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FAQs about Corallimorph Predators, Pests  

FAQs on Mushroom Disease: Mushroom Health 1, Mushroom Disease 2,
FAQs on Mushroom Disease by Category: DiagnosisEnvironmental, , (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy), Trauma, Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral) Treatments 
& Mushroom Reproduction/Propagation,

Related Articles: Corallimorpharians, Cnidarians, Water Flow, How Much is Enough,

Related FAQs: Cnidarian Disease, Corallimorphs, Mushrooms 2, Mushrooms 3, Mushrooms 4, Mushroom Identification, Mushroom Behavior, Mushroom Compatibility, Mushroom Selection, Mushroom Systems, Mushroom Feeding, Mushroom Reproduction, Stinging-celled Animals,

Many possibilities

Mysterious Ric "BUG" -08/12/08 OK got a good one here. Bob, thanks again for speaking for FRAG here in PHX it was a blast... Check out this thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=13137549#post13137549  <Interesting and strange... thanks for sharing this.> I have bought a large number of Ricordeas totaling at about $2000 in my days and honestly they are my favorite of all the corals. I have lost the last 2 batches of 20-30 I bought and whats odd is that people who received Ric's from the same batches are fine. I did have a few people who lost their Ricordeas however most were completely unaffected. I was turned onto that post by a member of FRAG (who knows my heartache with my Ric losses) about some "BUGS" similar to red bugs that prey on Ricordeas and create these holes in them, taking on the color of the Ric and eating it away... UGH just what this hobby needs another "BUG" to be on the lookout for. <Hmm.. how odd. Do you have any more/better pictures of these things? Do you have any friends with a camera mounted microscope you could borrow?> The symptoms in my experience go as follows. The Rics look GREAT for about a month or 2, full extension, very nice color, acting normal and even creating new mouths. I would notice suddenly they are smaller... next day they even less extension, and the following day they are starting to show signs, fuzziness at the foot/attachment site, large holes carved out of them and the mouths falling completely out. The Ricordea would almost look like a spiral apple skin shaving. Within about 2-3 days they are all completely gone. Even more odd is that they do not melt, or get slimy, just disintegrate. All corals around including Zoanthids, other Mushrooms, SPS, LPS are completely unaffected. On my last "D-Day" as I call it I even had a few Ricordea survive the initial hit, but a month later the 3 that survived had the same ending as the rest. <huh> Any clue on what these can be? <Sounds like a pest/coral predator. However, unfortunately, without pictures it's difficult to speculate.> Is this just a simple environmental issue? IE Water chemistry? Possibly too close the light (mine are about a 20'' from a 150 halide)? <Hmm, I do suspect, as one possibility here, that you might have some allelopathic (chemical warfare) problems. There is a limit to how many Ricordea you can keep in one tank (and it's up to them, not "you"/us). It may simply be that you've reached that limit.> I of course test EVERYTHING including Oxygen, very anal about it all... but everything always checks out and is backed up by LFS test kits. Any help would be GREAT and Bob if you don't mind I would like to post what you have to say in that thread. Thanks again for everything!!! <Sorry, not Bob here, but maybe he'll add his comments when this is posted. We just need more info (principally more images, accounts)... to have a better idea of what might (or might not) be going on here.> Adrian <Best, Sara M.> <Mmm, nothing to add. RMF>
Re: Mysterious Ric "BUG" -08/13/08
Right, thank you. As far as the pictures go my Ricordeas are long gone <Oh, sorry to hear that.> and I have not be masochistic enough to get any more lol. I am working on trying to get someone to ship me an infected Ricordea so I can at get it to a near by lab for some pictures and microscope viewing. <Good idea! And I thank you for sharing with us! I do hope you can get some photos and more information on this apparent "mystery" pest/disease.> I just wanted to throw this out there to see if the WWM crew had ever experienced this before. <Not that I know of (fortunately/unfortunately), but I am very interested to see/hear more about it.> Thanks again wand ill talk soon. Adrian <Thank you and good luck, Sara M.>

Flatworms on my Corallimorpharia 1/5/07 First, happy new years to everyone at WWM. <And to you.> My Corallimorpharians are covered in flat worms similar to the pic in the article, "Flatworms, including "Planaria" & Marine Aquariums" by Bob Fenner, on your website. In the article Bob recommends leaving them alone or getting a predator. <I actually prefer manual removal over getting a predator, most find something better to eat in the tank than the flatworms.> They do not appear to be harming the mushrooms however can I remove the rock the Corallimorpharians are on and give it a fresh water dip? <Would hurt/kill the corals.> If not, or also, what type of predator would you recommend. <A siphon during water changes. Otherwise 6-line wrasse are sometimes a good choice.> I have a 100 gal tank with 1-yellow tang, 1-regal tang, 1-blenny, 2-maroon clowns and two-Banggai cardinals. The tank is 6-months old and is doing well: sg-1.026 kh-12 cal-420 nitrates-0 phos low Thanks again. One additional thing I failed to mention, which may affect the choice of a predator, is that I have 2-cleaner shrimp. <A possible problem with the six-lined wrasse, although often works out fine. My suggestion is to go with manual removal during water changes. The worm's population will often wax and wane over time..> <Chris>

Snail comp., relating, Mushroom malady? 12/6/06 Hi Crew, <Hello, Mich here.> 10 gallon with some fish and mushrooms plus critters. Every once and a while I take a flashlight to see what's going on when the lights are out and I always find it fascinating. Usually I just see the threads of the spaghetti worm but last night it was out in full view with a whole web of red strands spread out over the rock. <Cool!> And I found some new snails (4 that I saw) that I did not buy and I have not added much in the past few months except for some small (2 inch ) rocks with mushrooms. <Many snails are fine, but be aware there are some snails that are not reef safe. Google WWM if you have questions.> The snails are small with the largest about half the size of a dime. They are like a dime standing on edge with a very visible spiral which is beautifully colored in bands of red and black with white background. Each band has a repeating design in it. It is amazing that something so small has such intricate designs. <The world is a fascinating place. You just have to stop to notice it.> One was on the glass and the others on the rock. I am surprised that I have not seen them till now. I have another small snail that I got with live sand. These are white and cerith shaped but were so small that it would take 4 to equal on grain of rice. I have lots of them and they are now about double in size but I do not see any smaller ones so I guess they will not reproduce. They are over a year old and are on the glass and rocks but only at night. I did have a strange episode in that I lost about 8 small (smaller than a dime) mushrooms that were all produced from the same parent. This happened over a two week period and I was unable to determine the cause. <As if often the case.> The parent is fine as well as other mushrooms in the tank including some that are small. But this group which was spread out over the tank just dissolved except for two that bleached and are still hanging in. <Sorry for your loss.> Keep up the good work. <Thank you, we'll try!-Mich>

White specks on mushroom coral - 06/07/06 Hello there!! Quick question regarding my mushroom corals. I was looking at the mushroom corals today and noticed very tiny white dots attached to the mushrooms. They do not move at all but when I poke them with a stick, they quickly dart around the mushroom. They move sporadically. I happened to siphon one out into a cup to observe it (they are like the size of a flea). They do not look like amphipods or copepods that I see in my tank. Once in the cup, I poke it with the stick. Since it has nothing to hold on to, it would swim and dart around with no sense of direction (Similar to a fish darting around when they have ich). I Googled mushroom coral parasites/pest but nothing comes up. I have no idea what this is and is it harmful to my mushrooms or any of my other corals such as colony polyps and frogspawn coral. <Mmm, from your description of morphology, behavior these are likely some species of small crustacean... and not likely of harm. I would tolerate them... and enjoy them while you can, as it is highly likely they will "cycle out" on their own. Bob Fenner>

"Goo" on my Ricordea... spreading sponge 7/6/04 Here's my best shot at a scientific statement regarding a problem with a small piece of live rock / Ricordea...I have "goo"....this stuff started growing underneath my Ricordea, then it slowly began moving to other sections of the small piece of live rock that the Ricordea was purchased with (nine months ago as one mushroom...now about seven), and now it has grown long fingers / branches that attach to anything it touches.  Is this "goo" something I should try to get rid of?  If so, what do you recommend? (Please see attached picture) Thanks, Scott. <it is a healthy, calcareous sponge that can grow to nuisance measures but only so in the presence of adequate nutrients. If it flourishes... its a sign that you may have nutrient export control issues (too much feeding, poor protein skimmer performance, weak water change schedule, etc). It is not photosynthetic and as such is wholly dependant on filter feeding in the system. Control the nutrient and you will control its growth. Anthony>

Acoel flatworms on Corallimorphs 6/18/04 I hope you all are well at WWM, I have not written with a question for a while as all was well in paradise.  However just today I noticed some brownish flat heart/gall balder shaped things on the Shrooms they are about 4-5mm in length and about 2-3 mm across.  Looks like some sort of fluke, there are several on every Shroom and blend in with the colour of the mushroom they have kind of spasms from time to time without any obvious movement.  At first I thought that it was part of the body of the Shroom, they are of the Rhodactis species. Do you know what they could be? <yes... Waiminoa Acoel flatworms. Do use this term in the Google search tool on the home page: wetwebmedia.com find more info on them fast in our archives. Search for Convolutriloba too> Are they harmful to the Mushroom and if they are what is the best thing to do? <they are not directly parasitic, but they cause harm by blocking light, water flow, etc. Increase water flow and skimming first for a cure. And be sure to properly QT all new livestock in the future to prevent the introduction of such pests> Regards, Jorell <kindly, Anthony>

My mushroom shriveled up Hello, 2 weeks ago I purchased a what the LFS store calls a super mushroom. <"What's in a name?"> In the store it was nice and big and all opened up. After several days in my tank, I noticed that it has all shriveled up and white stringy tentacle are oozing out of its stomach. <Ooops> I have never seen this shroom bloom like I have seen it in the LFS. One night I noticed my camel back shrimp picking on it so I went ahead and removed all of my camel back shrimp and return them to my LFS. I hoped that now that my shrimps are gone my shroom will not be stressed as much and will start to open up. I also have my shroom on the top level on my rocks. I also have a small mushroom that shriveled up and turned purple on me. What could be wrong? My ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are what they are supposed to be. Here are my params:  46G Bowfront 2 - 97 W. PC lighting Rena XP 2 Filter Fluval 404 Filter Remora Skimmer Temp - 79 -- 80 I read that Iodine is essential for shroom.. I used the Reef Solution once a week and feed my corals Marine Snow once a week. <The last is worthless> Should I be adding more Iodine?  <How much do your tests show is present?> Please help <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/index.htm.  Scroll down to the "Corallimorpharian" area... Identify this animal, read re its systems, feeding, disease... Bob Fenner>  

Corallimorph Explosion? Bob Fenner and crew, Thanks for all the help you offer to us hobbyists at no charge.  <What? Where's the free beer and dancing girls?> You do a great job keeping things going for many of us.  A friend has posted a question on one of the reef forums involving her mushroom corals. It appears to be in the process of spitting out many baby Shrooms all at once. I've seen them divide and split numerous times, but never anything like this. It was suggested that it might be some kind of flatworm, but it doesn't look like that to me. They LOOK like tiny Shrooms. Whatcha think? <Is a flatworm infestation. A few things posted re on WWM. Nice images. Bob Fenner> 

Orange Dots (likely a Platyhelminth) Your book and WetWebMedia are the best sources for great information! Thank you for both.  <You're welcome my friend.> My reef tank is about 1 year old and doing very well, I think. I have to questions that I was unable to find answers from the web-site or book. 75-gallon tank. about 60 pound live rock and 60 pound aragonite. (2) 175 watt MH, 5500 & 10000 (10 hrs/day). (2) 40 watt NO (12 hrs/day). turbo skimmer. (1) magnum 220 with micron filter, use to pump water through UV unit. 18-watt UV unit (12 hrs/day during refugium light cycle). DIY over-flow box with "Whisper Bio-Bag", replaced weekly. (2) heaters, one in refugium and the other in the tank. (2) chemical metering pumps used to feed Kent Tectra CB products separately. Fed daily from 5-gallon buckets with top-off water (RO/DI). 30-gallon refugium with 10-pounds live rock and 20-pounds aragonite. (4) 20 watt NO bulbs for refugium, alternate light cycle from tank. Ca 365 to 400, normal 375 ppm Alk 3.0 to 3.5, normal 3.25 NO3 less then 1 ppm. pH 8.2. Temperature 78F winter and 82F summer. Specific Gravity 1.0230 to 1.0235, normal 1.0233. 30-gallon water change every 2 to 3 months with RO/DI and Reef Crystals. Add 1/4 recommended dose of "Seachem" reef iodide and reef plus (to food) weekly. Foods: Flake, Nori, Krill, Frozen Brine and my homemade recipe, based on your recipe from the "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist". <Sounds like a very nice system> My questions! My mushrooms have orange dots (2mm in size) that cover them, what are they? <Likely a type of Flatworm (Phylum Platyhelminthes)... and nothing to be overly worked up about... perhaps semi-predatory, but not easily removed, not "that" detrimental... best to leave alone... will likely "disappear" on their own someday soon> I noticed; today, that they can move around on the mushroom. The mushrooms completely open and seem fine. Is this budding reproduction? <No> The only green algae in the tank is bubble algae probably due to the yellow and purple tangs. How can prevent the bubble algae from spreading?  I have a (matrix?) crab but he is not interested. Coralline algae covers all of the side and back glass. <There are a few other predators. These are mentioned on the "Marine Algae" control FAQs on our site... otherwise, I would extract what you can by scrubbing the rock involved, ignore the rest.> My Royal Gramma that is about 1 year old has always appeared to have a white tint over his front purple part, is this a problem that can be corrected? <Try a cleaner organism here... otherwise no real problem> Thank you all the questions you have already answered through you book and web-site. <That's only for today! Many lifetimes worth of material still to go. Bob Fenner> Robert Burns

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