My Mushrooms and Toadstool not thriving ???

[Cheryl]

Can anyone help me with my Mushrooms and Toadstool?

I figured that after I regained control of the params of the tank that maybe that was the problem with the corals. After much research and reading through hundreds of threads, I am confused as ever. Although I dont think they are immediate danger, I know now that they should be thriving.

The Toadstool has gotten skinny at the base and doesnt seem to be growing. The mushrooms have split once since the purchase 6 months ago. They also used to be purple and now they seem to have turned a pale, translucent green. Quite small and no growth. I moved them to a shadier area with less flow hoping that would help.

I've attached pictures of the poor things. Any help would be appreciated.

Thx
Cheryl

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Can you give us a complete description of your tank and how it is set up including:

Filtration
Lighting
Water Parameters
Maintenance Procedures
Salt Brand, etc.

Once we know a little more about your tank, we can better assist you. Thanks in advance Cheryl!

 

[Woodstock]

I've had some ricordia that were shaded and they shrunk and turned very, very pale.. white even. I am guessing yours need more light. What type of lighting do you have? How deep is your tank? How far are the bulbs from the surface of the water?

 

[Cheryl]

Thanks guys! I am new at this so I will do my best. I will have to get with the previous tank keeper to get the specifics on the mechanical filter and sump. It does have a protein skimmer attached.

I should have done this earlier!

75 gal tank, 80lbs LR, 1 1/2" live sand, Yellow Tang, 2 Damsels, 2 striped catfish, Bi-Color Blenny, Flame Scallop, Toadstool, mushrooms, and a number of various feather dusters. I have a hermit crab (sorry Witful) and tons of tiny tiny scarlet hermits. After I get the hang of this, I plan on adding much more to the tank.

Additives: Lugols Solution, 2 drops once weekly. Coral Vite, 1 1/2 tsp weekly. Bio-Calcium, as needed. Oceanic Natural Sea Salt, water changes. Kent Superbuffer, water changes.

Maintenance: Water changes every 3-5 days, avg 8 gal. Blow off rock and sand with turkey baster, siphon uck out.

Feedings: One 3"X2" sheet of Nori, daily. 1/2 cube Emerald Entree, every other day. Target feed scallop with DT phytoplankton on feeding days.

Did I miss anything? I moved the mushrooms back to there original spot cause they closed up in the shaded/less flow area. They seem to like it better at their original home.

I've attached a full tank shot.

Cheryl

 

[Cheryl]

oops...

trAtes down from 100+ppm to 40ppm
trItes 0
Amm 0
Cal 400
pH 8.3
Salinity 1.022

 

[Cougra]

What kind of lighting do you have on the tank?

I would also suggest that you stop dosing iodine unless you have a test kit for it. You don't have enough animals to drain your system of iodine in between water changes however algae will love the extra levels of it. Also most animals have a difficult time using iodine. There is a form of iodine that they prefer to use called iodide that is much more biologically usable and if you add too much of the iodine (inert) you could be slowly poisoning your tank.

Coral Vite is another substance that doesn't need to used in a tank, especially if you are doing regular water changes. I haven't heard about or read anywhere that there are any benefits to adding whatever the manufacturer decides to put in that bottle at whatever concentrations it wants. A good quality salt mix will have the all the trace elements you need and your inhabitants would be better served if you presoaked your food in vitamins just before feeding. This way they are more likely to injest the essential vitamins and minerals rather then depending on getting it from the water they drink.

Although your nitrates are on the higher side, you have hardy animals that should be able to handle those levels without too much effects (although your shrooms wont really thrive in the multiplying sence). Keep up with the regular water changes until the nitrate levels are better under control and be very careful on how much of the DT phytoplankton you add to the tank as that will quickly pollute your water.

What do you test your salinity with? For a tank with corals in it, it's a little on the lower side. Most people keep their tank around SG 1.025-1.026 and measure with a refractometer. If you don't have a refractometer try finding someone who does and compare your readings with the SG measurement device that you have and keep checking in every couple months. Hydrometers aren't the most reliable devices and have a tendancy for their readings to drift over time as salt slowly penetrates the plastic materials, even if cleaned with RO/DI water after every usage.

 

[Cheryl]

Thanks, that was helpful information. But doenst the coral need the iodine and coral vite to thrive?

Cheryl

 

[ReefLady]

I'm thinking it has to do with your lighting... what typeof lights, What type and how old are the bulbs, and how long do you run them per day?

 

[ReefLady]

Thanks, that was helpful information. But doenst the coral need the iodine and coral vite to thrive?

Cheryl

In almost every situation, they get more than enough from regular partial water changes. I would guess the coral vite is adding nutrients to your tank as well.

 

[Cougra]

Thanks, that was helpful information. But doenst the coral need the iodine and coral vite to thrive?

Cheryl

No it doesn't need coral vite or iodine supplements to thrive, it needs decent, not extreme lighting, good water flow, good water quality and a bit of patience. They will get the iodine and trace elements ( coral vite) from the salt mix that you use. When I first started up my tank I too was told by the LFS that I needed to add a million expensive chemicals to the tank only to find out later that not only were the additives not necessary , but could also be damaging I stopped using it.

As a general rule if you can't test for it with a test kit, don't add any to the tank, especially if you are having problems keeping water parameters stable. Too much of something can be more deadly then not enough of it and since you are doing very regular and frequent water changes your tank wont be lacking in either trace elements or iodine/iodide.

I'm thinking it has to do with your lighting... what typeof lights, What type and how old are the bulbs, and how long do you run them per day?

I'm tending to lean towards this as well and finding out the lighting information is very important to us if we are to help you out!

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Yea.. you said you had them in the shade tucked a corner or something. I think shrooms and especially leathers need good water flow. I've never had trouble with shrooms though. I always thought they were easy going. But I've never been able to keep a leather alive. I'll have to read up more on it.

I'd say you need to watch tracer product applications. Don't use them unless you know you need to. Find diff. lights and flow spots in your tank and see how they behave. Do some research and find out exactly what sorta flow and lighting requirements they have... which leads me to a good question... like the recent GONI article... is there a way to find such good informative FAQ's or articles about each type of coral??? One definitive place. I get sick of reading completely diff. opinions. Add iodine, don't add iodine. :rollingey :tears:

 

[Jerome]

which leads me to a good question... like the recent GONI article... is there a way to find such good informative FAQ's or articles about each type of coral??? One definitive place. I get sick of reading completely diff. opinions. Add iodine, don't add iodine.

Try Eric H. Borneman's book: Aquarium Corals Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History It's comprehensive and contains almost every coral available for sell. It includes identification, natural location the coral occurs in the wild, colors, capitive care, any special information, and the collection impact on the natural reef of removing the coral. You can find it for $30-40 and it will save you lots of money, time, and effort in husbandry in my opinion.

 

[Cheryl]

which leads me to a good question... like the recent GONI article... is there a way to find such good informative FAQ's or articles about each type of coral??? One definitive place. I get sick of reading completely diff. opinions. Add iodine, don't add iodine. :rollingey :tears:

I am new to the SW world and RS has givin alot of good advice. But Travis suggested this link and its pretty great. http://www.reefindex.com/ I would love to have more places to research in order to pinpoint more specific topics though.

I'm thinking it has to do with your lighting... what typeof lights, What type and how old are the bulbs, and how long do you run them per day?

Hmmm... here is my guess...I have to ask my hubby to be for sure. Bulbs are 2 wks old, for sure. They run for 7 hours a day right now. 40W 10k and coralite blue light. not sure if that makes sense or not? LMAO!!! go easy on me guys!!!! hahahaha

Cheryl

 

[ReefLady]

Yea.. you said you had them in the shade tucked a corner or something. I think shrooms and especially leathers need good water flow. I've never had trouble with shrooms though. I always thought they were easy going. But I've never been able to keep a leather alive. I'll have to read up more on it.

I'd say you need to watch tracer product applications. Don't use them unless you know you need to. Find diff. lights and flow spots in your tank and see how they behave. Do some research and find out exactly what sorta flow and lighting requirements they have... which leads me to a good question... like the recent GONI article... is there a way to find such good informative FAQ's or articles about each type of coral??? One definitive place. I get sick of reading completely diff. opinions. Add iodine, don't add iodine. :rollingey :tears:

There's no definitive book or article because so much of the hobby is subjective... but there is a definitive place to research the articles that have been written... (shameless plug here) Our sister site, Reef Index.


Corals

LPS Corals

SPS Corals

Soft Corals

And for the rest of it all... Saltwater Aquarium Reference

 

[Cheryl]

Thanks Jerome! Im looking forward to the good read!

Cheryl

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Lighting and over dosing is my take. Iodine is very toxic if over dosed, rule of thumb is don't dose until you've accurately tested. Iodine is difficult to test for.

HTH

 

[Cheryl]

Lighting and over dosing is my take. Iodine is very toxic if over dosed, rule of thumb is don't dose until you've accurately tested. Iodine is difficult to test for.

HTH

So what lighting do you suggest? This has been going on prior to dosing iodine and the bulb change. :tears: I can easily stop the iodine. The bulbs are new.

Cheryl

 

[Craig Manoukian]

40 watt 10,000K x 2 is 80 watts for your 75, I have 110 watts of 10,000K Power Compact (PC) lighting on my 20 gallon. I had 350 watts of 10,000K metal halide (MH) lighting on my 80 gallon.

I would upgrade my lights for sure. What you upgrade to depends on what you want to keep in your tank. If your thinking LPS, SPS, and/or clams, then MH lighting is the way to go.

 

[Cheryl]

I have checked the lighting. Coralife Actinic 48" and a 48" 40W 10,000K bulbs. I went by the LFS and they suggested doing a 50% water change out with Tropic Marine Scientific Formula Sea Salt Mix. Is this adviseable? Seems like everything is good but the mushrooms and toadstool. I normally use Oceanic Sea Salt Mix.

 

[Woodstock]

Your water parameters are fine. I would concentrate on upgrading your lighting. A very basic calculation is light wattage per gallon. For corals, a MINIMUM of 4 watts per gallon is suggested. Power compacts will work fine, Metal Halides of course will too, but they're more expensive.

A fish only tank doesn't require special lighting.