mushroom corals

[elisa]

i've purchased a couple of different types of mushroom corals a couple of weeks ago, but after a couple of days in my tank, they've closed up and haven't opened up since....anyone seen this? i thought these were the hardiest corals...any thoughts?

 

[teog]

What type of lighting do you have? How much water movement is in the tank? How are your water parameters? hzve you tried moving them around your tank? What kind of additives do you add? Just some ideas...

 

[elisa]

i have the hood that came w/the tank, 50/50 bulb...it's a 30gal--FO for a year and a half til now..parameters are ok, the nitrates were a li'l high so i did a 10% water change last nite...

 

[jim672]

elisa,
Mushrooms like low to medium lighting and some current. It sounds like you have only one flourescent tube, I'd guess 30 watt, over your tank...right? If that tube is as old as your tank, it's probably not enough lighting even for shrooms (if you have to replace your bulb, you may want to consider, at least, a 2 tube hood so you can supply 60 watts to your tank) . Shrooms also like good water quality. If your trates are high, that may cause them to close, too. Mushrooms also need calcium. Normal water changes can renew calcium in your tank but that's often not enough. You may want to purchase a calcium test kit and if your water doesn't test at 400-450 ppm, you'll need a calcium supplement as well.
I hope that helps.
Jim

 

[justin_ny]

the requirement for reef tank is 4 watt each gallon. i dont think you have enough lightning for your 30 gallon tank. i recomended a > 120 watt for your tank(PC). what kind substrate that u use? use arogonite sand, your mushroom will go crazy and open a lot , do the high calcium in the substrate.

 

[elisa]

yes, it's a 1 bulb light fixture---i purchased a 50/50 bulb---how often should i change out the bulbs--not willing yet to change out the hood...i have some current w/a powerhead...can u suggest a calcium supplement?

 

[jim672]

elisa,
Normal Output flourescents should be replaced every six months. I use a Kent liquid calcium supplement that's not terribly expensive and is easy to use....dosing directions are right on the bottle.
Jim

 

[elisa]

jim,
I purchased a supplement that contains calcium, strontium, and iodine---reef success Calcium +3. Is this insufficient? Should I just get a calcium-only supplement? Thanks for your help.

 

[jim672]

elisa,
Thanks for the reminder....iodine is also very important for your mushrooms and I forgot to mention it....a mind is a terible thing to waste!
I've not used the supplement you mention but it sounds good and should provide what your mushrooms need. Go easy with the dosage. If the bottle provides a gradual, daily dosage, I'd go that way; or use 1/2 the weekly dosage but do it twice a week. Too much iodine too quickly can be dangerous.
I'd also get the calcium test kit sometime soon.
Jim

 

[noodle]

Not exactly justin ny. You don't have to have 4 wpg. I have like 3.5 wpg. Many stuff grows fine. It also depends on the type of lighting. For instince clams. I know some people that have 8wpg and they can't grow clams. Because of the type of lighting. They have vho's but nothing seems to work for clams but metal hallides (sp). The reason is that the photosynthetic bacteria in your clam will not grow with certain types of lighting. So your clam will live but your bacteria will die, and then your clam will die.

 

[reefjoker]

Also remember that your bulb wamrth (Kelvin) can be critical, the example of clam success can be applied here, clams won't do well under 20K Kelvin bulbs, they need 5500K bulbs to mimic the shallow pools they are native to. Wattage can be a tricky and misleading way to gauge if you are using adequate lighting. Factor the Kelvin with the wattage and make sure you are giving the type of coral lighting that will mimic its natural environment, deep water wants more Kelvin, shallow water coral use a lower Kelvin etc... Good luck!

 

[joe's reefer]

whats the wattage and calcium levels?mine are fine i have 50 watts of flourescent and 55 watts of pc's and my calc levels are 450-550 also their iodine and stronium and other elements that arent needed in a FO tank