Actinodiscus not showing true colors

count_cle

New member
I bought what is referred to "Green Fluorescent Mushroom" on Live Aquaria. And it was green when I got it, with a cool yellow fluorescence under the moon lights. I've had it for about 3 weeks. It has gradually lost the green color, seems more like a dark blue or purple, and the moon light fluorescence is mostly gone. Otherwise it seems happy, but this is my first tank and first mushroom so I'm not entirely sure what is normal. But as I understand it, if they don't like the light or the flow, they will detach and move around. It is on the bottom of my tank which is 24" tall, and in a fairly low flow area. Any ideas what would cause it to lose/change colors?
 
I don't know what kind of light you have but mine did the same thing when they were getting too much light from my LEDs. I used the fiberglass window screen method to cut the light down a little & the colors are coming back. Good luck with yours!
 
Well I do have LEDs but I didn't think they were good enough to cause a too-much-light situation, especially when the mushroom is 22-23" away from the light! If anything I've been worried that my LEDs would cause me problems with too little light. They are the CurrentUSA TrueLumen Pros.
 
Mine is the Marineland Reef Bright 10k/blue mix with the 'shrooms 15" or so below. If you're afraid they're not getting enough light, can you move them up? It took about 3 days to see the improvement in mine...
 
Yes, I figured I'd have to try moving them, just thought I'd post here to see if I could learn anything conclusive before I did so. Thanks for your input!
 
I moved my mushroom up higher, and it also happens to now be on the side of the tank that is closest to a window. No direct sunlight, but plenty of natural light. The mushroom is stretching itself towards the window. Now I don't know whether to interpret this as striving to get more light, or bothered by the aquarium light and trying to turn away! Guess this will be some trial and error.
 
Prolly so... I noticed this morning that my rock didn't look as full as normal & a couple of 'shrooms had a "pinched" look to them. I started checking them out while I was putting the new Elephant Ear 'shroom in & found a bristle worm munching on them. I wouldn't even have thought that was possible! It's always something... :rolleyes: LOL Good luck...
 
Well I tried moving it higher, and left it there for 4 days, with no noticeable change. So then I moved it back down, and under a little overhang in the rock so it would get less light. And still no change after 3 days. I'm not sure what else to do, other than the color change it seems OK, but I miss the vibrant green!
 
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