[gei]

Hi- I am new to saltwater I have a new 12g nano and received 2 mushrooms a couple of days ago, one was damaged in shipping and I thought was not going to live, but I put it in anyway and it opened up and is wedged itself in between a rock and the glass and has attached itself to the glass, I dont want to stress it out anymore but dont really want it on the glass, how can I move it and do I need to use gloves or are bare hands ok? Also the healthy one has moved itself over next to the damaged one, is it waiting for it to die or just wanting company? I have been feeding the tank a little phytoplankton and purple up, every couple of days, do I need to feed any additional foods? Thanks in advance for any advice.
Ellen

[rlcline76]

Could be that the water flow has helped your mushrooms move to that part of the tank!
Phytoplankton is fine. Is there a reason you are using Purple Up?

[gei]

I have 10 lbs live rock and thought it it was a good additive (purple up)dont really know what I am doing yet. do you have any advice on something else I should be using instead.?
It is possible that the flow moved the healthy Mushroom, but I put them both in a low flow area. Do you know how to remove the mushroom from the glass or should I just leave it for now?

[rlcline76]

Those babies can stick hard to just about anything. But I can see why you wouldn't want it hanging out on the glass. I'm sure someone can help you with that.
I don't know much about Purple Up. Some people here use it and like it, I am cautious. You might want to test your calcium levels. I believe that many are using it to boost coralline algae production in the tanks. If your calcium levels are good, pH is well these things will happen on their own in a few months after cycling. It is up to you. I prefer the slow method. My calcium levels are doing well enough that I have been cleaning coralline algae off of my equipment on a regular basis. I cannot imagine accelerating it further!

[gei]

thanks, my tank is only about one month old and these are the first animals I have (intentionally) put in, the live rock has some sponges and a feather duster, I guess I will just let things be for now, and see how it works out, and ease up on the purple up. thanks for the response. Ellen

[dragonboy4578]

if you continue to use purple up be careful not to overdose. it can cause your ph to drop through to floor very quickly, killing everything in your tank. i'm not saying purple up is bad just to be cautious using it.

[gei]

thanks, the one thing I dont have yet is a calcium test,but I am taking a water sample to my lfs today to have them test CA and see if Imy other tests are accurate ( or close). My alkalimity has stayed in range ever since I put sand and rock in the tank,

[Earthboy17]

how'd the tests go?

[e_baer]

alright, as for the mushroom, leave it there until it is healthy again. when it is healthy for about a week, cut it off at the base. you can get some thread and losely tie it down to a rock where you want it. here is a link in case you get confused. Mushroom Propagation - fabio iannelli after you cut the shroom off the base, just get a razor blade and scrape the base off the glass, and tie it down somewhere and it wil regrow. im currently in the process of setting up my sunp/fige and im gonan use some of that space for fragging shrooms and selling them on ebay. but, im not ready to sell.....yet.

[Earthboy17]

I heard you could throw a shroom into a blender and make 1,000 frags... if that's true, I wouldn't worry about a damaged one.

But I have no experience on this.

[e_baer]

no its not true, you need a peice of the mouth of the shroom in order for a new one to grow.

[gei]

My tests are great- except ph is 7.9,
nh3=0
no3= close to 0
alk=8.4
sg=1.025
CA=480
I did not bring enough water for anymore, Thanks everybody for all the responses, I guess I will wait and try to cut the mushroom off the glass in a couple of weeks, I have tiny microscopic things growing on my live rock, feather duster, some kind of tube with 2 feelers that come out, a white polyp of some sort, bright yellow sponges ( about 5-6), it is amazing. but I also saw bristle worms, some people say to get them out, others say to leave them in,
The only real problem i am having is regulating temp, It is hot in Texas and the tank can get pretty hot, I set up a fan next to it and that seems to help, btu it hasnt really even been that hot yet. Thanks again eevryone

[e_baer]

those white "polyps" can you get a picture of them? they may by a type of non reef friendsly anemone called aptasia.

[rlcline76]

Yep. Your alk is low and your Ca is high. Take a break from Purple up and just buffer for Alk when you do water changes. Check back again if your pH doesn't improve after you get those numbers where they need to be.

[gei]

Ok no more, purple up, I have bought some sea chem marine buffer, will probably do a water change today,

I dont think that polyp is aiptasia, I cant get a good picture, it is small, but i have looked on line at hundreds of pics , and it doesnt look like it, has no tentacles, a rounded dome top. I have looked at in the light and dark, thinking it may change shapes but it hasnt, I will keep an eye on it. Although dont know what I will do if it turns out to be aiptasia.

[e_baer]

well, one thing you can do is get a suringe (sp?) and fill it wiht lemon juice, then squirrt a little juice into the aptasia.

[gei]

if it turns out to be aiptaisa I will try that, it seems simple, there is also a recipe on GARF website, but the lemon juice seems easier. Thanks again everyone.

[e_baer]

im about to post pics of how i fragged mushrooms if you want to take a look. i think its called mushroom fragging.

[Cela Vie]

Originally Posted by e_baer

im about to post pics of how i fragged mushrooms if you want to take a look. i think its called mushroom fragging.

Mushroom fragging? Sounds illegal.

[e_baer]

haha...alright the pics are up!

[Cela Vie]

um...yeah...where?

[e_baer]

right here! http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/c...-fragging.html