Remove/eradicate mushrooms

[artieg1]

Funny how the most amazingly beautiful things in our tanks become "pests" if they do too well. Well a small rock with 5-6 neon green mushrooms has exploded into easily 100+ mushrooms all over my major rockwork. Gorgeous, but there are several spots where I need to completely stop the mushrooms, because they are killing other corals. Physical removal is not an option - they are 2 feet down in my tank and attached to gigantic rockwork that cannot be removed. I need to destroy isolated bunches of them.

Lemon juice in a syringe? Citric acid in a syringe? Turkey baster with boiling water? What has worked for people?

Note to my past self: keep mushrooms on isolated rocks...

 

[brandon429]

Nothing can beat disassembly of the system, metal tool scraping off rocks by force and then cleaning the system from the bottom up so you can skip cycle reassemble

searching for a recent thread of a full job brb

 

[Ef4life]

I have used f aptasia to kill gsp, It will probably work on mushies

 

[brandon429]

You won’t win without physical removal, make it an option. I bet there isn’t any examples of mushroom eradication leaving rocks in place.

 

[fish farmer]

I have used f aptasia to kill gsp, It will probably work on mushies

Yes F Aiptasia does work on mushrooms, make sure to completely cover and remove all the goo a day later. I've also used vinegar in a syringe a few times on small mushrooms and they lifted off the rock to be siphoned up.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Manual removal may be the best option. You could even sell frags if you decide to go with this route.

 

[anthonygf]

Use this homemade tool to suck them out, works for me. Idea from fellow reefer here. Get a 1/4" stainless steel straw and stuff it in a 1/2" hose with a rubber band to seal and secure. If you can't reach it attach this to a coral tongs or something like it.

 

[Phycodurus]

Note to my past self: keep mushrooms on isolated rocks...

dear past self, please also be aware that mushrooms self-propagate by pedal laceration (i.e. they have the ability to float away to other spots). ;Bored

 

[fish farmer]

dear past self, please also be aware that mushrooms self-propagate by pedal laceration (i.e. they have the ability to float away to other spots). ;Bored

So that's what they call it.

 

[artieg1]

Use this homemade tool to suck them out, works for me. Idea from fellow reefer here. Get a 1/4" stainless steel straw and stuff it in a 1/2" hose with a rubber band to seal and secure. If you can't reach it attach this to a coral tongs or something like it.

OMG. This for the win. Spent 30 minutes and all the rock I worked on is clean as a baby's butt. And no nasty in the tank, because the siphon/suction took care of it. Pretty sure I will have to do this with some regularity, but man. Thanks!

 

[fish farmer]

OMG. This for the win. Spent 30 minutes and all the rock I worked on is clean as a baby's butt. And no nasty in the tank, because the siphon/suction took care of it. Pretty sure I will have to do this with some regularity, but man. Thanks!

That's awesome. I bought some stainless straws for the same reason, just haven't set up the hose yet.

 

[anthonygf]

OMG. This for the win. Spent 30 minutes and all the rock I worked on is clean as a baby's butt. And no nasty in the tank, because the siphon/suction took care of it. Pretty sure I will have to do this with some regularity, but man. Thanks!

Glad it worked for you. Just so you know this idea is from a fellow reef2reef member and the thanks goes to this individual for spreading the love. I have not been able to locate this person to thank him personally.

 

[anthonygf]

I bet it works great for aiptasia, no more messy chemicals.

 

[artieg1]

THREAD CLOSED. The answer is above, from @anthonygf. Get that contraption going. It is a scraper and a vacuum all in one. GONE. Don't mess with injections, chemicals, etc.

 

[mtfish]

Use this homemade tool to suck them out, works for me. Idea from fellow reefer here. Get a 1/4" stainless steel straw and stuff it in a 1/2" hose with a rubber band to seal and secure. If you can't reach it attach this to a coral tongs or something like it.

What are you using for the suction device? It would have to have some serious suction to get all of the mushroom without leaving part of the foot. I have a similar problem and would like to try this.

 

[anthonygf]

Here is the photo again. It is possible that a small part may be left behind but is still a good way to manage them. You can also use a smaller diameter straw. I had many GHA spots on a few of my rocks, I created a siphon and placed the hose in my filter box. I would pinch the algae with my fingers and suck up the hair, then just replace filter pad when done. You won't lose any water this way.
edit. Also you can use the straw as a scraper.

 

[mtfish]

OK, thanks. My tank foot print is 8.5' x 3'. A lot of territory! My mushrooms are too big to be sucked in by siphon. I am better off scraping the rocks with some long stainless forceps and catching the floaters in a fish net.

 

[ZoWhat]

Getcha one of these

 

[mtfish]

Getcha one of these

Think I might be filtering fish bones along with softies using that!

 

[ZoWhat]

Think I might be filtering fish bones along with softies using that!

But think of the Oxygenating Power you'll get....