How to Frag Mushroom

[oh207]

Hey MR,
I'm having a slight mushroom problem. These are hairy mushrooms, I liked the way they looked, but that was before they started to take over. They are multiplying like bunnies and stinging everything! :bunnies:
I have (or had) a very nice, but small, rainbow nem that I got from Pop Coral and it was looking very nice and the mushrooms split and grew closer to where the nem was and I guess they pissed it off. That was 4 weeks ago. I haven't seen the nem since. I think it just melted away. I also have a very nice colony of rics (20+) and they are now wreaking havoc on the rics.
So I've never fragged anything before...is that term even correct for mushrooms? Do you frag mushrooms? I've done some searches and I mostly see how to get them to attach to rubble, etc...but nothing on how to remove them.
Do I just rip them off the rock with a pair of gloves, or cut them off with a blade, blast them with a powerhead...? Do they come off easily? Can I harm them by doing so? Or harm myself?
Thanks for any advice.
Here is a pic of what they look like.

 

[Jhoehlein]

Fuzzy mushrooms are near impossible to remove or kill off. They aren't toxic so you can try to use a fingernail to pry them off at the base like an anemone but this typically doesn't work. You need to remove every last scrap of the mushroom, they can regenerate from even very tiny fragments of flesh left behind so just ripping them up or cutting them isn't a long term option. You could try to piss them off by aiming a powerhead directly at them or putting the rock in the shade but there's no guarantee that would pop them off either. Best thing I used was directly injecting them with kalk paste but that merely controlled them, they always ended up coming back. If you wanted to be rid of them the only surefire way would be to remove the rock and let them die off out of the water. It's the nuclear option, but the only one I can say really works for getting rid of them.

Only other thing I would try is to separate the rock they're on from the rest or your rockwork and let them have it. They won't spread over sand, so isolating them is the only way to contain them without trying to kill them or the rock.