Which critters will decimate a tank full of mushrooms?

[dtruitt]

We have a 29g system we bought off a local reefer. It came with a pretty solid RODI, some passable lights, a good bit of live rock, and other odds and ends that would add up quickly.

The system is absolutely overrun with purple mushrooms. There is a single orange cabbage leather in there that we arent attached to.

Ideally, we want to separate the mushrooms from the LR without killing 20+ years worth of good bacteria, inverts, etc. 29g will become a QT as needed with some spare parts in case anything in the DT breaks.

We tried an army of chocolate chip stars. The largest star ate all of the other stars and none of the mushrooms.

Just put a small heniochus in to hopefully do some damage before she moves along to a larger FOWLR system. Our intent is to enjoy watching her mow down the shrooms while she is little, and the second she starts to look the least bit cramped, she will find a bigger home.

I'm not opposed to keeping a few of the mushrooms around, but they reached absolute plague proportions, so something needs to be done to wrangle them.

 

[Copingwithpods]

I like to keep what some would consider to be invasive mushrooms, I keep them in check with this

When ever I see they are getting out of control I use this

A hypodermic needle, inject a little solution into the base and they either let go of the rock and I can remove them or the shrivel up and die. Works great for zoas too.

Not the answer you wanted but a possible solution if all else fails.

 

[ScottR]

Kalkwasser paste works as well.

 

[Vette67]

I had the same issue 10 or so years ago. I bought a live rock with this really cool looking metallic green mushroom on it. And before you know it, they took over my tank. They will peel off the rock easily by scraping them off at their base with a razor blade. Not cutting them off, but peel them off the rock. Word of caution. If you go this route, wear goggles. I had one squirt me right in the eye as I was peeling it off, and I had to make a trip to the doctor. They have some kind of toxin in them that is not friendly to human eyes.

I finally got rid of them all, so I can’t say if Aptasia-X would work. Might be worth a try...

 

[dtruitt]

I appreciate the manual removal suggestions. I do want to take this opportunity to temporarily enjoy some very reef unsafe critters.

I have tried attacking the mushrooms with coral cutters. It seems that they will come back in greater numbers if you don't get every last bit...

 

[brandon429]

I have killed 200 red ones in my pico reef + thread if you want to see it.

old system, taken apart, put back together without recycle and without non target loss. Only 200 red mushrooms missing


you have to clip the mushrooms off the rock at the anchor point, a flat blade chisel rapped up under is how you dislodge them. Take a bit of rock in each pass, all the work is done with the rock sitting on the counter in the air, it’s not harmful to corals. It’s surgery like on a bad tooth


You can mister bottle them with saltwater while you work if concerned. The scrapes fill back in with coralline quickly or new corals you plant

the whole tank is disassembly cleaned, all in one pass. Nothing else works as well or is as safe for an old system because the work is targeted and thorough. No animal can work it clean.

 

[brandon429]

Post pics