Striped Mushroom… Anenome?

In browsing the Natural Reef Aquarium, I noticed that they have a photo of a similar mushroom to mine (Actinodiscus), except their capture considers this to be an anemone (page 283). The name they give as Striped Mushroom Anemone.

A quick search turns up this interesting article about Actinodiscus on Aquafind. The overall conclusions from the article are that this species does really well in aquariums and should propogate quite easily. They also list some recommended water quality parameters for Actinodiscus:

• pH: 8.2 to 8.4
• s.g.: 1.023 to 1.025
• Temp.: 77 to 79 degrees F.
• Calcium: of no concern but if you have stony corals the level should be around 450 ppm
• Nitrates: below 10 ppm, total nitrate
• Phosphates: below 0.04 ppm
• Silicates: below 0.5 ppm
• Dissolved oxygen: 7 or higher
• Do not use mechanical filtration
• Use a really complete additive
• Add iodine to your tank daily

About one month ago I “discovered” these guys growing under our YoYo coral…  While they appeared to be doing well, they spent almost all day hidden, so I decided to bring them out to a more open place.   Their first stop (for only a few days) was when I took their rock and placed it on the sand.  They definitely seemed happy their and the two main mushrooms grew quite large each and every day.

However, due to the huge increase in size from our Octopus coral, they occupied a strategically valuable location, so I moved them again…  This time to a ledge probably a bit too high (I’ve since learned they don’t like direct sunlight).  However, the rock that holds the mushrooms quickly attached itself to the rock ledge and the two main mushrooms seem quite happy to grow up the side of the ledge where they spend most of the day out of direct light.

Blue-Striped Mushroom

Blue Striped Mushroom, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

There seems to be little disagreement over whether to classify these guys as Actinodiscus or Discosoma.

Nonetheless, they are a beautiful green-blue color and they’ve already began to propagate more mushrooms. A small brown baby mushroom can be seen at the bottom middle of this photo. There are at least two other baby mushrooms, although they often hide (yes they move!) under one of the two larger mushrooms.

Also, some times they are referred to as a mushroom and other times a coral.  I need to get a better understanding of this species!

Clown and Tang

Clown and Tang, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

The glass on the tank is a little spotty with algae, but I really like the look of the Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) and the Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus) playing. The clown fish, in particular, spends almost all of his time out in the open. At night, he sleeps within an unknown coral (I really need to identify it!).