Mushroom propagation
TREVOR 06/04/03 3:00,

It all started with Eddie's yogurt. He loves this particular brand, and so over the years many yogurt cups have accumulated in the cupboards and cabinets of GARF. This semester, I set out with two goals: find new ways to propagate coral and get rid of those old yogurt cups. Well, one thing led to another and now I have a great way to propagate mushroom coral and now I've used up all our old yogurt cups, and I'm trying to encourage Eddie to eat more yogurt- those containers are very useful. Mushrooms are a beautiful soft coral, they are hardy and colorful. However, mushrooms can be difficult to propagate. They take a long time to reproduce simply by fission, dividing in two, and cutting individual mushrooms up into pieces and putting them into a tank to attach is usually a wasted effort, because the pieces will float into the pumps and be destroyed, or disappear under some dark rock. To prevent this, I put the mushrooms in the bottom of a yogurt container. Of course, you don't have to use a Western Family brand vanilla yogurt cup. Any container will do as long as its made of a smooth, nontoxic plastic. Make the container about half an inch tall. Fill the container with rubble, or large pieces of gravel. I use CaribSea rough grade. These should be clean, meaning that they start out with no algae or anything else attached to them. If you're using fresh gravel, be sure to rinse it off first. The mushroom pieces will attach themselves to these pieces. Next, get several full-grown mushrooms. Cut the mushroom head off of the rock leaving a piece of the stalk behind. This stalk will regenerate, growing a new mushroom. You can use these pieces as brood stock. You'll want to cut the mushroom head into pie-shaped pieces. It is important for each piece to have some of the central stalk. This stalk contains the stomach of the animal and is the part that attaches to the rubble. Place these pieces in your container. Then, put a piece of bridal veil netting over the entire container. Use a rubber band to hold this covering over the container. This bridal veil netting will prevent the mushroom pieces from being swept out by the current. This entire container should be put somewhere that will be free of strong current and light. The mushrooms will attach fastest in a relatively quiet corner of the aquarium. For me, the next part is the hardest. You have to wait 3 to 4 weeks before all the pieces are attached. Do not try to skimp on time and open the container early. You'll en d up with just a bunch of loose mushroom pieces. Patience is a virtue! Finally, you can take your mushrooms out. I use SallyJo's super glue, a reef-safe cyanoacrylete adhesive, that is available for sale here at GARF, to glue them onto plugs. These plugs can then be placed into an aquarium where they will grow into adult mushrooms. Build up your mushrooms and other soft coral with this GARF's soft coral special: 7 hardy soft corals for $100.

FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS WE HAVE WORKED VERY HARD TO PURCHASE, TRADE, AND SAVE AS MANY TYPES OF CORALS AS WE CAN. IF YOU WANT TO PURCHASE SOME OF SALLY JO'S GREAT NEW CUTTINGS PLEASE CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-600-6163 We are having a special on all of the coral cuttings. WHEN YOU PURCHASE 5 AT THE REGULAR PRICE OF $100 WE WILL GIVE YOU TWO FREE CORALS!. We will continue to provide the most current data on reef farming for both education and profit. WE SHIP THE LARGE DRY ARAGOCRETETM SCULPTURES - CHOOSE A MASTER PIECE FROM EDDIE POSTMA FOR ONLY 5.00 PER POUND DRY WEIGHT. THEY ARE VERY STRONG AND LARGE FOR THE WEIGHT. For us to fill your order, please enter your name, E-mail and phone numbers and WE WILL CALL YOU SO YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM THE MANY CORALS WE GROW FOR OUR RESEARCH We will also get a shipping date. We will check your mailing address and payment information. Thank you!! Alternatively, you may also print out and either mail or fax your order to 208-344-6189 REEF JANITOR ORDER FORM GREAT GARF SPECIAL - WITH EACH ORDER YOU CAN PICK ONE AVAILABLE CORAL FOR FREE We will custom mix your Reef JanitorsTM from our great mix of algae eating snails and hermits. PLEASE SEND ME 7 colored soft coral cutting -- $100, plus shipping and handling Garf GrungeTM live sand activator for -- $5.00 per lb., plus shipping and handling 30 GALLON REEF Forty five reef janitors for only $1.00 each. -- $45.00, plus shipping and handling 50 GALLON REEF Eighty two reef janitors for only $1.00 each -- $82.00, plus shipping and handling 100 GALLON REEF One hundred fifty reef janitors for only $1.00 each. -- $150.00, plus shipping and handling For us to fill your order, please enter your name, E-mail and phone numbers and we will call you to take down the size of your aquarium so we can help you order the proper mixture of reef janitors and Garf Grunge. We will ask for your mailing address and payment information. Thank you!! Alternatively, you may also print out and either mail or fax your order to 208-344-6189

JOIN THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION You can support our research and learn more about reef aquariums and wetlands 1726 Merrill St. Boise Idaho 83705 U.S.A. SAVE A REEF - GROW YOUR OWN CALL TODAY AND YOU CAN MIX AND MATCH ANY AMOUNT OF SNAILS AND HERMITS FOR ONLY $1.00 EACH. LeRoy REEF PICTURES SPONSORED BY REEF JANITORStm We can take credit cards at 1-800-600-6163 CALL TODAY AND YOU CAN MIX AND MATCH ANY AMOUNT OF SNAILS AND HERMITS FOR ONLY $1.00 EACH. LeRoy ALGAE CONTROL CENTRAL REEF JANITORS ALGAE CONTROL CENTRAL Use this site to solve your reef aquarium algae problems, and help support our research!!! Many of the rare corals are offered to our members for 2 years before they are put on sale. We will soon have an E-mail list that will list the rarest color forms of sps corals and soft corals such as Xenia and Mushrooms. THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION HOME PAGE You can support our research and learn more about reef aquariums and wetlands 1726 Merrill St. Boise Idaho 83705 U.S.A. Email: leroy@garf.org TO ALL OF THE LARGE PICTURES OF OUR REEFS PLEASE VISIT THESE PICTURES OF THE WEEK