Mushroom Coral & brown stuff?

[misselle27]

Hi all,

I have a mushroom coral for about 2 wks now and it has been doing fine. I dont supplement the water at the moment, however I will go get iodine. Atleast thats what I read to get unless someone knows better. Anywho, I noticed today this chunky brown/red like clump come out its mouth. Kinda reminds me of my puffers poop. Only changes I made was a light upgrade. I had standard lighting but bought a new fixture that has 4 t5 ho bulbs. total watts is 96. 2 are actinic and 2 are 12000k. He is at the bottom of the tank but not under a ledge to block light. I have a 29 gal tank that I think is 18in high. I dont know if it was him expelling his digested food or something more serious. I dont have a pic, but this is the 1st time I witnessed this. He stays open all day and doesnt seem to be stressed. I did move him out of direct light just in case it was the light. water quality is great. I do weekly water changes of 5gal and I vacuum the substrate every other day since my turbos poop sooooo much. Ive had my setup for about 8mos also. Any ideas? Is it just poop or should I keep him out of direct light? From my understanding, they dont like a lot of light.

 

[DesertOrchid]

You are right that the mushroom is just pooping............ what goes in must come out. If the mushroom was opening and not shriveled under the light then it should be fine just where it was in a couple of days if the lighting wasn't such a change. I have seen them fully open under MH lights as well as low light conditions. If the mushrooms get unhappy where they are they will 'jump ship' and move somewhere else. They are mobile so don't expect them to necessarily stay attached to that rock they came on. It they are in such distress they will begin to melt....literally. So if you can still see the mouth, it is extended and not getting pale then things should be fine. Your water changes should be sufficient to keep up the iodine levels. I've kept mushrooms for years and they do best with a little nitrates in the water ( aka a little dirty water unlike for super clean for the sps corals etc) and I have never dosed with iodine to keep them propagating like crazy. How old is your tank?? I do wonder about your vacuuming the substrate so often. You shouldn't have to do that to maintain your water quality. Just my 2 cents

 

[dmatt88]

This has nothing to do with mushrooms but it is news worthy. Check this out. I have plenty of Bristle worms right well anyway I saw something in my 40 yrs I've never seen before. Bristle worm popped his tail out of the rock for about 2 seconds promptly pooped made one hell of a doo doo n popped back in. The entire trip to the bathroom took maybe 5 seconds but watching the poop volcano was worth it. The worm never bent, stayed straight n whammee. I love this hobby.

Yep mushrooms poop too.

Sent from Matts DROID x using Tapatalk

 

[misselle27]

I guess I vacuum the sand so often because Im scared that if I leave the poop for a whole week it will begin to decompose and cause spikes. My turbos poop tons and it drives me crazy. Im a house wife so I constantly look at my tank. Im kinda OCD with it. lol. How long is okay to leave poop?

The mushroom is still looking good and open today so I guess I dont have anything to worry about. now about Zooxanthellae, what should I look for? Ppl seem to automatically say thats what it is in every article I read. I do intend on doing corals and stuff so would it be runny brown or what? I kept hearing about that with condy anems too.

oh and my tank is about 8mos old.

 

[DesertOrchid]

I'm constantly gazing at my tanks too ( also a domestic engineer LOL) and little things bug me but some good advice is to keep your hands out of your tank. We can mess with our little ocean realms too much trying to get it 'just right.' I am OCD too. LOL! How about some details on your tank, size, occupants, filtration and water parameters to start. Pictures if you have some would help too. The snail poop should break down fairly quickly and be absorbed by the natural and mechanical filtration unless you have a whole herd of those slimy critters. *S*
Good to hear your mushroom is doing well today. What color is it?? The common brown ones are pretty self sufficient......some of the other more colorful ones might need a little more light but for the most part they are easy to care for. Corals are more likely to lose their zooxan than mushrooms. Too soon to think about anems in your tank. They are sewage pots and can foul a tank in a hurry if your enviroment isn't just right. How long have you been a 'salty?'

 

[misselle27]

Yea I know its not good to put my hands in but when I do I scrub as if im prepping a patient for surgery lol But I have

2 turbos
2fiddler crabs
4 nassarius snails
1 thin stripped hermit & 2 blue leg hermit crabs
2 damsels
1 clarkii clown
1 lawnmower blenny

Ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10 (its my water, I tested straight out of the tap)
ph 8.0

Ive had this set up for 8 mos so far.

for filtration I have a marineland 250 biowheel & a aqueon 150 filter. And I have a marineland 150 powerhead. Its a 29 gal tank. 2"sandbed and not sure on the lbs of rock. I made aggrocete for my tank and didnt weigh it. My LFS sells really cheap ro/di water so I will be using that as soon as I can get my husband to go get a bunch.

 

[jjmoneyman]

Oh I've got my hands in the tank everyday for one reason or another.

 

[BigAl07]

Here are some suggestions (a couple are repeats but worth it)

A) If you don't TEST for it.. do NOT dose for it! (DO was so right in that water changes should MORE than take care of IODINE needs)

B) Let the tank self regulate unless something is wrong. Sit back and enjoy the tank rather than fussing over it. It's in our DNA to Nurture and try to make it the best we can but we are NOT Mother Nature and more often than not the less we touch it the better it does.

C) Make sure you have a healthy and sufficient Clean Up Crew. They will take care of the poop and other "Left Overs" in your tank.

D) re: "now about Zooxanthellae, what should I look for" What am I missing. What are you looking for? Zooxanthellae are the organisms inside out coral that produce simple sugars from light which in turn feeds our coral.

 

[DesertOrchid]

I used to do that too jjmoneyman and found the fussing was doing more harm than 'fixing' things. I do understand the prepping for surgery washing Missel but I really meant the fussing more than the cleanliness etc. Sounds like you have a nice balance of critters. Great advice from bigAl as always!