moving mushrooms

[ianjoe]

Ok, heres the problem. I got a good deal on a piece of live rock with mushrooms and some bubbletip on it. Now the bubble tips are moving towards the shrooms and killing them. I know you can slice the mushrooms to half them, but can i cut them completely off the rock? Like move them to another rock? Any suggestions would be great.
thanks
ian

[liquafaction]

bouble tip anemone? If it is a bubble tip anemone, see if you can carefully move the anemone.

[OrionGirl]

You can slice the mushrooms off, and use super glue to attach them to another rock. The stumps will likely try to grow a cap, but the presence of the bubble tip may prevent that.

[ianjoe]

what do you mean by moving the anemone? Like just pulling it off? I'd like the mushrooms to be on one side of the tank, and the bubbletip anemones on the other so there will not be a problem.

[liquafaction]

First off, I have killed more anemones, that I would like to mention. 2 of them that died, died the day after I moved them. When I would say they were dead, they would shrink up to about 1/4 of there original size, look like they turned inside out, and were rock hard with a mucasy film around them. I think that is safe to say dead. In my opinion, I would only move it as a very last resort. The bad thing is, when you move it, it is going to move itself where it want to be. What you might try to do is see if you can slide a small flat piece of rock by it (in the direction it is moving), and hope that it climbs on to that. Mushrooms typically like less light and current than anemones. Are your mushrooms up high in the tank near the light? If this is the case, maybe you should (when the anemone leaves the rock) move the shrooms.

[OrionGirl]

I really would not try moving the anenome. This is a trauma that may kill it. Cutting the mushroom stalks and glueing the stem onto another rock is very safe, and seldom results in a fatality. I've moved shrooms several times, and ended up with more than I wanted of them--but bugging a healthy anenome is asking to make it an unhealthy anenome, IMO.

[liquafaction]

bugging a healthy anenome is asking to make it an unhealthy anenome, IMO.


Thats what I was trying to get at in my second post

[ianjoe]

so when i super glue the mushroom stem to the LR, how long do i leave it out of the water? Imagine wet super glue would be toxic?

[OrionGirl]

Super glue was actually developed to be used by surgeons performing eye surgery on humans. It is perfectly safe for the aquarium, though I wouldn't just squirt it in. ;) When I used it, I used a dry rock, used a paper towel to blot the stump of the mushroom, glued it on, let the glue set for about 30 seconds, and returned it to the tank.

[mogurnda]

One thing I recently learned was that super glue releases heat as it sets. It was recommended that one should dip the frag/rock in seawater while you're holding them together.

[liquafaction]

Yes, super glue releases tremendouse heat when it sets. I use it for vinyl repairs, and it will smoke while it cures.