Mushroom coral

[divedeep1689]

hey anyone know how fast a mushroom coral will move? like from the bottom of a rock to the top it will do that right? they move towards the light? i am trying to get a mushroom onto a bigger rock so i glued the frag rock it came onto a larger rock and turned it upside down in after it just formed a new one beside it how fast can i expect it to move over onto the biger rock

 

[HN1]

No, they don't do that. They will attach somewhere that has preferential conditions if the tank flow takes them there, but they have no means of propulsion. They will not climb a rock.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yum... yeah, they will. They will climb, traverse, and move themselves into all sorts of nooks and crannies that make them impossible to remove! And they'll leave a trail of little bits of themselves along the way that will sprout into new mushrooms. At least in my tank, this is the normal way of reproduction. They tend to move away from flow, but won't necessarily move away from light. When I got my mushrooms, some moved up towards the light, some moved down. Go figure.

How fast? It probably depends on way more conditions than we can even start to list. But if you put it in a higher flow area, I'd guess it'd move fairly quick - over the course of several weeks. Or it might even let loose of it's foot and start drifting to find a new home.

 

[SparKy697]

It may also depend on the what kind of mushroom it is too. In my tank some move faster than others.

 

[HN1]

Yum... yeah, they will. They will climb, traverse, and move themselves into all sorts of nooks and crannies that make them impossible to remove! And they'll leave a trail of little bits of themselves along the way that will sprout into new mushrooms. At least in my tank, this is the normal way of reproduction. They tend to move away from flow, but won't necessarily move away from light. When I got my mushrooms, some moved up towards the light, some moved down. Go figure.

How fast? It probably depends on way more conditions than we can even start to list. But if you put it in a higher flow area, I'd guess it'd move fairly quick - over the course of several weeks. Or it might even let loose of it's foot and start drifting to find a new home.

Wow... my bad. I stand corrected. Mine have only moved when knocked off a rock and they've gone with the flow. How do they propel themselves?

 

[roka64]

I don't believe they actually propel themselves, other than slowly "crawling". If knocked off like you have seen, they float till they can attach to something.

 

[divedeep1689]

this is a very interesting topic

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

... How do they propel themselves?

What roka said... they crawl with their foot. The attachment point isn't a solid attachment like stony corals - it's more like a snail's foot. The mushroom has the ability to lift up one side, stretch, put it down, and bring the other part of the foot along for the ride. Don't expect to see it happening in real time, but keep track of them and you'll see them moving all over the place. I think I've had my mushrooms for a couple years now, and the farthest one has wandered has been about 12 or 14 inches. We're not talking speed records, but they do move where they want.

 

[HN1]

Absolutely fascinating. I truly had no idea. I guess that's what is great about this hobby. No matter how much I read, how many people I talk to, etc. there's always something to totally amaze me. Thanks for the info Kurt (and roka).