now what?

[mutnjeff]

so, I've "sliced" a couple of my mushrooms off of the rock they were on, now what do I do with them to keep them from being blown all over the tank by the current from the power heads? do I put them in something? I took a few and put them on top of another piece of rock hoping they will stick to it eventually and put that in a tupperware-like container, is that the right thing to do? what if I want them to grow on the sand? thanks!!!!
Michele

[lcstorc]

I don't think they will grow on the sand. You want to get a small container of rubble an put the mushroom frags in that. A mesh covering is not a bad idea to keep them in the container. Then just put it in the tank in a relatively low flow area and wait. They should attach themselves to the rubble and then you can move the rubble where you like.
I have heard of a few people supergluing them to a rock but that doesn't seem to be nearly as effective since they generally slime off.

[BigAl07]

I use a small plastic cup/dish and put netting over it. In the dish should be some rock rubble. Over a few weeks the shrooms should attach to the rubble and you then glue it where you want it.

[Rcpilot]

I went to Costco ( big box) and bought a box of 10,000 little 2oz plastic cups for like $5. They are used in the restaurant industry for serving sauces. They are about 1.5" diameter at the base and taper up to 2.25" at the top. The cups are about 1.5" tall.

I bought medium size media bags from 2 Docs and they fit right over the cups. Put your frag in with some rock rubble about 3/8" up to 3/4" sizes and cover it with the netting.

Damn snails crawl all over your frags and irritate them if you don't use some type of netting. You could even use a pair of womens old nylons to cover the cups. I'm thinking about using an in-take refugium to grow my frags out--at least until they are well attached to the rock.

Sometimes, you can use a rubber band to get mushrooms to attach, but it needs to be a whole head to do that. A fragged piece of mushroom would be about impossible to rubber band down on a rock. If you do use rubber bands, try and put the mushroom kinda down in a little crevice or hole in the rock. Then run the rubber band over the top. I've found that mushrooms don't like being smashed down hard on a rock. Just very light pressure to hold them still and they will attach. If you use too much tension on the rubber bands, the mushrooms will just split into tiny pieces trying to get away from the crushing rubber band.

I haven't found glue to be of much use for attaching frags. They just slime off.

Edit:
Forgot to mention, I also use the cups for mixing epoxy, paint and other chemicals when I'm building planes. I go through a bunch more of these cups building airplanes than putting frags in my tank. If I had an acan frag for every airplane that I've crashed in the last 10yrs, I'd be a zillionaire just selling a few frags. It's a stupid hobby, but it's a lot of fun.

[BigAl07]

Originally Posted by Rcpilot

I went to Costco ( big box) and bought a box of 10,000 little 2oz plastic cups for like $5. They are used in the restaurant industry for serving sauces. They are about 1.5" diameter at the base and taper up to 2.25" at the top. The cups are about 1.5" tall.

We call them Jello Jiggler Cups around here

Originally Posted by Rcpilot

Edit:
Forgot to mention, I also use the cups for mixing epoxy, paint and other chemicals when I'm building planes. I go through a bunch more of these cups building airplanes than putting frags in my tank. If I had an acan frag for every airplane that I've crashed in the last 10yrs, I'd be a zillionaire just selling a few frags. It's a stupid hobby, but it's a lot of fun.

That's the TRUTH! I flew through 5 LIPOS tonight and one little foamy crashed due to a power line!! LOVE IT either way