# Ricordea mushrooms shrinking?



## Jmoquarium

So about 2 months ago I purchased an organ pipe coral, zoas, and a ricordea mushroom. They have all been thriving very well some have grown and extended 3 times when I got them. Ricordea is my favorite. Sometimes opens slightly bigger than a quarter. But the other day I purchased another blue leg crab and a peppermint shrimp. Just yesterday I noticed my ricordea started shrinking smaller than a penny and hasn't opened since, I'm thinking its the shrimp. I need to keep the coral but I want to keep the shrimp as well. Any ideas on how to resolve the issue? Also the plug I purchased the mushroom on is very ugly. How do I move the mushroom onto some liverock and off the plug?


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## phil_n_fish

mushrooms love low to zero current. They will grow in any light and will multiply like crazy in low light conditions. I started off with two mushrooms in a tank with VHO lighting. I turned off one of my bulbs cuz I decided that the shrooms still did great in the tank and now I got over 12. 
They will naturally come off the plug after they get crowded. But they take forever to clamp onto a rock afterwards. I have alot of tube worms on my rock and they slowly remove the suction of the foot off the rock and I notice them floating around the next morning. I dont mind them spreading around the tank but some people avoid mushrooms for that reason.


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## Sully

When I bought my mushroom, I used a couple empty shells to wedge it into a place I wanted it out of the current. Worked well and it's thriving now.


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## Reefing Madness

Sure you got a Peppermint Shrimp and not a Camel Shrimp?
Your water Parameters would help here also, as you stated they've only opened 3 times?


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## Jmoquarium

I'm sure, the store sold both camel and peppermint in different tanks and it looks like pictures I've seen of peppermint. Sorry I worded that incorrectly what I meant to say was that they have opened to 3x the size of when I originally got them they open and close with the light cycles. Ill get back to you on parameters


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## Reefing Madness




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