Mushroom Problem - Please help ID and Resolve!

Honda619

New member
Hey Everyone,

I apologize for posting this in two different areas of RC. I am not sure of the proper guidelines for posting, but I wanted to post in my local forum as well as the massive general forum. I really just need some help before its too late to save these mushrooms.



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!
 
I'm not sure what's causing your shrooms to die, but I've had mushrooms randomly melt on me before and as they die, they turn into the slimy looking things like in your video. Did the mushrooms look healthy when that slimy stuff started showing up or is it when they started dying was when you noticed the slime?
 
I have read about this before. I think it is called brown jelly disease and you have to pull out everything infected and chalk it up to a loss before it kills everything. I read it is super quick. Maybe someone else can confirm.
 
You could also try an Iodine dip if you are able to remove the rock. And a fresh salt water dip after treatment. This can also be caused by not enough flow, allowing waste to build up.

Good luck
 
Thank you all for your help, I have been swamped with other aspects of my life in the last few weeks so I have neglected my post. I apologize for that and want to thank those that have offered advice and suggestions.

I ended up doing an iodine soak along with additional spot treatment siphoning. It has completely stopped the damage, but the loss is irreversible. I lost nearly all of my mushrooms, and the ricordia didn't make it either.

For now the damage is done and the cause is still undetermined. I don't know how to explain it, but maybe I will figure this one out another day.

Thanks again for the help and support guys! Have a good one!
 
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