I have 6 blue green mushrooms, nut only two of them are open and colorful. The other 4 are small and dull in color. I have a carbon filter that the LFS said would remove any toxins that might be bothering the other ones. I have had them for 4 months abd they have not grown at all. All my levels are good and The LFS slao said to add iodine one a week for them, so I check the iodine levels and then add it to make sure there is not too much. This is a new tank, my first tank, it is 30 gallons with 28 lbs of LR and 15 lbs of LS. Two small fish, 12 hermit crabs and 6 snails. I also have some button polyps and zoanthus polyps. Any tips?
My Mushrooms won't grow...
- Thread starter rdb1357
- Start date
DetectiveTofu
New member
Maybe you just need to give them some time? Some mushrooms do tend to grow slower than others. I've never heard of anyone dosing iodine for mushrooms...
I stopped the iodine due to another post. From what I read, I thought that mushroooms had a tendency to grow somewhat fast and I have nothing new in 4 months, and 4 of them are very small and almost white, while 2 of them look normal. Does that sound okay, or do I need to do something?
Malum Argenteum
Member
I've had good results dosing iodine for corallimorpharians. Also, they grow faster in older, dirtier tanks with high bioloads.
Malum Argenteum
Member
'Bioload' is, roughly, the amount of livestock in the system. More fish and inverts = more bioload.
Mushrooms (Actinodiscus species especially) feed by direct nutrient absorption, so the more nutrients in the water, the more the mushrooms have to eat. (Other genera such as Ricordea and Rhodactis feed also on macroscopic foods.)
Mushrooms (Actinodiscus species especially) feed by direct nutrient absorption, so the more nutrients in the water, the more the mushrooms have to eat. (Other genera such as Ricordea and Rhodactis feed also on macroscopic foods.)
DetectiveTofu
New member
Wow, I learned something new today!
Malum Argenteum
Member
Regarding MMM's claims:
Not sure what 'most' means, exactly, but two points:
There are corals that eat phyto exclusively, and then there are corals that are indiscriminate between consuming phyto or zooplankton, and then there are corals (Fungiids, Mussids, and similar) that virtually never eat phyto. So phyto is not nutritionally relevant to some commonly kept corals.
Further, since prey size and composition are important to the capture rates of corals such as leathers and softies, products made of ground fish meals and egg yolks are not going to benefit these animals.
Not sure what 'most' means, exactly, but two points:
There are corals that eat phyto exclusively, and then there are corals that are indiscriminate between consuming phyto or zooplankton, and then there are corals (Fungiids, Mussids, and similar) that virtually never eat phyto. So phyto is not nutritionally relevant to some commonly kept corals.
Further, since prey size and composition are important to the capture rates of corals such as leathers and softies, products made of ground fish meals and egg yolks are not going to benefit these animals.
Malum Argenteum
Member
Ummm...why not? They eat, they poop...what difference does it make whether an animal has a backbone to the question of whether they have a biological impact on the carrying capacity of a system?
Malum Argenteum
Member
Well, strictly speaking, Rics are mixotrophic -- they get some energy from photosynthesis and some from active consuption/digestion. Just because an animal is photosythetic doesn't mean it does not eat.
Ricordea are more photosynthetic then say Rhodactis but they still require food from the water column whether it's zooplankton or larger foods. I read somewhere that Ricordea acquire up to 80% of their nutrition from the light and the rest from the water column. I forgot where I read that though.
blide
Premium Member
Yes, you're right I meant to say more photosynthetic. 
Didn't mean to contradict just trying to point out from expierence ric's don't really need to be hand fed food and live off "poop". I have 3 fish in my tank and there's not enough "poop" to go around.
Here's my resume...
Didn't mean to contradict just trying to point out from expierence ric's don't really need to be hand fed food and live off "poop". I have 3 fish in my tank and there's not enough "poop" to go around.
Here's my resume...
Last edited:
