Feeding blue mushrooms

[Joe Pusdesris]

I typically do not feed mushrooms, but I would really like to see some growth out of these guys so I tried it. It was a very long process taking several minutes, but here's the results.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jkfHYLtZI5BiF8AuGwbY8g?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/SzlBui6RwbI/AAAAAAAAA_c/F12e2-ESYYY/s800/img_0172.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Feeding?feat=embedwebsite">Feeding</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ALbsYoBTU79Xbm4EeWHqMQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/SzlBvLHnYyI/AAAAAAAAA_k/-mOFEYUcVwk/s800/img_0177.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Feeding?feat=embedwebsite">Feeding</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KLUf2VR_cOEdFg3KWEipTA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/SzlBvpMN30I/AAAAAAAAA_o/bkfV9g4N2M8/s800/img_0180.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Feeding?feat=embedwebsite">Feeding</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/b2VXkwe1xuN6NsZ7vpBGZA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/SzlBv699TSI/AAAAAAAAA_s/4kxFUyIpJIg/s800/img_0189.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Feeding?feat=embedwebsite">Feeding</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/K1XmCTMpZqAa8xWI4Pq43g?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/SzlBwJ_ykPI/AAAAAAAAA_0/i8RnNa6moSk/s800/img_0195.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Feeding?feat=embedwebsite">Feeding</a></td></tr></table>

--------------------------
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0NeTbKa_0QhzhKR8j2eZbw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/SzlCLd6IJSI/AAAAAAAAA_8/4m7u9DIbor8/s800/img_0188.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Feeding?feat=embedwebsite">Feeding</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/eAJr99dASKw3SOLokWJXvg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/SzlCLiJa9uI/AAAAAAAABAA/fYW8RkrbD-E/s800/img_0191.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Feeding?feat=embedwebsite">Feeding</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/GWwc-ZmM9ci0kFkmAki6kw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_xXnKvgKPgX4/SzlCL0ZqNqI/AAAAAAAABAE/zsfgkOX0VqU/s800/img_0193.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/deformative0/Feeding?feat=embedwebsite">Feeding</a></td></tr></table>

 

[sneeyatch]

Wow - I must say that I've never seen that and have really never tried.

I would be very concerned about the fireworms in the pics. They're not your typical bristleworm.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

Definitely not concerned. All of my tanks are loaded with them. They are harmless and only come out when they smell squid, just like the emerald crabs.

 

[nanshaw2001]

Very interesting and fun pics! I have some blue shrooms that aren't doing much. What did you feed them?

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

Blended squid tubes.

 

[DThompson]

Those are some great pictures. Did you just blend up squid and then target feed?

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

Yes. The only thing I did different for the mushrooms that I wouldn't have had to do for lps, gorgorians, or button polyps was turning the pumps off. They are more sticky.

 

[SMITTY27030]

very interesting...+1 on the fire worm thing but if they arent bothering anything ohh well...

 

[dhemp34]

i have some shrooms that really blossomed...then they just reallly really went down in size still blue with life but will not expand...you have any idea what thats about

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Definitely not concerned. All of my tanks are loaded with them. They are harmless and only come out when they smell squid, just like the emerald crabs.

My tank also has had a lot of these kind for years, up to 5" long. No problems, ever. Just helpful detritivores.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

i have some shrooms that really blossomed...then they just reallly really went down in size still blue with life but will not expand...you have any idea what thats about

No idea.

 

[twerlinich]

i keep reading about how others have mushrooms that proliferate like rabbits, but in 17 years of reef work, i've never had the "problem". My experience with blues, reds, stripes and or hairies, they reach a certain colony size, die back and ultimately die entirely. i've never tried to target feed any of them since conventional wisdom has been that it's not necessary and could even be detrimental. my water quality has always been good. But my shrooms never proliferate. Very weird. Inadequate lighting? Any suggestions? Water additives? I've had the same experience with my zoas and rics. Thanks!

 

[Malum Argenteum]

My 55g underskimmed, no 'fuge tank used to be overrun with Discosoma/Actinodiscus 'shrooms (softies and LPS did very well, too). I "upgraded" to a 75g with a macro 'fuge and a much more efficient skimmer, and now the same shrooms merely hang on, with very little reproduction. Lower nutrient levels is my theory -- nitrates in this new system run about half what they were in the old system, nuisance algae growth is much reduced, and substrate fouling is much less.

A related anecdote: I've had a Sarcophyton leather coral for years. It used to grow larger by the minute, and I fragged from it many times. In the 55g, I had a (way too large) Naso lituratus that ate nori like a pig and a bunch of times every day made a huge algae-poop snowstorm in the whole tank...it was cool in a gross sort of way. Anyway, I eventually traded the tang in to the LFS, and within a week I noticed that the toadstool had basically stopped growing. That leather has not grown substantially (though it does well otherwise) in maybe 4 years. I suspect it thrived off the nutrients it got from the massive bioload that the tang was. I need another huge tang...