Mushrooms sick

[oneradtek]

so my mushrooms that ive had in my tank for the last few weeks that have been doing fine all of a sudden have started not opening up, and look withered. Only a few open up on the rock. Ill post a pic here soon. My parameters are right on, although a minor temperature fluctuation, it is now back to 78-79. I do freshwater top offs every other day. and they were looking amazing. I also have a ricordea that looks awesome and it opens up and also a zoo frag that opens up awesome too. why just these mushrooms? its so weird that they looked amazing a week ago and now like crap. also one fell off this morning and was stuck in my filter, and i know that means thaat they are not happy. I have 2 MH on for 9 hours, 12 hours actinics. 2 power heads ....so maybe too much flow? its a 55 gallon. weird....heres a pic of what they looked like a week ago!

 

[oneradtek]

and now this is what i have!

 

[mie]

Do you feed them?

 

[oneradtek]

i thought that they were photosynthetic and that you dont have to feed them but it helps if you do?

 

[ken the newbe]

what and how do you feed mushrooms

 

[oneradtek]

i just too a look behind my live rock and found a bunch of little mushrooms that have fallen off, and a few look like theyve reattached in the shade? maybe its too much light for them? with my metal halides and all

 

[oneradtek]

Originally Posted by ken the newbe
what and how do you feed mushrooms

i think they can eat brine shrimp that u can put in on a weekly basis, and t not a necessity, but it will help them grow and theyre color i heard

 

[teresaq]

it may be too much light. try moving them into the shade.

 

[bonebrake]

It is probably either too much light or too much flow or a combination of the two.

 

[oneradtek]

hmm so would metal halide lighting affect the mushrooms like that you all think? the water movement is pretty good in there, but they started off soooo good for a few weeks......its so weird. the other corals (zoa, ricordea) are both doing good though....and they are both medium light medium flow corals???

i moved the mushrooms to the bottom of my tank kind of under a tunnel of rock so its partially shaded, and so far in a few hours there hasnt been an obvious change in the appearance.

 

[oneradtek]

can metal halides kill my mushrooms?
because they are almost dead now.....
also.....what about too much calcium in my water....i have close to 600 calcium in my water.....how can i lower this?

 

[oneradtek]

new parameters.....
1.024 salinity...
78-79 Temp
0ppm phosphate
420-450ppm calcium
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
0-5ppm nitrate
12 dkh(214.8ppm) carbonate
Lighting
2 96 watt actinics
2 175 watt metal halides
Tank size, info
55 gallons
45-50lbs Live rock
2 maxi jet power heads 900's
seaclone skimmer
2 penguin 330's hang on back filters
any new ideas?
My mushrooms are not white or bleached....so i still have hope
also i turned off one powerhead to see if it makes a difference

 

[meemmoo]

Besides you Ca being above 450 it also look like your alk is a little on the high side. Alk spikes will cause corals to melt. How high was your temp spike and how long did it last before you noticed? Also to get Alk and Ca down best thing would be not to dose and let it come down and a water change may help.

 

[oneradtek]

how can u tell that i had an alkalinity spike? i dont have an alk test. but today im gonna go to my LFS to get a reading. ill do a water change but ive done them religiously....so i dont know why i have to again but i will.
My temp fluctuates a little bit because im a dumb@#$ that got a under wattage heater but it usually only fluctuates 2-3 degrees, because of my metal halides..... i have a fan on the ballast and on my hood
This may be besides the point, but my tank is cloudy....could this be a sign of something thats killing them? my mushrooms arent melting too. Theyre just not opening up

 

[bonebrake]

Mushrooms can act erractically when it comes to expanding and shrinking at times. Sometimes it is an easy answer like too much flow, too much light, recent addition and still acclimating, etc. If yours do not respond by moving them to a lower flow and/or lower light area then I would just let them be. Although this is not an answer you want to hear, but in my experience, mushrooms go through phases where they look great and then all of the sudden they shrink and don't look as nice for awhile, maybe a month or more, and then they will look great again.

 

[oneradtek]

k awesome, I'm just over-reacting i think.....they're not bleaching so thats a plus......they're just dropping and moving to a nicer place for them and re-opening so they're not dying.....
i also moved them lower and in more shade and they are re-opening....

 

[teen]

i say its the lighting. it may be a little too strong so there sorta shriveling up. mushrooms falling off the rock is usually a sign that they are not happy where they are so they are trying to relocate themselves.
maybe try moving the rock down a bit or try shading it a bit.

 

[chaoscat]

I think you're cooking them. You've got 10 watts per gallon going there. Their looking for shade. My mushrooms thrive at the bottom of my 40 gal and that only has 120 watts on it.