Hey Everyone,
So I have a little problem that seems to be stumping everyone I have already approached...Im really hoping someone here has seen or dealt with this before and can help me identify and correct this problem before it gets any worse!
I left out of town for the weekend and when I returned I noticed that my mushroom coral rock (just a particular rock that was once covered in thriving mushrooms!) has a strange gunk like or slime type of substance covering many of the remaining mushrooms. I started with about 40 + and now Im down to about 10. They are literally disappearing before my eyes. The strange thing is, my water tests are all golden! AKA perfect! No power outages or anything unusual at my place while I was gone.
I preformed a 40% water change and siphoned off all of the stuff that I could find...sure enough, the next day it was back and was killing the remaining mushrooms. So I siphoned the rock again and did another water test (perfect).
I went to Aquatouch and had them do a water test and showed several employees videos and pictures I took and no one was able to identify this stuff. My water test was also perfect that time too.
So far I have only lost mushrooms and half of a Ricordia that was very near the mushroom covered rock. I moved it and I think it will recover (its the orange one in the video and pics).
I posted 3 short videos on youtube to give everyone a better idea of the movement and characteristics of this substance. Here are the links,
http://youtu.be/bkOI6jQcDWQ
http://youtu.be/El_qrkARiVA
http://youtu.be/gi0ZwTz0cU4
I do have a green hair algae problem that I am trying to get under control, but that has been a battle for several weeks now so I do not think that plays a factor in this issue. I might be off with that assumption though.
Tank Info:
The tank is a 72 gallon bow with a 10 or 15 gallon sump, 80-90 pounds of LR, 80-ish pounds of sand (about 3 to 4 inches deep in most areas), lights are t5 HO 48" 4 bulb, undersized 65 coralife skimmer (upgrade in progress as with sump), coralife 36w UV light.
Tank was purchased running but without fish about 4 months ago. I replaced all the sand and added about 15 pounds of LR.
It is overstocked but I'm in the process of transferring the inhabitants to a 130 half cylinder in the next week or two. Will be upgrading most equipment at that time as well. Just finishing my stand build now.
Stock list: ALL Juvenile - Hippo, 3 Bartletts, Six Line, 2 Sabe clowns, and a firefish.
CUC - 2 emeralds, 15 or so hermits, 6 or so assorted snails, peppermint shrimp, and Skunk cleaner shrimp.
Water temp is pretty consistent at 81. Lights only run for 7 hours per day.
Multiple corals, lps and sps...only the mushrooms are being killed off and half of a single ricordia.
Really could use some help with this so please don't hesitate to throw out some ideas!
Thanks in advance!
So I have a little problem that seems to be stumping everyone I have already approached...Im really hoping someone here has seen or dealt with this before and can help me identify and correct this problem before it gets any worse!
I left out of town for the weekend and when I returned I noticed that my mushroom coral rock (just a particular rock that was once covered in thriving mushrooms!) has a strange gunk like or slime type of substance covering many of the remaining mushrooms. I started with about 40 + and now Im down to about 10. They are literally disappearing before my eyes. The strange thing is, my water tests are all golden! AKA perfect! No power outages or anything unusual at my place while I was gone.
I preformed a 40% water change and siphoned off all of the stuff that I could find...sure enough, the next day it was back and was killing the remaining mushrooms. So I siphoned the rock again and did another water test (perfect).
I went to Aquatouch and had them do a water test and showed several employees videos and pictures I took and no one was able to identify this stuff. My water test was also perfect that time too.
So far I have only lost mushrooms and half of a Ricordia that was very near the mushroom covered rock. I moved it and I think it will recover (its the orange one in the video and pics).
I posted 3 short videos on youtube to give everyone a better idea of the movement and characteristics of this substance. Here are the links,
http://youtu.be/bkOI6jQcDWQ
http://youtu.be/El_qrkARiVA
http://youtu.be/gi0ZwTz0cU4
I do have a green hair algae problem that I am trying to get under control, but that has been a battle for several weeks now so I do not think that plays a factor in this issue. I might be off with that assumption though.
Tank Info:
The tank is a 72 gallon bow with a 10 or 15 gallon sump, 80-90 pounds of LR, 80-ish pounds of sand (about 3 to 4 inches deep in most areas), lights are t5 HO 48" 4 bulb, undersized 65 coralife skimmer (upgrade in progress as with sump), coralife 36w UV light.
Tank was purchased running but without fish about 4 months ago. I replaced all the sand and added about 15 pounds of LR.
It is overstocked but I'm in the process of transferring the inhabitants to a 130 half cylinder in the next week or two. Will be upgrading most equipment at that time as well. Just finishing my stand build now.
Stock list: ALL Juvenile - Hippo, 3 Bartletts, Six Line, 2 Sabe clowns, and a firefish.
CUC - 2 emeralds, 15 or so hermits, 6 or so assorted snails, peppermint shrimp, and Skunk cleaner shrimp.
Water temp is pretty consistent at 81. Lights only run for 7 hours per day.
Multiple corals, lps and sps...only the mushrooms are being killed off and half of a single ricordia.
Really could use some help with this so please don't hesitate to throw out some ideas!
Thanks in advance!
