Mushroom crisis... urgent help requested!

[RichardinFL]

Friday my giant mushroom seemed fine. I was out of town over the weekend. This evening I came in to find this:

Very Large Picture of Mushroom

I posted it as a link as it is a huge image, but it clearly show's my issue. What are the white things on the mushroom? Are they the cause of the problem or they something coming along to clean up another issue? Any assistance on what is wrong and how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. I have numerous other mushrooms in the tank, but that is the only one like that. A few of the mushrooms nearby are not opened fully either, but show no signs of the white things or significant distress. The only other odd thing in the tank is my Pulsing Xenia does not seem to be happy either, it is not opening much and the color is off on it (a little towards the grey side instead of its usual pinkish).

My water parameters are:

Salinity: 1.024
PH: 8.0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0

(Thats all I can test at the moment).

Please let me know if anyone knows what to do. I hate to loose anything in my tank, and this was once open at about 8 to 10" across and beautiful glowing green.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated...

Rich

 

[Azurel]

The white things are what are called Menstrual(SP?) filaments. They are the insides of the mushroom. It almost looks like it was poked with a needle or something.......The white things are not the issue, but them coming out of the mushroom like that is an issue.

 

[RichardinFL]

Interesting, if that is the case, then the question would be, what is causing the "holes" in the mushroom?

The only relatively new addition to the tank is an Emerald Green Mithrax crab. It has been in the tank for about 3 weeks give or take.

Should I quarantine the mushroom for awhile and try to let it heal? What would be appropriate to help it heal?

Thanks!

Rich

 

[DetectiveTofu]

Those white spots look like mesenterial filaments. Without a closer picture of the white things, it's hard to be 100% sure. When you look closely do the white things, do they look like a small small of white filaments/strands? Mesenterial filaments are basically the stomach (for lack of better words) of the mushroom coral. They are often used as a defensive mechanism to literally "digest" corals impeding on their turf.
There have been times when I have accidently injured a mushroom coral, and those white filaments came out. IME, they are a sign of injury. My mushroom fully healed in a couple days though.
How long has your mushroom looked like that?
It is possible something in your tank somehow inflicted physical harm to your mushroom?
It could never hurt to move the injured specimen into quarantine for recovery.

 

[aquarius77]

You need to know your alk as well, it is vital. Something has severly stressed that mushroom. I was thinking the crab at first but the even distribution of the filiments make me think it may be an enviromental stressor.