Are these corals really a good coral for all level of hobbyists?

[ReefRxSWFL]

One con is they can take over a tank

Change “can” to “will”.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Perhaps I just had bad luck with them, but I feel like mushrooms need a little bit of experience. I initially purchased large mushroom colonies, and it didn’t take too long for them to bleach and die. This was when I was first starting out with corals, and I eventually found that they require certain amounts of food to be sustained and grown long-term. This could be something that new reefers struggle to keep up with.

 

[Labridaedicted]

By in large, yes, they are excellent beginner corals albeit a bit invasive (although this can be said of many "beginner" soft corals... lookin at you Kenya trees and GSP).

Most are highly adaptable to flow and light conditions, require no supplemental feedings, are more tolerant than most corals to fluctuations in parameters (or imperfect parameters as a whole), and are not disease prone. This is of course not universal and there are species that are less hardy but those are the rare exceptions. Even in my sps dominant reef, I have some Rics, Yumas, Rhodactis, and jawbreakers

 

[dking271]

I’ve had a green rhodactis mushroom colony in my tank for almost 15 years that started from a single mushroom. Over the course of that time I have probably removed 3+ dozen which where sold or gifted. I’ve probably destroyed another dozen trying to keep them away from other coral colonies. I’ve found keeping the colony in an area with lots of rubble and small easily replaceable rocks is the best way to keep them in check. The biggest drawback to them is they kill everything they touch. I’ve recently had a BTA split that settled into a corner that was once completely covered in mushrooms but has been beaten back to a few frag rocks getting ready to trade off. Part of me wonders who would win the battle, the other part doesn’t want the trouble which means the frags go sooner than later. I don’t feed anything other than what they catch during normal feeding as to not encourage faster growth. My LFS likes when I bring in frags of one or two per rock and seemingly has no problem selling them. I would say they are good for all levels of hobbyist with understanding they can be aggressive and will take over a tank if not managed properly.

 

[David S]

My history with mushrooms:
I had an ordinary mushroom that was invasive and had to get rid of.
I had a Rhodactis that was nice looking, grew slowly, and minded it's business.
I had a nice looking Eclectus that came of its plug and disappeared.
I currently have a Sunkist Bounce which has slowly moved off its plug and took out a WWC JackoKilla.
So unless you are going to isolate, not worth it.

 

[Muffin87]

In my experience, leather corals have been much hardier than mushrooms.

 

[LeBon]

Im sure mushies are all actually classed as Corallimorpharia They have several subspecies from different environments. So some will actually prefer rock or prefer sand or strong slow flow or weaker flow. So still lots to learn. they have no fossil record of course cos no skeletons.

Generally easier to keep than other species for newbs. simply because are not as demanding in flow/light/pristine conditions. So in that sense a great way to start, i.e climb the ladder of knowledge by stepping on the first rung

 

[GHOSTLY]

Yuma and ricordea seemed harder to care for. I ran an experiment where I put a green recordia Florida in one tank and put the same one in my other in the same conditions expect nitrate was 20 in one tank and 5 in the other. It did terrible in the tank with 20ppm nitrate but amazing in my 5ppm tank

 

[Geebs19]

I just find a hard time buying them at the cost they are today. I remember when I could go in and get a rock with a few on it for $5.

 

[JKBrown]

Depends on the mushroom and if it's enjoying the flow and lighting. I wish my Yuma and this spotted guy grew as my hairy mushrooms have.

 

[Mogwai]

IT'S MUSHROOM WEEK AT REEF2REEF!

Are these corals really a good coral for all level of hobbyists?

What are the pros and cons of keeping mushrooms in your reef tank?

image via @Reef Builders

I would honestly say lighting and flow would be. Finding that sweet spot in your aquarium that has just enough lighting and flow (low to semi moderate).

 

[hikermike]

I have one tank they won't grow in. Another , bigger tank, they've taken over. ...And they do move over sand and to other places they'd rather be.....like the new expensive coral you just bought and put in an "isolated " spot! They are a beutiful glowing green though>

 

[Tankkeepers]

I don't think shrooms are a good beginner coral

They can do very well

but when not happy go down hill real quick and can nuke a tank fairly fast

Zoas and palys are alot more hardy and I would suggest them as a starter

As far as lighting and flow is concerned I don't know why everyone say low flow low light that's just not true mine are in very high flow and in the same lighting as the sps have been there for almost 2 years