Attaching mushrooms and xenia

[heed]

Hiyas

I have a few mushrooms I bought loose from a LFS for a steal. I had intended to allow them to find their own spot but they are not attached after 2 weeks. Both appear to be healthy (they open every day and are bright and colorful) but they are in a new place every morning.

I have read a bit about attaching them and I think I will "sew" them onto a smallish piece of rubble with a needle and fishing line. 2 questions about this: 1. Can I attach them to an old (dry) piece of LR that I would soak in the tank for a day or two? 2. Do I remove the fishing line at some point or just leave it there forever?

About the xenia, it came attached to a piece of rubble with a rubber band . Do I need to remove the rubber band? (it has been in the tank for 2 weeks)

Background on the tank:

15g long tank
55w PC lighting (upgrading to 130w next week)
18 lbs LR
livestock includes:
The shrooms and xenia
a zoo rock
4 astrea snails
2 nassarius
3 cerith
3 scarlet hermits
2 blue leg hermits
peppermint shrimp
Ocellaris clown

 

[brettandlyndi]

Regular old super glue gel works wonders in attaching soft corals to rocks. You can dry off a piece of rock from your tank (or use a dry piece of rock), put a lot of super glue on the rock, and then place the soft coral onto the super glue. let it sit for a minute or two, to allow the glue to set in, and then place it in the water. Once the glue hits the water, it sets instantly, and your mushroom or xenia should stay on that rock securely, until they attach themselves to the rock.

 

[Limpit]

I tried the sewing method on some leathers with no luck. I have not yet tried the Super Glue method so cannot comment on that. The best method I have had success with has been "wedging" a coral between two pieces of LR and letting the coral attach themselves on their own. Some corals attach quicker than others so be patient.

 

[Hal]

I usually stick a toothpick thru my xenia, then rubberband both sides of the toothpick to the rock. Too many times when I've just used the rubberband without the toothpick the constriction of the rubber band cuts thru the xenia and I need to start all over.

 

[mandrin13]

I had the exact same problem. I stuck my xenia in a small hole in the rock and it has gotten huge.

My 100th post yah!!!:beer: :bounce1: :strooper: :uzi:

 

[DJ88©]

[moved]

 

[banditfl]

Mushrooms: What works best for me is a layer of crushed coral and shells in a small shallow container, place the mushroom in the container and cover it with some bridal veil netting for about 2-3 weeks. After that the Mushrooms should be attached to the rubble. Remove the mushroom and what it is attached to and glue it to a larger piece of rock using super glue gel.

Xenia: You should be able to remove the rubber band after 2 weeks. If it needs more time to attach, and future frags, use a piece of bridal veil netting over the xenia frag and rock and secure the netting with a rubber band. The xenia will grow through the netting. After a couple weeks check to see if it is attach, if so remove the netting. Sometimes you can lift it off and others the Xenia has grown into the netting, if that is the case just trim the netting off close the xenia. Some more info can be found at GARF www.garf.org

couple links for you:
http://www.garf.org/trever/MUSH.html
http://www.garf.org/FRUGALREEFER/frugalxenia.html
http://www.garf.org/MPegs/XeniaPropagation.html

 

[worlds under]

mushrooms I have had luck with jest sticking them in a hole in a peice of LR and cutting down on my current for a while. Xeina place on the bottom of tank and set a peice of LR on top exposing the pollops. that is allso how I cullitavate them thay tend to split as thay attach themselves and attached Xeina are worth more than when thay are loose.

 

[rustybucket145]

I do it the same way as banditfl and have had almost 100% success with both mushrooms and xenia in the gravel bowl. The xenia seems to do much better when the cutting contains 3 or 4 polyps. The time it takes 1 Polyp to develop into a marketable piece is drastically larger than with pieces from the same colony that contain multiple polyps.

If you really want to get better use out of the single mushrooms you have, cut each of them into 4 'pie peices' and then place the cuttings in the gravel bowl. Each will develop into a full mushroom and be attached to the rock/shells/crushed coral in a couple of weeks.

 

[DesertBandits]

I just put loose shrooms where i want them in my tank. If the water flow is light enough that they dont blow around they will attach themselves. Ive done this with a leather too. decent light + calm flow = attached coral