How to get mushrooms off of live rock

surferarnie · 03/12/2017, 03:19 PM

So i originally thought that my purple mushrooms were cool. But now they are taking over my 110. They have mover all over the tank.
I am looking at the best way to eradicate them without pulling the rocks and drying them.
I have tons of sponge i would like to keep.

The only way i can think of is to set up a tote and put the rocks in to deprive them of light till they die.

Has anyone been had a similar predicament?

Any advice would be appreciated.

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jda · 03/12/2017, 03:44 PM

That can work, but it takes a while. You can cut then off with bone cutters, but you will need to get cut into the rock. You might be able to inject them with kalk, but they are quite hardy and you have to do it a lot. There is really no good way to do this.

The Kahnasaur · 03/12/2017, 04:09 PM

The majano wand works very well for removing them. It melts them away without moving any rocks. They'll release a lot of slime though.

Sk8r · 03/12/2017, 04:25 PM

Remove each rock, scrub with stiff toothbrush, dip each affected area in hydrogen peroxide for 30 seconds, rinse in discard tank water, then replace. I'd do this little at a time, one rock at a go, and be careful the bubbles that come off the rock do not hit another coral. Most particularly, do NOT do this to any rock where you may have palys growing: be SURE it's only mushrooms you're dealing with. Palys have toxin dangerous to humans.

AlSimmons · 03/12/2017, 07:00 PM

I would just use some sharp scissors and try to cut them as close to the base as you can. Pick your battles though, don't just start hacking away. Some of the mushrooms will be real easy to get at, others will not. Once they're all gone go ahead and smother the remaining tissue with some epoxy.

KrakenC · 03/13/2017, 02:30 AM

I used to have some that took root in quite deep hole.Finally I expanded the hole and cut mushrooms out...As close to the base as I can.

KrakenC · 03/13/2017, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KrakenC

I used to have some that took root in quite deep hole.Finally I expanded the hole and cut mushrooms out...As close to the base as I could.

CrayolaViolence · 03/13/2017, 03:18 AM

you can use a syringe and some lemon juice in the same way you can kill aptasia.

homer1475 · 03/13/2017, 04:28 AM

I don't know about blue mushrooms, but to eradicate some ricordia I had that was getting invasive, I used some aiptasia X I had from a previous outbreak. 2 applications to the mouth and surrounding disk, they shriveled up and died off.

Grayhead · 03/13/2017, 05:28 AM

I had green mushrooms that did the same thing. I mixed kalk to full saturation in a mud sink full of tank water. Soaked for a while and the flesh of the shrooms died. For the rock that had the coral encrusted, I dipped all but the coral. It didn't seem to upset my system, and had to do every rock. But it will kill everything on the rock. I think enough bacteria survived to keep my tank from cycling again.

Scott07 · 03/13/2017, 06:06 AM

I just had to eradicate some red mushrooms that were irritating some of my SPS. Dental picks, some epoxy putty, and patience did it for me. I was afraid to use aptasia x or lemon juice as they were growing on the base of my ponape birds nest.

tang named junkyard · 03/14/2017, 01:49 AM

Go on Craigslist and sell the pieces. I had the same issue and people paid 30 bucks for purple mushrooms

ca1ore · 03/14/2017, 07:09 AM

If you can remove the rocks, I do as Sk8r suggests. If I cannot remove the rock then I just cut them off as close to the base as possible. For the latter, I only do a few a t a time so that the rotting bases don't adversely affect the tank. On occasion the base regrows.

Branpal73 · 03/16/2017, 05:17 PM

Try using a pipette with some kalkwasser in it. Try every few days but be careful because too much, too fast can raise your alkalinity quickly and affect other corals

brett559 · 03/17/2017, 10:23 AM

I was getting a lot of the blue mushrooms on one of my rocks. I purchased a pretty huge frogspawn colony and just put it right on top of that rock. All mushrooms gone on that rock. Death my frogspawn. I still have a few elsewhere in the tank, but that rock was my most concentrated part. Not any more.

surferarnie · 03/26/2017, 05:20 PM

Thanks for all the advice. I tried the aptasia x method. It worked great. I will have to slowly inject one or two every couple of days. If you get the syringe in the mouth you can see the aptasia x shoot in to the fins of the mushroom, they dont last long after that.
I have some large ricorda i wanted to get rid of also.these are about the size of a baseball. I tried the same, shoot the aptasia x in the mouth. I did this for 3 days. It shrunk the ricordia considerably, and it let go of the rock it was attached to, but it didn't kill it.

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03/12/2017, 03:19 PM	#1
surferarnie Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Warren mi Posts: 48	How to get mushrooms off of live rock So i originally thought that my purple mushrooms were cool. But now they are taking over my 110. They have mover all over the tank. I am looking at the best way to eradicate them without pulling the rocks and drying them. I have tons of sponge i would like to keep. The only way i can think of is to set up a tote and put the rocks in to deprive them of light till they die. Has anyone been had a similar predicament? Any advice would be appreciated. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

03/12/2017, 04:25 PM	#4
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Remove each rock, scrub with stiff toothbrush, dip each affected area in hydrogen peroxide for 30 seconds, rinse in discard tank water, then replace. I'd do this little at a time, one rock at a go, and be careful the bubbles that come off the rock do not hit another coral. Most particularly, do NOT do this to any rock where you may have palys growing: be SURE it's only mushrooms you're dealing with. Palys have toxin dangerous to humans. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

03/13/2017, 03:18 AM	#8
CrayolaViolence Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: North Carolina Posts: 1,867	you can use a syringe and some lemon juice in the same way you can kill aptasia. __________________ "The good thing about science is that it's true whether you believe it or not." Neil deGrasse Tyson Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef tank

03/13/2017, 04:28 AM	#9
homer1475 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,313	I don't know about blue mushrooms, but to eradicate some ricordia I had that was getting invasive, I used some aiptasia X I had from a previous outbreak. 2 applications to the mouth and surrounding disk, they shriveled up and died off. __________________ 80G SCA Build: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560256 Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht: "He's just taking his lunch to work"

03/13/2017, 05:28 AM	#10
Grayhead Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 581	I had green mushrooms that did the same thing. I mixed kalk to full saturation in a mud sink full of tank water. Soaked for a while and the flesh of the shrooms died. For the rock that had the coral encrusted, I dipped all but the coral. It didn't seem to upset my system, and had to do every rock. But it will kill everything on the rock. I think enough bacteria survived to keep my tank from cycling again. __________________ 240 Gallon mixed reef, Apex Controlled Radion gen4 pro/T-5 hybrid combo, TBS Liverock Lifereef sump, skimmer, and Fuge 2- MP 40, 1- Vectra M1 return pump, Build thread below http:

03/12/2017, 03:44 PM	#2
jda Dogmatic Dinosaur Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 6,256	That can work, but it takes a while. You can cut then off with bone cutters, but you will need to get cut into the rock. You might be able to inject them with kalk, but they are quite hardy and you have to do it a lot. There is really no good way to do this.

03/12/2017, 04:09 PM	#3
The Kahnasaur Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: New Jersey Posts: 53	The majano wand works very well for removing them. It melts them away without moving any rocks. They'll release a lot of slime though.

03/12/2017, 07:00 PM	#5
AlSimmons Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: California Posts: 2,482	I would just use some sharp scissors and try to cut them as close to the base as you can. Pick your battles though, don't just start hacking away. Some of the mushrooms will be real easy to get at, others will not. Once they're all gone go ahead and smother the remaining tissue with some epoxy.

03/13/2017, 02:30 AM	#6
KrakenC Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Shanghai,China Posts: 3	I used to have some that took root in quite deep hole.Finally I expanded the hole and cut mushrooms out...As close to the base as I can.

03/13/2017, 06:06 AM	#11
Scott07 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 384	I just had to eradicate some red mushrooms that were irritating some of my SPS. Dental picks, some epoxy putty, and patience did it for me. I was afraid to use aptasia x or lemon juice as they were growing on the base of my ponape birds nest. __________________ 65 gallon mixed reef Good maintainence and husbandry is a cumulative effect, not a single event.

03/14/2017, 01:49 AM	#12
tang named junkyard Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: bakersfield Posts: 1,201	Go on Craigslist and sell the pieces. I had the same issue and people paid 30 bucks for purple mushrooms

03/14/2017, 07:09 AM	#13
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	If you can remove the rocks, I do as Sk8r suggests. If I cannot remove the rock then I just cut them off as close to the base as possible. For the latter, I only do a few a t a time so that the rotting bases don't adversely affect the tank. On occasion the base regrows. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

03/16/2017, 05:17 PM	#14
Branpal73 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2	Try using a pipette with some kalkwasser in it. Try every few days but be careful because too much, too fast can raise your alkalinity quickly and affect other corals

03/17/2017, 10:23 AM	#15
brett559 In Memoriam Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Visalia, CA Posts: 1,790	I was getting a lot of the blue mushrooms on one of my rocks. I purchased a pretty huge frogspawn colony and just put it right on top of that rock. All mushrooms gone on that rock. Death my frogspawn. I still have a few elsewhere in the tank, but that rock was my most concentrated part. Not any more.

03/26/2017, 05:20 PM	#16
surferarnie Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Warren mi Posts: 48	Thanks for all the advice. I tried the aptasia x method. It worked great. I will have to slowly inject one or two every couple of days. If you get the syringe in the mouth you can see the aptasia x shoot in to the fins of the mushroom, they dont last long after that. I have some large ricorda i wanted to get rid of also.these are about the size of a baseball. I tried the same, shoot the aptasia x in the mouth. I did this for 3 days. It shrunk the ricordia considerably, and it let go of the rock it was attached to, but it didn't kill it. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk