What Does mushroom rock need

[dpmac10]

i was at my local salt water fish store and they had some mushroom rock for sale and i was just wondering what does this need to trive and would it be good to have in my 10 gallon tank with my live rock and 1 damsel thanks. any more info on mushrooom rock would be great thanks

[mogurnda]

Mushrooms, or corallimorpharians, are quite hardy little corals. They will need light, but much less than most corals, so you can probably get by with about 2 watts/gallon of power compact lighting. They can actually be harmed by too much light. Most species tolerate a wide range of conditions, making them an excellent choice as a first coral. Some will take food, others don't seem to be interested, possibly utilizing dissolved organic material in the water.

There are quite a few species, do you know what kind it is?

[OrionGirl]

Verifying the species is important. Somke mushrooms are highly territorial, and will sting and kill neighbors that get too close. In a 10 gallon, this could restrict you to just the mushrooms. Not saying that's bad--mushrooms are quite a attractive and spread easily. Just a note of caution.

[rica5tully]

Can I piggyback here?

I have 3.8 watts per gallon (compact flourescent) on a 72-gallon bowfront. 220 watts of white, 60 watts of actinic.

Is this too much for mushroom corals?

[Max]

Rica, it depends on what kind of shroom you're talking about. Some of them like them will eat it up and grow like mad. Others you'd have to make a cave for or they will melt away just depends on the species.\

[ChicoRaton]

Can I piggyback too?:)
I have 52w of PC on my 5.5g that I'm setting up soon and have my eye on these little purple mushrooms. Would there be any warning signs of too much light before they are too damaged to recover?

[caz]

they will not open as full, and usually look wrinkled or they remain shrivled up instead of expanding. you can try and create a shadow effect with some live rock that might help out.

[sillycat]

ah, can i piggy back too? i just bought a piece of rock with some shrooms and i desperately need some advice. i've read that it is easy to care for....


this morning i find 2 of them curl up like an onion (http://www.ipaqclub.com.my/members/sillycat/shroom2.jpg)
http://www.ipaqclub.com.my/members/sillycat/shroom2.jpg

and then they opened back up in 5-10 minutes (http://www.ipaqclub.com.my/members/sillycat/shroom5.jpg)
http://www.ipaqclub.com.my/members/sillycat/shroom5.jpg

do they look healthy?

by the way here's the pic of my tank. i place these shrooms at the lower right part of my tank and facing the light directly. (http://www.ipaqclub.com.my/members/sillycat/tank jan 2005.jpg)
http://www.ipaqclub.com.my/members/sillycat/tank jan 2005.jpg

[mogurnda]

My mushrooms all contract at night, and wake up slowly in the morning. Sounds completely normal to me.