Mushrooms: having many verses having big ones...

[-Rich87T]

In my 220g reef, I tend to grow large mushrooms, leathers, etc. Another local guy has a 90g that seems to reproduce hundreds of tiny mushrooms. Same thing for zoos. I took a yellow polyp rock from his tank 1-2 years ago expecting it to spread a bit. In his tank, it was climbing the walls. In mine, it sits on a ledge and the polyps are open very wide but not spreading at all.

What parameters might affect his tank growing a ton of little mushrooms over several years and my tank growing large, single versions of this mushrooms?

[Dragonist]

I interested in this 2 I've had a Green stripped Mushroom|2-3 months(watermelon mushroom ) That is huge but has yet to grow other, including the same w/ my red mushrooms. My zoas are the same open up pretty but no expansion over rocks!

[Siberman]

What are the differences in flow , lighting , age of tank, etc. between the two ?

It might just be a matter of time. I bought a 'shroom package in December '07 ( the tank had been set up a few months ) and thought they'd never take off. My one little red is now a 30+ colony and the single orange ricordea has become 5.

I found that feeding my yellow polyps helped them spread.

[-Rich87T]

Generally speaking:

My 220g:
Great water quality (RO, UV, skimmer, water changes)
Medium flow
3x250w metal halides (15k) + 2x96w T5 actinic
established about 10years ago.

His 90g:
Great water quality (RO, skimmer, water changes)
Slow - Medium flow
2x250w metal halides (14k) + 2x??w old style fluorescent actinic
established about 9years ago.

Between the two tanks, I'd say he has slightly less flow, and probably poorer quality bulbs. And obviously less water volume and tank size. The 90g might possibly have slightly cooler tank temps.

[Dragonist]

so your thought s are to feed them to increase growth...and if this is the idea...what should i feed them?...mysis shrimp?

[BlackwaterMerk]

my yuma eats whatever gets close to it, even small pieces of flakes lol. Small pieces of mysis should be good also.

[-Rich87T]

My clean-up crew is mostly snails and tiny little starfish that just grow naturally. His is mostly crabs and 6 large snails. i wonder if his crabs "pick on" the mushrooms and cause them to split.

Dragonist: I feed a small variety of frozen food including mysis. I don't have many fish, and I don't feed more than a cube every other day. You tank's needs will vary from mine.

[jenglish]

Is there any way there is a available nutrient difference? SHrooms like a little gunk in the water.... I wonder if a paucity of it could cause the shroom to react by dividing slower and getting larger.... or the opposite for all I know. Is there maybe something that picks at the shrooms in his tank either causing bits to fall and start new shrooms or scare the shroom into reproducing. A fruit tree will usually fruit heavier after being damaged to try to pass on its DNA.... some nems will split for the same reason. Is it possible that shrooms; who are not that different than a nem, could be reacting the same?

[-Rich87T]

That's why I brought up the crabs verses snails. I'm wondering if his crabs are nipping the mushrooms and instigating the division.

[Dragonist]

I don't see any of my crabs attacking my musrooms.
(all in a 55g(gallon)
Clean up crew:
1 astrea snail

(Stomatella Varia)several hitch hiker snails look like nudi's

3 left-handed crabs 1 huge rest are babies

1 Gulf of Mexico hermit (per wet web media)

1 large emerald Crab

1 hermit w/ purble fuzzy legs unaware of name but only grazes on algae

[Loverotties]

Do you two have the same skimmer and skim the same (wet or dry)?

[Dragonist]

Not running neither!

[-Rich87T]

Originally Posted by Loverotties

Do you two have the same skimmer and skim the same (wet or dry)?

Just so there's no confusion, *I* am referring to my 220g and my friend's 90g in my comparisons. Dragonist is a separate, third person from my friend's 90g... but I appreciate the third set of input to look at.

The sumps are not identical by manufacturer or size (for obvious reasons). both overflow to a sump section. Then they flow to a refugium, and then to a chamber with protein skimmer. The 220g runs a tall Berlin XL modified with a Kent venturi and a MAG9.5 pump for the last year or so (prior to that, it ran a built in CPR protein skimmer that worked rather well.) The 90g runs an in sump protein skimmer about the same diameter but half as tall. It was store bought but I don't recall what brand. He uses a quiet one return pump. I use a MAG7 to return on the 220g. Neither has bioballs or other media in the sump.

In summary, my sump flows more GPH for sure, and is larger. Scaled down, I think they would be comparable. Or at least as comparable as two different aquariums can be...

Edit: and I got sidetracked on sumps... Generally, we both have similar house keeping practices. I tend to have a bigger budget for better quality but in practice we seem to do the same thing. I skim fairly wet.

[Siberman]

Dragonist: I feed whatever I have (though not very often). I've used frozen cubes of Mysis, Daphnia, "Marine Cuisine" and brine (watch your phosphate levels) as well as live bbs and even pulverized shrimp pellets.

Rich: I've tried putting 'shrooms up closer to the lights and they often (not always) move down leaving offspring on the way . This seems to work better with the common reds (IME) . The reds I now have are on the bottom and in direct flow from a small HOB filter. I tried a blue one time and it just detached and floated down to the sandbed. I have some flourescent green and brown (?) with blue stripes that I placed in direct light on the sand bed and they've crawled up the rock face to get under ledges while leaving their clones along the way.
I also have a flourescent blue that climbed up the back wall and is now sitting pretty about 6" from the 130 watt pcs.

Confused yet?

I'd say experiment with moving them around to see what kind of reaction you get. Be careful about getting them close to halides too quickly. Try raising them an inch or so at a time but I wouldn't move them any more than halfway up (if that much).

[Siberman]

Btw, I have blue leg, Hawaiian and scarlet reef hermits as well as emeralds but I've never seen them bother regular 'shrooms.