Missing Mushrooms

[Prankster11]

So I fell in love with the ocean after diving in Mexico, so a couple months after i got home, I got a 6g fluval edge. I still was worried about the amount of work a saltwater tank was going to be, but I wanted the colors. My tank has been set up for about 10 months with a false perc clownfish, peppermint shrimp, four hermit crabs, 3 nassarias, about 30 little dwarf cerith snails. I recently added a rock with 12 red mushroom polyp rock. I did my coral dip, but i'm not sure if it did its job. The next day, I only counted 10 polyps, but i thought i just miscounted. A couple days later, I was completely missing another one, and there were remnants of 2 more and 2 were shrunk down. I don't know whats going on. There are tube worms, or what i think to be tube worms, on the rock. The crabs and snails have been all over the rock, but i dont think they are the ones doing it. Please help!

 

[Prankster11]

I've done water changes, and it's gotten worse. Should I try another coral dip? Also a serpent star was alive after I did the coral dip. I used fluval's iodine, so could that have been a problem? Please help!!!

 

[grant778]

I have heard of peppermint shrimp eating ricordeas before, so they might do the same to regular mushrooms but i'm not sure. On a side note, ocellaris clownfish really need a 20g aquarium to be happy. I don't think it is really suited to ur aquarium size and I'm not sure if I would personally put any fish in a tank that small.

 

[TampaSnooker]

Make sure it is indeed a peppermint shrimp and not a camel shrimp. For some reason, there are still plenty of vendors that do not know the obvious differences. Camel shrimp eat a lot of soft corals. For that matter, many peppermint shrimp will eat soft corals, especially mushrooms. Also look for large worms at night. Anything over a couple inches is suspect, in my book.

 

[Prankster11]

The clown is tank bred, which means it's been in small tanks all his life, but I should probably upgrade anyways...thanks


Camels have more white than red, correct? I have never heard of peppermints eating soft corals. I've also checked in the night and haven't seen anything other than amphipods. Thank you though...I'll look into it being my peppermint...I did have a glass anemone that was eaten by the shrimp, but thank you

 

[Prankster11]

Could they be disappearing because there is too much light or too much flow?

 

[philosophile]

What kind of mushrooms were they? In a 6 gallon tank, I hope you're doing near 100% water changes every week. Can you give us pics?

 

[Prankster11]

I do a large water change weekly, well large for a nano tank


The guy at my LFS sold them as red mushrooms, and I'm sorry for the clarity issues...they actually look better today

 

[Prankster11]

Here is one more

 

[Prankster11]

it kinda looks like the one in the middle might be splitting....does anyone know if it is?

 

[philosophile]

When they're that small their shapes will be largely determined by the way they were "born" in particular the shape of the foot that was left behind by mama. They look like discosama mushrooms and it'll take them weeks if not months to color up fully.

What's a "large water change" for you 6 nano? I would do 5 gallons weekly, depending on what else is in your tank.

Discosama mushrooms are very hardy. So the fact that they are disappearing, suggest predation or >really< bad water quality. Knowing what it takes to care for a nano, I would guess water quality over predation.

 

[Prankster11]

When they're that small their shapes will be largely determined by the way they were "born" in particular the shape of the foot that was left behind by mama. They look like discosama mushrooms and it'll take them weeks if not months to color up fully.

What's a "large water change" for you 6 nano? I would do 5 gallons weekly, depending on what else is in your tank.

Discosama mushrooms are very hardy. So the fact that they are disappearing, suggest predation or >really< bad water quality. Knowing what it takes to care for a nano, I would guess water quality over predation.

A large water change is 3.5-4 gallons weekly plus filter cleanings...vaccuum of some of the black gravel...cleaning of nuissance algae...and sometimes i do this a couple times a week. I also test my water, and there is a strong natural filter that keeps nitrates and phosphates low


I did find something in my rocks that is possibly a scale worm...or another predator...I have been watching it...not sure what it is exactly...its on this thread

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2418033

 

[TampaSnooker]

They don't like a lot of flow, so take that into account. You really shouldn't see them moving much or having their edges lifted in an appropriate spot. They simply will let go and try their luck somewhere else if flow is too high.

 

[Prankster11]

I'll try moving them...im also assuming they dont like that much light

 

[pugcrush]

I'd piggy back off the water quality. Discomas (most mushrooms for that matter) can grow under just about any condition. However, I didn't see it mentioned regarding your lighting? What are you using? If you're using stock from the fluval, I'd say that's part of the issue.

Without a before picture, it's kind of difficult to compare. LFS will have different lighting, so it'll definitely look different in your 6 gallon.

 

[Prankster11]

I'd piggy back off the water quality. Discomas (most mushrooms for that matter) can grow under just about any condition. However, I didn't see it mentioned regarding your lighting? What are you using? If you're using stock from the fluval, I'd say that's part of the issue.

Without a before picture, it's kind of difficult to compare. LFS will have different lighting, so it'll definitely look different in your 6 gallon.

Thank you for commenting....I'm using a Ecoxotic Panorama Pro LED strip....they seem to be getting a little better...a couple more of them have opened up a little when I lowered the lighting...I have hope...

 

[philosophile]

Oh hmmm. Lighting, I forgot about that. If your lighting is low, mushrooms could shrink over time, slowly starving to death. I'm not super familiar with the various LED brands out there, I just have my radions. But if you don't have a good variety of spectrums and the intensity isn't strong enough, it could be that they're starving... But that still doesn't explain rapid disappearance.

Re: the worm... It's in a nano tank, so would it be hard to remove the rock the worm is in and flush it out with a jet of FW from an aimed baster or syringe? It could be a harmless bristleworm, or it could be chomping down on your shrooms like an all you can eat buffet.

 

[Prankster11]

Oh hmmm. Lighting, I forgot about that. If your lighting is low, mushrooms could shrink over time, slowly starving to death. I'm not super familiar with the various LED brands out there, I just have my radions. But if you don't have a good variety of spectrums and the intensity isn't strong enough, it could be that they're starving... But that still doesn't explain rapid disappearance.

Re: the worm... It's in a nano tank, so would it be hard to remove the rock the worm is in and flush it out with a jet of FW from an aimed baster or syringe? It could be a harmless bristleworm, or it could be chomping down on your shrooms like an all you can eat buffet.

For lighting, I have tried a variety of lighting every couple days, and they seem to best under a lower lighting


I havent seen the thing come out of the rock, and i have been checking up on it every couple hours...it wouldn't be that hard to get the rock out...i might pull it out and put it in a seperate tank to see how it reacts to different types of food

 

[philosophile]

If you can, check at night with the lights off after a few hours. If you have a red flashlight, even better. Most marine animals are blind to red spectrums.

 

[Prankster11]

If you can, check at night with the lights off after a few hours. If you have a red flashlight, even better. Most marine animals are blind to red spectrums.

ok thanks