Mushrooms

[FishyReef]

I have a huge hairy mushroom that has been super happy in my tank for the last 5 weeks. Yesterday and today I noticed that it's shriveled up and only opening part of the way. Today it folded up on itself and I could see that it has attached itself to the rock in two totally separate places. I'm wondering if it is getting ready to split. Do mushrooms shrivel up or behave like what I'm obvserving before they split?

 

[bjohanson1234]

Yes. I had a hairy mushroom that did that. It ended up splitting into 4 or 5 new mushrooms.

 

[FishyReef]

Yup, looks like you're right - its unfolded enough so that I can see two distinct mouths now, and it looks like the new mouth may actually be splitting as well! BJ, when your's split how long did it take before they fully opened again?

 

[bjohanson1234]

It looked like it was dying. You could see rock through its mouth. I would say a few months before it looked normal again. But this is a giant mushroom. About 4 inches in diameter.

 

[FishyReef]

Yup, mine was about 6-7 inches across in diameter - it was huge! Bummed to hear it might be a few months before it looks healthy again, but knowing this is normal means I won't worry about it! Thanks!