Some Questions

[Insane Reefer]

Hey
I just picked up a frag covered in metallic green shrooms, and have a few questions.

First is a lighting question. These are in my quarantine tank for the time being. This is a 10g with 1, 18w T8, 50/50 bulb. The shrooms loose color during the course of the day, but regain it at night - this has happened two nights running. What gives? How can this be too much light, which is my assumption. The display tank has more light than this - how can I keep their color during the day?

Secondly, I need to move these critters. The display tank is an 8g Biocube, so I can't keep adding frags on rubble mounts. I read a tutorial by a guy named Fabio, and it sounds like I can just cut the shroom off at the foot, and reattach them where I want them? I'm not interested in cutting them up for prorogation, just want to move them. Any suggestions?

And lastly, How do you tell if a mushroom is splitting? I have two that are sort of odd. One looks sort of like it is doing the splits, lol, its foot is way spread out, all stretched and taunt. The other has rolled up a portion of itself, putting half of its foot up in the air. Could these be dividing?

Any input would be awesome
Thanks!

 

[zolovinglover]

1. The lighting you are providing is adequate, but by no means too much. They will keep fluctuating in color until they've become comfortable in your water. Feeding has a lot do to with coloration as well. (when do you feed?)

2. You can certainly cut them off at the foot, but you won't be able to easily reattach them somewhere. The cut has to heal first, then it will attach it self. Get an X-acto knife and scrape the whole shroom, foot and disk, with a sliver of the rock it is attached to, from the rock. Then super glue it to anywhere in your reef.

3. You are correct, what you are describing is the process of reproduction. The stretched part will soon become bulbous at the end and sprout a baby mushroom.

 

[Insane Reefer]

University City? We are almost neighbors then - if it is the one in MO
Used to be an Excellent reef store there - is it still running?
I am visiting Gateway Aquatics at the first of the month to get some awesome looking Zoa's - not sure if these two stores are the same place, but this guy is going to glue my Zoa's directly to a piece of my LR.

Anyway, thanks for the answers, however, I have to question the lighting issue answer. I didn't mention (sorry was going to, then slipped the mind) that the shrooms on the vertical faces, or sort of on the underside of the rock - the shaded ones do not loose color. They stay pretty all day. Hence my assumption that they were getting too much light. The guy at the store had them up under the T5 actinics...
As far as feeding, I am using Micro-Vert and Coral-Vite to feed the tank, which only has cleanup and these shrooms. On friday I was going to get something meatier to target feed with. Suggestions on a good meaty food for a softy tank?

Thanks again for answering

 

[geoxman]

zolovingdude will more than likely say chromaplex and phyto-mixed with oyster eggs-just a guess from previous posts?

I agree with feeding as well!

After they have settled into your system for a bit-then I would say BLAST them with light-they will only get brighter with proper feeding and higher light. good luck