Elephant Ear Mushroom... Not So Little Shroom of Horrors! – 08/02/07
<Greetings, Mich here.>
125G marine reef tank, running for a little over 1.5 years. Tank parameters are very good.
<Vague.>
About six months ago I purchased an elephant ear mushroom.
<Uh-oh>
The fish store said it would not get much bigger than it was which at the time was about 8 inches diameter. Low and behold it is now at least 20 inches in diameter and is starting to consume my fish.
<Wow! That's a big one!>
How big will this monster get?
<Mmm, yours is bigger than the generally described max size! You might want to name it Audrey... feed me Seymour!>
I have it at the end of the tank with nothing around it. I was sad beyond words to see it had gotten my mandarin which was over a year old. It has eaten my peppermint shrimp and a chromis that I've had for over a year and a half.
<It will eat anything it can capture. This means any fish of invertebrate that comes into contact with it. It should be in a coral only tank.>
Every 6 days I've been feeding it small portions of shrimp.
<Will still capture anything it can.>
Can I remove it from the rock without hurting it?
<Likely so.>
If I get it off and leave a piece behind, will it regenerate?
<Likely so.>
I may just need to get rid of the rock all together.
<Perhaps or a chisel or hammer may do the trick!>
Of course the fish store will take donations, but no credit for it.
<Perhaps a fellow hobbyist? But only one that is aware of its capacity to engulf and consume anything that comes into contact with it.>
It is a beautiful creature.
<Yes.>
I'm torn between loosing fish or finding a new home for the animal,
<I would not allow this creature to be tankmates with any fish or mobile inverts.>
plus I paid a goodly sum for it when I got it.
<It's not about the money.>
Shame on me for not investigating before I purchased it.
<A sign of wisdom here. We all make mistakes... learning from them is key.>
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
<Needs to be in a tank with no mobile tankmates. Mich>

Dyed Ricordea? - 06/20/06
Dear Crew,
<<Evening Narayan>>
I've read about dyed soft corals, anemones and glass fish on WWM.
<<Indeed>>
But just out of curiosity, have you heard of anyone dying Ricordea?
<<Can't say that I have>>
The reason I ask is that my LFS has a bright florescent-green polyp that looks too bright and florescent to be real.
<<Hmm...>>
I searched the Internet for pictures and haven't found one that colorful.
<<Perhaps a true "find"...or perhaps not...>>
I'm very tempted, but I want to make sure...
<<Is a possibility I suppose...I think you'll have to use your own good judgment here>>
Thank you,
Narayan
<<Welcome, EricR>>

Re: Dyed Ricordea? - 06/21/06
Thanks! I'll let you know if it's offspring are not as vibrant!
Narayan
<<Please do!  EricR>>

Looking for whlse supply of Zo's and Ricordea ... to ship to S. Africa  1/20/06
Good day all
<Micae>
I need assistance with the following if possible. After many years of keeping and breeding marine fish and propagating corals
I have now decided to take the big step and start an online business.
<Not for the easily challenged>
I do not intend to sell everything I lay my hands on. I am looking for rare and exotic species and other livestock not readily
available in South Africa. My question is if you could perhaps assist us with the name of a reliable supplier of Florida Ricordeas and zooanthids.
<Mmm, you might try ORA/C-Quest... and later (they're re-building) ProAquatix>
We do have regular flights to South Africa so this should not be a problem. FedEx also delivers. We have been in contact with Kiki Haman from
Ricordeas.net but feel that $12 per polyp excluding shipping for 100 polyps is a retail price and not wholesale. We know that shipping to South Africa
from the US is expensive, this is why 90% of dealers import from Indonesia, but at this stage shipping cost is a small price to pay in order for us to
bring these wonderful that are not available here to our clients. creatures into the country.
Your assistance would be appreciated
Micae
<Mmm, when you have a URL to post, please re-send this note... and I will refer it and post it on WWM. Bob Fenner>

Looking for source of Ricordea floridae  1/7/06
Hello Bob,
  First of all let me that you for the wonderful site, I've built up a lot
of my saltwater knowledge through the myriad of pages here, and have learned
more than I'd have though possible from just one site, so again, thanks for
the wonderful resource!  Now, I'm nearly embarrassed to pose this question,
see I am a relatively new coral supplier, 2 years or so, and have been
searching to no avail for a reliable supplier of well priced Ricordea floridae mushrooms.
<Mmm, am going to suggest the only avenue I'm comfortable doing so... "making your own"... What a certain, very old time friend of mine did/does... Cutting through the siphonoglyph (to urge splitting), doing inexpensive "things" light and chemistry-wise and having a bunch (unfortunately) of time going by...>
  I've heard tell of many suppliers in Miami who have them for amazingly good prices, but as of yet have not been able to track down a single one,
<I don't know of any...>
as I said, it's nearly embarrassing, I've been able to find so many suppliers of great corals, and still none for Ricordea.  Every time I
say to one of my suppliers that I need 500-1000 polyps they laugh!  If you could offer any insight, or forward my email to anyone who may be interested
in contacting me, I'd be most appreciative, either way I thank you very much for your time, and hope that your new year is going well
Sincerely,
Miguel Tolosa
Fraggle Reef
<We'll/Will post your note in the hope that someone will come forward with useful information. Don't be embarrassed. Bob Fenner>

Mushroom anemones and macroalgae
Hi Bob,
I have a 75-gallon FOWLR tank. I have been thinking about introducing
some mushrooms and macroalgae into the tank. I have three NO fluorescent
light tubes. Do I have enough light? And what recommendations would you
make as far as the different varieties of mushrooms and macroalgae are
concerned? I am of course interested in great colors and hardiness.
Thank you. Boon
>>
I think your mushrooms and macro-algae will do fine with the lighting... not super luxuriant perhaps, but as well as the wild. And any Discosoma/Actinodiscus specimens will do fine... choose as you wish color/fuzziness/shape wise. I would look into imported species from the Caribbean as far as the algae are concerned... Do label your fluorescent lamps as to inception dates, and start cycling them out after about eight months... Bob Fenner

Mushroom Corals
Bob,
First off, I wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you for the great
advise concerning ich that you gave me a few months ago. I moved all my
fish to a 38 gal tank for treatment. In the main tank I lowered the
specific gravity and let it go fallow for two months. Worked like a charm!
My fish have been happy and content know for about three months with no
problems.
<Ah, very good to hear of your success>
I have a 90 tank with overflow, a wet/dry (Amiracle), protein skimmer (turbo
floater), I use Chemi-pure carbon in the sump of the wet dry. I have about
120 lbs of Fiji, Marshall islands and Tonga live rock that is covered with
coralline algae and some nice macro algae of various species. Actually, one
of the macro algae species came in on a few pieces of the Fiji rock. They
have grow about 12 inches+ long and have reached the surface and then some
(very nice). 
<Do keep these trimmed back a bit... best to keep under the surface...>
My fish include: an emperor angel (4-5 inches), he's about 3/4
of the way through changing to adult coloration, a flame angel (3 inches),
six line wrasse, domino damsel, 2 Chromis, 1 yellow tail damsel, maroon
clown (3 inches), a yellow tang (3 inches) and a blenny (red-lip I think).
My inverts include: 1 blood shrimp, 1 cleaner (skunk) shrimp, various
snails, blue legs and 2 brittle stars. Everyone gets along good an all seem
happy!
<Ah, good>
My lighting consists of a 110 watt power compact 10,000K, 1- 40 watt actinic
fluorescent and 1- 40 watt 6500K fluorescent.
All my test parameters check out good. My calcium is a little low do to the
excellent growth of coralline algae, so I started supplementing sea-chem
calcium additive.
<Okay>
My question is: Are there any of the hardier corals that I can try like
mushrooms that the flame angel and emperor angel won't eat and that don't
require a lot of light. 
My live rock goes as high as 3 inches from the
surface and my lights sit on top of the cover glass. If I put the corals
close to the top they would be about 5-6 inches from the lights. What do
you think? Thanks again,
Tom
<Yes to their being hardy stinging-celled animals that would likely do well for you and your system... Mushrooms, "polyps", many of the tougher soft corals, even some of the more suitable species of true or stony corals. Please read over the articles and related FAQs files posted on the site www.wetwebmedia.com about the cnidarians, and their use in captive systems. Bob Fenner>