Discosoma mushroom: do they need to be on an island because they multiply so fast?

Just John

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I was just given 3 tiny discosoma and I would like to put them on the main live rock, but if they are going to take over I will put them on an island. How bad are they for rapid multiplying?
 

X-37B

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I hate them as they have floated away and killed a few small frags and recently did this to a stag.
You can see them below the stag.
The stn stopped and has not spread. Its been a week.
I have been removing them but need to get as many as I can out.
They were 4-5 on a rock from my nano and they never spread in 2 years.
They are all over now and it seems the more I remove/kill the more they spread.
Their must be 30+ now and ones that I cant reach.
This pic is with no tank lights on so its easier to see.
I find them in my 4 powerheads quite often.

Beware of green disco's.
20210211_093852.jpg
 

Saltyreef

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It seems to depend on how much they are worth. Something like an Eclectus barely multiply at all while the cheap ones can take over. You can kill them back with kalk. They also can leave your island and float to another place to make a new home
My jawbreakers are killing everything in my tank now. A few babies blew away in the current and landed in random areas killing everyrhing around them.

Maybe im the lone soul that complains about too many jawbreakers lol
 

FREAKINRICAN69

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My jawbreakers are killing everything in my tank now. A few babies blew away in the current and landed in random areas killing everyrhing around them.

Maybe im the lone soul that complains about too many jawbreakers lol
Send some my way I’ll show those shrooms ;)
 
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fish farmer

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Beware of green disco's.
My green striped mushrooms killed off some green bumpy ones...I think just for their rock.

You can't isolate discomas on an island like GSP in my opinion. I "lost" some red mushrooms I put loose in a 65 gallon, a couple years later they popped up on a rock when I downsized. They may have even been in a FOWLR I maintained and I took them back to my 29 gallon. I think they may be able to take over my green striped shrooms since they are much larger, but so far they coexist, but will spread by budding and landing anywhere.

But they are pretty...color up nice under some blue. My clownfish use the big reds like an anemone, they even lay eggs between the shrooms.

They have taken over about 40% of my rockwork in a 29 gallon in about 10 years time, but I've seen more budding off in the last few years.
 
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Just John

Just John

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I hate them as they have floated away and killed a few small frags and recently did this to a stag.
You can see them below the stag.
The stn stopped and has not spread. Its been a week.
I have been removing them but need to get as many as I can out.
They were 4-5 on a rock from my nano and they never spread in 2 years.
They are all over now and it seems the more I remove/kill the more they spread.
Their must be 30+ now and ones that I cant reach.
This pic is with no tank lights on so its easier to see.
I find them in my 4 powerheads quite often.

Beware of green disco's.
20210211_093852.jpg
No wonder someone just offered to give me a few!
 

jda

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If those JBs are Poletti and have the 5 colors, they are worth a fortune. Too many fakes/lower-grade with just 3 colors, but if you are getting purple and green with the blue mouth, then cut/scrape them off, let them heal in a box with some chunkier media and sell them. I can get 300+ for 1.5-2" plus ones with all five colors... less for ones with less color.

You can sometimes get a large angelfish like an Asfur to eat the mushrooms, but they can never get to them all, but they can help. Large angelfish are another problem entirely needing large tanks and large amounts of food.
 

krash7172

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Depends on your tank. I'm mostly softies and I have lots of shrooms. And no, they won't stay on an island but I've never had a problem controlling mushrooms, gsp, xenia, kenyas or any soft coral. Not sure why people freak out. Rip them off the rock with tweezers or forceps and scrub the rock with a stiff brush. Run carbon. Easy. No reason to fear the softies.
 

Dennis Cartier

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Are they growing on the glass yet?
That tank has been shutdown for 6 years, but yes, before that, they had spread to the glass and pretty much any rock or solid surface they could. It took me years to get rid of those blue discosoma mushrooms off the rocks that came from that tank. They are the devil.

Dennis
 

Dennis Cartier

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Wow! That's complete takeover for sure. Is that the blue/green sheen variety? I think i have a couple in my tank now that'll have to try and just take the rock out now.
They were the plain Smurf blue ones. I see them at the coral vendors occasionally.

I don't want to predispose anyone to outright removal, but you should at least be vigilant and be prepared to take immediate action as krash7172 suggested. They will reproduce at an alarming rate when your nutrients are at the upper end of acceptable for LPS. They both crawl and release and float to new locations. If your rock that had 5 mushrooms on it suddenly has 4, you need to find that 5th mushroom as it is 'somewhere', and you will have colonies popping up were you don't want them.

In that tank they came on some rocks I purchased second hand. Those and some electric green paly's proved problematic. I still have the pally's in my frag tank even though I have tried to eradicate them numerous times.

Dennis
 
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fish farmer

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Here is a pic of my tank from a year ago. The center rock and area to the right are red and green striped dominant. I actually had a few reds pop up near the upper nepthia which I eradicated with F-Aiptasia and put some red palys there, occasionally a green shroom settles there.

In 2017 I tried to reclaim the top of the mushroom rock with a disc of GSP, they smothered them. I then tried a hammer frag, they smothered that too.

They are slowly creeping up the left side which has been somewhat manageable with F-Aiptasia and a bit of luck. If I have any rock/frag/snail shell on my sand bed in a couple weeks time there will probably be a green mushroom attached to it.

The original colony of green mushrooms I purchased in 2000, thought I lost all of them in a heat wave in 2003. I found one in my recycled rock a year later. Mine are super tough.

One thing I have noticed is the areas of heavy mushroom growth I don't see aiptasia.

reef march2020.JPG
 

blasterman

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Discoma can grow crazy under high nutrient levels.

However, unlike aiptasia they are easy to control with a simple syringe and vinegar. They can't retract into the rock and hide.

Not sure why you would introduce a fast growing soft coral into a large tank you intend to be SPS dominant in the first place.
 

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