Fraging? Selling? Shipping Mushrooms?

little_tuna

Reefing newb
I have a rock full of red mushrooms from Huge to small. I want to start trimming it and selling/trading them.

How do I go about doing this?

I've read that mushrooms are pretty easy to frag. Just snip and place

How do I pack and ship them?

Suggestions, advice?
 
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It would be nice to the buyer if the mushrooms came attached to rocks, but you can ship them loose and let the buyer attach them themselves. You can peel them off the rock by using a razor blade, then put them in a shallow tupperware container with rock rubble in the tank, and give them a couple weeks to attach to the rubble. Use a piece of bridal veil netting attached to the container with a rubber band if they want to float away.

Mushrooms are very hardy and should ship easily. They need to be packed in water, and most people include a hand warming heating pad thing from Walmart or the hardware store to keep the water warm. That may not be necessary depending on the time of year you are shipping them, and the destination. It's a good idea to ship them in an insulated package, like a styrofoam container.

It would be more profitable for you to sell them locally. Packaging and shipping corals is not cheap -- it may not be worth it for mushrooms.
 
Any harmful chemicals?? Should i separate them in another tank or container?

Yeah i have 2 that are about 4-5" and maybe 35 or so that are around 1-2" and a bunch of babys in between.
 
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It makes me sad to cut them because they are so pretty but im going to be trading my tank in for an 18 gallon 60-P ADA rimless tank later on.

Here they are. Wish I had a better camera than my phone to show their true color.

They are about 3/4 of the way open right now.

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if you put shrooms in a food processer yuou can make about 50 little babys from one.

The only parts that will survive are the pieces that have part of the original mouth. So...not totally true.

You can achieve the same thing (and not end up with a thousand pieces of mushroom slime floating around your tank) if you cut the mushroom up like a pizza, ensuring that each slice has a portion of the mouth.
 
Thanks :D

Yeah i read about the blender method but it just sounds mean. I feel bad just cutting them.

Speaking of cutting, Where should i cut them. Im just going to cut the whole polyp off and most of their stems are about 2" long so should i cut at the base near the rock of near the top? In the middle?
 
The procedure went well :D I havent put a price tag on them yet. Going to see how well they open up first after they attach. I figured about $20-$25 a rock considering my lfs sells them for $35-$40 with only a few shrooms and all mine have at least 8 shrooms, some with the big guys

Here they are. Just finished them so they are still closed up. They should completely cover their rocks when they fully open though.

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And the after shot :(

IMG00447-20110531-1716.jpg
 
You did a good job at it mate. Shame, i would have bought some off you too if i didnt live in a different country! :lol:
 
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