Caring for shrooms and rics

[twiggyb]

Everyone says shrooms are bulletproof and the easiest things to take care of. I disagree, however it may be just me. I find keeping sps alive and thriving better then trying to keep a simple superman shroom from losing color falling off the rock and never to be found just like all the others. My yuma and rics have been doing well though, but in a nano. The yuma kind of faded in color since I put a MH over it instead of the CF that were on it. Do yumas and rics like less light than other corals? I'm thinking maybe too much flow is my problem in my other tank as to why they don't last for me. I had some rhodactis that just wouldn't do anything for me and they just shrunk into oblivion.

 

[twiggyb]

So no one has any advice for me? I'd really like to create a nice shroom garden, but I don't want to spend the money on them just so they can melt into nothing

 

[jimmyrow]

Do u. Feed thum?

 

[twiggyb]

no, I just let them be, unless they grab something when I feed the tank

 

[gh0st]

What is your setup like and what are you're water parameters?

With Shrooms, problems are often due to Salinty or Temp drifting out of optimal levels, but Alk and PH problems can also be a candidate.

Could be extremely nutrient or iodine limited depending on what style tank you run.

 

[twiggyb]

Salinity is 1.026, 78-80 degrees F, I haven't tested nitrates in a while, but my guess would be 5-10, not sure on the rest of the params either, all my sps are doing well though. In the smaller tank with my rics I keep the temp at 75-77 and 1.026 as well with a 150w 10k DE bulb. Not sure on any other params in that tank either, but the sps, chalice, and maze brain are all doing fine in that tank as well. In my DT I have Ecoxotic panorama LED fixtures. The only mushroom I've had success with is a hairy mushroom that was like 6 in across that is now four separate shrooms where my clowns reside. I also have a single shroom in a 10g with a CF fixture and I'm assuming pretty high nutrients since I feed a cube of mysis/meat cuisine every night for my sun corals that are in there. It is still alive but isn't doing anything.

 

[gh0st]

There are a huge amount of unknowns in your water parameters.

Test up ALL the Basics.

PH, Alk, Calcium, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Phosphates. Magnesium if possible as well.

Do you run any Carbon or chemical removal? With a wide variety of different corals, chemical war fare may be an issue as well.