Ricordea... feeding, repro./prop.   05/02/2008
Dear WetWebMedia;
<<Hello Ted, Andrew today>>
Hey, first i just wanted to comment on your website, it is one of the first places i go whenever i have a question. Okay, so i have a 30 gallon tank and recently added t5 ho lighting. Everything seems to be doing great. I have a hammer coral and it is starting to grow 5 new heads, so I'm sure I have enough lighting for my Ricordeas (both florida and yuma). I want to get the maximum potential growth out of my Ricordeas, so i was wondering how often should i feed them?
<<As they are photosynthetic, only supplemental feeding every other day with marine snow, phyto or brine/mysis shrimp should be fine>>
Right now, I turn off all the currents and filtration and I target feed them a piece of mysis every couple of days. The mysis sits on the Ricordea and after a couple minutes, the Ricordea closes up on it and eats it. I was wondering if the Ricordeas would benefit from daily feedings (instead of every couple days) or would this be too much?
<<I would go once every other day, that should be ample amount to feed them>>
I also notice that sometimes the Ricordea spits out some brown stuff, does this mean that it has digested the food and "pooped" it out or that it has simply regurgitated the food?
<<The brown could be either, more than likely poop>>
I do weekly water changes (10%) as well to keep the water quality high. Currently the Ricordeas are about the size of a quarter, i want to get them to be a couple inches in diameter, and to start splitting and budding. Is there anything else that i could be doing?
Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
<<Reproduction rates on these really do vary. Consistent water param.s and good food / feeding schedule should be more than enough to entice them to grow / reproduce>>
<<Please do read more here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/shroomhlthfaq2.htm, it may be of use, including linked articles and FAQ's>>
-Ted
<<Hope this helps, A Nixon>>

Hairy Mushroom, no Need for Supplemental Feedings.   2/20/07
Hello there,
<Hi Cody, Mich here.>
I have a question pertain to a hairy mushroom.
<OK.>
I was told at the fish store that I bought it from, was that I don't have to feed it due to that I only have the one. Is that true or was I told some lie?
<Hairy Mushrooms (Rhodactis) typically don't require supplemental feeding when kept in reef systems with appropriate lighting.>
If I do have to feed it then what is the best type of food?
<Some will respond to supplemental feedings but should not be essential.>
I'm also looking at getting a Sea Squirt syringe feeder for it, good or a waste of money?
<Personally, I think the dollar store turkey baster is just fine.>
Thanks for your input.   Cody
<You're welcome  -Mich>

- Mushrooms Fed and then Died 6/15/06 -
Sorry, I have never posted before and I REALLY hope I am doing this correctly. <No worries.> I bought a BEAUTIFUL rock of chromes some months ago.  It was healthy and happy, very open and thriving.  It is in the tank next to a rock heavy with green hairy mushrooms.  They have both been doing fine, actually the green ones are about a year old and have done really well.  A few days ago my husband felt the need to target feed them because he was CONVINCED it was the right thing to do for them since I have NEVER EVER fed them.  I run a fuge and feed the fish everyday and they always seem to catch a little of their food every once and a while.  They always looked happy so I figured, if it isn't broke DON'T fix it.  He is an engineer so he ALWAYS knows a better way...  Anyway, he fed them Cyclop-eeze mixed with tank water through a tube feeder direct in the middle of each mushroom.  They immediately closed up like they were eating so he thought it was what they needed and did it again the following day.  They reacted the same way as the day before.  Then when wok up on morning three, both rocks inhabitants seemed to start just melting away.  Now one rock is completely empty and the green ones are not far behind...  Is this happening because he OVERFED them? <It certainly sounds that way but it's difficult to know with absolute certainty. That being said, it would be unusual for food alone to kill a mushroom. Perhaps cross contamination from the feeder device.> If they were doing fine with what I was doing, should I just continue to care for mushrooms in this fashion??? <Mushrooms need little direct attention and often do better with none at all... so, stick with your methodology and tell your husband to keep his feeder to himself.>
Thanks
Danielle
<Cheers, J -- >

Mushroom / Leather question  12/24/05
Hi Crew,
<Steve>
I am going to pester you again with a few questions.  Basics:  250 gallon with 250 lbs. of live rock, DSB, wet/dry, refugium with Chaeto, protein
skimmer (producing lots of daily skimmate), 20X flow rate (random/turbulent), PO4 .1, Ammonia/Nitrite 0, Nitrate 2.5, pH 8.3, salinity
1.024, temp. 80 - 81 F.  Fish consists of Naso (lipstick) 7", Chrysurus angel 5", Chevron 3.5", Zebra moray 30", Fiji Bicolor rabbitfish and
Longnose butterfly.  None of the fish show any interest in the mushrooms or the recent leather.
I recently added a few items to my main display.  One is a Finger Leather Coral that was at my LFS.  I did as mentioned here on WWM and noticed tank
placement which was about 15" from the light, flow which was turbulent, and color which looked almost white (kind of like a bleached coral skeleton).
It was quite erect with nice form and about 5 - 6 inches tall with many fingers.  I was able to simulate all parameters; with the exception of the
light... they had metal halides, whereas I have PC's (about 2 watts of 10K white/actinic per gallon).  I have only had him about 24 hours (I know still
early), but I tried to compensate for the lack of lights and added more time to the corals photoperiod, and set the coral as high up in my display as
possible (about 6" from water surface).  The coral in my tank is definitely not as erect, and probably about a good 3" shorter (not as extended) than at
the LFS.  Do you think eventually it will acclimate to the lower lights and extend and become erect?  Any suggestions?
<A day is too short a time to tell... I give you very good odds this animal will adjust, do well in the setting you describe... give it time... a week or so to acclimate.>
The second item I added is a Giant Cup mushroom of about a good 10+ inches in diameter.  Again noticing the characteristics at the LFS it was nice and
firm looking, slightly cupped upward.  In addition, it was around 12 - 15" away from regular fluorescent lights and minimal water movement.  The only
good place in my 250 gallon display that had minimal flow was about 12" from my PC's.  So far it has expanded to about 7" in diameter but is draped
downward over the rock it is attached to.  Any suggestions here?  
<More time going by...>
Other question regarding the Giant Mushroom is what is the best way to feed him small meaty pieces and how often?  
<Twice a week or so>
I would think that as soon as I let go of the small meaty pieces with my tongs, they would float away, but I am sure there is a good technique.  My other mushrooms in the tank of which consist of Green hairy mushrooms and Red pimple shrooms, I target feed Sweetwater Zooplankton once a week with a syringe/baster type of instrument for aquarium use.  LFS says not to intentionally feed mushrooms, but I don't believe this.  
<Me neither>
I appreciate your comments and in case no one has said it yet.. Merry Christmas and thanks for all you do.
<Welcome my/our friend in fish. To you and yours as well. Bob Fenner>
Best Wishes,
Steven

Mushroom's Diets
Elephant Ear Mushrooms (Amplexidiscus fenestrafer)
I watched mine eat several live (not too small fish). Is this normal? If so, what should I feed it that is less expensive than my aquarium inhabitants?
Oliver
>>
Seen it... offer anything meaty (silversides, krill, shrimp, other crustaceans) once a week or so...
Bob Fenner

Feeding mushrooms and Naso tang
We have a marine reef tank ( 135gallons). We have 1 Naso tang, 1 lemon peel, 3 Anthias, 1 cardinal, 1 flame angel,
1 Desjardinii tang, some clean up crew. snails, crabs, tiger cukes, 2 burrowing sand stars. Our set up includes
an ETS 36, refrigeration. We light with 175 watts, 5500 X 2 , and 10000 X2 plus 2X 72 inch actinics. Our rocks have
a good number of mushrooms that have in the past month deteriorated and shrunk. Can we feed them anything?
Actually all our soft coral are in poor shape ( calcium reactor is online also)
One other problem our Naso tang doesn't seem to be feeding ( his stomach looks pinched) ...we give him algae (red and green) light pellets. All the other are feeding well. We make water changes once a month 45 gallons down, pH is 8.2/ 8.3.
We would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you
Perla
>>
Hmmm, sounds like a very nice system... with some sort of chemical anomaly going on in it. You don't list a "supplement regimen" other than a casual reference to your calcium reactor... Do you use additives, a big part of your mushroom/soft coral/Naso problem may be found there. The lights are bright for mushrooms, but if they've been growing under these conditions, they should be fine under intense illumination. I would keep doing all you're doing with the following changes. Stop any purposeful supplementing other than the calcium reactor, and add a pad of PolyFilter and Activated Carbon (the HR, High Retentive product from Tropical Marine Centre if you can get your hands on it)... and do start offering your mushrooms and soft corals a "wash" of blended zooplankton (you can buy frozen, dry and reconstitute, even whip in a blender) applied in water suspension via a baster.. about twice a week. Just "sploosh" the mixture in the direction of the animals while your power filters are temporarily (maybe fifteen minutes... on a timer is best) turned off.
Bob Fenner, who will offer more

Mushrooms, by any/all other names
I recently starting adding corals to my system. I started with a hairy
mushroom coral due to it's hardiness and my lack of experience with these
items. After two days in the tank the mushrooms finally opened up fully and
looked great like they did at store where I purchased them from. On the
third day I was introducing some food to my anemones and decided to treat
the corals to the same. I used a dissolved invertebrate food that I sprayed
around the corals. 
<Pardon the interruption to the flow here... to browsers, many folks in the US not-so-discriminately call various organism groups "corals"... The mushrooms are actually Corallimorpharians, and just as much "corals" as anemones... back to the input>
The coral readily accepted this food and closed up on
themselves. They have since opened back up after about a day but they are
nowhere near the size they were, they seem to be shriveled up still, and
some have a white discharge coming from there mouth area. I am assuming
that the direct introduction of the food is the cause for all this but am
concerned I have started these corals on a path to destruction. Is there
any way to reverse these effects or will it happen naturally. The corals
are all still brightly colored but they just don't seem to be opening up
like before.
T.J. Sylvester
<No real worries here... these Mushrooms (many other common names) will re-open... Please read through the sections on these stinging-celled animals and related FAQs files posted on our site: www.WetWebMedia.com
Bob Fenner>

Re: mushrooms scrunching up--feeding
Thanks Bob,
You mentioned feeding the mushrooms twice weekly. I had thought they
would feed themselves, what and how do you recommend feeding them?
<Ah! http://wetwebmedia.com/corallim.htm>
One of the things I have tried since the mushrooms seemed to go into a
decline is feeding Phytoplex -- just adding to tank water daily. Is this
enough? (I do add 1 drop iodine almost once per week)
<Please do try the "macro" feeding mentioned on the WWM site. Bob Fenner>

Feeding Mushrooms
Hi all,
<Steven & Anthony answering in tag team fashion.>
I believe I read in CMA that healthy mushrooms can live for "months" without feeding. Also something like it would be good to "spray food in their direction"....but what do they EAT? Where can I get it? Does it have a drive through? Wes
<Generally, mushrooms feed heavily, but primarily through the absorption of dissolved organics with a little feeding on small creatures. There are some mushrooms, namely the Elephant Ears, Amplexidiscus & Rhodactis, that are capable of eating large fish. Steven Pro>