I bought a small colony of about 4 green mushrooms about 4 months ago. One by one they detached from their rock and disappeared. The ones that I caught, I attempted to re-attach to a rock w/that sheer "wedding" fabric and a rubber band. They did attach and stayed there for a little while, but once again detached and were never seen again. I have one left now and am attempting to re-attach it again. I don't feel like my water flow is too much or anything. I have a 75 gal tank w/2 powerheads in either corner. I placed the shrooms on the bottom of the tank where they didn't seem to blow around. I can't understand what the problem is. My parameters are: PH 8.2, Nitrate 10ppm, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, spec gravity is 1.025. I have only about 90 watts of regular flourescent. Any suggestions?
Mushroom problems
- Thread starter mnewsome
- Start date
Monkeyfish
Active member
Put them someplace else.
If they keep detaching then they are not happy with their present location. Try putting them up higher so that they get more light or place them in an area with very little flow.
If they keep detaching then they are not happy with their present location. Try putting them up higher so that they get more light or place them in an area with very little flow.
No, there was always too much flow. One of the mushrooms stayed attached for a couple weeks on the bottom and it stayed open very nicely. It was open to it's full capacity. I don't what the problem is. How much light do they usually require? I thought they were liked low lighting.
Monkeyfish
Active member
Mushroms ARE low light corals and can do well with NO flourescent lighting if other tank parameters are good. I have a feeling that flow is part of the problem. More light would be a good thing, but I'm not sure that your lighting is the culprit.
Monkeyfish
Active member
I think the best place for the mushrooms would be towards the bottom of the tank, possibly towards the corners. Usually there is less flow/current there. Since this is where the problem started I'm not sure what else you can do other than experiment by placing them in different locations until they find one they like. You may want to consider placing them in a separate tank to allow them to firmly attach to a rock and then place the rock in the larger display. They'll do fine in a 10 gallon with NO lighting for the short term. You may also want to recheck your parameters just to be on the safe side. Finally, if the shrooms came from a tank with more lighting they may not be happy and need a while to get used to their new environment.
What kind of powerheads are you using and what other filtration/filters are on the tank? What is the total flow in U.S. gallons per hour?
What kind of powerheads are you using and what other filtration/filters are on the tank? What is the total flow in U.S. gallons per hour?
I don't know what my flow rate is. The powerheads are 2 maxi-jet 1200's in either corner. I also have a Aqua C remora hang on skimmer w/the Rio pump. The shrooms came from a LFS that had them in a tank w/metal halides, placed on the bottom of their tank. I'm just so frustrated. I can't afford better lighting right now, so I was opting for the mushrooms since they are low light loving.
Monkeyfish
Active member
You already have low flow in your tank (lower than it should be in my opinion). Since the mushrooms came from a tank with a lot of light they may just take some time getting used to their new environment. They might be detaching to look for more light since that is what they are used to.
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