what are these white strings coming from my mushrooms?

[danrw84]

every once in a while i see these white stringy things coming out of my mushrooms.. what are they? more than 5 of them are doing it right now. i took some pics of it. what is it? bad? good? should i do anything?
thanks
dan

 

[danrw84]

2

 

[danrw84]

3

 

[fishfreek]

My shrooms do this when they are pissed. If i add some buffer (powder kind) and the powder isn't totally disolved in a cup of r/o, they show exactly the same reaction. Have you added some chemical to your tank very recently?

 

[danrw84]

i just added some super buffer. it was an immediate reaction i guess. dang. my torch coral receaded as well...so did my bubble coral and brain.
darn. what should i do next?

 

[fishfreek]

Do you use the powder or the liquid Kents super buffer? I find if you add it in a higher flow area this will occur less often. ember, if you use the powder form, mix it very well before adding to the tank.

 

[bang guy]

The threads are expelled from the mouth of the mushroom as a defensive measure. They are completely packed with stinging nematocysts and will damage or kill any coral that comes into contact with them. Once the threat has moved on the mushroom will pull the threads back inside.
For an example of how strong the sting is... setting a mushroom into the tentacles of an Aiptasia will result in the death of the Aiptasia.
I have only seen mushrooms expell the strings for defense.

 

[saltyrich]

Mushrooms do appear to be very tough customers. I've got different varieties of shrooms that are encroaching each other's space with no ill effects.. I know we've all see mushroom rocks for sale at the lfs with a variety of shrooms on them. Does anybody have experiences with shrooms battling each other? Just curious.