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How to remove excess mushrooms on live rock?


GIRLGONEAQUA

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GIRLGONEAQUA

I have 4 pieces of really nice live rock that I enjoy looking at but the rock when I purchased it came with these green mushrooms, the mushrooms multiply fast and has taken over most the surface of the rock.

 

Is there any suggestions on how to kill or remove excess mushroom growth?

my first thought was to take the rock in a separate bucket of water and gently scrub off the shrooms I do not want?

 

please help, open to most ideas!

 

IMG_5821.jpg

left side rock completely taken over!

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joshnanoreef
I have 4 pieces of really nice live rock that I enjoy looking at but the rock when I purchased it came with these green mushrooms, the mushrooms multiply fast and has taken over most the surface of the rock.

 

Is there any suggestions on how to kill or remove excess mushroom growth?

my first thought was to take the rock in a separate bucket of water and gently scrub off the shrooms I do not want?

 

please help, open to most ideas!

 

IMG_5821.jpg

left side rock completely taken over!

 

ship them to me. I'll pay a few bucks. ;)

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If you use a razor blade you can simply cut them off. Take a small amount of live rock off with it so they don't come back.

 

This has worked for me when a piece of live rock that I bought was growing mushrooms.

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GIRLGONEAQUA

So I guess soft scrubbing is out of the question? cause a lot of the shrooms are in the holes of the rock where I cant reach.

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So I guess soft scrubbing is out of the question? cause a lot of the shrooms are in the holes of the rock where I cant reach.

 

 

You could probably kill them the same way you would pest anemone.

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AFRobert568

Have you thought about selling the rock? You will probably get enough money to buy a new rock that is mushroom free plus some corals. I recently heard about some guy that had to do the same thing because his mushrooms became out of control.

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Hey GIRL,

 

What's a cool fish store to visit in Seattle? I'm always up there now. Also, know any near lynwood, bothell, kirkland...area?

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GIRLGONEAQUA

trust me I have been slicing and giving/selling them I dont want to sell the rock because its was a REALLY nice piece of rock I got for $4 a LB already cured and purple. I dont think I can find that again in this area of seattle

 

Go to BARRIER REEF AQUARIUMS hands down best place for your money, they have all the knowledge and answers there.....

 

but seriously, no one has answered me why I cant just use a soft scrub brush and gently brush them off?

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scrubbing them will cause them to regrow from all the particles left behind after the scrubbing. your best bet is either put the rock in no light for a few months and let them die off, but your coralline will suffer from that, or try to inject them with kalk or boiling water. even though it might not work.

you might also get a small cycle by killing all of them as the remains of the mushies decompose in your water.

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This is a slow method, but it worked for me. Buy a torch coral or frogspawn and put it right in the center of them all.. the mushrooms will get stung and start moving or they'll just detach. Once they're on the move you can peel them off the rock.

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kind reefer

This is a major pita!! Slicing them only makes more and scrubbing them will be even worse. My tank has been taken over and they are now spreading all over my corals...no bueno. Either get to like them or ditch the rock before they go the the next rock, then the next rock, then the next rock... Good luck.

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GIRLGONEAQUA

Can you scrub then pour boiling water or lemon/lime juice over the left over particles? im doing all of this in a separate bucket of water before putting back into my tank

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jackaninny

Just use a screw driver or chisel and scrape as far under the mouth portion as possible taking a little surface of the rock with it. Next grab some pieces of rubble and wedding veil and wrap the veil around the mushroom to secure it down on the rubble. If you get even the smallest amount of rock under the mushroom you could even superglue it down to the rubble. Wait 1 week. Now sell the frags for $5 each. Profit. Spend on new coral to fill in the old space on the rock.

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davidncbrown

Ok. We have extensive experience in the field of mushroom removal. The best thing I found that killed them is shooting them up with lemon juice. I'm not kidding. Then you can scrub the rest of the mat off with a brush and siphon the slime that gets into the water out. Worked to get rid of a ton of mushrooms in our nano cube. Just watch your alk cuz you are putting acid in your tank....

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I took the rocks out that had them and bleached them, no more shrooms.

 

Although this totally wouldnt work in your situation as you seem to have an infestation of them!

I only had a few select rocks that had it that i could remove without hurting my biological filter.

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GIRLGONEAQUA

well I just got done killing the top row of rocks, they are on every inch of my rock.

 

I took two buckets of clean saltwater, and started scrubbing away with a bristle scrub brush, then went over it with a blade/tweezers and removed the roots, then poured some lime juice over it let it sit for a min, then put it in the patch of 2nd clean water for 30mins, then back to the tank, REPEAT.

 

my roomie just walked in and was like WOAH I can see your rock again! lol

 

p.s. Mushrooms can attack, I swear mine knew it was coming, they squirted me in the eye and I thought I was going to go blind with pain! so beware!

 

noshroom.jpg

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mushroom slime isnt something to mess with. you should always wear safety glasses when cutting anything aquatic.

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Step 1:

Cut away as many mushrooms as you like from the rock. Get as close to the rock as possible.

 

Step 2:

Place mushrooms in bags of water and mail them to me.

 

Step 4:

????

 

Step 5:

Profit!

 

In all seriousness, they should come off if you cut/scrape their base off the rock. I got some anemones off of my rocks that were stuck on there pretty good the other day. Oh yeah, and proceed to step 1.

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  • 1 year later...

If you cover them with another rock (not crushing them) they will get unhappy and craw out onto the new rock. then simply remove the new rock with after the mushrooms relocate onto it.

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That's a smart method for preserving them, works with xenia too I bet

 

 

The sure fire way to kill them is fire burning with a blue jet windproof lighter from convenience store

 

You can fire burn anything that's a pest in the reeftank, I have

 

 

It does not turn into a poison that's a misnomer. when they pop up again, or any algae for that matter, zapping them is an option

 

I have video of me using it in my collection on YouTube

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Get ready to do a big water change., you probably killed a lot of the organisms on a good deal of your rock with the lime juice.,., The mushrooms will be back in time.,. but at least you slowed them down., good luck ;)

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