Hey guys, saw you posting about shrooms...gotta love them!!
I have purples, reds, blues, striped, ricordeas, everything. I have WAITED for the past 4-5 years for them to split and/or creep and poop as I call it where they move, leave behind a slimetrail and then create another polyp. This year I have taken a
[hr]
that attitude, and wish I did this long ago!!! Ready for the tip....
JUST CUT THEM!!
Don't do the crazy thing shown for propagating where you cut them up into pieces, It has a pretty low success rate. All you have to do is when the mushrooms get a stalk about 2 inches tall, cut the head off about half way on the stalk. A good way to do this is to turn your actinic lights on ONLY for the full day. This will make the shrooms stretch for light and easier to cut the stalk. Also, TURN THE PUMPS OFF!! I found that out the hard way too. When you cut the head off, they will float to the surface, but with pumps on..they blow all over and usually behind a rock..GONE!
So cut the head off, take the head and put it in a cup filled with small rubble, with some mesh on top, rubberband it on the cup, and put it in an area of low flow, good light. In about a week it will attach to the rubble..from there you can put it back in your tank wherever. The cut stalk will grow a new head in about 2-3 weeks with the right water conditions. Try it out once, and if it works to your liking, CUT AWAY!!
I usually double my colonies every 2 months.
