What is wrong with my hairy mushrooms?

[bonebrake]

:notsure:
My hairy mushrooms used to look like this... May 23rd, 2006.

They have now looked like this for nearly the past four weeks... This is what they look like as of tonight, November 8th, 2006.

They used to be fully "puffed up" all during the day and would shrink to about half the size that they are in the first picture, but never as tiny as they are in the seconds picture. Two weeks ago, the largest of the mushrooms did split in two, but they have yet to recuperate to there original state.
Does anyone know if/when they will be back to normal? My clowns miss sleeping in them because now they are barely large enough to rub their noses in.

 

[fedukeford]

what are your phosphate, trate, trite, and amm levels?? my hairies always shriveld up whenever one of those 4 was high

 

[bonebrake]

Duh... Thanks for the suggestion. Everything else looks fine, but I have not tested things in a little while. I'll check and post the results in 10 min.
:joy:

 

[fedukeford]

ok

 

[bonebrake]

Well... for the first time since this tank cycled the nitrates are elevated.
Temperature: 82.0 *F
pH: 8.3
Alkalinity: 2.8 meq/L
Calcium: 420 ppm
Magnesium: 1300 ppm
Ammonia: 0.00 ppm
Nitrite: 0.00 ppm
Nitrate: 10.00 ppm
Phosphate: Less than 0.1 ppm
I did a 25% water change two days ago according to my religious weekly water change schedule and changed the carbon at that time which I change monthly (4 oz.) and run it 24/7. I did add a foam pre-filter to my Maxijet 900 not too long ago, but I clean it every other day and the mushrooms started to look like this around the same time. I am not sure if it was before or after I added the pre-filter. Could this be the cause of the nitrates even though I clean it out constantly? I added it to collect gunk that gets stirred up so that I could wash it out.

 

[fedukeford]

i dont think the sponge would do anything to the shrooms. Do another water change to get the trates lower then see what happens

 

[bonebrake]

I did purge all of my xenia not too long ago as well. It was taking over my tank. I have read claims that it consumes nitrates from the water.
Thanks for the advice Duke. I will check them daily and if they go up any higher I will do a water change immediately.
:joy:

 

[bonebrake]

Anyone else out there that owns hairy shrooms and has experienced this behavior?
:notsure:

 

[ryanhayes9]

i have. they do this to me like once every 2 months. theyle look like crap for like 2 weeks then start right back up

 

[teen]

mine get like that once in a while, but they usually perk up in a day. mine are also in moderate flow, what kind of flow do you have them in?

 

[candycane]

Your clownfish are most likely irritating them. I had the same problem several of times. Then again I may be wrong. Its just with the surrounding corals and the water parameters, the most likely explanation. My Onyx and even Whites would try to host my hair mushrooms (why does that sound sick no matter who says it) and when they were getting ready to breed they would pretty much stay near the mushrooms all the time, irritating them and causing them to close up.

 

[bonebrake]

Originally Posted by candycane
Your clownfish are most likely irritating them. I had the same problem several of times. Then again I may be wrong. Its just with the surrounding corals and the water parameters, the most likely explanation. My Onyx and even Whites would try to host my hair mushrooms (why does that sound sick no matter who says it) and when they were getting ready to breed they would pretty much stay near the mushrooms all the time, irritating them and causing them to close up.
I would agree with you on the irritation notion, but the clowns had hosted them for five months before any changes occurred. They were constantly slamming into them and twitching and would sleep in them all night and I never noticed a difference. The changes that you see now occurred literally overnight. I hope that it was just in preparation for them to split and they will perk back up soon.

 

[bonebrake]

Originally Posted by teen
mine get like that once in a while, but they usually perk up in a day. mine are also in moderate flow, what kind of flow do you have them in?
I have 230 gph in my 20 gal. cube. They get moderate flow where they are located.

 

[bonebrake]

Originally Posted by ryanhayes9
i have. they do this to me like once every 2 months. theyle look like crap for like 2 weeks then start right back up
Thanks for the tip Ryan.

 

[durgeonman]

Originally Posted by ryanhayes9
i have. they do this to me like once every 2 months. theyle look like crap for like 2 weeks then start right back up
mine do the same thing but its only for a day or 2 at a time

 

[bsd230]

Try another water change if that doesn't do it you might move them to a different spot. You may have some chemical warfare happening with another coral.

 

[viper_930]

Ever notice the feeder tentacles from that chalice getting close to the shrooms? Those feeder tentacles can get pretty long.

 

[bonebrake]

Originally Posted by ViPeR_930
Ever notice the feeder tentacles from that chalice getting close to the shrooms? Those feeder tentacles can get pretty long.
Whoa really? The tentacles are frequently out, but are less than half an inch every time I have seen them. Is that a chalice? I got it from a friend for next to nothing. I thought it was an echinophyllia, but he did not tell me what it was when I got it. It has recently shown some growth which is exciting considering I have had it for nearly a year.
Thanks Viper!
:joy:

 

[bonebrake]

Also, even if the chalice does have long tentacles, the flow in this area would blow them away from the hairy mushrooms.

 

[bonebrake]

I found the source of the elevated nitrates. I attempted to glue a large gorgonian to a rock by sticking it in a hole in the rock and putting glue all around it. I have since learned I did this improperly and the gorgonian rotted all around the glued area and fell out the rock. I am making an assumption that the elevated nitrates are from the decaying base of the gorgonian.