Mushroom spewing guts for over a week

GreenSaltyOne

GreenSaltyOne

New member
I've been reading about how they do this from time to time and it seems normal, but mines been doing it for a week. All my other mushrooms look great. This is my only hairy mushroom though, and it was my first tank inhabitant. I found aiptasia nearby but they are a solid 2 inches away and very very small. There are chitons that reside on the rock. Theres also a long 2"+ white worm in the rock but hes pretty peaceful it seems, so are the chitons. Theres also black algae crap overgrowing the purple coraline but it doesn't touch the mushroom. It started spewing stuff when I moved it one day, and it only resides near other mushrooms but doesn't touch any other corals. It spewed large chunks of brown stuff too. It still seems to have normal color, its just acting very unhappy. Water in tank is very good i think. I test it weekly, and do 10-20% changes weekly. It did better when i had nitrites, nitrates, and phos!! (tank was still cycling doh!)

Since I know you're thinking....what are your tank specs exactly.....

Temp:78'
PH: 8.2
Nitrite, Nitrate, Phos, Ammonia: 0
Calc: 500
KH: 11-12
SG: 1.025
Magnesium: Unknown

I only have a clean up crew in the tank, so snails and a few hermits, but none of them go close to the mushroom usually. I have seen nothing but myself disturb it.

So is this normal? Should I be worried? cause i am. What are my options to help this Green Hairy Mushroom Coral????
 

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it's probably ok...i don't think there's much you can do about it though.
not sure if it's related, but a 2 inch white worm sounds bad. can you post a picture of it so we can let you know if it's a predator? most large worms eat coral and you rarely see them doing itt:(
 
Hes not out yet so im playin the waiting game. I will post tonight cause hes usually out every night. Never seen it attack the coral but the rock is very porous. Any websites you can direct me to would be great. Ive not been able to find pics or negative literature on a thin white worm.
 
it's not necesarally bad, but ya know ... better safe than sorry. if it's reeeaaaly skinny it could be a harmless spahgetti worm, but it seems strange to just have one living in a specific spot in the rocks. i don't think that is typicall spaghettti worm behavior.
i think that the mushroom is probably fine though, based on the fact that it is having good colour and opening up to its regular size. the spewing will stop eventually. good luck!
 
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The worm definitely stays in his one hole and will come out but keep his rear in the hole. The mushroom does not open up even close to its full size. It stays the size in the picture. I moved it to a lower flow lower light area.
 
Almost 1am. Worm came out n had his head buried in another hole so this pic is of the middle of him.
 

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I don't think I would worry about spewing brown stuff. If it was spewing white spaghetti like stuff from its mouth I might worry a little as that would be it's guts. The only time mine did this was when my cleaner shrimp went to town on it. Are you feeding it?
 
I am not feeding it and it has definitely been spewing white spaghetti like stuff from its mouth and pores. I have no shrimp or fish.
 
oooo....that sounds worse than how we thought it was. has it fallen or had something land on it lately? there could be something eating it from inside but it's really hard to tell. i hope it turns out ok! the 'spaghetti' is like clumps of worms to me, not individual strands. is that what yours looks like because that would definately be its guts. mine did that today...i accidentally squished it and i guess that forced it's insides right out it's mouth! a huge white wad of spaghetti...luckily it slurped it all back inside and fixed itself up within the hour. *phew*
as far as the worm, i will see what i can find, but the head is really the main thing we use to tell what worms are. if it has whiskers on its head it's probably trouble:(
 
Nothing fell on it or landed on it. I moved it multiple times killing asternia stars. They were picking on it. The worm has no whiskers. Its head is smooth like its body. Looks like a foreskin head lol. Horrible description but best described. The mushroom is still spewing its guts. Its definitely guts and not worms coming out. I dont think that worm is the problem but i dunno what the problem is. I moved it around too much and changed lights on the tank maybe that did it. Every other coral is fine and my system is stable.
 
No not actually worms, that's just what I think mushroom guts look like;). Now that I'm on a real computer, not a cell phone, I can see your pics better. Those are definately it's guts. Looks horrible! I wish I could help more!
Mushrooms spew when
Digesting
Aggravated,
Warring with nearby corals
Recently moved
Thats all I got.
Oh, your worm might be a peanut worm. The part you see is white, they're nocturnal, and they stay in one area. Harmless.http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1193240does this look like yours?
 
Nice id pic! Yes it looks like a peanut worm. I hadnt seen any other pics that were spot on even of peanut worms. So my mushroom coral is just super unhappy and still spewing guts. What can i do???
 
What kind of flow is it getting? Just give me as many possible details about this coral as possible. Recent interactions...positioning n the aquarium, every little detail could help?
 
Its getting very minimal flow right now, very minimal light. I'm now keeping it at the very bottom left corner of the tank away from all the flow. It was in the middle of the tank when it started looking bad, and under moderate light. I moved it a few times just to pull off asternias by lifting it to the top of the tank, then setting it back down. I changed lights after when it started looking bad, after I moved it to its corner, and have only slightly re-positioned it since. I've tried not to move it from its spot for a week now, so I've barely touched the rock. Its slowly getting worse. Anyting I could dip it in?
 
I turned my lights down to minimum yesterday, and since they are a new set I'll leave them there for 2 weeks. I also unplugged my circulation pump, cause I had 30x turnover of water flow. With just my skimmer/refugium pump running I have a little over 10x water flow. My LPS stuck feelers out shortly after the circ pump went off, so I think that was a good move. I have mostly softies and 2 LPS, and one red cap SPS, so I think my flow was a bit high. I think I'm going to take my light acclimation to my new system slower too.

Now, the mushroom looks like absolute deathbed ICU status. So - decided to handfeed it tonight, cause it can still close up. But its loosing color daily now, and spewing guts constantly. Its the only thing I can think of is to get it food, do a good water change, and reduce light/flow. Hopefully this combination works cause its all I got.
 
Just finished feeding the mushroom. It took over an hour with the pumps all off before it even started closing up. Most the mysis shrimp fell off of it, but there are a few pieces stuck on its protruding guts. Its holding onto them with the pump back on, so theres a little hope and it is trying its hardest to close up. I think I'll try again tonight when its going to sleep, and everyday after that when my lights start going off, and it starts to close for the night. This is the first good sign I've had since it went downhill, so I'm hoping a few good meals will get her going. My trumpet corals absolutely loved the shrimp, same with my red head goby. Wish me luck!!!
 
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