mushroom not growing

[sassyfrassy]

My mushrooms have multiplied, but they do not grow large. What am I not doing?

 

[organism]

Too much light maybe? It really depends on the mushrooms though, I have some that top out at like 1", and others that go to about 5-6".

 

[Cheebs]

Iodine is a grea supplement that mushrooms thrive off of. Try dosing some of that if you aren't already.

 

[organism]

Not sure I'd start putting things in the tank that you can't test for...

 

[Cheebs]

Well it's what your missing. Soft corals like this thrive off that stuff, and you could even go lower than the "recommended" dose if you are worried about it. It's all over the fish store shelves.

 

[sassyfrassy]

Isn't iodine necessary for inverts molting too?

 

[organism]

Well it's what your missing. Soft corals like this thrive off that stuff, and you could even go lower than the "recommended" dose if you are worried about it. It's all over the fish store shelves.

Is there some documentation for that? I have a mostly mushrooms tank and would start dosing iodine if there's some tangible evidence to back it up...

Isn't iodine necessary for inverts molting too?

Yes, and your water changes usually provide enough iodine without needing to dose. I might be out of the loop if something's been published about iodine that I've missed, but either way it's very rare to see a TOTM on here that has "iodine" on the list of things they're dosing so it's definitely not something that needs to be dosed.

 

[Cheebs]

Here's a WWM FAQ page on soft coral heatlh: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/softcorhealth.htm

Containing the following, and similar questions.

Iodine for mushrooms and soft coral:
I read on your web site, mushrooms need iodine.
all corals, especially soft coral, need iodine
My salt which is one that says it has every trace minor major element in it like iodine, will this be enough till next week when I buy some liquid iodine
yes... a week delay is fine. But iodine only lasts for 6-12 hours in most tanks. That is why some people prefer to dose a very small amount daily
I also noticed brine shrimp adult centimeter in size could I feed them this do they need to be dead? Thanks, JM
brine shrimp is a very poor grade food (low nutrition). Other frozen foods would be better like krill, plankton and especially Mysid shrimps. Anthony

The actualy Iodine products themselves, even the reputable reliable ones, boast that Iodine is benefincial to soft corals like mushrooms. You may also want to browse the articles on WWM, some deal specifically with Iodine, Iodide and their benefits.
It is also mentioned in this article:

http://www.reefaquariuminfo.com/The-Corals-Mushroom-Corals.html

Here is a link to LiveAquaria selling These mushrooms specifically, and the advised supplement in Iodine:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+598+2724&pcatid=2724

And so on and so forth.

I have a tank that is entirely Ricordea and Ricordea Yumas, and I get great growth and spreading dosing daily. I have dose Iodine for years for my soft corals.

 

[Batreef]

before i would go as far as dosing the tank... i would first try something easy and safe such as lower light less flow

 

[organism]

Thank you very much for your post, immeasurably appreciated! I love learning new things

Out of curiosity how much do you dose per gallon?

 

[Cheebs]

No worries!

I dose the daily recommended amount of Kent brand Iodine supplement, which end up being about 3 drops per day in my 20 gallon.

 

[sassyfrassy]

Is there some documentation for that? I have a mostly mushrooms tank and would start dosing iodine if there's some tangible evidence to back it up...


Since you have mostly mushrooms, could you tell me what lighting you use? I have a macro algae tank and need to balance the light needs of algae as well as mushrooms.

 

[PhelpsTanks]

I don't have a ton of mushrooms in my tank, but the ones I do have nearly doubled in size the last month. I use a T5 fixture outfitted with 2x10k super whites and 2x T5 actinc. My placement (54g corner tank) is about mid level. I will post a pic as soon as my phone starts working right.

Wow, really bad pics sorry.. but the first one is to the upper right of the hairy mushroom.. the second pic first mushroom on the left is the same one.. It doesn't look like it but it is almost double in size.. When I get home I will see if I can get a better picture for you.

 

[organism]

Since you have mostly mushrooms, could you tell me what lighting you use? I have a macro algae tank and need to balance the light needs of algae as well as mushrooms.

I use a diy 24 LED fixture over my solana 34 gallon, before that it was a 12 LED fixture over an 11 gallon. I use a 3:1 blue to white ratio and the mushrooms love it, my tank actually started as a macro algae tank and I used the same lighting for that as well. The only thing is my tank ended up too clean and all my macro died out, so now it's mainly just mushrooms.

You can see how the lighting looks in my old threads, personally I think it's awesome, close to a radium 20k but with zero heat

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2025318
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2008498

 

[SushiGirl]

For shrimp, it's the INGESTION of iodine, not it being in the water. Feeding food that has iodine in it is better for them than just putting it in the water.

Please read this before dosing.

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Iodine in Marine Aquaria: Part I By Randy Holmes-Farley

Oh, and here are my mushrooms. I don't dose, I do water changes every other week with a high quality salt mix. The red ones grow larger than the blue ones.

 

[sassyfrassy]

I have T5s in a hood w/2 fans and 2 holes cut into top of hood for heat to escape,and I have never had a heat problem. My bulbs are over a year old, so I probably need new bulbs. When you say 20K, are you talking about one bulb's K rating or are you adding them all together?

BTW, is there a successful way to remove mushrooms off a rock? I have a rock w/ mushrooms, but they are being covered up by a very desirable algae I want to keep.