Mushroom problems... help and comment!

[GuyCarlton]

Alright, I have a whole bunch of normal mushrooms, and they all seem to have some sort of problem (lol)

1) One particularly big one doesn't fully open up... also, his "mouth" is always FULLY open (like, complete circle) and I can see white intestine-like stuff.... he's the only mushroom in my tank that does this.. why? Tank params are fine... will he close in given time?

2) One is half off the frag- like, half of his foot is attached to the LR and the other half is floating in the water unattached. Will this reattach by itself?

3) One is (almost) directly under the HOB filter. It's not 100% open but still fairly open. Will it still reproduce and spread? Or must it be fully open to spread?

4) I want my LR fully blanketed in mushrooms, but none are doing anything at the moment. I bought them all like 4 days ago. My lighting is 20watts in a 5.5g tank. It has an aquaclear 20 powerhead and an aquaclear 20 HOB for flow.. am I just impatient? Or will they start spreading soon?

Any suggestions, comments, or answers for me?
Thanks
/Rob

 

[drummereef]

I could and most likely will take months (or longer) for them to spread in great numbers. I've had mine a couple of months and have only a few new 'baby' shrooms. I would get their conditions right for multiplying first. My luck has been with low flow and low/med light. Flow is definitly most important imo. They won't fully open if stressed by too much flow.

Post some pics of the situation - that will help out greatly.

 

[j_chu]

you just got your shrooms bro. drummereef's right, it'll take months for them to reproduce and spread out. a particular pink yuma of mine took only a month or so before i saw a couple of babies beside it. case to case basis.

keep us posted with pics. sounds like you got quite a handful of them there

cheers!

 

[GuyCarlton]

Thanks for the positive attitude guys, but the questions #1-3 still need to be answered... none of my mushrooms are at 'photo quality' just yet but when they reach it I'll try posting some pics.

/Rob

 

[kiknchikn]

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert. These are just my opinions.

1) If it's doing that it is probably stressed out by something. If the problem persists try moving it. Where to move it depends on the species, but a lot of shrooms don't like high intensity light or high flow.

2) If the shroom is happy where it is then it'll reattach, if not it will likely detach and float around until if finds a spot it likes, then attach.

3) It'll probably be fine there. Shrooms are pretty quick to adjust to new environmental variables. Monitor for a month or so and if it still seems unhappy move it.

 

[GuyCarlton]

Hm, I was under the impression that mushrooms adjust VERY quickly to environments (i.e. few days) but if it takes a month than I'll give them some more time..

Quick question: Is it OK if the mushroom isn't 100% horizontal? Like, some of them are on the sides of rocks and stuff... that's ok right?

/Rob

 

[kiknchikn]

Hm, I was under the impression that mushrooms adjust VERY quickly to environments (i.e. few days)

It all depends on the type of mushroom, some are a lot more sensitive than others. If its a typical discosoma then I'd argue its practically indestructible and you'd have to really try hard to kill it. Those can adapt pretty quickly to any reasonable conditions. A yuma on the other hand might not adapt quite as fast. Without knowing the type of shroom it's hard to be specific.

Even still, each individual mushroom is different. I have a purple discosoma with blue spots that STILL has not opened fully after a month and a half. It is slowly getting used to its new home though.

Quick question: Is it OK if the mushroom isn't 100% horizontal? Like, some of them are on the sides of rocks and stuff... that's ok right?

Most shrooms are fine on the side of something. If it's really unhappy it'll move one way or another most likely. Otherwise it just might not grow as quickly.

A picture of the purple mushroom I described in its normal 3/4 open state.


www.mikesreef.com

 

[j_chu]

great macro shot! nice shroom too!

 

[drummereef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8266661#post8266661 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GuyCarlton
Thanks for the positive attitude guys, but the questions #1-3 still need to be answered... none of my mushrooms are at 'photo quality' just yet but when they reach it I'll try posting some pics.

/Rob

They need to be in a low flow area to open up.



kiknchikn - great shot!!! :thumbsup:

 

[kiknchikn]

Thanks guys. I love taking macro photos. Its amazing how beautiful critters are when you look closer.

I have a few more decent macros on the critters and gallery sections of my webpage. Many more to come in the future as well.

www.mikesreef.com