MUSHROOMS
- Thread starter kyred1
- Start date
carrie1429
Active Member
Yes that normal, since you just put them in your tank they need time to adjust to the water and everything, they should open up in a day or two.
tru conch
Active Member
it is noraml. just like carrie said, once they get used to your lights and your water conditions, they will open right up. it is also normal for them to close up at night, and slowly open back up once the lights come back on. hth, and enjoy the mushrooms! btw if you are interested they are extremely easy to frag, just check out some of the former posts.
kyred1
Member
I ORIGINALLY POSTED THIS QUESTION ON THE 14TH OF THIS MONTH. IT IS NOW A FEW DAYS LATER, AND STILL NOTHING BETTER REGARDING THESE MUSHROOMS. THEY ARE JUST SPECKS NOW. I HAVE MOVED THE ROCK TO A HIGHER LOCATION, CLOSER TO THE LIGHTS, BUT STILL NOTHING. ARE THEY "DEAD". DO I JUST PITCH OUT THE ROCK WITH THEM ON IT NOW OR WHAT?
tru conch
Active Member
what kind of lights do you have, and how long are they on for?
mushrooms prefer lower lighting, and mine will shrivel up when they feel its bed time (if the lights have been on longer than their normal 10 hours)
also what supplements do you add to the water? my mushrooms open up a bit with an iodine addition to the water (reef iodine, not medical iodine!)
mushrooms prefer lower lighting, and mine will shrivel up when they feel its bed time (if the lights have been on longer than their normal 10 hours)
also what supplements do you add to the water? my mushrooms open up a bit with an iodine addition to the water (reef iodine, not medical iodine!)
tiggerbengal
Member
Mine did the exact same thing.
Give them a while to open up....... I bought a colony of blue mushrooms at a lfs about 3 weeks ago, and finally last week, they opened up completely. What is your salinity? Keep them in low current, too. Don't worry...... they will be fine.
Also, could you PLEASE turn the caps OFF! It's considering yelling when you TYPE LIKE THIS! <img src="graemlins//yell.gif" border="0" alt="[yell]" />
Give them a while to open up....... I bought a colony of blue mushrooms at a lfs about 3 weeks ago, and finally last week, they opened up completely. What is your salinity? Keep them in low current, too. Don't worry...... they will be fine.
Also, could you PLEASE turn the caps OFF! It's considering yelling when you TYPE LIKE THIS! <img src="graemlins//yell.gif" border="0" alt="[yell]" />
kyred1
Member
Thank you very much for the info. Will try the iodine. I currently have low lights and moved the rock up high to it. Will move it lower. Didn't know that. Regarding the caps, sorry about that. I was not yelling. Another question if you don't mind. I purchased a royal gramma (?) and all it does is hide behind my rock. What can I do to make it come out? I don't know how to test for the salinity. What types of additives should I be using?
tru conch
Active Member
to answer some of you other questions....
the royal gamma is by nature a shy to semi shy fish. once they get used to the tank they will come out more. make sure that it is feeding.
to check for your salinity, purchase either a hydrometer or a swing arm. A hydrometer floats in the water, the swing arm you take a water sample. niether are exact, but will give you a ballpark idea where your salinity is.
as far as additives... the two basic additives are calcium and a buffer/alkinity. the calcium raises the level of calcium in your tank, which is needed by corlleine algae and corals (esp hard corals) because they use it up. the buffer/alk keeps your ph in the right levels.
what kind of lights do you have though?
this is just some general info, look in the reef keeping forum for more info on additives and such. good luck
the royal gamma is by nature a shy to semi shy fish. once they get used to the tank they will come out more. make sure that it is feeding.
to check for your salinity, purchase either a hydrometer or a swing arm. A hydrometer floats in the water, the swing arm you take a water sample. niether are exact, but will give you a ballpark idea where your salinity is.
as far as additives... the two basic additives are calcium and a buffer/alkinity. the calcium raises the level of calcium in your tank, which is needed by corlleine algae and corals (esp hard corals) because they use it up. the buffer/alk keeps your ph in the right levels.
what kind of lights do you have though?
this is just some general info, look in the reef keeping forum for more info on additives and such. good luck
kyred1
Member
the salinity level is right in the middle. i am ashamed to say this, but my lights are two 45w shop lights, and one blue (or purple 45watt also). I did move the rock lower in the tank. Just hope something happens. I can't tell if the gamma is feeding or now. Sometimes after turning off the lights, I will see it come out. Feed it dried and frozen seaweed and it keeps disappearing, so I am assuming it is eating. Had a sailfin tang I purchased the same time, and it did just great until I found it dead yesterday. I purchased salt for corals. Hope that has calcium in it.
clarkiiboi
Active Member
have you tried brine for the royal gramma? Mine ate this up. And a question is if (as you said) "you dont know how to test salinity", how did you come up with the answer of "right in the middle"? the LFS?
tiggerbengal
Member
KYRED1,
What size tank is yours? 2x45 watt shop lights should be good enough, depending on the size. Right now, I only have a 15 watt bulb on my 20 & my shrooms are doing great...... I just ordered a PC light strip off of ----. If you are wanting to upgrade, check out the pc lights on ----. I bought mine from a guy who goes by the name "thecomicbroker"
What size tank is yours? 2x45 watt shop lights should be good enough, depending on the size. Right now, I only have a 15 watt bulb on my 20 & my shrooms are doing great...... I just ordered a PC light strip off of ----. If you are wanting to upgrade, check out the pc lights on ----. I bought mine from a guy who goes by the name "thecomicbroker"
heavenly damsel
Member
What else are you testing? Did you cycle the tank properly? How long has the tank been set up? What are you water parameters? What kind of salt did you use to make up the tank water? What are you using for top off water? Basically tell us the story from the beginning....until the mushroom addition. Thanks
kyred1
Member
The tank has been up and running for about 7 months now. Will try and not make this too long. Please bear with me. From the beginning, I used tap water mixed with premium reef salt by Deer. I added 8 damsels (4 dominos and 4 blue) and 150 lbs of base rock. I let that set for 8 weeks and took the water to my lfs to test (after I did first with results all paremeters reading perfect) just to be sure I was right..which I was.
I then removed the dominos and three blue and traded for 6 blue legged, 6 emerald, and 6 red crabs, along with 1 bi-color blenny, and 4 false percula clowns. Left that alone for about a month, then purchased a yellow tang (which died a week later that had something in it..I posted messages about that in here as well). About 5 weeks ago, I purchased a few pieces of Fiji live rock. Everything has been running fine. I have a wet/dry sump, 2 power heads inside the tank. I have not done a water change since adding the lr due to being scared of killing what may be in there. I have found some pod creatures in there. I again added a few more pieces of lr 2 weeks ago along with the sailfin tang and a royal gamma or beauty (the purple and orange fish). I have cc on the bottom but want to switch to dsb soon. My salinity tester is the swing arm type. Oh and I also have started using the Reef Cyrstal salt two weeks ago. I use it when adding water (RO from my lfs) to my tank once a week. I also have 2 feather dusters and a baby box fish, and 2 orange star fish. I add 3-4 capfuls of Reef Complete to the water (overflow) once a week. I just tested the water again, and all are reading fine.
I then removed the dominos and three blue and traded for 6 blue legged, 6 emerald, and 6 red crabs, along with 1 bi-color blenny, and 4 false percula clowns. Left that alone for about a month, then purchased a yellow tang (which died a week later that had something in it..I posted messages about that in here as well). About 5 weeks ago, I purchased a few pieces of Fiji live rock. Everything has been running fine. I have a wet/dry sump, 2 power heads inside the tank. I have not done a water change since adding the lr due to being scared of killing what may be in there. I have found some pod creatures in there. I again added a few more pieces of lr 2 weeks ago along with the sailfin tang and a royal gamma or beauty (the purple and orange fish). I have cc on the bottom but want to switch to dsb soon. My salinity tester is the swing arm type. Oh and I also have started using the Reef Cyrstal salt two weeks ago. I use it when adding water (RO from my lfs) to my tank once a week. I also have 2 feather dusters and a baby box fish, and 2 orange star fish. I add 3-4 capfuls of Reef Complete to the water (overflow) once a week. I just tested the water again, and all are reading fine.
