had the same problem. my shrooms were a little bit different though. I lost 2 Maroon clowns that tried to host the shrooms. I've since moved the shrooms to my FOWLR tank with much bigger fish in it. now my foxface (Foxy) takes her naps in them.

 

Good thing you pointed out the napping part! For a moment there I was getting scared that it was eating the Fox face. I was about to ban shrooms from my "to buy" list LOL!

 

foxy looks a little frightened though! LOL