Anyone know what these are?

[Mjharless]

Sorry for the poor pix. Tried to grab them handheld. The above tubes are in a small group and look a little like some sort of zoo. You can see one from the side and one head on.


These are transparent and have feathery arms, but not as fine as a featherduster. They look like little palm fronds.

Thanks.

[yote]

I have no idea about the first pic.But the 2nd looks like clove polyps.
Cool hitch hikers.

[Mjharless]

Thanks for the answer. It looks like you are right about the clove polyps.

Still looking for an educated guess on the others. I updated the pictures so that you can see them better.

[charlesr1958]

The polyps amongst the corallimorphs appear to be palythoa (zoanthids) that are not doing well. Might be the close proximity to the mushrooms causing them grief.

Chuck

[Mjharless]

These were out of the water for a while so that is probably why they look so bad. I'm suprised anything lived to be honest.

Any ideas on how to best thin out the mushrooms? Exposure to air definitely didn't hurt them. I finished setting up the tank last night and they went crazy today.

[cgoodman381]

well they look like pics to me.

really though I think charles is right. It could be that they were out of water. If they dont open in a day or two you could try moving them.

[charlesr1958]

Originally Posted by Mjharless

These were out of the water for a while so that is probably why they look so bad. I'm suprised anything lived to be honest.

Any ideas on how to best thin out the mushrooms? Exposure to air definitely didn't hurt them. I finished setting up the tank last night and they went crazy today.

Zoanthids can handle quite long exposure to air as they are frequently found in great numbers on shorelines / shallow areas that expose them to the air and rain at times during low tides.

To remove the mushrooms, you can try scraping them off with a butter knife but if you tear their foot and leave a bit of it behind, a "new" one can spring up from that. Since I can not remove my landscape without a huge effort, I have often used a hypodermic needle on any hitch hiking mushrooms or other unwanted polyps/anemone by injecting them with white vinegar. If used in small amounts, you should not have any concerns about your pH level, but its a good precaution to check it if you are doing more than just a few at a time.

Chuck

[Bifferwine]

Much better pictures!!

The second are clove polyps, and the first ones are mushrooms and palys, like others have said. Those are really pretty mushrooms, btw.

I actually wouldn't try to thin out or kill the mushrooms. Those red mushrooms are much more valuable than the zoanthids on that rock. Red ones like that sell for $10+ EACH at my LFS. And they make the tank look so much fuller and nicer.

Palythoas are just plain old brown button polyps and are cheap and kind boring looking (IMO).

I would leave the mushrooms, hope that the palys can come back, but if they don't, no sweat. But the mushrooms you do have are of a sought after and expensive color morph, so if you got those as hitch hikers, you lucked out royally, as anyone buying that rock in my LFS would likely pay at least $100 just for the mushrooms in the portion of the picture you posted.

[Mjharless]

Thanks for all the responses. This is a great forum. You guys are very helpful.

Chuck: Thanks for the help. Your website is also very informative.

Bifferwine: I have well over 100(maybe150) of these mushrooms and they are getting bigger every day and popping up in new places. Do lfs ever give credit fo this kind of stuff?

I agree that they make the tank look fuller, but I am concerned that they will damage other corals that I put in the tank. I would like to have as many corals as I can fit in this 29gal tank.

[Mjharless]

Since everyone agrees that this is all coral, maybe the mods should move this to the coral forum.