Shaving brushes-

[goldrush]

I put 5-6 in my refugium and within a few days they are turning white. Any ideas why?

 

[saxman]

Penicillus sp. tends to go "shocky" when first introduced. They will often die way down, but leave them in place and give them a chance. As long as you have a deep enuff substrate (4" since they are true vascular plants, and not a macro algae), enuff light (they're pretty light hungry), and a mature system (at LEAST 6 mos old), they generally bounce back nicely.
HTH

 

[2quills]

Sounds like they are dying perhaps. Do you have enough light and what do your nutrient levels look like?

 

[goldrush]

Hi, Substrate in refugium is about 2-2 1/2". Nutrient level is good- I dose a drop or 2 of iron maybe once a week. Macro algae grows like a weed in there. I'll give them some time. Thanks P.S. It's lit 16 hours a day.

 

[saxman]

I dunno how well it's gonna do in that shallow of a substrate, but you can try it. Since it's a true vascular plant, it has a root system, which macro algae lacks. Do let us know how it does for you.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I actually like to dip shaving brushes in root tip stimulator and wrap them in a saltwater laden paper towel for a few hours before adding to the tank. When the lfs or whoever you bought it from picked it, more than likely they ripped the roots from it, leaving only the stem. Im with sax on this one though, they do require a deeper substrate and they do generally enjoy a lot more nutrients then macroalgae.

 

[goldrush]

Good news to report. I put 6 in the refugium 2 weeks ago. After a week one of them was pure white and the others were in various stages of getting white. I took the board's advice and "gave them time". The one that was all white kind of disappeared. Is it possible that critters in the refugium had a feast? The other 5 are now bright green and looking fantastic, even with my shallow (2-2 1/2" sand bed). P.S. They were bought here and the roots were actually pretty long.

 

[saxman]

They can really look terrible when they go shocky...I'd still give the other a chance, as I've had them come up from "nothing" before.

 

[goldrush]

I'll leave it there. It's tipped over with 8-10 hairs sticking up, but the root system appears to be somewhat complete. The other ones look great ! Thanks for the help.