could somewhat high nitrate's.........

spinylobster

spinylobster

Member
Allright.. Last week i posted a thread on how my mushrooms weren't opening. Every day since I've been doing tests on why they weren't opening and why I can't fix it??????????? So after a week of stressing I have narrowed it down to 3 things. So if you can help me I would appreciate it. My results are as follows!!!
1. My nitrates are around 20 (some call this high but I understand shrooms like somewhat high tanks, plus ricordias and star polyps are flourishing)
2. Just had 2 rose corals pass, They came upon a 5 pound piece of rock that I purchased and I just coundn't keep them healthy, so do they release a toxin when they pass?
3. Could my PC's not be strong enough??? its 260 watts of light, and the bulbs are only 6 months old???
Like I said b4 I've been researching and trying different things since my last thread, I don't think it could be anything but one of these 3 things. Any help is much appreciated!!!
 
miaheatlvr

miaheatlvr

Active Member
Originally Posted by spinylobster
Allright.. Last week i posted a thread on how my mushrooms weren't opening. Every day since I've been doing tests on why they weren't opening and why I can't fix it??????????? So after a week of stressing I have narrowed it down to 3 things. So if you can help me I would appreciate it. My results are as follows!!!
1. My nitrates are around 20 (some call this high but I understand shrooms like somewhat high tanks, plus ricordias and star polyps are flourishing)
2. Just had 2 rose corals pass, They came upon a 5 pound piece of rock that I purchased and I just coundn't keep them healthy, so do they release a toxin when they pass?
3. Could my PC's not be strong enough??? its 260 watts of light, and the bulbs are only 6 months old???
Like I said b4 I've been researching and trying different things since my last thread, I don't think it could be anything but one of these 3 things. Any help is much appreciated!!!
Mushrooms are so easy to keep, I dont think the 20ppm trates are the culprit, but you should work on getting them down,, 260wis good lighting,, what size tank?
 
cjworkman

cjworkman

Member
How long have you had the mushrooms?
Sometimes they can take a couple weeks to open, acclimating to the water.
Especially since they probably came from a nitrate free environment to your tank.
Also test for silicates, phosphate and make sure that the tank isn't depleted of iodide.
 
ninjamini

ninjamini

Active Member
OK here are the questions we need to ask:
How long have you had the shrooms? Did they ever open and extend and look happy?
Ammonium
Nitrite
Nitrate = 20
Phosphates
PH
Alk
Calcium
Tank size (age of tank)
Lights Watts, type, height from water (6 months is considered end of life by most)
Height of shrooms in tank
water flow return + powerheads
Fish and livestock. Something could be nipping at them.
Water change schedule
dose schedule
 
spinylobster

spinylobster

Member
answering questions
1. I have had the shrooms for over 6 months, and yes they have been happy the majority of the time I have had them. Only been unhappy about the last month
2. amonia 0
nitrite 0
ph -8.2
calcium 530
3 tank size, 75, 1.5 years old
4 lights- coralife pc 2 65 watt 10k's, 2 65 watt true actinics, pluse moonlight.around 3 inches from water through glass
5 shrooms are about 12 inches from light
7 filration. 2 emperor power filters(I cant remember the #, but they are rated for 800 gph each). UV sterilizer, Jebo protein skimmer(I know its junk), and one surface power head
8.2 blue damsels, 1 clown GROUPER, one red serpant star, 15 turbo snails, 1 emerald crab, 10 blue leg hermits, 2 red leg hermits, Blue and green ricordia, star polyps, button polyps, 60 pounds lr
9 water change- 10 gallons weekly( filtered ocean water)
10. I add 1 cap full of coral vital weekly.
I added a b4 and after shots of the shrooms im talkin about.. The second pic is the after and they are in the middle to right of the tank
Thanks again!!

 
teen

teen

Active Member
do you run carbon? softies are known for "chemical warfare". considering you have mostly soft corals, it could be that.
 
patandlace

patandlace

Active Member
You're calcium looks a little high. If I had to guess I would say your alkalinity is low. I would check that.
 
spinylobster

spinylobster

Member
got a test for alk...
TOday it read- 3.5 mequ/9.8 dKh/ 175 ppm.
can someone tell me if this is good, and to reply to teen(i do run carbon)
Just an update on the shrooms that wont open...
Today they are the same as they have been the past month, still shriveled and not opening. I have moved everything away from them and they still won't open. I am hoping that this alk test will help in solving this case. Oh, and my trates are still at 20. Planning another water change on friday. And once again I use filtered ocean water(in case that could be a problem)
Any help would be awesome,"I can't stand walking by there and seeing them like that"
P.S. Ricordias, and star polyps are still doing quite well.
 
teen

teen

Active Member
your alk is fine. why dont you try moving the rock there on, since they've been like this for a month.
does it look like any of them have chunks taken out of them? or bite marks?
 
spinylobster

spinylobster

Member
no its definently not anything eating them they just look shriveled. The more I research I am confident that it is my nitrates.... So hopefully by me cutting back feeding and continue my water changes my nitrates will drop and everything will go back to normal. They started doing this soon after I got my clown GROUPER and he produces a ton of nitrates from what I read so I need to limit his meals!!
Thanks and if anyone has anymore solutions let me know!!
 
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