Elephant's Ear Mushrooms - Rhodactis mussoides - Disc Anemones - Flower Corals - Mushroom Anemones

As the name suggests, Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms resemble the shape of an elephant’s ear. Easy to maintain and distinct in look, Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms are eligible candidate for your marine aquarium. The large diameter and leafy appearance neatly fill up the space in your reef-type marine aquarium. The information provided below aims to explore some key aspects of Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms. The discussion should help give you an idea on how to go about maintaining Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms in your marine aquarium.

Taxonomy: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms belong to the Order Corallimorpharia and Family Discosomatidae.

Other names: The scientific name of Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms is Rhodactis mussoides.

Origin or natural range: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms originate in the central Indo-Pacific region.

Size: Rhodactis mussoides comes in varying size, however, for your marine aquarium, better buy sizes with the following specifications. A small sized Rhodactis mussoides should be 2 inches to 3 inches in length. A medium sized Elephant’s Ear Mushroom should be 3 inches to 5 inches long and a large sized mushroom should be 5 inches to 7 inches long.

Color: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms are found in two colors, brown and green.

Morphology: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms have a big wavy surface with diameter reaching up to ten inches in some cases. Rhodactis mussoides has leather like texture. Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms have small tentacles with stings. These tentacles catch the prey such as small fishes and miniscule marine invertebrates for the mushroom. Rhodactis mussoides has multiple mouths.

Compatibility: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms are semi-aggressive in nature as compared to the other marine invertebrates.

Habit and Habitat: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms settle down in a solitary fashion. Occasionally they may be spotted in small groups as well. Rhodactis mussoides settles down on a sediment lagoon or on a shallow reef.

Breeding: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms breed easily in marine aquarium. Rhodactis mussoides propagates through vertical division which is technically called asexual longitudinal fission.

Growth environment in your marine aquarium: The following environmental factors should be maintained as specified below in order to maintain healthy Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms in your marine aquarium:

• Temperature: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms require the temperature of water in your marine aquarium to be in the range of 72 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Specific gravity: The specific gravity of your tank should lie between 1.023 and 1.025
• pH: Water in your marine aquarium containing Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms should have a pH value in between 8.10 and 8.40
• Illumination: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms require low to moderate intensity lightning.
• Water flow in the aquarium: Rhodactis mussoides needs low to average water movement in the tank.
• Marine aquarium habit & habitat: Place Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms in the middle of your reef aquarium. Give enough space to Rhodactis mussoides to expand itself.
• Feeding: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms derive nutrition from the photosynthesis which is performed by the algae zooxanthellae. Rhodactis mussoides maintains symbiotic relationship with the alga and zooxanthallae lives within Elephant’s Ear Mushroom. Rhodactis mussoides may additionally derive nutrition by feeding upon bacteria. You can also occasionally provide fresh fish or shrimp or clam in small pieces, to the Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms. Supplement your aquarium water with Iodine and trace elements as well to provide nutrients to the Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms therein.

Care: Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms are quite easy to maintain. Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms beautify your marine aquarium aesthetically. By meeting just a few environmental requirements of Elephant’s Ear Mushrooms in your marine aquarium, you may enhance the appearance of your tank significantly.

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