How tough are mushrooms

[jschulzpt]

I have a few (hairy and brown) mushrooms and xenia hanging on the glass of my tank, are they tough enough for me to gently scrape them off with a razor blade then place somewhere else in the tank? Or will I definately injure them and just release their dying toxins into the tank?

Thanks
Jesse

[Fat Tony]

oh yeah, I have heard of some people putting them in food processors to frag them I think mushrooms could very well be related to cockroaches, as in they would probably survive a nuclear blast

[aquawolf]

You can definitely scrape it off with a razor blade and place it somewhere else in the tank. Just don't be surprised if another grows where you scraped it off from, as if you leave any little bit of tissue behind it probably will.

[D.J.]

like aquawolf said....no issue with scrappin them off the glass.....

ive been told that you can frag a mushroom by cutting it in half.....so they must be a VERY tuff coral......the mushroms are a bit of a pain to frag is why i dont do it....but the kenya ya could just rubber band it into place.....

[aquawolf]

Yes, cut a mushroom in half, quarters, or just take a little chunk and they usually continue to grow. Even when you may not want them to.

[jschulzpt]

Thanks for the input guys, and if anyone is still tuning in is that the same with Rics? I have 1 right now that i would like to start a colony with...currently it is just keeping to itself. Are they as tough as the regular mushrooms?

Thanks
Jesse

[D.J.]

im not sure if they are as tuff as their cousins or not........they reproduce really slow.....from what ive been told if you can get them into a high flow area they will move faster and try to get outa the flow....and inturn will reproces like shrooms that way......

[aquawolf]

You can cut a ricordia in half across the mouth and get two separate rics from it and they will both grow albeit slower than the mushrooms. Another trick is to place the ricordia vertical in the tank, and let gravity work. It will eventually drop off another ric the same size as itself. This method works even faster if you happen to have one with the foot attached to 2 separate pieces of rubble as the extra weight of the rubble will "encourage" it to drop off another one much faster.

Best of luck.

[jschulzpt]

Thanks Aquawolf, when cutting rics and mushrooms do you have to cut them across the center?

Jesse

[aquawolf]

I actually think it helps them heal better and faster if you cut them in half right across the mouth. Another option is to use a rubberband across the mouth and they will eventually split to get out from under the pressure of the band as well.

Best of luck.

[ddmiller38]

I tried the above but I see after two days the mushroom seem to be able to move its mouth to one side on the rubber band. The rubber band is very tight but there must be a pit in the rock for it to move its mouth under it.. The rudder band has aready cut into the mushroom from the sides. Not sure what to do now if anything.

[BlackwaterMerk]

ive cut a plain mushroom into three small pieces and there doing just fine.

[jschulzpt]

Originally Posted by ddmiller38

I tried the above but I see after two days the mushroom seem to be able to move its mouth to one side on the rubber band. The rubber band is very tight but there must be a pit in the rock for it to move its mouth under it.. The rudder band has aready cut into the mushroom from the sides. Not sure what to do now if anything.

Take the rubber band off, give it a little more time the mushroom should heal and turn into 2 small replicas.

[Loverotties]

Originally Posted by jschulzpt

I have a few (hairy and brown) mushrooms and xenia hanging on the glass of my tank, are they tough enough for me to gently scrape them off with a razor blade then place somewhere else in the tank? Or will I definately injure them and just release their dying toxins into the tank?

Thanks
Jesse

They are very hardy!If your a little scared,you could try an ice cube on them(mushrooms) to get them off first.